Stories by Nestor E. Arellano

RIM's Certicom takeover bid hits a snag

With the end of the year upon us, Research in Motion's (RIM) CDN$66 million hostile takeover bid for encryption specialist Certicom has hit a snag.

Planting seeds of sustainability on Facebook

Two Canadian university students hope to plant the seeds of sustainability on Facebook with an application that monitors power consumption and uses peer pressure and the spirit of friendly competition inherent among many gardeners to foster energy conservation.

Canadian IT job site sacks Linux for .Net syste

When an upgrade of its open source-based Web site threatened to overwhelm its budget, a Canadian IT career organization decided to give Linux the pink slip, and recruit Microsoft instead.

How to install a usable CRM system

Many businesses fail to realize the full potential of their customer relationship management (CRM) software because of poor integration with existing applications and business processes.

Five effective ways to burglar-proof your laptop

Theft of laptops and other mobile devices is spiraling, and the consequences -- financial and other -- are getting increasingly dire.

Churches finds early success in advent of e-religion

In a bid to gain greater relevance within an increasingly young and tech-savvy congregation, some churches in North America are looking to deploy automated kiosks to collect donations from the faithful.

Nortel promises to get 'back on track'

Top Nortel Networks executives admitted Thursday that past financial problems had slowed the company's growth, but said the new management team had a clear strategy to turn the telecommunication equipment maker's fortune around.

RFID tags take flight at Boeing, Airbus

A cursory inspection of the lifejackets stashed under commercial airline seats could add as much as 30 minutes to an aircraft's time on the ground.

Face-to-face meetings vital to IT hiring process

"In-person" meetings between employers and job seekers remain crucial to the IT hiring process, a recent survey indicates.

Harrah's bets on BI to gain customer loyalty

In the high stakes world of casino gambling, customer loyalty often trumps liquidity.

Microsoft-Novell deal could hurt open source

Canadian supporters of open source software believe the recently forged partnership between Microsoft and Novell will have negative repercussions for the free software community.

How to identify high-impact future technologies

"There is no reason a person would want a computer in his home," said Ken Olsen, co-founder and head of then leading U.S. computer company Digital Equipment (DEC) in 1977. A decade later Olsen again infamously quipped: "UNIX is snake oil."

Big Blue offers interoperable SOA products

An IBM customer says Big Blue's new line of service-oriented architecture (SOA) products announced Wednesday will help his company minimize interoperability challenges.

Hiring and firing with respect

"I get no respect." If that's how you feel your employees are treating you, it's possible they're just reflecting the attitude you're showing them, according to Ruth Hagg, author of a series of management books.

Microsoft platform fosters 'heads up' banking

Meridian Credit Union -- Ontario's largest credit union -- recently rolled out a range of new software tools that allow its tellers to look customers in the eye.