Stories by Dan Tynan

Legislation, stealth technologies, and emerging data privacy markets are proving that the battle for our Internet privacy has only just begun

Jargon, data, power -- the first step to IT recovery is recognizing the monkey on your back

Unsanctioned devices, compromised networks, downtime -- today's IT is all about embracing imperfections

The IT job landscape is evolving quickly. Here's how to avoid IT extinction

Business IT is evolving behind your back. Here's how to head off extinction and assert a larger role

We all make mistakes. But when you work in IT, those errors can quickly go public.

Big data is reshaping business IT. Thanks to cheap storage, massive processing power, and tools like Hadoop, organizations are now able to mine terabytes of information and derive useful business intelligence from it. But the data revolution is also creating a new breed of hybrid business-IT jobs, ones that blend business knowledge and powerful IT tools to the benefit of tech-savvy line-of-business professionals -- and the possible detriment of IT pros oblivious to the big data trend.

Are you a jargon junkie? Got an insatiable appetite for information? Do you rule over your company's systems with an iron fist, unwilling to yield control until someone pries the keyboard from your cold, dead hands?

At Airlie Gardens in this coastal North Carolina city, 400-year-old live oaks nestle next to natural wetlands and cutting-edge technology. In the guard house a quarter mile from Airlie's entrance, a monitor displays high-definition images of the security gate captured by a remote camera.

They couldn't put it off any longer. The ERP system for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) had reached the end of its useful life.

Too many projects, too little time: That's the sad lament of many IT professionals who must constantly balance the needs of the enterprise against the desires of business users -- all while keeping a close eye on the newest technologies coming at them from every direction.

The 'iPhone 5' Apple special event will be the company's 20th in 10 years ago ... relive the best of Apple's teases and see which delivered on their implications

Spend enough time in the tech industry, and you'll eventually find yourself in IT hell -- one not unlike the underworld described by Dante in his "Divine Comedy."

Every tech company has its ups and downs, but Apple is more like a roller coaster. Yet Apple's highs and lows are not so much about individual products as they are about attitudes and philosophies - the underlying causes of, say, both the iPad (triumph) and the Pippin (failure).

Is that new friend really your friend, or just someone pretending to be your friend so he can spy on you? No, I'm not just being more paranoid than usual. This really does happen - especially if you're a member of an anonymous collective determined to do battle with the forces of corporate evil (not to mention Tom Cruise, Soulja Boy, and your mom).