Stories

Here are some stories I’ve written:

Business and Technology

Moonlighting 101: To blog or not to blog - Biz Tech magazine
Employee blogs can be a double-edged sword for businesses. Workers who love their jobs often become evangelists for their companies, but they can just as easily pen negative comments about their workplace and co-workers, disclose information that could put their employers at legal risk or, worse, write about inappropriate personal behavior that can embarrass the company. Small businesses need to protect themselves by creating clear and concise guidelines for company blogs as well as personal blogs that employees write outside of work. More

Focusing on tech literacy - Ed Tech magazine
In the five years since No Child Left Behind became law, the federal government has pumped an estimated $2.85 billion into the nation’s schools to get students ready for the digital age - and now wants its first progress report on whether the program is working. More

Safe exchanges - Information Security magazine
Matt Kesner has had a front-row seat in the entertainment industry’s battle against piracy. Over the years, his Silicon Valley law firm has defended Napster against the music industry and fought on behalf of ReplayTV when Hollywood took the digital video recorder maker to court. So it’s ironic the law firm recently embraced enterprise rights management (ERM) internally. More

Ellison goes back to basics - CNET News.com
At 57, Larry Ellison has built one of the most powerful technology companies in the world and amassed billions of dollars in personal wealth - only to find himself going out on sales calls to potential customers, the kind of grunt work usually expected of junior executives. More

Sports

Book excerpt: “Giants: Where Have You Gone?”
Bob Brenly is having a rough week - and it’s about to get worse. His 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks are struggling with a 14-20 record and are mired in last place, eight and a half games behind the division-leading Dodgers. It’s only May 14, but the local media are already speculating his managerial job is in jeopardy. Ace Randy Johnson has made matters worse, first by publicly second-guessing him for pulling him from a 1-1 game in the seventh inning, a game the D-Backs later lost. Then yesterday, the southpaw flamethrower dissed the team after pitching brilliantly for the second time in a week, but still losing 1-0. More

Giants could learn from D-Backs’ rebuilding effort - San Jose Mercury News
Does this sound familiar? The team’s left fielder is the face of the franchise, the team’s slugger and once carried his team to the World Series. He’s near the end of his career and is a free agent, but he feels he can still play, wants to end his career at “home” and has publicly expressed his desire to do so. The team, however, is in the midst of a rebuilding effort and wants to get younger, so what does it do? In the case of the Arizona Diamondbacks, they cut Luis Gonzalez loose at the end of last year and committed to a full youth movement by deciding to let unproven rookies and second-year players play everyday, and they’ve been rewarded this year with an 81-63 record and a three-game lead in the NL West with 18 games to play. More

Giants fans head to the ballpark to watch… Warriors basketball - San Jose Mercury News
Last Thursday night, it’s cold and rainy, and I’m shivering in my seat when the crowd begins cheering for no apparent reason. I look at the field, at the scoreboard, and back on the field – and nothing is happening. A few seconds later, the crowd roars again. It’s around the seventh inning, the Giants are down two runs, and the few thousand diehard fans remaining in their seats on this dreary night aren’t even clapping. And then I realize: The booming cheers – that even players on the field could hear – are coming from inside the ballpark, where Giants fans are watching playoff hoops on TV. More