A Bounty From Salem's Globe-Trotters. The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., was established in 1799 by rich entrepreneurs who had been everywhere and brought souvenirs home to prove it. By Holland Cotter. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

But the Lawyer Said I Have to Get a New PC. Some good reasons to upgrade computer hardware. [DennisKennedy.blog]

The marriage of SQL and XML. A major shift in the style of enterprise data management is under way, and there are huge architectural issues yet to be resolved. Oracle, not surprisingly, wants you to store everything in a centralized hybrid DBMS. IBM says it would rather enable you to federate data across a range [...]

Macromedia Central Exposed. Macromedia has released some more information about the upcoming Macromedia Central application and allowed a screenshot of the latest state of play to be published with comments. You can see it here on the blogs of Greg Burch and Geoffrey… [An Architect's View]

Network World: Microsoft Research preps Usenet analysis tool. Researchers at Microsoft are working on technology that makes it easier to navigate Usenet news groups and could eventually help clear clutter in e-mail inboxes, a Microsoft researcher said Tuesday. [Tomalak's Realm]

Business Week: Verizon's Gutsy Bet. At the heart of this reinvention is the most ambitious deployment of new telecom technology in years. Verizon plans to roll out fiber-optic connections to every home and business in its 29-state territory over the next 10 to 15 years, a project that might reasonably be compared with the construction [...]

Buzz Without Bucks. Smart companies are discovering that you don't need big budgets to deliver a big message. By cleverly cultivating buzz, small businesses with tiny budgets can level the playing field with established giants. Their motto: When it comes to building a brand, word of mouth is priceless. [Fast Company]

Report Review: Nielsen/Norman Group's Usability ROI. Report Review: Nielsen/Norman Group's Usability Return on Investment – In the business world, user experience endeavors are typically seen as a cost—a line item expense to be minimized to the greatest extent possible while still remaining competitive. This has led to a number of essays, articles, and books on [...]

ROI calculations: K-Logs vs. traditional Intranet Portals. John Robb summarizes an ROI document produced by PlumTree Software estimating the value of portal software and compares with his estimation of the value of K-Log software. He puts the total ROI of a K-Log system at 1,170% compared to the total ROI of a traditional Portal system [...]

The Warrior Librarian shares some First Aid for Libraries. [librarian.net]