Megan Santosus

Onsite massages and doggie day care were nice benefits during the dotcom days, but what perks can cash-strapped companies provide for their stressed-out employees today? Insurance companies, including AIG American General and St. Paul Travelers, are now selling identity theft policies to employers to offer as a benefit.

Headaches. Tired eyes. Neck and shoulder pain. Sure, you've been logging lots of time at the office lately, and you figure you're feeling the stresses and strains associated with all that hard work. But if you spend hours each day staring at a computer screen, you might wind up suffering from computer vision syndrome (CVS).

Outsourcing. Layoffs. Budget cuts. Ho-hum projects. If that sounds like a description of your IT department, chances are you have a morale problem. And you're not alone. "CIOs have to recognize that IT worker morale is at its lowest in decades," says Paul Glen, author of Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology.

When it comes to drawing a bead on IT employment, the numbers say one thing but the feelings say another.

When Greg Meyer helped launch iJET Travel Risk Management in 1999, the idea was to provide travel-related risk management services, such as alerts to travel agencies. Then 9/11 happened, and Meyer, currently iJET CTO, says the company wanted to shift its focus, and do so fast.

This year, offshore outsourcing is the hot-button economic issue. But just how many jobs are actually sent overseas?

The debate over electronic voting is more contentious than presidential politics. Proponents believe that e-voting, in which votes are cast, recorded and counted electronically, will ensure the integrity of our election system, streamline election administration, and finally deliver on the promise of the secret ballot to the blind and other Americans who have not been able to vote unassisted at many polling places. But a vocal group of computer scientists is sounding the alarm that e-voting is too rife with security gaps, software bugs and procedural lapses to entrust with the linchpin of our democracy.

When outdoor equipment retailer REI wanted to boost in-store sales, the company looked to its Web site. In June 2003, REI.com launched free in-store pickup for customers who ordered online. The logic behind that thinking: People who visit stores to collect their online purchases might be swayed to spend more money upon seeing the colorful displays of clothing, climbing gear, bikes and camping equipment.