Technology

Business travel isn’t what it used to be. Those spacious first-class seats have given way to super-saver cattle-grade seating and the notable features of most in-flight meals are the large prices and the small portions. Baggage charges, once unheard of, are here to stay and provide irritating

Today’s information technology solutions have made most of those people obsolete. With the right technology solutions, a billion-dollar (in sales) corporation can be run by fewer than 100 full-time employees. Example: In 2008, YouTube.com was acquired by Google in a $1.65 billion transaction. At the time, YouTube.com had only 72 full-time employees.

Here are three ways in which the National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance is cracking down on cybercrime:

When the personal computer revolution began decades ago, Latinos and Blacks were much less likely to use one of the marvelous new machines. Then, when the Internet began to change life as we know it, these groups had less access to the Web and slower online connections, placing them on the wrong side of the “digital divide.”

A tap on the HealthMap iPhone application brings up a cluster of red pins on a map, representing nearby cases of swine flu. Another tap brings up a form for ordinary Americans to add to the collection by reporting bouts they have or know about.

In the near future, you might not even have to visit a bank or an ATM to deposit a check. You’ll simply snap a couple of photos of it with your cell phone. Applications to do just that are already available for Apple’s iPhone and gadgets from USAA, a company that provides insurance and banking mainly for military veterans.

Because its large touch-screen is interactive and inviting, Apple’s iPad offers media companies, game makers and other content providers a way to display material that consumers supposedly will be more likely to pay for.

The German maker of a new tablet PC is setting out to rival Apple’s iPad with the promise of even more technology, such as a bigger screen, a webcam and USB ports.