Are you frustrated by the long chain of e-mail messages in your inbox each morning? Do you wish you could meet with your co-workers in person instead of over Skype? You're not alone. Many employees lament that new technologies have eliminated much of the face-to-face work of the business world.

Tablets are hot, and the market for these mobile devices has become a crowded one. Ethan Gach, a columnist for Forbes, recently wrote that Walmart by itself sold more than 1.4 million tablets during its November Black Friday sales event. But retailers are certainly not the only ones profiting from the tablet boom: As Gach writes, so are comic publishers.

More of us than ever are choosing to share information with our families, friends, acquaintances, and - maybe not as deliberately - with companies that run websites, social networking sites, and mobile applications (apps).  How aware are you of how much, and what type, of information you have agreed to share.

How much privacy do you expect when shopping for a winter coat at your local outlet store? How about when you're browsing the shops at the nearest indoor mall? Well, you can't expect much. New technology is making it ever easier for retailers to spy on the products you buy and the path you take through a store or mall.

Has tech completely invaded our lives? You only need to consider two new items to answer that question: One is a shower curtain that allows you to play music and answer phone calls while you’re sudsing up. The second is a pair of snow gloves that let you make phone calls and listen to your favorite tunes without taking a break from clearing your front walk of last night’s snowfall.

No one could argue that Samsung isn't a leading force in the smartphone and tablet industry. Consumers are flocking to these devices. But the word "consumers" is the key one in that last sentence. Despite Samsung's successfulness in selling tablets and smartphones to consumers, it still has a lot of work to do to entice business leaders to consider its phones.

It should've come as little surprise to discover the federal government's Healthcare.gov website was full of errors. In fact, the government has record that is utterly awful concerning high-tech projects.

The problem with SAM

The Los Angeles Times recently published an interesting story about the long history of government tech failures.

Here's some bad news straight from InformationWeek: Evidently the United States is no longer a leader in the world of technology. In reality, the country is becoming a laggard, according to InformationWeek commentator Kevin Coleman.

The problem

Coleman chronicles that research-and-development, science and technology investments in the United States aren't keeping pace with those by other nations.

Whenever a new technology debuts -- whether it's a new solution to connect with family and friends or a way to make cars get better mileage -- we get excited. We wonder how this tech will alter our lives and the planet. Inevitably, though, the same thing happens: This new technology has its use, but it doesn't alter the world significantly.

You may have recently received an email from Adobe.com (or other online services you may use) which references the recent highly publicized password breach and encourages you to change your password. Don’t disregard the message.

Other big name online services including Facebook, Twitter and Gmail have experienced recent security breaches as well, and unfortunately the trend will likely continue.