In a blog post on the Bing Community, Sean Suchter wrote:

“There has been much discussion of real-time search and the premium on immediacy of data that has been created primarily by Twitter. We’ve been watching this phenomenon with great interest, and listening carefully to what consumers really want in this space. Today we’re unveiling an initial foray into integrating more real time data into our search results, starting with some of the more prominent and prolific Twitterers from a variety of spheres. This includes Tweets from folks from our own search technology and business sphere like Danny Sullivan or Kara Swisher as well as those from spheres of more general consumer appeal like Al Gore or Ryan Seacrest.

” Starting later today, when you search for these folks names in association with Twitter, you’ll see their latest Tweets come up in real time on Bing’s search results. For example, if you type “Kara Swisher Twitter” or “Kara Swisher Tweets” or even “@karaswisher” as your search query, you’ll see something like the below. (Note this feature will be rolling out gradually over the course of the next few hours so you may not see it right away.)”

Rumors had been circulating that Google might offer this kind of search tool, but it seems Microsoft’s pushing hard to make Bing a real challenger in the search engine fights.

Does this make Bing more appealing? Will it be a major factor in driving the search engine’s success?

But, where’s  the the line between acceptable and rude behavior when using electronic devices?

Here are a few guidelines to follow when using your electronic devices in public:
•    Conferences: Because laptops and phones are often used to take notes, Twitter or update a blog, use of these devices is OK during a conference session. A possible exception is if the conference is small and intimate.
•    Company meetings: This can depend on the company. If a laptop is required, obviously bring one. If not, use your best judgement.
It’s usually inappropriate to bring devices to meetings with only a handful of people.
•    Client meetings: Bring a laptop, but keep it closed until it’s needed. Keep your phone put away, and on silent.
Carry a pad of paper and a pen to use for notes during client meetings. Only open your laptop to show the client something, or if you need to take a lot of notes.
•    Crucial meetings: For important meetings put all devices away. If you’re meeting with an executive or giving an interview, you don’t want to risk offending anyone.
•    Social settings:  Take your cue from the people you’re with to decide whether you should be texting or reading e-mail.
If they’re all texting or browsing the Web as you chat, it’s probably OK with them if you do the same.
If not, you might risk offending someone by giving them the impression their company isn’t worth your attention.

Anyone want to add a rule or two? Feel free to comment below.

The surprising finding: Not only were people who frequently communicated online with their manager more productive, but those who avoided their managers online were much less productive.

The researchers (two of them from MIT’s Sloan School of Management) analyzed a wide range of electronic communication channels, including e-mail, buddy lists and social networking activity of 2,600 workers over 12 months to come up with their conclusions.

Employees who maintained constant electronic communications averaged an increase in revenue of $588 per month over the average; the luddites who didn’t produced $98 per month less than the average.

The researchers concluded that the under-performers probably felt pulled in too many directions with no clear leadership or direction.

As the modern workforce becomes more geographically dispersed it’s become a challenge for workers and managers to stay connected and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Using electronic tools to forge stronger bonds and communicate tasks, objectives and feedback seems to be a key way for companies to keep everyone connected and productive.

To read the details of the MIT/IBM study, visit here.

If your expertise is in technology, not tax accounting, the following may not make a lot of sense. But it will to your CFO or company accountants. Bottom line: Your company gets a tax break if it buys new equipment in the next couple of months. Pass along the following  to the bean counters and see if they don’t loosen up the purse strings on IT spending.

Small businesses that invest in new property or equipment will have the opportunity to increase the expensing or depreciation of the purchases in 2009. There are two options to increase deductions related to capital expenditures.

1. Increased limit on Section 179 expense: Businesses can elect to expense, rather than depreciate, the cost of machinery, equipment, vehicles and other tangible property placed in service in 2009. The maximum deduction is $250,000, and the cost of property in excess of this amount may be depreciated over the life of the property. In 2010, the Section 179 cap will drop to $133,000 (indexed for inflation). After 2010, the cap returns to the prior limit of $25,000. The Section 179 deduction cannot exceed taxable income. If the deduction is limited, it may be carried over to future years. However, it phases out for capital expenditures above $800,000 and limits the tax break to smaller businesses. The phaseout level on capital expenditures also decreases after 2009.
2. Bonus depreciation allowed in 2009: A small business may deduct up to 50% of the cost of “qualified property” purchased and placed in service in 2009 (2010 for certain longer-lived property). Qualified property is almost any capital expenditure other than buildings. The Section 179 expense and the bonus depreciation may be used together. However, the basis for depreciating the property must first be reduced by the Section 179 expense. Extended NOL carry-back period: Normally, a net operating loss may be carried back two years and carried forward 20 years to offset taxable income. For NOLs created after Dec. 31, 2007, the act provides a five-year carry-back period. Therefore, if the business paid taxes in the prior five years, the NOL may be carried back to the fifth prior year and each succeeding year to offset income and refund taxes. This provision applies to most types of businesses, as well as individuals, provided that gross income did not average more than $15 million in the three years leading up to the NOL. To claim the refund, eligible businesses must file Form 1139 by Sept. 15. Eligible individuals must file by Oct. 15 using Form 1045.

Typically, keylogging is done secretly, so the employee is unaware of it. Just as typically, it’s implemented because the employee is under suspicion of using a computer in an unauthorized or illegal way. So far, so good.

However, some targeted employees have dredged up a section of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act as a defense — and a reason to sue employers for invasion of privacy.

Title I of the ECPA amended the federal Wiretap Act covers the “interception of electronic communications,” making it an offense to“intentionally intercept . . . any wire, oral, or electronic communication.”

The issue came up in a California federal-court case, Brahmana v. Lembo. The question was whether a keylogger that records keystroke information in transit between the keyboard and the computer’s central processing unit violated the EPCA.

The short story is that the court didn’t find the company general keylogging to be in violation of EPCA.

There’s a complication because, using the keylogger, the company captured some of the employee’s confidential passwords and used them to access private accounts. The court is allowing the case to continue to determine whether using the passwords violated the EPCA.

So, at this point, the verdict is:

• Keylogging to track Internet usage? Probably OK.
• Using keylogging to access private info? Probably not.

Password burnout may be chronic among users, but it seems the folks charged with protecting technology are also suffering from the same malaise.

A new survey by the endpoint data protection specialists at CREDANT Technologies shows that IT Security professionals admit to having password fatigue when it comes to using their mobile devices, which leaves their data exposed to personal and corporate identity theft if these devices were to fall into the wrong hands.

CREDANT conducted the “mobile usage survey” among 227 IT professionals with the majority drawn from companies that employ more than 1000 people.

According to the survey, 35% say they just don’t get around to using a password on their business phones and smartphones, even though they know they should because these devices contain sensitive and confidential information.

Surprisingly, IT professionals are only marginally better at using passwords than the general population. A survey conducted earlier in the year by CREDANT found that 40% of all users don’t bother with passwords on their mobile phones.

The sort of information that IT professionals are storing on their smartphones and mobiles, many of which are totally unprotected with a password, include:

• Business names and addresses (80% of respondents)
• Personal names and addresses (66%)
• Business emails (23%)
• Personal emails (16%)
• Bank account details (12%)
• Business diary with details of all their appointments and meetings (12%)
• Personal diary (7%)
• Credit card information (5%)
• Photos (4%)
• Passwords and Pin numbers (1%)

Andrew Kahl, Sr. VP of Operations & Co-Founder from CREDANT Technologies says: ”It is alarming to note that the very people who are responsible for IT security are not much better at protecting the information on their business phones than most of their co-workers, who don’t necessarily know any better. If a mobile or smartphone goes missing and isn’t protected with a password, and contains business names and addresses and other corporate data such as business emails, then the company is immediately in breach of the Data Protection Act by failing to meet some of its principals on electronic data.”

“Of even greater concern is the damage that can be done to a company, and the individual who is responsible for the phone, if it falls into the wrong hands, which could expose them to personal or corporate identity theft. It is therefore imperative that all mobile phone users who hold sensitive data, either personal or corporate, should always password protect it at a minimum — and encrypt it if the data is really sensitive,” added Kahl.

According to the IT professionals surveyed, the worst culprits at addressing mobile security within their companies are typically the sales teams, followed by the board of directors and senior management. HR comes out as the best at keeping their mobiles aligned to the corporate mobile security policy.

The survey also found that a third of IT professionals use their own personal mobile phone for work purposes even though the company specifically bans them for business use, with almost a fifth spending more than an hour or more per day on their own personal phone for business purposes.

The mobile phone fart sounds were technological wonders of invention compared to this bathroom scale that shares your bloated humiliation with the world — wirelessly, of course.

Anybody who thinks people will pay folding money for a bathroom scale that uploads the user’s weight to an Internet site for broadcast is daft.

Which probably means it will sell like hotcakes.

Says the “Bodytrace.com” promotional copy: “The BodyTrace eScale and Website is a complete package for all of you who take their health seriously. By tracking your weight you can ensure a healthy lifestyle and your fitness or weight loss goals can be achieved in an efficient way. The eScale is a bathroom scale that wirelessly uploads and displays your weight at the BodyTrace Website.”

And all this for the low, low price of just $119. But wait, there’s more. It’ll also cost you $19.99 for a three-month subscription to the Web site.

The makers of the eScale boast that the Web site’s motivational interface “encourages users to share progress, exercise ideas, recipes and lets people create groups made up of friends, family or co-workers to work jointly towards a common goal. Users can even upload progress pictures to motivate themselves and others!”

What joy! I can’t wait to post fat pictures of myself and view those of other chubby dieters!

Hmmm, buy an eScale or stab myself in the eye with an icepick. Can’t decide…

It seems there are plenty of managers who think they have a right to see what employees are doing on social networking sites.

How do employees feel? Most think it’s none of the boss’s business.

More than half (53%) of employees say their managers shouldn’t be able to view what they put on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, according to a recent survey by Deloitte. For workers 18-34 years old, that number jumps to 63%.

But most managers disagree — 60% say they deserve to know what their reports do online. The main reason: Monitoring and protecting the company’s reputation. Social networking gives users a chance to make details of their lives public — and work is a heavily discussed topic.

Browse many Facebook profiles or Twitter accounts, and odds are you’ll find something about the person’s job.

Managers might have a real cause for concern: One-third of employees admit they never consider how their employer will be affected when they post material online. Almost 75% admit social networking sites make employers more vulnerable to damaged reputations.

Which also begs the question: Should workers “friend” their boss? Should a boss “friend” a supervised individual?

What do you think — do supervisors have the right to check out employees’ online personalities? Do managers at your company search for folks on the Web? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Standish Group’s recently-released report, “CHAOS Summary 2009,” shows a marked decrease in project success rates, with only 32% of all projects succeeding by being delivered on time, on budget, with required features and functions.

It seems that 44% of projects were “challenged” — according the the survey this means they were late, over budget, and/or with less than the required features and functions.

And 24% failed, which means they were canceled prior to completion or delivered and never used.

“These numbers represent a downtick in the success rates from the previous study, as well as a significant increase in the number of failures”, says Jim Crear, Standish Group CIO, “They are a low point in the last five study periods. This year’s results represent the highest failure rate in over a decade.”

The reason, said Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies: Many American grads looking to enter the tech field are preoccupied with getting rich. They’re far less interested in learning the “boring” details of tech process, methodology, and tools — ITIL, Six Sigma, and such.

The far-hungrier, less advantaged students from developing countries like India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Ireland seem to be more willing to put their noses to the old academic grindstone and get a firm basis in the fundamentals, says Nayar.

The solution? Nayar told Information Week that leaders of industry need to have a greater say in making the American education more relevant to technology and more rigorous.

As many have pointed out since Nayar made his comments, there are plenty of American CEOs who are singing the same tune.