More than half of employees who lost or left their jobs in 2008 took company data with them, according to a study conducted by Ponemon Institute and cyber-security software maker Symantec. A shocking 59% of respondents claimed they had copied or e-mailed company data.

When you need an answer to a burning question (How do I use this new software? How do I remove ink marks from a white shirt? Can my iPod be fixed?), turn to these eight how-to sites on the web, rated the best by PC World.

Driving visitors to your company’s web site and coaxing them to provide contact information is a great way to generate sales leads. However, only 4% to 8% of people who click to a web site leave their personal information. To convert those web surfers into customers, consider these four surefire tips from FuelNet.

What makes the Internet useful is also what makes it so undeniably distracting: There’s no end to what you can find online. Luckily, a few browser add-ons that work with Firefox can help make web surfers more productive (all available at addons.mozilla.org).

A New Jersey appeals court has held for the first time that an employee has no reasonable expectation that personal information stored on work computers is private—even if the employee has created a separate password to protect the information. Employers have the right to search work computers.

It pays to give more than lip service to the Web 2.0 trend, with its emphasis on trust and openness. Just look at Cisco Systems. All decisions at Cisco used to be made by the top 10 people in the company, says CEO John Chambers. Today, he is spreading the company’s leadership and decision-making far wider than before.

Tap into the power of peer pressure by giving manageably sized groups more autonomy ... Prepare for dwindling travel budgets by replacing some in-person meetings with videoconference technologies ... Drive higher corporate earnings for your company by realizing that the key to productivity is not maximizing it at all costs, but maintaining a level of consistency.

“Penny Pincher’s Almanac” columnist Gene Marks tells BusinessWeek that for many small businesses, a web page can work just fine: that is, a page with basic, important information, such as contact information and maybe a photo or two.

While some Web 2.0 tools are about socializing and idea swapping, LinkedIn is the only tool completely devoted to business networking. Nurturing your online presence could lead to job offers, new knowledge or a beefed-up reputation as an expert. Here’s how to get the most out of your LinkedIn profile.

Hand-held devices, such as BlackBerrys, Trios, iPhones, etc., make it easy for workers to check e-mail and do work at any time of day. And your nonexempt, hourly workers may demand to be paid for that screen-time. So, when must your organization pay nonexempt employees for such off-the-clock work? There’s no clear-cut answer.

The popularity of Internet blogs and social networking sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook and Friendster is causing confusion and concern for some employers. Is there any harm in using information published on the Internet to screen applicants? At a time when it’s easy to search the web for information on just about anyone, what steps should a reasonable employer take to investigate the background of an employee?

Create a cheat sheet for emergencies and leave it on your desk ... Monitor spending with online tools ... Reach out to someone who has been laid off ... Be a valuable connection from the moment you invite someone into your LinkedIn network.

Try to track the details of a complex project on a whiteboard, and you may quickly run out of white space. Here are five project-tracking software tools that can come to the rescue.

When Medical Mutual Insurance of Ohio learned that 11 computer disks mailed to state retirement groups in Columbus had not arrived, the insurer contacted the U.S. Postal Service. There was reason for concern: The disks contained personal information on 36,000 Ohio retirees ...

When it’s time to reinvigorate your company, what do you do? Whose ideas do you listen to? How do you know whether your customers will stick with you through change? Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is in the process of using customers’ advice to update his recently battered brand ...

Use your laptop to squeeze more productivity out of meetings: Share data; brainstorm better; take and distribute meeting notes digitally.

Upon becoming chief information officer of the NBA in 1999, Michael Gliedman found unconnected pockets of IT all over the NBA. Now his shop runs the league’s digital video archive and web site. He’s helping the NBA’s 30 teams capture data on their fan base. He’s also constantly evaluating new technologies.

These days, most small businesses rely—either somewhat or heavily—on software applications. According to a new report by PC World magazine, here are 15 of the best free and low-cost software tools for powering any small or midsize business.

Whether or not you’re actively looking for a job, it pays to ratchet up your professional image outside your office. (After all, you never know who might google your name.) For that, the e-portfolio can be your most powerful tool.

Drowning in information overflow? Try managing your Outlook with these handy little helpers.

HR staff at McLean, VA-based Capital One wanted a training program that would allow users to learn at their own pace and free them from sitting in classrooms and at their computers. So they piloted the Audio Learning Program, passing out iPods to about 300 employees and creating digital audio training programs ...

One free application and one online tool can help simplify your work: KallOut (www.kallout.com) and TinyURL (http://tinyurl.com).

These days, if you’re not linked in to an online network, you’re not really networking. Log on to these web sites to set up your profile and start connecting with new, inspiring people.

Want an endless supply of good passwords? These online tools can supply them, or even store them for you.

Is it possible to clear out an e-mail inbox—and keep it clear—daily? Yes. But you must be willing to change your behavior, says Michael C. Hyatt, president of Thomas Nelson Publishers, who writes on his blog about taking control of his own inbox.