In an ideal world, local telephone calls are free, voice-over-IP makes international calls inexpensive and telephone network operators scramble to deliver the best service. Will this happen in SA in 2002? Don`t hold your breath.

A lottery prediction software package has caused much controversy, with some calling it "Snake Oil" and others authoring their own high-tech programs to ensure lottery luck. ITWeb investigates.

It all started with an idea to trade Pez dispensers over the Internet. That idea snowballed into a proliferation of auction Web sites, most of which base themselves on the granddaddy of them all - eBay. Where will it end? Financial editor Iain Scott investigates.

Home networking is taking off. It may be a while before we see fully automated households, but network specialists claim we have the infrastructure and potential. It`s all about shared resources and "intelligent" appliances.

Laurika Bretherton, ITWeb`s Chicago correspondent, takes a closer look at denial of service (DoS) attacks and examines ways of combating them.

With the millennium bug threat behind them, companies are facing the question of whether their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can take them into the e-commerce age.

The process of taking business to the electronic frontier has been much hyped in recent months, but the mental acrobatics involved are largely undiscussed. Basheera Khan goes in search of the secrets to e-business success.

ITWeb financial editor Iain Scott asked analysts whether Y2K is still having an effect on technology stocks and found that the bug, e-commerce and Nasdaq are likely to influence the IT index for some time.

Y2K professionals may be looking to the future with trepidation as a flood of technical skills has swelled the market. Chris Tredger examines who may be at risk of receiving a post-Y2K pink slip.

Even though security and Y2K fears put a damper on local online shopping over the festive season, most South African e-commerce sites still reported an increase in Christmas cyber bucks. Phillip de Wet reports.

ITWeb took a few industry specialists by the elbow and posed the question of what they thought to be the single most important IT event or development in 1999. This is what they had to say.

Smart card technology promises to facilitate seamless and turnkey solutions for the consumer and business executives on the run. Bronwen Kausch investigates the latest smart card developments.