With electricity prices reportedly set to rise faster than inflation in the long term, organisations are looking for new ways to encourage employees to cut down their electricity usage. Gamification - the application of game mechanics like levels and experience points to non-game contexts - may provide an answer to reducing end-user power consumption. [ + ]

The big stories this week include a critical security hole in Java, Lenovo’s plans to restructure its consumer and business brands, and a cautionary tale of New Zealand users unable to access the cloud-based Office 365. [ + ]

While IT delivery is typically seen as a technical discipline, Telstra’s CIO sees that it’s more about culture and attitude. Agile is more than a technical buzzword - it’s being woven into the fabric of Telstra’s IT operations. [ + ]

If you think Windows 8 tablets are the answer to the mobile device management problem, maybe you need to change your thinking. [ + ]

The Petraeus scandal - the story of the resignation of the Director of the CIA following an investigation into harassing emails sent by his mistress - provides not just an insight into the lives of top spies, but also serves as a reminder that no one is exempt from digital privacy breaches. [ + ]

Three years ago, concepts like BYOD, big data and the cloud were barely on the CIO’s roadmap. Today, they dominate discussions whenever technology is mentioned in the C-suite. Of those, big data is the one that can potentially have the most impact on your company’s bottom line. [ + ]

The Asia Cloud Forum, an online media portal, has been created to represent the interests of enterprise users, governments, telcos, vendors, policy makers and others with a stake in the development of cloud computing in Asia.

Big data is here and IT leaders are wondering how to successfully pull together the technical and business elements to deliver a coherent strategy that delivers value. Anthony Caruana spoke with a panel of experts to find out how to deliver big data success. [ + ]

Now that we know that the Mayans got it wrong and there’s probably not going to be an apocalypse before next year, we can start looking at 2013 and beyond. [ + ]

The idea of a 20-hour work week sounds perfect. But will the road to this utopian dream bring us to nirvana or some darker place? [ + ]

The technology industry is growing rapidly - in third place just behind dairy and tourism for GDP - and there are products and services bearing Made in New Zealand being used all over the world. However, as technological innovation gets more advanced, so too does the competitive landscape. [ + ]

While unified communications has been around for a while, how can it work in multivendor environments where cloud services are still new? How do we move from bare metal systems to cloud and what does that mean for the user experience? [ + ]

Every one of the 10 major mobile browsers fails to meet security guidelines recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for browser safety, according to a study from the George Institute of Technology in America. [ + ]

In the news this week: a failed US/Canadian bid to limit ITU regulation of the internet, fugitive John McAfee’s continuing woes and underwhelming sales figures for Microsoft’s Surface. [ + ]

Nucleus Reseach says that BYOD will be in decline next year. We're not so sure. [ + ]