A 'fat rat' that snuck into an electric substation in Stockholm and caused a three-hour power outage at its central train station brings back memories of a gnawing squirrel that took down a Nasdaq data center.

One of the toughest things about managing twenty-somethings, say older IT managers, is working around their sense of entitlement.

Is it just me or have people gotten a little too snap-happy?

As Guido Sacchi sees it, there has to be a better way for IT organizations to truly understand the requirements of business managers and end users and translate those into effective solutions. Because the way most IT organizations have traditionally gone about it just doesn't work, he says.

When it comes to IT meeting end users' expectations, says Sacchi, "We fail."

The other day I had the good fortune of having lunch with Tim Stanley, the CIO at Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. I had scheduled a series of meetings in Las Vegas and had hoped to catch up with Tim since he’s such a dynamic IT leader and his 700-person organization is constantly working on extremely cool stuff. Fortunately, he had some time available in his hectic schedule which is further complicated by his additional roles as Harrah’s chief innovation officer and head of gaming.

There's been a lot of speculation about how a U.S. recession may impact the IT jobs market.