CIARAN PARKER is Director of Research for the London-based Business Communication Forum and an adjunct lecturer in the business school at Dublin City University. His research interests include international economics, media issues, the cultural impact of the Internet, and Irish history. Also a translator and commentator on African, Asian, and Eastern European Affairs, he is co-author of The Games Companies Play: An Insider's Guide to Surviving and Winning in Office Politics and Fool's Gold: Cautionary Tales of Greed, Speculation, and Delusion.