tech industry

Mike is an aspiring Web developer, but he and his family ended up homeless in San Francisco after he lost a job and an emergency loan from a relative fell through. Now living in temp housing with his wife and two kids, he's still looking for work nearly a year after his last job. Here's his story, the fourth in a DailyFinance series highlighting the economic downturn's often-unseen human toll.

The current M&A wave among tech giants like Dell (DELL), Cisco (CSCO) and Intel (INTC) reveals something new -- and promising -- about the tech landscape, and perhaps for the U.S. economy at large. The titans' shopping spree shows that rather than just bottom-fishing, they're jostling to get in...