In 2005, a controversial court case pitched one man against the state of New York.  The man was Thomas Huckaby of Tennessee, and his offense, according to the New York State Tax Department, was that he was – to put it simply – a telecommuter. 

Did you know that September is “Telecommuting Mom’s Month”?  Well, apparently it is.  From the folks who brought you InYourPJs.com, Workaholics4Hire.com, TelecommutingAnswerLady.com, YouCanWorkFromAnywhere.com, and TelecommutingMoms.com, comes (pause here for a breath) TelecommutingMomsMonth.com.  The event creator and coordinator is Nell Taliercio (the “Telecommuting Answer Lady” and owner of TelecommutingMoms.com).

Does the Internet have a finite capacity?  According to some researchers, congestion on the Internet is “inevitable because the Internet is essentially a public resource whose users are generally not charged fees according to the amount of data exchanged.” (Huberman and Lukose, Social dilemmas and Internet congestion. Science News Magazine, July 1997); these researchers suggest that when users think that “their actions have little effect on the overall performance of the Internet”, they become greedy and tend to consume more of the Internet’s resources.

In Connecticut, a program called TelecommuteConnecticut is making headway in fulfilling its mission to “promote the viability of telecommuting as a flexible work option which reduces the number of employee work trips and therefore decreases traffic congestion, energy consumption and air pollution”, as research from a number of sources confirms that telecommuting is indeed a practicable alternative for many workers, particularly those residing in large- to mid-size urban centers with substantial road congestion and widely available internet access.  TelecommuteConnecticut provides free consultation services (subsidized by the state) to help Connecticut-based companies develop, implement, and manage telecommuting programs.