Here at Network Computing, we sit down for dog chow too. No, we don't build hardware or software platforms for a living, but we do consume the stuff about which we write. We use it to help make our technology purchasing decisions -- decisions we hope will solve our business problems.

This month's cover package -- "Intranets A to Z" -- provides a great example of this credo. The package does exactly what its title implies: It walks you through all the key technologies you'll need to build a corporate intranet this year. Sure, intranets have been around for a long time (in IT years anyway), but the manner in which they are deployed and the purposes they serve have changed.

Ron Anderson, who was recently appointed our lab director, provides a business and technology road map in the opening section, writing about all the pieces of the intranet puzzle and their business reasons for existence. For the testing aspect of this package, Ron spent the past few months raking collaboration tools over the coals. Actually, it wasn't just Ron. He and a cast of questionable characters -- our editorial staff -- have been testing the features and functions of these products for what seemed to them like an eternity.

Why get the whole crew involved in testing? Well, we're in the midst of this little internal collaboration project, the goal of which is to let us work more efficiently when building each issue. What better way to find the right solution than to test these collaboration tools for our own diabolic purposes? We get to pick a solution that best fits our needs; this way we can consume the editorial product we built. At the same time, you get to assess which products will be the best fit for your corporate intranet and collaboration initiatives.

My point is that Network Computing isn't just a magazine; it's a business, and it's probably not too dissimilar from your business. We face many of the same business and technology issues you do, and when the time comes to make a strategic purchase for Network Computing The Business, we approach it in the same way we recommend you do it.

Yes, indeed, we do eat our own dog food.

But enough with the dog food references. There's another phrase I've heard many times since coming to this publication: "Wicked cool!" No, vendors aren't shouting it at us. It's heard most often from our technology editors (or maybe just from me) when they come across some new technology or solution that's just plain ... cool. Such is the case with technology editor Lori MacVittie's review of Web pads (see "ProGear's an Easy-to-Swallow Tablet"). Check these units out. They just might be a nice fit if you're an always-on-the-go type of person.

But even though I think Web pads are wicked cool, I will not sit up and beg for one.