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Security Watch: U.S. Copyright Registry is a scam

Web site Domainnamewire.com reports domain-name scammers have developed a scheme using messages sent from the �U.S. Copyright Registry.� ( Full post )

Mixed Nuts: Etsy's flying colors

Etsy is one of the Web�s major success stories. It�s the definitive hangout for people making and selling handcrafted items. ( Full post )

Avoiding Hollywood, Cyan Worlds allows two fans to develop a Myst movie

Story appears in the May 10, 2008
edition of The Spokesman-Review. ( Full post )

Quick, helpful financial information: It does not cost a MINT

By Tom Sowa
Staff writer
Aaron Patzer used to spend an hour each Sunday using Quicken, entering his bank statement and trying to keep track of investments. It was always a struggle and chore, he said. ( Full post )

Find the status of your IRS stimulus check

To find out the status of your federal economic stimulus check, visit a site created by the Internal Revenue Service at
https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/ IRServlet?app=IRACTC. ( Full post )

No one won .TXT's Video Challenge No. 17

No one provided the right answer to the .TXT Video Challenge No. 17 from last week. ( Full post )

TorrentSpy slapped with largest fine ever for copyright violations

A now-defunct site that allowed users to download copyright music and video was hit with a $111 million penalty in a federal court after a two-year trial. ( Full post )

Web .0 will be available to media during the Beijing Olympics

Chinese officials are refusing to guarantee that they won't censor the Web during this summer's Olympic Games.

In recent reports, the officials say the the international media will still be able to function normally. Officials from China's Technology Ministry took a somewhat odd opportunity to speak about its censorship plans during a press conference after the Olympic torch relay crossed Mount Everest. They said that while the government would be able to "guarantee as much [access] as possible," there's no way that China would turn off the Great Firewall entirely during the Games. ( Full post )

49 state AGs sign privacy agreement with Facebook

Attorneys general across the country on Thursday announced an agreement with Facebook to protect kids online. ( Full post )

New version of OpenOffice now in beta

Those of you who care about open source desktop options should rejoice at news that (finally) a new release of OpenOffice.org 3.0 is around the corner. ( Full post )

Find out the status of your IRS stimulus payment check

This you should like. ( Full post )

Two other Northwest sites win 2008 Webby awards

A follow up to the previous post about Spokane-based Artocracy winning a voter's choice Webby Award. ( Full post )

Wigix looks to knock eBay down a peg or two

Wigix is a Silicon Valley startup out to stop eBay from dominating the online person-to-person selling market. ( Full post )

Spokane's Artocracy wins a People's Choice Webby Award

Spokane's creative art selling Web site, Artocracy.org, came out the winner in the People's Voice division of this year's Webby Awards. ( Full post )

Penny Arcade takes a stab at Grand Theft Auto

OK we're now definitely big fans of Penny Arcade.
See our story down below from last week ("Two dorks from Spokane take Penny Arcade to the Rain-Slick Precipice"). ( Full post )

Mixed Nuts: The list of best-watched films in the U.K. Yeah, of course it's on the Web

Did you know the movie �The Wicked Lady� is the ninth-most-watched feature film, ever, in England? ( Full post )

Taking your apps on the road, USB-style

Portable USB drives have changed the way people move about and connect with the Web. ( Full post )

Two dorks from Spokane turn online comic strip into Penny Arcade empire

From Mead to money: www.penny-arcade.com ( Full post )

Viewzi makes searching all about visual panels

The latest in the long line of �visual� search sites is Viewzi.com. Like others such as Microsoft�s Tafiti and Spacetime3D, Viewzi produces a panel of Web slides, each one offering a different take or collection of search results. ( Full post )

Artocracy's Megan Murphy beats the drum for votes

As of last evening, Megan Murphy, owner of Artocracy.org, said she was within striking distance of the leading vote-getter in this year's Webby Awards (in the Webby category for art sites). ( Full post )