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Webkinz.com: How much is that doggy in the virtual window?

Throw away those beanie babies; they are old news. There is a new sheriff in munchkin town.

Webkinz.com is a Web site children can join and interact in an online society while adopting a physical representation of the pet. The catch is that a Webkinz stuffed animal must be purchased first, followed by entering the "secret code" found on an attached tag. The cute plush toys have been quite popular, grossing over $45 million last year for Canadian gift company Ganz, the creators of Webkinz. Like its TY Beanie-Baby predecessor, Webkinz also has a high collection value, … Read more

More Windows cursor patch trouble

Microsoft has documented more problems with a "critical" Windows patch released earlier this month.

Three additional applications can cause trouble with the fix, bringing the list of programs that conflict with the update to eight. The MS07-017 patch repairs a problem in the way Windows handles animated cursor files. Cybercrooks have jumped on the flaw to install nefarious software onto vulnerable PCs through rigged Web sites.

A new issue with the fix has also come up. Some customers have experienced trouble when printing from SQL Reporting Services to a Printer Command Language (PCL) printer, Microsoft said. The company … Read more

Microsoft preps 133 patches for Windows DNS hole

Microsoft plans to have a fix for the recently disclosed Windows Domain Name System service flaw available by its May 8 patch day at the latest.

"This is a developing situation and we are constantly evaluating the situation and the status of our development and testing of updates," Christopher Budd, a Microsoft Security Response Center staffer wrote on a corporate blog Tuesday.

Microsoft is working on 133 separate updates for the problem, Budd wrote.

"One in every language for every currently supported version of Windows servers," he wrote. "Each of these has to be tested … Read more

$3,000 for a cuddly social-networking toy?

In the '80s, it was the Cabbage Patch doll. In the 1990s, Beanie Babies.

What better toy to rule the millennium age than with a social-networking stuffed animal? A relatively Web-savvy concept by gift company Ganz, these plushies hope to usher in elementary-level children into the Web 2.0 realm.

Webkinz--stuffed animals that also live virtually through avatars that interact with others in their own online world--have become increasingly popular since their introduction in 2005. Like Beanie Babies, certain they're available for a only limited time, then retired. On eBay, the retired Webkinz Cheeky Pet Dog and Cat … Read more

Patch your holey jeans with an iPod

Practically every other day we see a new article of clothing that can support the iPod. So why not actually make clothes out of the iPod itself? Apparently someone has finally made a reality out of that logical extreme.

Shiny Shiny happily reports that a company called PodDress is offering several types of iPod Nano patches that it claims are the "first and only embroidered cases" for the ubiquitous music player. The line ranges from "Classic" (black and white) to various neon colors and--of course--the "Swarovski Special Editon." Is there anything that Swarovski won'… Read more