Online

Black Friday is a big day for brick-and-mortar retailers, as they hope to lure consumers in with "doorbuster" sales. But this year's Black Friday was also huge for online sales. ComScore is reporting that e-commerce sales for the Friday after Thanksgiving surged 26 percent over the previous year, surpassing $1 billion for the first time. The ComScore folks are now calling Black Friday -- in retail-speak -- a "multi-channel marketing phenomenon. " Even online shopping on Thanksgiving day is growing, up 32 percent this year to $633 million, according to ComScore.

Retail analysts reported a curious trend this Black Friday. On the traditional first shopping day of the Christmas season, the number of visits to malls, big box stores and other retailers increased, according to the analytics firm ShopperTrak, but the amount spent in brick-and-mortar businesses actually went down slightly from last year's total. Online shopping, meanwhile, jumped ahead of its traditional Cyber Monday kick-off and exceeded $1 billion on the Friday after Thanksgiving for the first time.

Federal agents in Baltimore seized 36 commercial websites on Monday as part of an international operation to stop fraudulent online sales this holiday season, alleging that the sites have been selling counterfeit goods — including athletic gear bearing the copyrighted logos of pro sports teams. Dubbed "Operation Cyber Monday 3," the international effort involved law enforcement agencies from across the United States and Europe, and seized a total of 101 website domains that allegedly sold counterfeit sports gear, jewelry, shoes, movies and other items copyrighted by brand-name companies.

Domingo Catalan powered through the Thanksgiving night crowds to get his children toys. He methodically checked all the boxes on his relatives' wish lists on Black Friday. And before he goes to work as a data analyst for a government contractor on Cyber Monday, he expects to look for online deals to have shipped to his brother's family in Germany. So whom was Catalan, a Crofton resident, shopping for on Sunday morning at Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills? "Me," he grinned, pausing to jerk his thumb toward his chest as he put an Under Armour winter jacket and fishing gear into the back of his Ford pick-up truck.

Just as Tom and Claudia Towles were opening their second Baltimore toy shop four years ago, the recession hit. The owners of aMuse Toys decided to cut back - not on staff or selling space - but on the number of manufacturers whose products they carry. The strategy worked, allowing the owners and small staff to focus on fewer toy makers, learn about their products and share that knowledge with customers. Sales grew, and the Towles now hope to open a third location. "Other companies have tried to cast too wide a net," Claudia Towles said between a steady stream of customers at the tiny but well-stocked Thames Street shop in Fells Point on the day before Thanksgiving.

Domingo Catalan powered through the Thanksgiving night crowds to get his children toys. He methodically checked all the boxes on his relatives' wish lists on Black Friday. And before he goes to work as a data analyst for a government contractor on Cyber Monday, he expects to look for online deals to have shipped to his brother's family in Germany. So whom was Catalan, a Crofton resident, shopping for on Sunday morning at Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills? "Me," he grinned, pausing to jerk his thumb toward his chest as he put an Under Armour winter jacket and fishing gear into the back of his Ford pick-up truck.

Can't crimp? The pros at the Crisco Pie Hotline are back to serve up expert pie-baking advice, recipes and tips year round and for extended hours during the Thanksgiving season. I like this one. The InSinkErator site has a good page on how to repair a broken garbarge disposal . You can also find tips ontthe InSinkErator Facebook page on how not to clog your garbage disposal up in the first place. Through Nov. 21, live pie experts can be reached from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. by calling 1-877-FOR-PIE-TIPS (1-877-367-7483)

The video shows a bus driver fighting a girl - and this time it was shot in Baltimore. A Baltimore bus driver has been suspended by the Maryland Transit Administration pending a police investigation into an altercation between her and a young female student on the No. 40 bus line about 2 p.m. Monday, according to a MTA spokesman. A video of the fight was posted on YouTube and the website worldstarhiphop.com and later reported by TMZ, and had already been viewed thousands of times as of Tuesday night.

The financial disclosure forms filled out by about 1,900 city employees will be entered into an online searchable database, the city's new Chief Information Officer told the city's ethics board Tuesday. "It's a really easy project," said Chris Tonjes, who heads the Mayor's Information Technology Office. Tonjes told board members he planned to appoint a project manager, who will create an online filing system likely for the next round of ethics forms. The deadline for elected officials and many city employees to fill out the form is April 30. At the ethics board's monthly meeting Wednesday, Tonjes asked Avery Aisenstark, the executive director of the ethics board, how many employees are required to fill out the forms.

Here come the #HurricaneHackers . Take a peek at this online Google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SGcfQz13ce4FfB-QHKF3WLwxHoCRGBouuvZn-3aoX0k/preview?sle=true Here you'll find the collaborative brainstorming of people -- hundreds? thousands? -- working to come up with ways to use the Internet to track, analyze, inform, as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast. For as long as we all have power. Already, you see the work of the crowd bearing fruit: Check out the Sandy Timeline (which is still in test mode.)