Web Sites

It should be one of the most popular spots on the Web. Instead, sex.com's mish-mash of blah links and boring essays (paired with a design our 10-year-old cousin could improve upon), makes it a what-could-have-been wasteland. That could change, though. Cnet.com reports that the site, originally registered by the founder of match.com, will be put up for auction next month as part of a foreclosure (which, apparently, happens even in the Web world). The domain name was reportedly last sold to a company called Escom LLC, which was apparently so troubled that there was a book written about the legal proceedings, "Sex.

Between dawn and dusk on a frigid day, Hal Wierenga and fellow birders combed greater Annapolis for canvasback ducks, double-crested cormorants and dozens of other species as part of the 110th annual Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. And they relied on nothing more than binoculars, decades of experience and an uncommon level of hardiness. Despite a century of tradition, the count - and birding in general - is headed for change as some watchers abandon the worn pages of their field manuals and pencils for things decidedly more modern: electronic field guides and social networking sites.

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Santa showed up with the click of a mouse. Old St. Nick - the pudgy, wrinkled fellow that kids write letters to and visit at the mall during holiday season - is steadily being replaced by Cyber Santa Claus. Instead of waiting for kids to see him in person, Santa chats online. He texts. He tweets. He e-mails. He sends cell-phone pictures and makes videos. Santa's transformation is being ushered in by companies that seek to keep up with the Internet's growing influence, particularly with children.

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Santa showed up with the click of a mouse. Old St. Nick - the pudgy, wrinkled fellow that kids write letters to and visit at the mall during holiday season - is steadily being replaced by Cyber Santa Claus. Instead of waiting for kids to see him in person, Santa chats online. He texts. He tweets. He e-mails. He sends cell-phone pictures and makes videos. Santa's transformation is being ushered in by companies that seek to keep up with the Internet's growing influence, particularly with children.

Baltimore County has unveiled a single-stream recycling program that can help decrease the tonnage of trash and ultimately the costs involved in transporting waste to landfills and incinerators. The county will launch a Web site today, www.BCrecycles.com, that will explain how the program is expanding to weekly pickup of all recyclable items and increasing the types of items that can be recycled. Beginning Feb. 1, residents can put out for weekly curbside collection one 34-gallon container with all designated items, including paper, bottles and cans.

Motions and other court documents in the first death penalty trial since the state adopted restrictions on capital punishment this year will be posted on the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Web site, court officials said. Lee Edward Stephens is one of two prisoners charged with the 2006 fatal stabbing of Correctional Officer David McGuinn at the now-closed Maryland House of Correction. His trial was recently postponed until Aug. 2. No trial date has been scheduled for the other defendant, Lamar C. Harris.

A new Web site can help holiday shoppers avoid potentially dangerous toys this year as well as report the availability of harmful products. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group has launched http://toysafety.mobi, which can be accessed via computers or Web-enabled cell phones. The site includes tips for avoiding toys that might present choking hazards for children under 3 years old or products that are dangerous because they are too loud or are made with toxic chemicals such as lead.

When ex-University of Maryland pharmacologist Clinton McCracken began ordering narcotics from a Web site in the Philippines, he joined a booming marketplace that has exploded with the Internet's rise. But federal officials say consumers face real risks as they increasingly go online to buy pharmaceuticals of all kinds. "You don't know where these are made, or how they're made or under what conditions," said Ilisa Bernstein, the Food and Drug Administration's director of pharmacy affairs.