Crowdfunding may seem too good to be true: you have a great idea, you create a web page, and a month later, you have enough money (hopefully) to bring your idea to fruition. For countless artists, writers, and filmmakers, sites like Kickstarter have let them do just that. Here are some tips and tricks for making a great crowdfunding request to get your amazing idea off the ground.

First, a little on crowdfunding. Kickstarter and Indiegogo are the two major crowdfunding platforms. Users can visit their pages and "pledge" amounts to get certain rewards, including products. Each reward should be an item -- a T-shirt, a movie, a video game -- and each product should be something people want. Most crowdfunding efforts compartmentalize rewards into different tiers and leave one "entry level" tier that includes a personal note or postcard from the creator.

Yesterday, I wrote about STFUParents and my view that some of the postings were an invasion of privacy. Many disagreed with me, contending that anything on the Internet is public. However, if that were true, I would write the sequel to the bestselling book Go the F-ck to Sleep. Because that book began as a joke on the author's Facebook page. Maybe Adam Mansbach won't mind. Hey, Adam, it was on your Facebook page! It's mine now, allllll mine. Bwahaha.

Apparently some people -- like the coughSan Diego Padrescough -- think that emails too should be sent around for mass consumption. When the baseball team got an angry email from frustrated job seeker Taylor Grey Meyer, they decided to circulate it.

There are so many things I love about shopping online: It's convenient, it's easier to comparison shop, there's no loud club music, and I can do it when I have time (11:30 p.m.), and it's just a wee bit cheaper because there's usually no sales tax. Guess which advantage we're about to lose? That's right -- we might have to start paying sales tax. That could bump online purchases up by 5 percent.

Congress is considering a new bill that would allow states to force major online retailers like Amazon and eBay to charge sales tax. And it even has Republican support. So how much is this going to cost us?

Last year, I found myself with a medical issue that required several trips to my doctor. I also had to check in with her quite frequently and give her almost hourly updates on my condition. So when she pushed her card across her office table and casually said, "Just email me," I was shocked, I tell you, shocked!

It would be such an awesome and natural thing to email your doctor and ask for basic health advice, but how many of them do it? You know you've got to wait all day for a phone call, or even several days, or maybe a couple of weeks for an actual appointment. But now more doctors are finally stepping stepping into the new millennium.

I guess it was inevitable: In the wake of The New York Times expose on the horrifying working conditions for Apple-product factories, people are talking about a boycott. The LA Times, Forbes, Daily Beast, and other major media outlets are daring to ask the question, should we be boycotting Apple?

So far the boycott has been mostly talk. The only organized effort I've found so far is this Boycott Apple Facebook page. Any other efforts to boycott have been too small and under-the-radar to make much of a difference, yet. But for those of us who are deeply concerned about these working conditions, is a boycott even the best strategy?

You've probably heard by now that websites the World Wide Web over are joining in the blackout in protest of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act, nothing to do with Pippa Middleton, unfortunately). Most alarmingly, Wikipedia has joined the protest -- so good luck winning that Ryan Gosling trivia contest today.

SOPA is a serious threat to thousands of organizations and website creators, not to mention millions of users. But here's what I'm worried about: SOPA could kill all the laughter and fun on the Internet. Do you want to see the LOLcats die? I don't. Here's some of the fun the SOPA protest blackout is depriving you of today.

I love Amazon, because you simply can't beat their prices on a variety of items. And I admit, there have been times I've gone into Barnes & Noble, found a book I wanted, then turned around and ended up buying it -- along with several others -- on Amazon. I'm sure we've all done that at one point or another, and the online shopping giant has caught onto our fickle ways! That must be why they're running a promo this weekend, on Saturday, December 10, that actually encourages customers to walk out of regular brick-and-mortar stores.

The gist: You download Amazon's Price Check app, and with the geolocation feature turned on, you head into any regular store and take a picture of three items you want to buy. Then, when you go home and purchase those exact items from Amazon instead, the site will give you a 5 percent discount, up to $5 off each item for a total of $15 in savings. Smart and savvy, yes. But a bit harsh? Yeah, I'd say so.

Today's the day! It's finally here! The iPhone 4S has arrived in stores! And even though there was originally a lot of grumbling about the new model not being an iPhone 5, sales are looking fab! Apple fans are still lining up, waiting to be among the first to get their hands on it. You might not guess that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak would be waiting in a line just like the rest of us. But he totally was!

Last night, "Woz" -- as he's sometimes affectionately nicknamed -- sat in front of the Los Gatos, California Apple store in a Pico armchair, sipping Diet Dr. Pepper, and scanning his e-mails on his white iPad. He took photos with Apple customers and even signed a few Apple devices. But despite basically being Apple royalty, someone who could pull probably half-a-string to get the new iPhone, he says he just wants to be like any other early adopting geek.