A full-featured Web presence, including the ability to sell, accept payment, and extend credit, may be the difference between survival and extinction in the midst of the Great Recession.

Douglas MacMillan's recent profile of four rookie CEOs at Business Week includes a discussion of developments at online diamond retailer Blue Nile under the stewardship of Diane M. Irvine. Central to the company's success since the beginning of the economic downturn has been a Website upgrade (adding new capabilities to assist users searching for products to buy,) an alliance with Bill Me Later to extend consumer credit, and low overhead due to just-in-time fulfillment and no brick-and-mortar locations.

Monday's article in Business Week raises hope that iPhone users may soon get to choose one of the best-kept little secrets on the Web--the Opera browser.

Norwegian company Opera Software has been creating better alternatives to standard Web browsers since 1995. In a world dominated by the big players of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and now Chrome, some of us appreciate the plucky little David who often seems to be running out ahead of the lumbering Golioths.