HOUSTON, Texas -- This year's holiday "Cyber-Monday" showed an unprecedented 26% increase over the same day last year as internet shoppers handed over $608 million to internet sellers. The modern shopping boom is accompanied by interest in modern products, at least in one area where a brand new diamond shape is receiving what we should call "X-plosive" attention over its traditional counterparts, say the folks at Whiteflash.com.

AUSTIN, Texas -- WidowPC, the industry's leading gaming computer boutique, launched the world's first gaming computer designed especially for World of Warcraft players. The PC hardware and software is optimized to play World of Warcraft at the best possible performance and detail. The new machine sports a new form of intelligent networking technology that greatly reduces that amount of lag experienced by the player in World of Warcraft and other massively multiplayer online (MMO) games.

AUSTIN, Texas -- WidowPC, the industry's leading gaming laptop boutique, announced today that they have photographic evidence of actual "Dell laptop customer-hostages" fleeing the Dell campus in Round Rock, Texas. The customer exodus stems from a combination of Dell's exploding laptop fiasco, and WidowPC's price point on their Sting 517D(tm) laptop.

DALLAS, Texas -- The Texas Almanac has partnered with the William P. Clements School of Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University to reproduce their 1936 Centennial Edition.

AUSTIN, Texas -- deverus today unveiled its new, one of a kind, service line, the Vero Hire. The Vero Hire is an on-demand, Web-based software application designed to help background check and employment screening companies deliver new and advanced services to help HR hire and retain productive employees.

DALLAS, Texas -- Finding that perfect holiday gift for a loved one can be a difficult and often time consuming process. Millions of shoppers this holiday season find themselves in search of a unique gift that has a personal touch. Dallas based FunnyBit Studios' "FunnyBio" product allows you to upload pictures of your friends, family or other loved ones and have a personalized DVD made of them featuring them as a movie star, superhero, or even a pop star.

PLANO, Texas -- Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), whose PowerLean program combines the strategies of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Total Productive Maintenance and Energy Management, has selected SigmaFlow's Best Practice Execution System for portfolio project management and implementation of PowerLean's best practice templates.

AUSTIN, Texas -- deverus, today announced it has acquired the Clickable Software assets of 3Peaks Software Solutions. With its market leading suite of applicant tracking products focused on the food industry, Clickable Software delivers world class applicant tracking and management solutions to Fortune 1000 companies.

DALLAS, Texas - Contingent Workforce Strategies Summit -- HotGigs Inc., an innovator in web-based staffing solutions, today announced ContractCentral(TM), a service that helps companies strategically manage their contingent workforce, reduce staffing costs and increase time-to-fill efficiency. ContractCentral automates the sourcing process and streamlines contract management and time invoicing across a company's preferred staffing vendor network.

HOUSTON, Texas -- Infrastruct Security, Inc. will host the security forum 'Perspectives on Suicide Bombing' on South Padre Island, Texas, from October 27-29, 2006. The three-day Forum, for security directors of large corporations in critical infrastructure and first responders, will feature prominent experts' input about how the next suicide bombing attack might affect your business.