We are conditioned to expect a bargain online but sometimes it's just as cheap to buy at a shop, where you get to touch and feel the product and discuss it with a salesperson, writes Diana Clement.

The Internet Party hopes to team up with Hone Harawira and other electorate MPs to spend more than $1 million fighting this year's election - but as they go live this week, few people have heard of them, and nobody knows what they stand for.

Want to write a book? Make a movie? help someone in need? Hop on to one of the many crowdfunding sites and ask for a few dollars, writes Alan Perrott.

An angry online trader got his revenge on an unscrupulous seller by sending the man the entire works of Shakespeare via 29,000 text messages.

Ultra-fast broadband contract changes don't address the fundamental problems Chorus is facing from wholesale broadband price cuts, say analysts.

Want to be dazzled by an unimaginable range of crafts? Then visit Etsy.com for a jaw-dropping experience. It has more than 25 million items for sale, writes Diana Clement.

Fed up with free-to-air TV? Try a new online service, says Nick Grant.

Google have changed their predictive search function to remove derogatory terms associated with Maori.

What's the future big thing in social media? Social media editor Paul Harper finds a group of Kiwis who think they've found it.

Companies are now getting good impact from social media but a marketing expert says that online discourse has become more volatile, writes John Drinnan.

So Telecom is to become Spark, launch ShowMeTV and become "the Netflix of New Zealand", writes Chris Barton. What a confusing confluence.

Gruesome images have emerged on Twitter that appear to show a Syrian militant group posting live updates as they cut off the hand of a suspected thief.

A government-backed venture investment fund is looking to partner with angel investment groups and the public in crowd funding deals for local start-ups.

Gravity is many New Zealanders' pick to win the Oscar for Best Picture at today's Academy Awards, judging by their internet searches.

Local retailers are being urged to grow their web platforms after strong growth in online retail spending.

It feels like everything has been said in the wake of the death of Charlotte Dawson, including the good, the bad and the ugly, Paul Harper writes.

An online Casanova accused of preying on women he meets on internet dating sites, including one he proposed to after a week, is wanted by police.

Telecom's ShowMeTV should cut another chink in Sky Television's armour built up over 25 years of being a pay television monopoly, writes John Drinnan.