When Akimbo in April announced it was making its video-on-demand service available via PC, it looked like another step backward for delivering the Internet via TV.

Move over, Field & Stream. Take notice, Guns & Ammo. Blogger & Podcaster has arrived. Yes, Web 2.0 auteurs now have their own magazine, courtesy of multimedia publisher Larstan Publishing Inc.

Robin Kent is back in the groove. After being forced out as chief executive of ad-supported music service SpiralFrog late last year, Kent has started an agency catering to the digital music business. Co-founded with former SpiralFrog colleague Lance Ford, Rebel Digital will sell advertising and create marketing plans for online music outlets.

Clear channel is tuning into web 2.0, starting a dozen social networking sites for radio stations it owns in major markets. The effort began with the roll-out of social sites for seven contemporary-hit radio stations in cities including San Francisco, New York and Dallas in late April.

You're standing in the neighborhood coffee shop waiting for your morning latte boost. Would you rather be reading the paper, glaring at the barista while signaling him to foam faster, or watching a TV set with localized content from Yahoo, ESPN or CBS?

This June, Court TV viewers will get a chance to test their investigative skills and win up to $25,000 via the 8-Day Mystery Challenge, an online game with on-air and wireless components.

Apparel retailer American Eagle is diving into the branded content arena with "It's a Mall World," a digital comedy series that centers on the lives of a group of teens who work at a mall, including a girl who is employed at - where else? - American Eagle.

Zoiks! Verizon Wireless has come up with a new web 2.0 genre: user-generated comics. As of May, customers of Verizon's Get It Now service can create their own cell-phone comic strips using a series of characters, settings and backgrounds developed by Advanced Mobile Applications and mobile game maker Longtail Studios.

The retro TV trend continues online. Sony Pictures Television this month begins serving up bite-size versions of shaggy-hair era shows including "Charlie's Angels" and "T.J. Hooker" on MySpace. Called the Minisode Network, the new service offers condensed versions - told in three to five minutes - of 15 shows mined from Sony's TV library.

Spring is shaping up as mating season for media companies with a wave of big deals including Thomson Corp.'s  $17 billion merger with Reuters Group and a trio of online ad network acquisitions including Google's purchase of DoubleClick ($3.1 billion), Yahoo's buyout of Right Media ($680 million) and WPP Group's $650 million deal for 24/7 Real Media.