Given Google's central role in driving e-commerce traffic through its huge user base, its move into real-world commerce could be a major game changer. An online shopping service that provides same-day delivery of food and other products - that's the basic idea behind a new service now being tested by the company.

Same-day delivery, a concept that bombed during the dot-com era of the late 1990s, is back on the loading dock. Major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Nordstrom, eBay, and Amazon.com are all offering same-day delivery in a limited number of locations. FedEx, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service are partners in these pilots.

In a move to attract the brainpower and creativity of the next generation, and draw them into manufacturing, ThomasNet has announced what it calls the North American Manufacturing Scholarship Program. Up to 30 graduating high school seniors with an interest in manufacturing careers will each receive a $1,000 scholarship to pursue studies at a two-year or four-year college, or a vocational-technical school.