Tacoma software firm Topia Technology has partnered with Jamcracker Services Delivery Network to offer a service that allows computer users to easily share files of up to 65 gigbits.

Topia's technology, called SKOOT, allows businesses to send and receive large files such as photos, video news footage, advertising story boards and full-color brochures, the company said.

The technology works regardless of the operating system involved and bypasses the technical hassles of conventional file transfer protocol systems, Topia said.

A 30-day free trial is available for download at www.jamcracker.com

Conventional economic thinking would say that airline traffic ought to have dropped this winter.

Why?

Airlines have raised fares three times in recent weeks.

The economy is dragging.

The price of oil is heading moonward.

But major airlines say their traffic is up over the same period last year.

American posted a 1.2 percent gain. Delta's traffic is up 4.5 percent. Continental says it carried 4.1 percent more paying passengers, and Northwest posted a 2.5 percent gain. Southwest gained 12 percent.

Only United among the larger airlines posted a loss, 3 percent.

And SeaTac's Alaska Airlines' traffic jumped even more than its larger rivals'. February traffic volume increased by 13.5 percent, the airline reported last week.

Still economists say the figures are an aberration. The poor economy ultimately will be reflected in airline ticket sales.

The airlines, for obvious reasons, hope those economists are wrong.

It was last summer that I blogged the news that the owners of Pierce County’s Faith Dairy were selling the herd and closing the farm – along with closing one of the state’s last home-grown, drive-thru dairy outlets.

Now, a group of citizens in the Waller Road - Summit area have formed a coalition and claim to have support from 362 petition-signers and 10 businesses that represent more than $50,000 in monthly retail dairy sales. The goal is to keep the dairy alive and keep the farmland as farmland – instead of letting developers construct strip malls and tract homes.

If you’re interested in joining up, visit www.savefaithdairy.org.

You say you don’t file a tax return – but you still want your stimulus check? Well, now you can file for that check for free.

The Internal Revenue Service says individuals who normally do not file a tax return – but who must file this year to receive their 2008 economic stimulus payment – can now use the IRS Free File program to help them file returns for 2007.

IRS and several of its partners in the Free File Alliance can now accept returns submitted by people who have no legal requirement to file other than to receive their payments. People in this category should take care to use only those companies listed on the Free File - Economic Stimulus Payment at www.irs.gov.

“All you need to do is follow the simple instructions provided by the software. It’s easy, and it’s free,” says Acting IRS Commissioner Linda E. Stiff.

=> Read more!

JetBlue Airways, the New York-based low-cost carrier, was the best performer in on-time arrivals at Sea-Tac Airport in January according to a new report from the federal Department of Transportation.

The airline's two daily flights arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled time 85.5 percent of the time during January.

Worst on the list was ExpressJet Airlines at 58.1 percent on-time arrivals during 2008's first month. ExpressJet flies from Sea-Tac as Delta Connection.

Here's the list of airlines that the DOT tracks and their on-time arrival ranking and percentage at Sea-Tac in January:

1. JetBlue 85.5%
2. USAirways 81.0%
3. Southwest 78.5%
4. Delta 78.3%
5. Alaska 74.3%
6. Frontier 73.1%
7. Northwest 72.8%
8. Skywest 72.3%
9. Continental 70.5%
10. Hawaiian 69.9%
11. American 67.6%
12. United 59.4%
13. ExpressJet 58.1%

Overall, 73.4 percent of flights arrived at Sea-Tac on time in January. The departure record was better: 77.5 percent of flights departed the airport on time during that month.

The best time to depart from Sea-Tac during January was between 6 a.m. and 6:59 a.m. when 91.7 percent of flights left on time. The worst hour was between 7 p.m. and 7:59 p.m. when only 62.7 percent of flights departed on time.

The pattern holds for most airports: early departures are more likely to be on time. Performance deteriorates pretty steadily during the day as weather, air traffic snarls and other issues delay flights. After 10 p.m., when traffic lightens, the on-time performance begins to improve.

Tacoma's Hotel Murano, formerly the Sheraton Tacoma, has thrown off the wraps of its extensive hotel art collection. You've no doubt seen the Murano's collection here in The News Tribune.

But the Murano isn't the first hotel to make art its axis. The investment in art, particularly in glass art, gives the Murano a de facto membership in a small but growing group of art hotels worldwide that make art the centerpiece of their decor.

Here's a link to a slide show on Budget Travel.com with an inside look at some other hotel's romance with art.

The state Department of Financial Institutions has given notice that it intends to revoke the license of Assurity Financial Services to do business in Washington.

The department said that since December 2005, when Assurity was licensed as a consumer loan company in Washington, the Colorado-based lender has mailed thousands of solicitations to Washington homeowners. The mailers offer the possibility of hundreds or thousands of dollars in refunds, and many appear to be from the federal government. In small print in a footnote, Assurity discloses the primary purpose of the mailer-to solicit the recipient for a home loan.

=> Read more!

Bangladesh's national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airways has agreed to buy eight Boeing long-haul jets for a total of $1.26 billion.

The airline said it needs to update its fleet to renew overseas connections and return it to profitability.

The airline's board has approved an order for four Boeing 777-300ERs and four 787-8s.

The carrier said it will pay $182 million each for the 777s and $133 million each for the 787s.

The airline's announcement gave rare insight into the prices airlines actually pay for Boeing airliners. Ordinarily airlines and Boeing don't reveal the actual final price for competitive reasons. They instead talk about the list price for the airliners while acknowledging that they likely have gotten a better deal.

The list price for a 777-300ER is now $250 million to $279 million. The 787-8 lists for $157 million to $167 million.

The first 777s will be delivered in 2013, and the first 787s in 2017. Boeing has agreed to help find aircraft to lease Biman to cover the time until the aircraft are delivered.

Four Washington companies, Starbucks, Costco, Microsoft and Nordstrom, have placed among the top 20 "most admired" U.S. companies on a Fortune magazine survey.

With four companies on the list, Washington topped the list of states on the list. California was second with three.

On a list of the world's most admired companies, three companies with Washington connections made the list: Microsoft, Costco and Boeing.

Northwest companies also scored well when Fortune polled executives, board members and analyst within specific industry categories.

Northwestern Mutual Life, parent company of Tacoma's Russell Investments, was first in the Insurance and Health category.

Starbucks ranked second in the Food Services group behind McDonald's.

Nordstrom topped the General Merchandisers category.

Costco was at the top of the Specialty Retailers group.

Federal Way's Weyerhaeuser Co. and Seattle's Plum Creek Timber finished second and third in the Forest and Paper Products sector in the Fortune poll.

Microsoft was third in the Computer Software group. And Bellevue's Expedia and Seattle's Amazon.com finished third and fourth in the Internet Service sector.

Oregon's Nike finished first in the Apparel group.