The Melon Online, a local web effort I wrote about previously which started as a news and politics talk radio show, has a new look. And a nice one at that.

With a new look comes an expanded vision for the site, judging by the content and categories on its homepage. In addition to news and politics you can now find health, science, arts and radio and visual content.

Sitecrafting, which developed many of the area's best web sites, is again offering Gear Grants to local nonprofits. The deadline to apply is this Friday, Oct. 24. If you're not ready this time, sit tight. The company accepts application each quarter.

The sometimes tumultuous town of Ruston has a new site called Free Ruston. It's essentially a message board where users can discuss. Not much activity there yet, but it's brand new.

A year ago, I was writing about new web sites for Green Halloween, the Tacoma Gnome, Let's Improve Transportation and Charles Wright's blog. Looks like the Green Halloween and Charles Wright blog are going strong. The other two ... not so much.