Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - A record number of electronic tax filings Tuesday swamped computer servers for the company that makes the Turbo Tax software program. Electronic filings poured into the company at a rate of 50 or 60 a second, flooding servers with data.

The company, Intuit, alerted the IRS to the problem, hoping filers whose returns missed the deadline because of the problem won't be penalized. The IRS is investigating, but has not promised the affected filers won't be fined.

There's a scam out there that's using popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey as its hook. The Illinois Attorney General is warning people about a mailing that says they've won a sweepstakes. They're to cash the check enclosed, then send back a "clearance fee" to receive a lump sum. However, the check is counterfeit, and they never receive a lump sum. The Oprah Show did sponsor a sweepstakes, but all winners have been notified.

Finally, AOL is getting ready to roll its fall line-up, in a traditional move by a nontraditional medium. The internet provider has five interactive programs that it will offer this autumn, about a month before broadcast networks. AOL is looking to take advertising revenue from the networks by giving them an alternative to regular TV. The new head of AOL is a former NBC executive who is familiar with providing free programming sponsored by advertising.