(FORTUNE Small Business) – Make sure there's extra money in the piggy bank for some wrist rests. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expected to put its new workplace standards into effect by year's end, despite resistance from the Small Business Administration, which says the provision is too costly. OSHA's latest ergonomics proposal requires companies of all sizes to revamp workplaces to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders, called MSDs. The agency says the cost for industry--about $4.2 billion--will be offset by a reduction in worker compensation claims for MSDs, which account for more than $15 billion each year. Opponents say small businesses have a lower percentage of incidences of MSDs and that OSHA's estimate of a $150 investment to bring a workstation to standard is low-balled--one height-adjustable chair alone costs $600.

In the spirit of our Big Idea issue, here's a business that went right off the radar screen only to be revived by--what else?--the Internet. If you were once a fan of S&H Green Stamps, you know that the Brady kids redeemed them for a television and that Andy Warhol elevated them to pop art. But even founder Thomas Sperry's great-grandson has to admit Green Stamps were no more than a kitschy Americana classic. Sperry's heir recently revived the company as Greenpoints.com. Greenpoints gives shoppers virtual "points" for both online and offline purchases, redeemable for such items as phones, airline tickets, and tablecloths (sorry, no toasters). To create a program hip enough for 1-Click shoppers, Greenpoints relied on old-school techniques, including focus groups, which came complete with a cultural anthropologist. Greenpoints won't release revenue figures, but it's clear an expensive PR offensive is paying off: Lots of merchants are signing on.

Want your business to stand out? Move away from the crowd. That's what Andrew Roth and Glenn Horowitz did when they opened their gallery on Manhattan's Upper East Side, a part of town known for its wealthy residents and conservative atmosphere, not its edgy art scene. "We would have been just part of the scene downtown," says Roth, referring to the "artsy" Chelsea and SoHo neighborhoods. Specializing in rare books and photos, the year-old Roth Horowitz gallery has attracted huge crowds with recent shows like "Witness," a moving and sometimes horrifying exhibit of 60 postcards, books, and artifacts chronicling lynchings from 1883 to 1960. Another show, "Provoke," showcased rare Japanese photo books of Hiroshima and sold out, says Horowitz. Their successful strategy: Add controversy to location. If anyone understands what the Internet can do for your business, it's A. Magazine founder Jeff Yang. He was just another print-media guy, producing a nice little magazine. But his only sources of money were friends and family. VC money? Ha! No way. Then Yang wised up. The Asian American magazine, based in New York City, merged with San Francisco Web-design and Web-marketing company Monkey King Media late last year. The East Coast-West Coast marriage spawned A. Media and quickly turned Yang into--magic!--a dot-com magnate. Now investors are throwing money at the company. For example: $4 million recently from Himalaya Capital and individual investments from partners or directors at Lehman Brothers and other top brokerages. "The phone has been ringing off the hook with investors," says Yang.

If you've been hanging on to the hope of tax credits for IT training expenses--and you happen to operate in Arizona, Maryland, or Virginia--you're in luck: Those three states might finally pass the tax breaks this spring. This is not the first time tax credits have been on the table, however. Last year, Maryland's governor vetoed the measure. A national bill, championed by U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and with a cost of $52 million over five years, is stalled. Although some critics slam the bill as welfare for the digital economy, Ed Dennison, head of the Arizona Software and Internet Association, contends the credits will create more highly skilled workers who garner higher wages and thus pay higher taxes.

I scream for good hires. At least that's the recruiting strategy of Integrated Communications & Entertainment, known as ICE to the digerati. The Web-design firm wanted to reach Silicon Alley's tight supply of digital market talent who would be attending a massive local meeting. Because sponsorship spots inside were sold out, ICE had to resort to novel ways to attract attention, says CEO Doug Keeley. Playing off its name, the company parked a Mister Softee ice cream truck in front of the conference. It plastered the truck with logos and handed out free cones and coffee drinks. Keeley says the tactic worked. There was a 30% increase in visitors to their job page. So far, ICE has gotten 20 employment inquiries from people who attended the ice cream social and has hired four employees.

And now, from the Quote Hall of Fame, plutocrat Donald Trump on the Internet economy: "This dot-com nonsense? I think a lot of it will go away. Maybe it's all a mirage. It's pretty fragile. Every single IPO coming out goes through the roof. I just don't see anything tangible. I like to see and feel and touch something--bricks, mortar," Trump tells the New York Time's Maureen Dowd. ...And if you've ever wondered why the government subsidizes family farms but doesn't give your family business an allowance, you may have a friend in U.S. Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.). "Why should the family farm be treated any differently from the family shoe store?" Frank asks.

For most people, playing computer games is a way to make a boring life bearable, but Marc Prensky has made game playing profitable. Prensky has always been a creative type (he was a lute player on Broadway), but he somehow got stuck working in the human resources department at a major bank. Repeating the same wonky lectures to indifferent audiences inspired him to liven things up. Prensky pulled out his love of Pong and other computer games to create game-based training programs. The result: Straight Shooter! Deutsche Bank (when it was called Bankers Trust) used the game to make learning the company's policy on derivatives fun by answering multiple-choice questions while navigating a city riddled with villains and clients on cell phones. Prensky spun off his game-based training program to his own venture. Games2train.com of New York City creates Web-based videogames to teach employees about everything from ethics to engineering. His latest: a sexual-harassment-prevention certifier. Although Prensky won't release revenue figures, he says he has sold millions of dollars worth of training games.

It was a small step for one company but a giant symbol for all small companies. The high-tech firm Aeroflex made an unusual jump from the New York Stock Exchange to the increasingly hot Nasdaq a few weeks ago. Bear Stearns analyst Peter Barry says that by joining its peers, Aeroflex, which did $157 million in sales last year, is less likely to be overlooked in the tech group. That may lift its price. It clearly lifts the profile of Nasdaq, which in the old days was a starter home for companies on their way to the Big Board.

We would have named it Apathy.com. But we like the concept: Take the typical American voter's disinterest in politics, and make some money on it. BetterVote.com scours voting records and speeches of candidates and even reminds you to vote. The beauty part: It chooses your candidate based on a ten-minute online survey asking your political stance on such issues as health care, the environment, and gun control. More than 30,000 people have taken the survey. The founders, self-proclaimed political junkie Charlie Rentschler, 25, and his tech-guru brother Adam, 27, say they have no partisan agenda. The brothers, who grew up on a hog farm in Southern Indiana, say they just want to get rich and do good. They launched the site in February with $500,000 in angel money from family and friends. Revenues come from selling ads, licensing the technology, and selling the data they collect to politicians and special interest groups. The site will eventually expand to include state and local politics.

Are you looking for an alternative to Crate & Barrel? Stockgift.com is a new registry option where instead of signing up at Tiffany, you can sign up for Tiffany--stock, that is. The registry was founded by Gino Heilizer, who says he was haunted by an expensive cheese grater he and his fiancee registered for and used once. He raised $250,000 from friends and family, hired a Web designer and four employees, and launched in February. The site buys the stocks on behalf of registrants and collects a $19.95 fee for each stock purchased. Heilizer won't disclose the number of Stockgift.com registrants but says the site gets 20,000 hits a day.

by Carlye Adler with Nancy Beiles, Arlyn Tobias Gajilan, Beth Kwon, Julia Lawlor, Rathe Miller, Maggie Overfelt, Edward Robinson, Julie Sloane, Jane Tanner, and Tara Weingarten