Russ is right. Chances are it is a pop up blocker that has been added to your system and activated. If you have added a Google tool bar, deactiveate the pop up blocker. If you ISP has popup blocking, deactiveate that. Ditto for any anti virus, anti sypware etc. programs you are using. If you are using Internet Explorer, go to Tools/Internet Options/Advanced and click on Restore Options to reset your IE settings just in case they have gotten out of whack (technical term.)
If you think it might be happening on the site, send an email to Shawn and ask him. But I have never seen any popups blocked by the site before.
And, that nine year old kid is not such a bad idea!
Good luck,
Monte