We Have Some Smart PPL Here, So...

[Vin DSL]

... help me out with this, please!

What is the significance of 'yxzxw'? I cannot put a finger on it

[Spathiphyllum]

Not that I qualify but just for grins... (If I have an aha!, I'll send it by PM. No sense spoiling everyone's fun.)

         +-----------------------+
        /                       /|
z or w /                       / |
      /     P A N D O R A     /  +
     /                       /  /
    /                       /  /
   +-----------------------+  /
   |                       | /
 y |                       |/
   +-----------------------+
             z or w

Dimensions? y x z x w ? Are we playing by strict rules? If we are, then this fails.

Some mathematical function? Nah, too easy.

Curious web addresses from China? Nah. Hmmm...

Is this for Marilyn or Mensa?

[Vin DSL]

Curious web addresses from China? Nah. Hmmm...

Heh! You're getting warm?

[Ron]

I dunno, but I used to use "xyzzy" as a magic cheat code for an adventure game many moons ago. Does that help? I think the other magic word was "plugh"

EDIT: I googled "xyzzy plugh" and came across this:
http://www.plugh.com/

lol yup. I have a head for totally useless memories.

[Vin DSL]

I used to use "xyzzy" as a magic cheat code...

Getting cold...

[lokki]

is there any context you can give us, Vin?

The simple Google results return Chinese and Russian pages, as well as a host of transformation equations and image encoding methods.

Are you perhaps wondering about a nickname at NukeCops?

[Spathiphyllum]

Um, Alex... I'll take "Words that start with 'Y', end with 'W, and have 'X-Z-X' in the middle" for $500.

Or how about Line 9 of an eyechart read at 20 paces.

Or the source of the next internet worm from China.

Or the name of an up and coming haxor.

Or the license plate of a vowelly-challenged driver.

Or the translated ASCII letters of a phone number in North Carolina.

Or the call letters of a drunk radio station manager.

Or the profane mutterings of a comic strip character.

Are we having fun yet? Is everyone afraid to show their ignorance?

To be fair, the riddle should not be web searchable... what kind of challenge is that? However, context as noted by lokki, would help narrow the world since all of the answers given so far are valid though they might not be the specific one you have in mind.

[Vin DSL]

...is there any context you can give us, Vin?

Somebody left a news submission, in Chinese, on a site I admin. Unfortunately, I don't read Chinese, so I picked through the code, trying to decipher it. I figured code is easier to read than Chinese...

I kept seeing 'yxzxw'. I think they are trying to send a message to the free world, but it's too cryptic!

[Spathiphyllum]

In my best M. Smart impersonation:

"Missed it by that much."

Are there no Chinese readers here?