TechAddress

What’s Your Favorite Website?

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:31:05 +0000

As virtually anyone would agree, it’s fantastic when technology works when required. But if a new report published today is any indication, the matter of when things function properly is still something we’re forced to reckon with. Perhaps things could be better. Much better.

This is the 800 pound gorilla in the room, folks. No question about it.

It’s not necessarily downtime that’s the biggest concern, though that is in fact quite serious. Instead, it’s the customer service element which matters most, and if we take a look back on the last year or two, there’s still a way to go to reach resounding satisfaction.

Pay Attention, Executives! Get Yer Heads in the Game!

I think it’s safe to say we’ve all had encounters with corporate agents and representatives that have done little but waste time or produce no significant results for the better, whether they be from a cable company or ISP (those are frequently one and the same) or wireless carrier. The resolution process can be a painful one, to say the least.

Yes, there are improvements made. Companies like Comcast have found a relatively effective way to communicate with customers through Twitter, or through corporate blogs that address concerns with reasonable haste and without having to employ a massive army of phone call responders. But all too often these changes have been implemented after the proverbial profanity has hit the fan.

That isn’t to say companies should hire weathermen to preempt chaos on the customer end, but the sheer act of communicating through channels that the client would prefer their issues be addressed through could be a very valuable change for the better that too few businesses reach.

Take a look the latest tech troubleshooting figures from Pew Internet. There are two sets of data involved that are key:

How consumers seek/conduct tech support:

38% of users with failed technology contacted user support for help.

28% of technology users fixed the problem themselves.15% fixed the problem with help from friends or family.

15% of tech users were unable to fix their devices

2% found help online

Consumers’ attitudes about various forms of tech support:

72% felt confident that they were on the right track to solving the problem.

59% felt impatient to solve the problem because they had important uses for the broken technology.

48% felt discouraged with the amount of effort needed to fix the problem.

40% felt confused by the information that they were getting.

It should be said that these figures are establish on the premise that nearly half of technology in the hands of consumers doesn’t work properly at one point or another, either through user error or technical faults.

But look at the first segment. 28% of users fix problems themselves; 15% were unable to fix their devices; and 2% found help online.

Wounds That Needs Healing

In aggregate, that’s a pretty unfortunate reality. I imagine a good number of self-diagnoses and self-fixes are done because of disillusionment of traditional help channels. Still 15% of everyone involved with the survey were unable to get back to normal, and only 2% found help online. That last number needs massive improvement.

The second set of data is telling in that the issue of impatience came up in more than half of all instances when attitudes were questioned. And if you grab the four stats together in succession, the feelings were of confidence, impatience, discouragement, and confusion.

Not good. Not good at all.

Patients Outnumber Doctors

This tells me people aren’t getting the help they need. And that if they were given the appropriate resources and guidance by companies, the costumer service bogeyman would exist no longer. At least not to the extent that it exists today.

There are entities like Fixya that are clearly fighting the good fight in the FAQ/repair/troubleshooting world, and the website’s receipt of $6 million in funding earlier this year is definite indication of demand for such a forum. But more has to be done.

Heck, it’s 2008, and it can still require hours of time to accomplish things so menial as a billing problem or email access configuration. To quote a world-famous American politician: “We can do better … Yes, we can.”

Imagery provided by iStockPhoto/DNY59/Barisonal; TBO.com

Source:Mashable!

If you have one, you need to let us know today.

With less than 12 hours to go in the nominations round, this is your last reminder: we need your nominations for the Open Web Awards, our yearly hunt for the best websites and services, to be submitted before midnight PST Sunday - that’s tonight! The sites with the most nominations proceed to the voting round next week.

You are perfectly welcome to nominate your own site, and we’ve provided instructions on how to embed the nominations widget into your company blog: HOW TO: Get More Nominations in the Open Web Awards

Nominate NOW!

Mashable Open Web Awards

Nominations close Sunday, November 16th at 11:59 pm PST. Nominate now and start campaigning! And feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button!

Visit our International Blog Partners…and Become One!

There are nearly 100 Open Web Awards Blog Partners representing 18 countries and 7 languages. Our selection represents tech blogs of all varieties: some well known, some up-and-coming. We encourage you to visit them and subscribe.

We will also be promoting these partners throughout the contest, and each blog partner receives one vote per category to decide the “Blogger’s Vote” Winners.

What’s more, Mashable is still accepting applications for Blog Partners!

OWA Sponsors Love The Web

The Open Web Awards is made possible by our sponsors. By supporting the Open Web Awards, these companies reward and encourage innovative web technologies. We can’t thank them enough for sharing our passion: building great web companies.

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

“Infinite and Instant, Zazzle is the only on-demand retail platform for consumers and major brands, offering billions of retail quality, one-of-a-kind products, most of which are produced within 24 hours.”

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

100+ Open Web Awards Blog Partners - Nominations End Sunday

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:30:17 +0000

Source:Mashable!

We’re pleased to announce that the 2nd Annual Open Web Awards is now powered by over 100 International Blog Partners. Our Blog Partners represent 24 countries and 9 languages to bring the Open Web Awards global and to the masses. With over 35,000 nominations already, we are nearing the end of the nominations period.

Nominations and Blog Partner applications end Sunday, November 16th at 11:59 pm PST. Please cast your nominations now and promote your favorites. Remember, like the recent US elections, this is a people’s choice contest. Only the top nominations will advance to the first voting round.

Nominate NOW!

Mashable Open Web Awards

Nominations close Sunday, November 16th at 11:59 pm PST. Nominate now and start campaigning! And feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button!

Visit our International Blog Partners…and Become One!

Blog Partners by Country (alphabetical):

Argentina

Martín Aberastegue (Spanish): Not so personal weblog about information security, programming (my two big hobbies), SEM/SEO/SMO/SMM (my work in real life).

My Open Studio (Spanish): Blog about graphic design, with resources, tutorials, downloads and everything that a designer needs.

unblogged (Spanish): A spanish blog about tech, music, internet, business, lifestyle and nothing. Yeah, nothing.

Australia

Crenk (English): A weblog dedicated to reviewing some of the newest and best web and mobile apps on the web. Additionally, we have insights and analysis on some of the hotest topics from around the net.

Freedom to Differ (English): A blog that speaks freely about legal and policy issues facing the media and the internet

The Inquisitr (English): A better mix of tech, media, pop, movie and odd/ funny news delivered fresh daily.

Canada

AL6400 Blog (English): Thoughts and insights revolving around issues dealing with business, making money and personal financial management.

The Entrepreneur Journey of a Business Minder (English): Business Minder is here to help people obtain business mind set and succeed in their business journey

Cardeo Design Blog (English): Cardeo is a design blog focusing on web design, wordpress, css, and general design news and links.

Danny Brown (English): Social Media PR from Danny Brown informs, shares and listens - all things that social media should be.

Indyish (English): Indie arts community with group blog, live shows and downloads, streaming mp3’s and video, news and reviews.

Rise of the Innerpreneur (English): A blog for conscious entrepreneurs. Grow your business and your self. Ideas, resources and advice for the Cultural Creative entrepreneur.

T4 Blog (English): The travel & tourism industry is all about connections. Connecting people, places, and cultures. Using new technologies, social media, and social networks can help to foster the connections that we share.

China (Hong Kong)

WinandMac (English): We have written many tutorials and tips, with daily updates of

interesting news about Windows, Mac OS X and more.

Czech Republic

BuzzMag (Czech) : Leading Czech blog covering Web 2.0, social media, venture capital and startups since 2005

Krasohled (Czech): Krasohled is Czech blog about web design, web 2.0, marketing and new technologies.

Ecuador

Saturn Attacks (Spanish): A blog focused in things about culture and news, specially the kind of news than maintain relation with the geek world

Estonia

Friizu Blog (Estonian): Word internet, tech and start up news in estonian language.

Kristjan in Tallinn (Estonian): Kristjan talks about new startups, widgets and internet marketing. Sometimes little tips and tricks about blogging.

Germany

GoMo News (English): A daily addictive b2b blog on mobile barcodes, mobile search and mobile advertising. Read by 35,000 professionals it doesn’t re-write the news it cultivates the news.

Netzkobold (English): This is the personal weblog of Frederik Herman writing about social media, communications, viral, buzz and word-of-mouth marketing.

Wuensch-Media (German): Multimedia & Internet Consulting. Covering Cool Websites, Online Tools, Start-Ups, Social Media, Digital Media and Mobile Media.

Greece

Technology & Strategy Consulting (English): Writing about Technology and Renewable Energy issues.

India

FoneArena - The Mobile Weblog (English): FoneArena has been covering the mobile space with an aim to provide the mobile enthusiasts and mobile buyers the latest information about mobile phones with an eye on the Indian SubContinent.

Indian Web 2.0 (English): Web 2.0 and Technology Startups news Web Blog profiling next generation Web sites, Web2.0 applications and services in India and across the Globe.

Not Just Another Blog (English): A Tech blog with news, views and reviews (with special focus on Web 2.0 and Windows Softwares)

Readers Zone (English): A blog that talks about Software, Hardware, Security, Tips, and updates around Microsoft Technologies, Google and Yahoo!

Teknobites (English): A weblog dedicated to technology news, free software, web apps and online tips

Ireland

mobiForge (English): The worlds largest independent mobile developer community

Israel

Group Writing Projects (English): Is the definitive website for all things related to the blogger favorite, group writing projects.

SeoVice - New Media Daily (English): SeoVice Brings together the new media community to share ideas and insight.

Jordan

ArabCrunch (English): ArabCrunch is dedicated to profiling and reviewing Arab originated startups and existing Internet and Mobile companies in 2.0 and beyond.

Osama Romoh’s Blog (Arabic): Sarcastic articles written in Arabic by the famous Jordanian blogger Osama Romoh.

Latvia

RotorBlog (English): RotorBlog covers some of the hottest and more interesting social networking happenings and reviews of latest web applications.

Malaysia

BloggerUnited (English): A social blog aggregation and blogger networking website. The idea behind bloggerunited.com is to help bloggers gain readership and visibility to their blogs.

Saad Kamal : Search Marketing Blog (English): A blog focused on Search Engine Marketing including Search Engine Optimization, Web Analytics, Social Media, Professional Blogging & Buzz Marketing.

Netherlands

Ondergrond.TV (Dutch/English): Amsterdam subcult videoblog focussing on music, parties, fashion, films and expo’s.

Richard Kastelein Online (English): Mullings of Social Media Strategist Richard Kastelein

Nicaragua

SwordFishCode (Spanish): A team of Geeks writing about Technology, specially about internet mashups and web 2.0 services. Also you can find curious notes about new inventions and other things.

Peru

Tecnologia Diaria (Spanish): KnxDT is behind Tecnologia Diaria, a blog about Technology, Software, Hacking, SEO, Geek Stuff, Startups and more.

Philippines

Daily Contributor (English):Your Daily Contributor for News, Technology, Sports, and Entertainment

Romania

Computer Zone Blog (Romanian): Windows XP, Internet, Security Online, Tweak your Windows, IT articles.

Graphic Rating (English): Graphic Rating is a visual oriented blog covering latest news, events, product and services related to graphic design.

Tha Slayer (English): Web Design blog which provides free wordpress themes,web design & development tutorials along with general wordpress news and tweaks

Zamolxis (Romanian): Zamolxis is a Dacian god that often gets speeding tickets. Herodotus considered the Dacians “the bravest and most honest of the Thracians”.

Spain

RDD Blog (Spanish): “A blog about the best’ blogs” . The ideas behind the blog, to search and view thousands and millions of blogs that are today the best, the most original, the most successful and certainly the most profitable and publicize why and how its success has earned and continue making money, Web traffic and popularity.

Turkey

Vebiki (Turkish): Vebiki is one of the most remarkable Web 2.0 blogs in Turkey. Guys at Vebiki write new startup news from Turkey to World and reviews detailed…

United Kingdom

Blah, Blah! Technology (English): Is about delivering opinion on technology trends that shape lives, shape businesses and shape the future.

Kasumi’s sexy SEO blog (English): Initially started as a research tool on the theme “sex sells” now evolved into a blog all about SEO, online marketing and web 2.0

Millwood Online (English): Millwood Online is a personal and technology blog covering the interests and findings of a web developer and web startup founder.

United States of America

/Message (English): Operating manual for the social web revolution

4CInt (English): Educating the world on the latest web design and internet marketing strategies.

Alex de Carvalho (English): I write about social media strategy, public relations, journalism, and the burgeoning technology scene in South Florida.

Altaide Valley (English): Altaide is a company passionate about new and high technologies (yes we are “geek” people), surveying last market trends and share this passion

Anything Geospatial, AnyGeo (English): Anything geospatial supports GISuser.com covering the geospatial Web, LBS, location technologies, mobile mapping, and location-aware social networking.

Bait, Tackle, Ice, Advice & Beer (English): BTIAB is about creating and supporting conversations around organizational change, leadership development, branding, and creating cultures of creativity & innovation.

Bill Hartzer (English): Talks about marketing on the web, social media, and search engine marketing issues.

BinaryWolf (English): BinaryWolf provides an ongoing list of links to topics that interest me. It’s a mixed bag of serendipity!

Black Web 2.0 (English): Black Web 2.0 covers website and application launches plus culturally relevant and mainstream Internet industry news from an African-American perspective.

Blog the Change You Wish to See in the World (English): A personal blog of Clinton Schaff, highlighting topics including social media, online communities and people-powered politics.

Bub.blicio.us (English): Covers the social economy, offering insight into everything 2.0 and providing a lens into the social landscape that’s shaping the tech economy.

The Caffeinated Blog (English): Kari Rippetoe blogs about how businesses can utilize social media and engaging content to connect with customers and improve their online brands

Celebridiot (English): Celebrity gossip, scandals, and pictures from around the world updated daily.

ChurchCrunch (English): We are a technology blog covering businesses, ministries, marketing, trends, products, services, news, strategy, research, and anything else that is (or may prove to be) effectual in sharing Christ.

Collective Thoughts (English): Welcome to the new wisdom of crowds. Each member of Collective Thoughts is here because not only are they a known or rising star in their own field, but they also have a passion and unique understanding on social media. Together, we make up Collective Thoughts

Conversational Marketing Blog (English): Features insights from BJ Cook into the conversation architecture used by companies to create engaging customer experiences.

dashPunk (English): For fans, by fans, SF news, views, and reviews

Direct Marketing Observations (English): This blog is about content marketing, social media marketing and marketing. Not always on point, but points usually well taken.

EclipseMagazine (English): Celebrating our 11th anniversary this year, EclipseMagazine.com is one of the oldest Entertainment News Networks on the Web. Come and get your own Entertainment Blog at EM.

FaceReviews (English): Social News Reviews & Trends: Rating, Reviews and News blog covering facebok; multiple social networks and related platforms.

The Flack (English): This weblog attempts to shine a brighter light on the subtle role public relations plays in politics, popular culture, journalism, business/finance, entertainment, technology, social media, consumer marketing and sports.

Girls in Tech (English): An organization focused on women’s entrepreneurial and innovative achievements in technology across all sectors.

Google Inside (English): Google Inside covers everything Google related. Everything from rumors, acquisitions, new strategies and more!

The HighLife (English): Your WORLD. Your CULTURE. Your SCENE. Music. Photography. Art. Writing. Your destination for discerning taste and culture

How To Split An Atom (English): A blog that explores the intersections of business, technology and society.

I’m Not Obsessed (English): A celebrity gossip website which reports pop culture news, current fashion trends, and publishes the latest paparazzi photos.

Jacob Morgan’s Blog (English): My blog covers social media and relationship marketing and talks about the tools and strategies that are needed to succeed

Juicysnake (English): A blog about Social Media, and general rantings of a lunatic about various items on the web.

KillerBlog (English): The place to go to get the scoop on startups and the stories behind them and the entrepreneurs driving them.

The Kitten Lounge (English): A blog that covers fashion, style, beauty, food and music.

Left The Box (English): A blog written by Samir Balwani about social media strategy and online marketing. Learn how to make the Internet help your business.

Live Internet Marketing Blog (English): Internet Entrepreneur, SEO/SEM Engineer, Web Developer Matt Brooks reviews on internet resources, awards, seo tools and new sites.

Managing the Gray (English): Podcast and blog focusing on the ever changing world of social media and new marketing.

Marcellus Blog (English): An exploration into building the pillars of the online media democracy

Marketing Pilgrim (English): Daily internet marketing news with expert analysis and opinion thrown in for good measure.

Mequoda Daily (English): Daily tips for publishers and marketers based on in-depth analysis of successful magazine, newsletter and special-interest websites.

MyTechOpinion (English): A comprehensive technology base for the real estate industry. We provide product reviews, how-to articles, and technology specific strategies for real estate professionals.

OpenJason (English): Social Media, Web 2.0 Technology, and Open Source Technology - Killer Tips, Tricks, and Tools.

Outbrain Blog (English): the outbrain blog contains information on widgets, recommendation systems, corporate happenings and other relevant content revolving around the evolution of discovery on the net.

PitchEngine (English): PR meets social media at PitchEngine, where PR pros, agencies, journalists and bloggers gather to share and discover new media.

Pleasure and Pain (English): A blog about making stuff easier and more pleasurable to use, written by NYC-based user experience designer Whitney Hess.

PR Sarah Evans (English): A public relations professional and social media freak just living the dream.

sCommerce (English): A self-hosted blog site for news and stories on Social Commerce and Social Sourcing edited by Craig Agranoff

Sociable Blog (English): Social networking news blog focused exclusively on social networks, but also regularly writes about startups and venture capital.

The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp (English): Highlights the latest news, tips and trends surrounding the small business and entrepreneurial community.

Steven Sanders (English): I bring blogging and affiliate marketing together to teach other bloggers how to harness the power of the internet to create wealth.

Stuff We Like (English): There’s a lot of stuff in the world and we attempt to cover it all in our blog and video shows.

TechZulu (English): TechZulu is about creating a community platform for technology and media companies. TechZulu is focused on covering, discovering and connecting all the great things happening in the growing tech world.

Usability Counts (English): A blog about usability, social media, content management and SharePoint development. Sometimes we’re funny!

WebConnoisseur (English): Long-time Webby Awards judge and award-winning online marketer’s thoughts on search, social networks, web analytics and everything else web-related.

Webmaster-Source (English): Blogging tips, design advice, and WordPress tutorials. Everything you could want to know about blogging and Web 2.0.

The Web Outside (English): Exploring the New Media Triad (web, mobile, and out-of-home) and the growing “outernet”

WhatCelebsWear (English): WhatCelebsWear brings Hollywood’s hottest fashions and sales right where you want it!

Wired PR Works (English): Blurring lines between branding, marketing, PR, SEO and social media. Published by Barbara Rozgonyi for conversation starters and community keepers.

Yoono Community Blog (English): The Yoono Community Blog is a social media / Web 2.0 blog covering all aspects of the subjects and covers bay area events.

OWA Sponsors Love The Web

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

Award Sponsor

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What’s Your Favorite Wiki?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:33:50 +0000

Source:Mashable!

This article is part of the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services.

Wiki software can be seen just about everywhere, from corporate intranets to human-powered search engines to the world’s biggest wiki – Wikipedia. As the popularity of wikis has grown, so too has the number of different companies providing software for them. We recently took a look at more than 30 different providers of wiki solutions, all of which offer a slightly different twist on the idea of collaborative editing. Let us know which is your favorite by making a nomination using the widget below:

Make Your Nomination

Mashable Open Web Awards

Spread the Word

Feel free to elaborate on your nomination in the comments, or try to gain more support for your favorite service by copying the widget to your blog (click the “Grab This” link in the widget above)!

Support Our Sponsors

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

Prize Sponsor

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

What’s Your Favorite Mobile Application?

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:33:17 +0000

Source:Mashable!

This article is part of the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services.

It has been a huge year for mobile applications, led by the launch of the iPhone App Store and followed by the release of Google Android and its first handset – the G1. Along the way we’ve seen both the big sites like Facebook and MySpace launch powerful mobile apps, as well as breakouts designed specifically to take advantage of new mobile technologies, like iGolf and Brightkite.

We’ve covered a ton of these applications, many of which can be found in some of our resource lists:

∙ 15+ Free iPhone Apps to Navigate Your World

∙ 11 iPhone Apps That Will Clean Out Your Junk Drawer

∙ 18 iPhone Drinking Apps to Get the Party Started

∙ Android Apps Worth Paying For (and some that aren’t)

∙ Google Android Market Goes Live with 50+ Apps

Which mobile app is your favorite? Make your nomination using the widget below:

Make Your Nomination

Mashable Open Web Awards

Spread the Word

Support Our Sponsors

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

Prize Sponsor

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Open Web Awards: 25,000+ Nominations

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:39:58 +0000

Source:Mashable!

This article is part of the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services.

As much as we appreciate you reading Mashable, we realize you probably spend at least a little bit of time perusing some of the celebrity gossip blogs. And if you’re really obsessed, you might even read blogs maintained by actual celebrities, or participate in a celebrity’s social network (just not Nick Lachey’s, we hope).

Some of these outfits have turned into mainstream media operations, with things like TMZ’s syndicated TV show and Perez Hilton himself making regular appearances on MTV and VH1. Who does the best job of serving your celebrity gossip fix? Nominate your favorite using the widget below:

Make Your Nomination

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Support Our Sponsors

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

Prize Sponsor

Source:Mashable!

Depending on your familial makeup and your level of social engagement with peers and colleagues, gift giving can be easy, moderately cumbersome, or far too time consuming for your liking. To those who fit the last demographic, and perhaps the second as well, there is Webgiftr to consider.

At first glance, Webgiftr can seem a bit lacking in substance. If you’re interested in an Amazon-sized venue for product ideas shaped around birthday celebrations, wedding anniversaries, graduations, etc., you’ll probably be disappointed with this engine. Yet, give it an extra bit of attention, and it can be surprisingly worthwhile.

It doesn’t have tons of things to show. Just browse it for a minute and this will become evident. Instead, it is about finding an easier way for people who know one another (and are willing to forge ties across the Web) to make better buying decisions for those special occasions.

A Diamond in the Rough

You’ll need to forgive the service for not having the best performance among gift giving aids in operation today. It’s somewhat slow-going, and the front page isn’t as well developed as first-timers might wish it to be - some buttons seem completely useless, for instance. And as you proceed to subsequent stages, you may find yourself waiting and waiting some more.

But there are things I like about Webgiftr that you too may find worth the quirky character and the idle time. If you enjoy smart design, you’re likely to warm to the layout very quickly. And from your account dashboard to your friends roll (which you’ll need to fill if you want to make any good use of the service) to your profile of interests to the search features for retailers, restaurants, and charities, everything is intuitive to use. It’s the small things that really make you recognize the value of Webgiftr.

Worth the Effort

It may take a while for users to establish solid member networks of their own on top of the tools provided by Webgiftr to make social and holiday calendars more easily managed. But if you along with friends and family happen to have the “sticktoitiveness” to assemble a system in which you’re not scrambling for ideas as your BlackBerries or iPhones or whathaveyou alert you to special occasions, this service can offer a more streamlined and less haphazard approach.

Source:Mashable!

We’re pleased to announce that the 2nd Annual Open Web Awards, our yearly search for the best social websites and services, surpassed 25,000 nominations this morning, making it our most successful Awards to date (current count as I write this: 26,304). Some tidbits about the Awards:

–The most successful company so far has been nominated by 3,793 people!

–25,000 nominations in one week = an average of 370 nominations per hour since launch!

–That’s 6 nominations every minute!

–The vast majority of companies have only 1 or 2 nominations: in many categories, 3 or 4 nominations will currently get a company to the voting round

–The undecided can find summaries of each category in our Open Web Awards section

–Nominations end midnight Sunday, and the sites with the most nominations proceed to the voting round. We’ve produced a post explaining how to get more nominations for your company.

We’d of course like to thank every one of our Blog Partners and sponsors for getting the Open Web Awards off to a flying start!

Nominate NOW!

Mashable Open Web Awards

Nominations close Sunday, November 16th at 11:59 pm PST. Nominate now and start campaigning! And feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button!

Visit our International Blog Partners…and Become One!

We will also be promoting these partners throughout the contest, and each blog partner receives one vote per category to decide the “Blogger’s Vote” Winners.

What’s more, Mashable is still accepting applications for Blog Partners!

OWA Sponsors Love The Web

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

What’s Your Favorite Fashion Site?

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:31:34 +0000

Source:Mashable!

This article is part of the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services.

Getting dressed is pretty easy (and not even necessary usually) for those of us that work from home as bloggers, but for everyone else, fashion can be a big deal. We’ve covered tons of different websites that try to make fashion easier, ranging from those who cover the latest fashion news to applications that let you rate what your friends are wearing.

To get an idea of some of the sites vying for top fashion site, check out our 25+ Sites for the Fashion Minded. Then, nominate your favorite using the widget below:

Make Your Nomination

Mashable Open Web Awards

Spread the Word

Support Our Sponsors

Platinum Partner

“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”

Gold Sponsors

“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”

“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”

Prize Sponsor

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.