While I do own several Apple products, I’ve often joked about the cult-like nature of some of the company’s fanatical enthusiasts. The Simpsons captured this sentiment remarkably well in a parody of Apple aired last night on FOX.

Complete with “The Mapple Store,” a “MyPod,” a $1200 “MyBill,” and a Bart voice-over of a “Steve Mobs” keynote, the animated series completely nails the stereotypes of Apple products, employees, and users. Check it out in the video below:

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The Web has been huge for unsigned musicians. Many artists have leveraged social networking tools and music discovery services to find record deals, while others have built large online fan bases. Looking to capitalize on this trend, MSN has added a feature called “Unsigned” to its music channel in the UK, allowing artists to upload music videos and have their work featured on the site.

Unfortunately, that’s just about all Unsigned offers. As a visitor, you can do a simple browsing of the most recently uploaded videos or check out profiles for a few of the bands that MSN has decided to feature. But there are no interesting discovery features, no community, and not much content, other than a few generic articles about how to get a record deal. Additionally, the uploaded process is cumbersome – MSN explains how to do it in a 13 step tutorial.

The one thing that MSN Unsigned does offer is traffic. MSN’s UK site boasts 5.4 million visitors every month. Is that enough to attract a few bands to upload videos? Absolutely. But AmieStreet, Sellaband, and the dozens of other websites targeting this crowd need not quiver in their boots over the arrival of Microsoft in their space.

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A historic Presidential election, an economic crisis, and even Hannah Montana were unable to capture the #1 spot in Yahoo’s yearly rankings of popular search terms. Instead, for the 7th time in 8 years, that title goes to Britney Spears.

In the announcement, Yahoo tries to explain: “In 2008, she made a comeback with a new album, three MTV Music Awards, a sitcom guest star role and documentary on her rise, fall and career comeback.” True, Britney actually had a #1 song this year – her first in a decade. But, Yahoo’s rankings are much more a testament to our collective fascination with pop culture, as other terms in the top 10 include World Wresting Entertainment, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie, and American Idol. President-Elect Barack Obama was only the third most-searched for term.

In addition to the most searched terms overall, Yahoo has posted rankings for most searched politicians, Olympians, news stories, women, famous deaths, economic terms, and “rising” celebrities.

If you’re thinking the celebrity fascination might be a Yahoo thing, think again. In Google’s end of year search rankings for 2007, Britney came in at #3, with terms including American Idol, Anna Nicole Smith, and Paris Hilton blanketing the top 10. Any way you slice it, it’s fairly clear we’re all in the wrong business.

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Help us help you. Mashable would like to know more about you in order to better serve you. Conducted through our advertising network, Federated Media, this survey will enable us to understand your needs better.

As an immediate thank you, seven lucky people will be selected to win a brand new, YouTube-ready, KODAK Zi6 HD Video Camera.

Seven winners will be chosen on Monday, December 8th. So fill out the survey now for a chance to win.

The KODAK Zi6 HD Details:

# Record High Definition video (720p at 60 fps with 16:9 aspect ratio)
# Easily upload recorded footage to YouTube with built-in USB and software
# Expandable SD/SDHC card slot up to 32 GB
# Vibrant 2.4-inch viewfinder; Watch footage on HDTV with included cables
# Go Green: Includes (2) AA pre-charged Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and charger

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The Huffington Post has raised 25 million dollars in funding from Oak Investment Partners, claims AllThingsD.

According to AllThingsD, this puts the valuation for The Huffington Post at 100 million dollars. It’s a big valuation, and the 25 million dollar round is bigger than the previously rumored 15 million. A question that inevitably still pops up after any news such as this is: “How does this make sense? It’s just a blog!” I, however, don’t see why not.

I’ve checked out Huffington Post - which I rarely normally do as I’m not interested in politics - and I don’t see any crucial differences between this site, and any big media publication on the web. They’ve got news, reports, features, they seem to be timely and thorough, and they produce a lot of content. On the internet, that’s pretty much all that matters: whether you’ve got a team of 100 people behind the site or it’s just a one man gig, all your readers care about is the content.

The only difference between a blog and any other media publication is that blogs scale very well. Traditionally, if you want to start a newspaper, you need editors, journalists, graphic designers, you need money for print, you need marketing, and a zillion other things just to start off. And it all costs a lot of money.

On a blog, starting out is not only cheap: it’s free. You just start writing. If you’re good, then you get audience, and you can add all those things mentioned above as you go along. However, this doesn’t at all mean that a blog cannot be bigger than the New York Times: there’s absolutely no reason why it couldn’t. And one day, it’ll happen. In fact, blogs usually understand the new media better than old giants. Valuating The Huffington Post at $100 million may be brave, but it’s definitely not insane; we’ll see if this particular bet pays off.

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Brightstorm makes me feel old. The recently launched website to help teens with schoolwork is introducing SAT prep courses via online video, and is offering 1,000 free courses to Mashable readers (details below).

Back in my day, preparing for the SATs consisted of review books or signing up for an expensive in-person class or tutoring session. Now, using video, teachers walk you through everything you need to know for the Math, Verbal, and Writing components of the SAT exam, which is presumably even more competitive than it was during the college admissions process of the last millennium.

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On a serious note, Brightstorm is the type of service that I’m happy the Internet makes possible. It makes something once reserved largely for kids with money – like SAT prep – available to everyone on the cheap (the service is $49/yr). Further, with video, you can watch lessons whenever you want, as many times as you want; with an in-person tutoring session, if you don’t get it or weren’t paying attention, it’s money down the drain.

If you’re a student or a parent of one studying for the SATs, Brightstorm has made 1,000 courses available for free to Mashable readers. Sign up here.

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The New York Times has an extensive story about Facebook Connect and its imminent expansion to new services: Digg, Hulu, Discovery, CBS and several others. However, looking back at the initial announcement of Facebook Connect, there’s really nothing new here; we’ve known the names of these partners from day one, and the story in NYTimes merely states that Facebook will start expanding Connect in the weeks to come.

The real news, here, is the fact that the NYTimes is running a huge story about Facebook Connect in its printed edition. To the majority of the general public the concept of Connect - a two way platform which enables web sites to connect with Facebook and allow their users to communicate with their Facebook friends on these sites and away from Facebook itself - is probably quite vague. However, social networking is obviously now mainstream enough that a platform connecting social networks is big news.

Incidentally, Facebook currently doesn’t work for me: I can’t login, and I’m annoyed - too annoyed. Being connected with my friends on Facebook or some other social network soon might become a crucial part of my Internet experience; social networking is shaping up to be the first really, really big thing that came out of the web 2.0 phenomenon. Through platforms such as Connect it will become truly ubiquitous, an invisible layer covering the entire world wide web. Whoever controls the biggest piece of the user data/identity pie will be on top of the socnet food chain, and Facebook seems to be doing everything right lately, and this includes getting big press coverage.

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There aren’t many sites with 5 million users that we haven’t heard of, but Power.com is just that, and it’s a name you might be hearing a lot more of after it launches in the US today.

Previously available in Brazil and India, the site bills itself as a “Meebo for social networking” of sorts, allowing you to simultaneously login to accounts on both social networking services like Facebook and MySpace and instant messaging networks like MSN.

From there, you can view new activities from friends on those services, see who’s online across all of them via a buddy list, and use the “Power Communicator” to simultaneously send a message to your friends on any site you have synced with Power.com. In other words, if your friends are spread across many social networks, you can see an aggregate view of their activities and message them on their native network, all from inside the Power.com interface.

Not exactly. For one, the instant messaging aspect is something Friendfeed doesn’t have - if you’ve synced your Facebook, MySpace, and MSN accounts with Power.com, you’ll get a buddy list that shows all of your friends who are signed on to those services, even if they don’t use Power.com. Additionally, Power.com is far more of a two-way communicator. In addition to aggregating activities from your friends across multiple services, it lets you respond to them and send messages to their native app.

So it’s like Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, etc?

Still a bit off. While those services will let you access your friend’s list on third-party websites, Power.com isn’t looking to be your universal profile or social graph. And, it doesn’t matter at all if your friends use it – you’ll still be able to communicate with them using Power.com so long as you’ve synced your account.

Initially, the only social networking service supported by Power.com was Orkut, which, is big in Brazil and India. These are where most of Power.com’s users are currently – Alexa shows that the site is in the top 1,000 in both markets. Additionally, the service has lots of built in viral marketing. For example, when you send a message to friends on other networks, it includes a “Sent by Power.com” message (like Hotmail circa 1996). Power.com also has a communicator app that is added to social networking profiles, allowing friends to contact you through it (similar to MeeboMe widgets).

Will it take off in the US?

At launch, Power.com supports Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, MSN Messenger, Orkut, and YouTube. While there is certainly some overlap between those services, Power.com will become much more valuable when it adds LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, and Skype, all of which are expected to be added soon.

Ultimately, you end up with a combination of an aggregation service like FriendFeed, a multi-protocol IM tool like Meebo, and an all-in-one email application. Like Meebo, getting started is as easy as logging in with one of your existing accounts on one of the supported services, making user acquisition a breeze. The viral features mentioned above should presumably have the same big impact in the US, further fueling growth.

Despite flying under the radar in the US, Rio-based Power.com has already raised $6 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, in addition to well-known angel Esther Dyson. The company has 70 employees.

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Tonight is the final night to thank your favorite websites by putting forth your vote in the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services. This voting round closes at midnight PST, November 30th (4 hours from now).

After that, it’s back to our regularly scheduled startup news until we announce the finalists on Wednesday. Vote now with the widget below, or forever hold your peace.

<iframe width="210" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://mashable.polldaddy.com/widget/x2.aspx?f=f&amp;c=&amp;cn="></iframe> <noscript>Mashable Open Web Awards</noscript>

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Not too long ago, Twitter was constantly lambasted for its lack of reliability. Now, at least one developer is confident enough in the microblogging tool to launch a simple service that notifies users of website uptime/downtime via Twitter replies.

Ding It’s Up is about as simple a notification service as you can find. First, specify how you’d like to be notified (email, SMS, or Twitter). Then, enter your respective account information. From there, the site will send you a message when the site you want to monitor goes offline (or comes back online as the case may be). Conveniently, Ding It’s Up doesn’t require any separate account registration.

Typically, services like Ding It’s Up are used by webmasters who want to monitor their own sites, but increasingly, “uptime notification” is a useful feature for those that depend on services like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Last year, a similar service called Monitwitter launched, but it (also, somewhat ironically) seems to have disappeared due to an expired domain registration. In any event, if one of your responsibilities includes keeping a website online, it’s probably best to subscribe to multiple notification services as a fail safe. For that, check out our list of 13 Free and Cheap Website Monitoring Services.

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

…by winning the Open Web Awards, Dating and Relationships category. First, however, we need to narrow down the field to the top 3 dating sites on the web - take your pick from these 10 contenders and submit your vote by midnight PST tonight to decide who makes it into the finals!

Copenda - social site that finds potential dating partners off numerous sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Match, and other sites.

DateHookup - dating site with free chat and emails.

FlowMingle - guides you through a get-to-know-you with up to 20 people to give you a chance to connect with Mr. or Ms. Right.

Ignighter - a group dating service that lets you learn about individuals in packs.

Luvem or Leavem - a site by women that offers relationship advice for women.

MyTweetheart - leverages Twitter to find your soulmate.

OkCupid - questionnaire based online dating site.

Plenty of Fish - a completely free online dating site.

SpeedDate - gives you the opportunity to speed date via webcam.

zoosk - lets you date using your current social networking accounts (Bebo, hi5, Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster).

Now it’s time to vote for your favorite dating site in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company per day until midnight on November 30th (tonight!).

<iframe width="210" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://mashable.polldaddy.com/widget/x2.aspx?f=f&amp;c=19&amp;cn=0"></iframe> <noscript>Mashable Open Web Awards</noscript>

Feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button! For a timeline, rules and information on our 100 blog partners, please visit the Open Web Awards site.

You got through? Congratulations! Did you know you can create a custom version of our voting widget above to post to your company blog or website? Just visit the Open Web Awards Widget Creator and check the box to preset a category or company. This means your fans only need to enter an email address to vote - simple!

Want others to vote for your favorite site? Of course you do! Why not leave a comment here and on any of our international partner blogs encouraging other readers to add their support? The more you promote your candidate across these blogs, the more likely it is for your site to proceed to the finals!

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.

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

“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.”

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

It’s pretty simple, really. If you’d like to cast your vote for the best How To site online, simply:

1. Choose your favorite from the nominees below

2. Select that site in the widget’s dropdown menu

3. Enter your email address

4. Click Vote

5. We will send you a confirmation email. Be sure to click the link to verify your vote!

The How-To site with the most votes proceeds to the finals next week. Voting ends at midnight PST tonight. Good luck to all the nominees!

A Full Cup - offers how-tos for those seeking coupons and discounts.

Bright Hub - shares information about how scientific facts evolve into the latest technology.

Bukisa - lets you share your knowledge and then get paid when others access it.

Church Media Design - offers tips and tricks for the church media designer in video podcast format.

College-Cram - social learning site that allows students to organize their schoolwork.

eHow - provides video and textual tutorials on hundreds of subject areas.

Howcast - offers professionally made and user generated how-to videos.

Makezine - features thousands of DIY projects for the hands-on enthusiast.

MyTechOpinion - provides product reviews, how-to articles, and technology-specific strategies for real estate professionals.

RepairPal - an in-depth how-to site for car maintenance and automotive repair.

WonderHowTo - a video how-to site.

Now it’s time to vote for your favorite How-To site in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company per day until midnight on November 30th (that’s today!).

<iframe width="210" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://mashable.polldaddy.com/widget/x2.aspx?f=f&amp;c=22&amp;cn=0"></iframe> <noscript>Mashable Open Web Awards</noscript>

Feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button! For a timeline, rules and information on our 100 blog partners, please visit the Open Web Awards site.

You got through? Congratulations! Did you know you can create a custom version of our voting widget above to post to your company blog or website? Just visit the Open Web Awards Widget Creator and check the box to preset a category or company. This means your fans only need to enter an email address to vote - simple!

Want others to vote for your favorite site? Of course you do! Why not leave a comment here and on any of our international partner blogs encouraging other readers to add their support? The more you promote your candidate across these blogs, the more likely it is for your site to proceed to the finals!

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.

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

“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.”

How fun do you imagine it would be to see your design wrapped around paper packets of tea leaves and herbal blends? No, really, how fun?

Because that’s what UK-based Lancashire Tea is looking to strike interest in. The tea packager has tapped The Rehab Agency, a marketing consultancy, to produce three designs, which, along with the original graphic, has been put up for a vote on Facebook, according to Packaging News.

Voting goes until December 1, and interestingly enough, once the results are tallied, if a new design wins top honor, Rehab gets paid in full. If the original gets gold, however, Rehab will, according to managing director Janie Ash, receive a “much reduced fee.”

Of course, Lancashire’s Official Tea Club group isn’t buzzing with activity in light of this month-long event. Its member page touts under 300 people, and just two dozen individuals have bothered to speak their peace about the Rehab project.

But the social networking endeavor is curious nonetheless. Especially when sized up amid other marketing efforts on the social Web.

You may remember that mega toothpaster Crest partly crowdsourced an ad run on YouTube this summer.

And how about Microsoft’s I’m a PC venture, in which the public was urged to record video confessionals and contribute their efforts to a collage of Windows-themed spots? That turned out to be quite the attention-getter.

Let’s not forget the ever-infamous Facebook Beacon experiment, either, in which users were involved in a social advertising experiment that quickly drew majority ire for its seeming underhandedness.

What’s next on the social marketing menu, then? I call for a new design of watermelon. Oval is so over. Square is…square. I pitch another parallelogram. What say you?

Imagery provided by iStockPhoto/Bryngelzon; Crown Melon

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The Google brand is ubiquitous. You’d have to make a concerted effort to avoid all the Googley things that Google has Googled. But what if some of the most useful Google iPhone apps…weren’t made by Google at all?

We think that might be the case: here we present some of our favorite non-Google ways to access Google services on the iPhone. How do you think these compare to Google’s own app?

gSearch [iTunes/$0.99] - The web was recently abuzz with articles noting the enhanced features within the official Google application for iPhone users. And rightly so, I think. Voice search alone is quite a big boost to the download. But perhaps you don’t want such a busy app. Perhaps you only want a Plain-Jane Google Search in widescreen? So be it!

MiGhtyDocs [iTunes/Free] - A free application offering basic read access to documents and spreadsheets from Google Docs, MiGhtyDocs has received above-average reviews from users since its debut in August, and the app’s developers at “V1ru8″ promise improvements down the road.

Savy Soda Text Editor [iTunes/Free] - A self-described “simple text editor with Google Docs synchronization,” Text Editor is barebones but fairly decent-looking. Of course, it switches to landscape mode for heavy inputs.

Savy Soda Documents [iTunes/$2.99] - An enhanced alternative to Text Editor, Documents allows users to access Microsoft Word, Excel, Open Office, and Apple iWork’s Numbers formats. Google Docs, too. It was released earlier this month in the App Store, and is available for $2.99 for a “limited time” only. The price is ordinarily $4.99.

SaiSuke [iTunes/Free] - If you can manage your daily/weekly/monthly schedule with one file within Google Calendar, and wouldn’t concern yourself with the inability to upload data to the cloud, the free download of SaiSuke will serve you well.

SaiSuke [iTunes/$9.99] - On the other hand, if managing a single calendar without two-way synchronization is an absurd notion for your personal and professional affairs, the paid version of SaiSuke will be a godsend. You can specify when synchronization occurs, too, so you’re not connected when you don’t want/need to be.

Fring [iTunes/Free] - This application connects you to far more services than Google Talk alone, but it manages Google Talk accounts nonetheless. If you need to chat, this can be the thing for you. And so long as you keep the application open, you can receive automatic notification of incoming messages.

IM+ Lite [iTunes/Free] - This download can really be everything you want it to be, except for an SMS-like push messaging service. It is my personal favorite among free Google Talk messaging services for the iPhone platform.

Palringo [iTunes/Free] - Setup may not be the most immediate, with Palringo account registration required, but the thing works. Described in as few words as possible, it’s one of those applications that grows on you with time. Graphically, it’s quite good.

IM+ [iTunes/$9.99] - There’s one paramount reason for paying the fee for this premium app: “IM Push(TM) mode to stay and communicate online without having IM+ running.” Enough said.

WebMessenger [iTunes/$4.99] - At half the price of IM+, this is an appealing option, particularly as its developers also pledge that the application will continue to communicate with your chosen instant messaging protocol(s) uninterrupted when exiting the WebMessenger interface.

gContacts [iTunes/$1.99] - There are a number of Google Contacts managers, and gContacts is one of them. It’s on the cheaper side, at $1.99, and it does what it says. Is it worth the cost? It all depends on how you like to access your Google Contacts - alongside your iPhone’s Address Book or entirely separate.

GSyncAir [iTunes/$1.99] - Use this if you want to sync your Address Book with your Google Contacts and would like to spend $1.99 to do the job.

SyncContact [iTunes/$2.99] - Ditto to the GSyncAir description, albeit for the price - and a completely different interface to boot.

BlogWriter Lite [iTunes/Free] - This one works with more services than Google’s Blogger alone, but if you want to connect to your BlogSpot account without sacrificing a penny extra, BlogWriter Lite will do the trick.

BlogWriter [iTunes/$4.99] - The most outstanding feature you get with the paid version of BlogWriter: photo uploads. You can even resize photos for faster uploads. That’s a tip of the hat to EDGE users, I suspect! (A pool in which I proudly include myself.)

MiGTool [iTunes/$3.99] - For the price, you get access to a 1.5-month-old development that promises to transfer data between your device and Google Contacts, Google Docs, Picasa Web Albums, and Google Calendar. And if any one of those aspects misbehaves, you’re urged to contact the developer via the support email address.

That’s our pick of the best! What are your favorites and why?

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New Google Reader for iPhone: Still Neat, Not Very Social

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

Is fashion your passion? Think the web is the new black? Then we want your vote in the fashion category of the Open Web Awards! The top 3 in this category proceed to the finals next week!

Chictini is a social voting site for fashionistas. Think Digg, but better dressed.

Coolspotters lets you discover celebrity fashions and then buy the products and brands used by your favorite celebs.

evolvedfashion is a blog on all things fashion.

Fashionising is a social network for those who love fashion. It features trends, blog posts, and more.

Gift Girl is a gift site that helps you choose gifts for that special someone.

MyHollywood is a social network with fashion news, celebrity gossip, and more.

Ninja Zoo lets you create widgets for what you want, such as custom t-shirts, and then publish that widget on your website.

pikkee makes it easy for you and your friends to pick out what you should wear to get “that look.”

Polyvore allows you to mix and match patterns you find on the web so you can create the best outfit or interior design. Share those designs with the greater community and browse their designs.

Proper Cloth designs custom dress shirts for men.

StyleHop empowers individuals to make educated decisions about style and to share their ideas and inspiration with a community.

T-Shirt Forums provides lists and discussions about t-shirts.

It’s time to vote for your favorite fashion site in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company per day until midnight on November 30th.

<iframe width="210" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://mashable.polldaddy.com/widget/x2.aspx?f=f&amp;c=16&amp;cn=0"></iframe> <noscript>Mashable Open Web Awards</noscript>

Feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button! For a timeline, rules and information on our 100 blog partners, please visit the Open Web Awards site.

You got through? Congratulations! Did you know you can create a custom version of our voting widget above to post to your company blog or website? Just visit the Open Web Awards Widget Creator and check the box to preset a category or company. This means your fans only need to enter an email address to vote - simple!

Want others to vote for your favorite site? Of course you do! Why not leave a comment here and on any of our international partner blogs encouraging other readers to add their support? The more you promote your candidate across these blogs, the more likely it is for your site to proceed to the finals!

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.

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

“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.”

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What’s Your Favorite Fashion Site?

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

Do you want PerezHilton.com to be crowned the top celebrity gossip site of 2008? If not, you need to vote for one of the other contenders in the Open Web Awards “Celebrities and Gossip” category. The top 3 nominees will proceed to the finals next week.

For both fans and critics of Perez’s unique style (above), here are your choices in this category:

Bollyscoops - Digg meets Bollywood in this user-generated news site.

Dishiness - Dishing out the latest gossip.

Gossip Sauce - Sourcing juicy celeb sauce daily.

I’m Not Obsessed - But if you are, you might want to vote for this constantly updated gossip site.

Oh No They Didn’t - And if they did, it would probably be covered on this community-powered gossip channel.

Perez Hilton - Snarky celeb gossip from the self-proclaimed “queen of all media”.

Popvine - An aggregator of news and videos for the celeb-obsessed.

Staragora - Ooh la la! The latest gossip for French audiences.

Superficial Gallery - Shallow news for good looking people.

The Gossip Girls - Gossip by girls, for girls (and curious guys).

Now it’s time to vote for your favorite celebrity gossip site in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company per day until midnight on November 30th.
 

Feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button! For a timeline, rules and information on our 100 blog partners, please visit the Open Web Awards site.

You got through? Congratulations! Did you know you can create a custom version of our voting widget above to post to your company blog or website? Just visit the Open Web Awards Widget Creator and check the box to preset a category or company. This means your fans only need to enter an email address to vote - simple!

Want others to vote for your favorite site? Of course you do! Why not leave a comment here and on any of our international partner blogs encouraging other readers to add their support? The more you promote your candidate across these blogs, the more likely it is for your site to proceed to the finals!

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.

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

“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.”

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Celebrity Videos at HollywoodUpClose
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We’re all iPhone and Blackberry addicts at Mashable HQ, and yet Nokia’s latest launch is so slick that it makes our handsets feel a little impersonal.

Nokia has debuted, in beta, a Flash application called Nokia Build. The pitch: remix your phone. You can design a 100% original Nokia 7310 Supernova cover using simple drawing tools, image uploads and a library of themes and iconography. Then, have it delivered to your door.

Much like NikeID - the site to design your own custom sneakers - this beta launch is a sign that mass personalization is here to stay.

Unfortunately for our US readers, this is one great web app that didn’t debut stateside first: this is the UK launch of Nokia Build, which originally debuted in France. It’s safe to assume, however, that a wider rollout (more countries and a wider selection of handsets) will proceed if the service is a success.

See also: Nokia Buys Plazes

[via unwiredview]

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The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes plenty of wrapped packages, sloppy kisses, and even some fulfilled wishes. And so there are those relatives and friends of ours who send ordinary greetings by email and snail mail.

But some of us choose to do things differently. In light of this, we’ve rounded up several things you may opt to send out lest Santa and his workshop helpers forget. From e-cards to miscellaneous trinkets, this bunch will please many folks in your contact list.

Share your favorites from around the Web!

A moment without JibJab is a moment none so fun, wouldn’t you say? If you’re not afeared of elves and want to send customized entertainment the way of friends and family, an Elf Yourself greeting would be highly prized by main to receive it.

Undoubtedly meant to keep current with the ranks of online humor makers, Send Holiday Cheer, a graphical concoction delivered by Pear Tree Greetings is quite a hoot. It may take some time to get your message of cheer just right, but hey, few wonders come easy - even with Web 2.0 technologies to help things along!

What happens when you mix ex-Microsofties and ex-Googlers together? eCardlets, that’s what. There’s a full range of options in the eCardlets database, so you can refer back to the site year round for holidays, birthdays, and even some thank-yous and sorrys. These things are optimized for iPhone users, so for the most devoted of Apple idolators, they are…awesome, as Pete would say.

YouTube’s video holiday card maker is easy to use, and you don’t even have to star in your personal production. A number of videos are provided, as well as accompanying themes. Your written message makes a selection complete and ready for send-off.

Thousands of people are using the Holiday Gifts application every month, and for good reason: there are far too many holidays for any mere mortal to keep track of. There are over a dozen moments for November alone. Come December, there’ll be more still. Send free gifts to your Facebook friends with ease - and do it on time!

Imagery provided by iStockPhoto/Shapecharge

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

Do you ever shop online with your friends? Do you refer to reviews online before you decide to take the purchasing plunge? We had thousands of nominations for the best social shopping sites on the web, and the top 10 as selected by the web community are as follows.

Which is your favorite? Remember: the top 3 proceed to the finals. Only one can be crowned the web’s best social shopping site!

A Full Cup is a forum that offers grocery coupons, deals, and more.

FriendShopper lets you shop with friends in real time.

otherinbox is a recently launched email service that manages those emails you don’t need immediately, such as those from shopping vendors, newsletters, mailing lists, and social news sites.

packagetrackr allows you to track your packages from a variety of services, including UPS, USPS, DHL, FedEx, and other local and regional shipping providers.

Pikaba is a social shopping network that allows merchants to bid on your shopping needs. Pikaba unites both buyers and sellers and was recently reviewed in Mashable’s Startup Review.

Shopit is an online store creation tool that lets you sell items and then post widgets featuring your for-sale items on other websites. ShopIt also features an enhanced instant messenger module.

Tigerbow allows users to send real gifts to virtual destinations and has been featured in Mashable’s Startup Review.

veedow is a social network that lets you discover new products for purchase through personalized recommendations.

wishli.st allows you to create a list of products you must own and lets people buy them or chip in money toward that big purchase.

Wishpot is a personalized shopping tool and wish list aggregator.

Now it’s time to vote for your favorite social shopping site in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company per day until midnight on November 30th.

<iframe width="210" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://mashable.polldaddy.com/widget/x2.aspx?f=f&amp;c=15&amp;cn=0"></iframe> <noscript>Mashable Open Web Awards</noscript>

Feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button! For a timeline, rules and information on our 100 blog partners, please visit the Open Web Awards site.

You got through? Congratulations! Did you know you can create a custom version of our voting widget above to post to your company blog or website? Just visit the Open Web Awards Widget Creator and check the box to preset a category or company. This means your fans only need to enter an email address to vote - simple!

Want others to vote for your favorite site? Of course you do! Why not leave a comment here and on any of our international partner blogs encouraging other readers to add their support? The more you promote your candidate across these blogs, the more likely it is for your site to proceed to the finals!

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.

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

“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.”

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Microsoft Acquires Social Shopping Network Jellyfish
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Or was your Black Friday a bit of a washout? Did you pick up a bargain, or stay online and shop there instead? Or did you resist consumerism completely this year, and stay in with the family? Inquiring minds want to know.

Did you shop? More to the point, did you shop brick-and-mortar? Or did you shop from your La-Z-Boy with a Wi-Fi signal beaming your way? Are you waiting for the so-called “Cyber Monday” to arrive? Or are you keeping your purse strings lock-tight this season?

If you did buy, what did you get? That mid-sized flat screen TV that you thought would be discounted much more than it showed on the shelf? And did finally spring for one of those not-so-fast-selling TiVos, the better to hook yourself up to video downloads (and annoy Comcast’s meter men to no end)? How about an Apple TV for not-quite-doorbuster pricing? An Xbox plus the Netflix action, perhaps?

On the premium Web services front, Any Flickr Pro gifting planned? How about Vimeo Plus? Settling for the free space on YouTube and limited Flickr uploads instead, along with all the things Facebook and Photobucket allow you to do?

Dish details if you please! And be sure to check our Cyber Monday prep course as well.

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Online Shopping Still Strong After Christmas

So claims the group RealInFaz, which has posted its logo with the message “Hacked by HeuRisTiC” at the top of the Twitter API wiki. (Thanks to the Mashable reader who spotted this.)

Digging into this story, however, we found reports of the issue dating back to last weekend:

We have to ask then: is anybody actually using the Twitter API wiki? And does it even count as a “hack” when the site in question is a wiki…by definition, a site that’s user edited?

See also: Twittermania: 140+ More Twitter Tools!

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Since its debut in 2007, iPhone owners have been capable of consuming video in two ways: via iPod software as well as a YouTube application. And these options presumably remain the exclusive utilities employed for viewing clips.

But they are other methods available now. The launch of the App Store this summer enticed a number of third-party developers to make use of the iPhone’s video playback capabilities. The Web-based television outfit Joost [iTunes] is the latest to joint the fray. Naturally, we thought it’d be fitting to see what’s what in that part of the iPhone market as a whole. Here are ten free highlights. We invite you to share your favorites, too!

For roughly a year’s time, the iPhone’s native YouTube application was pretty sole purveyor of video search on the mobile platform. Given the immensity of the YouTube archive, it works to great effect. But perhaps you’d like to search elsewhere for content. Truveo Video Search [iTunes URL], issued by AOL, gives you another option. The company claims a high six-figure view count via the application to date.

Maybe you like the idea of download applications to your iPhone directly over the air. But a part of your might like to get a quick preview of what those applications might be like. AppVee [iTunes], a service we ourselves reviewed not long ago, presents its app reviews and video walkthroughs both for desktop browsers and iPhone owners.

Remember when the world of how-to videos took the Web by storm? The fact is, the depth of material has only grown with time. And Howcast [iTunes], one of the premier outlets serving the instructional, educational, and DIY market just so happens to provide iPhone and iPod touch users with videos they can really do stuff with. User reviews for the application are nothing short of stellar. This freebie is a definite winner.

Yes, you can use the free Weather Channel iPhone application [iTunes] for quick local map forecasts and text weather reports and things. But if you have a particular love for the Weather Channel’s ever-popular video readings, you can playback the latest news at your leisure.

We’ve all done it. At one time or another, we’ve all searched the Intertubes for footage captured in near-real-time by webcams all across the world. Well, there’s no need to fire up Firefox or IE or whathaveyou to get your fix on Berlin, Germany’s street scene from your home perch in West Coast USA. WorldView [iTunes] makes it happen right on your iPhone. A purported 6,000 webcams are searchable. Want a random view of some place on the map? Just shake. Literally.

Delivered by Fox Sports Interactive Media, the Fox Sports iPhone application [iTunes] puts video  on the backburner, but for coverage of athletic events, that’s somewhat understandable, especially when dealing with the dimensions of a handheld. But video is promised, with a running Top 5 FOX sports clips provided for many a replay.

The baseball season in America is over for now, but the media managers at MLB promise great things in 2009 to carry the torch left idle in 2008. Suffice it to say that video highlights will be included in MLB at Bat 2009 [iTunes]. That goes for gameplay and offseason items like award announcements, free agent signings, etc.

Speaking of gaming, IGN [iTunes], another FIM property, offers a rundown of videogame reviews reaching beyond the iPhone playground. You can set preferences to your favorite gaming platforms and get easy access to new titles and big hits. Hey, it’s a free download. What’s there to lose?

The iPhone itself is a marvel in design, so it seems fitting that Style.com [iTunes] presents its readers with a collection of news, blogs, and videos to follow while on the go. You could go so far as to watch clips while stationed alongside a fashion show runway. Nothing live, however. Though, how weird cool would that be?

Taking the world of fashion and high culture to a more broad perspective, an application by Rhythm NewMedia called vSNAX Videos [iTunes] gives users access to clips from the likes of Ford Models, the Style Network, VH1, Young Hollywood and more. Many customers report having superb video quality on hand.

It’s the most recent one to land in the App Store’s database, but it receives bonus status here as the final pick in this iPhone video app mix. Because, well, why not? It’s Joost [iTunes]. The company recently debuted its browser-based video archive. And now it’s taking things mobile.

A word of warning: the iPhone app currently available for download has shown some playback and search errors in the 24 hours or so that it’s been live. The company acknowledges the problems and is working to better users’ experiences, according to MG Zeigler of VentureBeat.

Image source: iPhonelife

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