Web 2.0 Awards (thing 19)

This was an interesting list of categories as well as companies. Some I’ve already used and some were a part of the Library 2.0 training. Some applications were for services or functions I hadn’t considered. I didn’t look at everything listed, but here are my thoughts on those that caught my attention:

Rollyo, Picasa and Flickr are all sites that I used as a part of the Library 2.0 training. I’m not sure if I will continue to use them, I am rather pragmatic and so if I don’t have a need for something (or a current interest), I won’t really use it much.

Now, for current interest and need you can’t beat Etsy. Etsy is a site I really like and use frequently because I prefer to give gifts to my friends that are as unique as they are. Etsy puts you in touch with more than 30,000 sellers most of whom hand-craft their varied items. So far, all of the purchases I have made were completed in a timely fashion and definitely met my expectations.

Threadless, on the other hand, is all about t-shirts. This is the place for inexpensive, offbeat, strange and really cute graphic t-shirts. But, the thing to remember is that the supply is limited and they don’t re-print very many. Where else could you find a t-shirt explanation for why things get lost:

Del.icio.us: I mentioned this application in an earlier blog post. I love it: ♥ ♥ ♥
I have 2 active and one inactive accounts, all used for different purposes. Working between multiple workstations meant that I never had the bookmark I wanted on the PC I was using when I needed it. Now I really make an effort to tag a site rather than bookmark it.

Kayak: I have booked travel through Kayak, so it is nice to see it is considered award-worthy.

One type of travel service that I didn’t see represented was the airline / flight tracking sites that provide information on how often certain airlines, or more specifically certain flights, are delayed or canceled. One that I have used is FlightAware. When making decisions for my up-coming business trip, I checked into the flights I was considering to see if they were usually on-time. You can also create a profile that will allow you to have flight data for the specific flight you are interested in tracking sent to your cell phone or other mobile device. If you are tracking a flight from home, you can also see how far along it is on its route and its approximate geographic location. Lots of interesting information.

YouTube: I think by now everyone has seen a YouTube video. This application had the most name recognition for people I talk with and although IMEEM is becoming popular among my friends who have had content on YouTube removed (fanvideos with re-purposed copyrighted material), I think it is hard to not know about YouTube these days.