WordPress is a finalist in the Publishing & Photography category for the Webware awards. Go vote for your favourite. Now, I’m a bit of a web-geek so I’m not trying to “convert” you… but I thought it would be fun to talk about what I voted for and why.  If this isn’t your idea of fun (I know I’m a dork) … you might wanna go read another blog for the moment.

Audio

• iTunes – the greatest organisational program for all my music and podcasts.
• Pandora – this is amazing internet radio, unfortunately it’s now unavailable to Canadians
• Last.fm – my replacement internet radio when Pandora shut down to Canadians

Publishing & Photography

• WordPress & WordPress.com – the sleekest and most straight-forward WSIWYG editor, and no messing about… if you don’t want to. Lots of fun if you want to mess about
• Photobucket – my favourite photos album host for open bandwidth

Browsing

• Firefox – just sleek design and can customize my links bar without having to have a bunch of toolbar add-ons

Search & Reference

• Google – what’s not to love? I just like how there is a clear definition between sponsored links and search results
• Wikipedia – great OpenSource system, don’t try to use it when writing essays for Uni, but great for interests-sake. They have a whole load of people who make sure that no junk gets added as anyone can edit a page.

Commercial & Events

• Amazon – more than anything I like making my Wishlist… not so people buy things for me, but it’s easier for me to remember things that I liked or was interested in. This is a great information resource for me before I purchase something.
• PayPal – secure and great customer service, I feel safe with my credit card on file here.
• Etsy – I love that this is very crafty. I’ve not personally bought anything but anyone can have a “shopfront” and it’s more attractive than an eBay auction.
• I would have liked to cast more than 3 votes as eBay and Craigslist were also runners.

Social

• Facebook – it was creepy at first, and now the applications are insane, but everyone seems to have one and it’s great for messaging your friends.
• Unfortunately, Ravelry was not an option. Not much of a surprise as it’s in Beta and only a sliver of the NetPopulation will know about it.
• I did not vote for MySpace as I really don’t like the layout or design. There is no clear navigation and it just seems full of ads

Communications

• Windows Live Hotmail – tried and (sometimes) true… I’ve used Hotmail for years and I’m stuck in my ways
• Skype – I wish more people used this! Free international phone calls if you’re both on the computer.
• Gmail – I don’t use my Gmail often, but I like that it has a big file-load limit.

Utility & Security

• Not really a category of interest but…
• BitTorrent – Good for downloading large program files
• OpenID – I’ve never used it but I like the concept of being able to not have to re-enter your details everywhere you go. Although I suppose that’s why I get Firefox to remember my forms and passwords.
• YouSendIt – Margaret has sent me a couple videos off her camera through this. It’s really great for sending large files, they are available for a set amount of time and then they delete them off their server.
• I wonder why CNet’s Download.com was not a runner… would it be because these Webware Awards are by CNet?

Productivity

• GoogleDocs – I’ve not used them extensively, but of course these are web-related programs so Excel and Word are not options.

Video

• YouTube – I like that anyone can upload their videos just by having an account. It’s an easy way for me to share videos here on the blog.
• Not in the running was AllUC.org which doesn’t host the videos, but organises the links to the content.