The moment is here. After more than 50,000 nominations and in excess of 80,000 verified votes from the web community, we’re pleased to announce the finalists in the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest to find the web’s best sites and services. Congratulations to all the finalists!

You have until midnight PST on December 14th to pick the winners. Winners receive the Open Web Awards sculpture (courtesy of Zazzle), coverage on Mashable and partner blogs and inclusion in press mentions of the contest.

The winners will be announced on Tuesday, December 16th.

VOTE NOW: One Vote Per Category Per Day

Already know who you’re voting for? Use the widget below to cast your vote for the Open Web Awards!

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.

The Finalists: The Full List

Here they are, the companies you picked as the cream of the web’s crop.

Mainstream & Large Scale Social Networks

Netlog	http://netlog.com/
Platinum Lounge	http://www.platinumlounge.com/
Twitter	http://twitter.com/

Embeddable Widgets

Clearspring	http://www.clearspring.com/
Qoof	http://www.qoof.com/
Sprout	http://sproutbuilder.com/

Blog Plugins

AddThis	http://addthis.com/
ShareThis	http://sharethis.com/
Zemanta	http://www.zemanta.com/

Social News

Help a Reporter Out	http://www.helpareporter.com/
Hubdub	http://www.hubdub.com/
regator	http://regator.com/

Social Networking Applications

Artition	http://www.artition.com/
Digsby	http://www.digsby.com
Ping.fm	http://ping.fm/

Social Bookmarking

AddThis	http://addthis.com/
Diigo	http://www.diigo.com/
ShareThis	http://sharethis.com/

Search & Social Search

Artiklz	http://www.artiklz.com/
findingDulcinea	http://www.findingdulcinea.com/
Scour	http://www.scour.com/

Sports & Fitness

FitFiend	http://www.fitfiend.com/
Gyminee	http://www.gyminee.com/
OneSeason	http://www.oneseason.com/

Photo Sharing

flickr	http://www.flickr.com/
ipernity	http://www.ipernity.com/
TinyPic	http://tinypic.com/

Video Sharing

ffwd	http://www.ffwd.com/
Vimeo	http://www.vimeo.com/
YouTube	http://www.youtube.com/

Start Pages

Google	http://www.google.com/
iGoogle	http://www.google.com/ig
Yahoo!	http://yahoo.com/

Places & Events

City Data	http://www.city-data.com/
Doodle	http://www.doodle.com/
Muchmor	http://www.muchmormagazine.com/

Travel

CouchSurfing	http://www.couchsurfing.com/
GeckoGo	http://www.geckogo.com/
Spotted by Locals	http://www.spottedbylocals.com/

Music

Last.fm	http://www.last.fm/
NoiseTrade	https://www.noisetrade.com/
Pandora	http://www.pandora.com/

Social Shopping

A Full Cup	http://www.afullcup.com/
Pikaba	http://www.pikaba.com/
Tigerbow	http://www.tigerbow.com/

Fashion

Chictini	http://www.chictini.com/
Coolspotters	http://coolspotters.com/
Polyvore	http://www.polyvore.com

Celebrity & Gossip

Bollyscoops	http://bollyscoops.com/
Oh No They Didn’t	http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/
Superficial Gallery	http://www.superficialgallery.com/

Mobile Applications

Evernote	http://evernote.com/
MocoSpace	http://www.mocospace.com/
Viigo	http://viigo.com/

Dating & Romance

DateHookup	http://www.datehookup.com/
SpeedDate	http://www.speeddate.com/
zoosk	http://www.zoosk.com/

Wiki

Encyclopedia Dramatica	http://encyclopediadramatica.com
wikiHow	http://www.wikihow.com/
Wikipedia	http://www.wikipedia.org/

Politics

CreateDebate	http://www.createdebate.com/
Politics4all	http://www.politics4all.com/
PreciseNews	http://www.precisenews.us/

How-to

A Full Cup	http://www.afullcup.com/
College-Cram	http://www.college-cram.com/
Howcast	http://www.howcast.com/

Environmental

ecomii	http://www.ecomii.com/
gazelle	http://www.gazelle.com/
neighBorrow	http://neighborrow.com/

Non-Profit Causes

DiscoverScholars	http://discoverscholars.org/
SocialVibe	http://www.socialvibe.com/
Stop Political Calls	http://stoppoliticalcalls.org/

Online Games

Armor Games	http://armorgames.com/
Playfish	http://www.playfish.com/
Powerpets	http://powerpets.com/

Niche Social Networks

Lymabean	http://www.lymabean.com/
The Star Tracker	http://www.thestartracker.com/
Wadja	http://us.wadja.com/

Top Tip For Finalists

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!

Start Canvassing for YOUR Candidate!

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 win!

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”

Prize Sponsor

“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.”

---
Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Online Competition Timeline Outline:
Rules for Voting and Nominations
Open Web Awards: Vote and We’ll Shut Up
Mashable Presents The 2nd Annual Open Web Awards
Open Web Awards - Vote for Your Favorite Large Social Network
Call for Video Submissions for Enterprise 2.0 LaunchPad - Deadline is Tomorrow!
Open Web Awards - Vote for Your Favorite Niche Social Network

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.

VOTE OFTEN: One Vote Per Category Per Day

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.

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.

Top Tip For Nominees

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!

Start Canvassing for YOUR Candidate!

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!

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”

Prize Sponsor

“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.”

---
Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

StyleFeeder Gets $1M for Social Shopping App
ThisNext Gets Another $5M So Social Shopping Can Live On
Yahoo Divesting in Shopping Site Kelkoo
Osoyou, Women’s Social Network, Gets $2 Million
Zlio Partners with Shopping.com in the US
Microsoft Acquires Social Shopping Network Jellyfish
MyThings Giftlist Tries to Prevent Lame Christmas Presents

ADDONS.MOZILLA.ORG (AMO)

FIREFOX/GECKO

Fx 3.0.6 - Status: Tree Opening Pending

Fx 3.1b2 (Shiretoko)/Gecko 1.9.1b2 - Status: Pending Release

SUNBIRD/LIGHTNING

THUNDERBIRD

Complete Meeting Notes

To nominate Next2Friends in the Best Mobile category go here:

To nominate Next2Friends in the Best Technology Innovation/Achievement category go here:

To nominate Next2Friends in the Best Design category go here:

And, of course, feel free to nominate us for whatever you like at the Crunchie 2008 nomination page!

Next2Friends - It’s NOW!

Hive Five nominations take place in the comments, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of comments, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your comment like so: VOTE: Desktop Customization Tool Goes Here. NEW RULE: Please don't include your vote in a reply to another commenter. Instead, make your vote and reply separate comments. If you don't follow this format, we may not count your vote. To prevent tampering with the results, votes from first-time commenters may not be counted. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get—"Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's Hive Five Best Video Chat Applications.

Mashable is proud to announce that voting has begun in the 2nd Annual Open Web Awards, a unique opportunity for the most accomplished websites and services to receive international recognition for their achievements.

During the nominations round, we received over 43,000 verified nominations. We narrowed down this huge pool to the 10 most-nominated sites and services in each category (where 10th place was a draw, we allowed more than 10 nominees in that category).

VOTE NOW: One Vote Per Category Per Day

Now it’s time to vote for your favorites in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company in each category per day until midnight on November 30th. There are 26 categories. Get voting!

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.

Top Tip For Nominees

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!

Start Canvassing for YOUR Candidate!

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!

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”

Prize Sponsor

“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.”

---
Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Mashable Presents The 2nd Annual Open Web Awards
The 2nd Annual Open Web Awards Call for Blog Partners
HOW TO: Get More Nominations in the Open Web Awards
Open Web Awards - Vote for Your Favorite Large Social Network
Open Web Awards Updates and Blogger’s Choice
Open Web Awards - Vote for Your Favorite Applications and Widgets
Open Web Awards - Vote for Your Favorite Social Search Site

We'll have more on this in the next few weeks, but for now here's the official write up. Start nominating companies today!

Announcing The Second Annual Crunchies Awards

Sure the economy is kicking the crap out of us, so it seems especially important that we take time to celebrate the best tech accomplishments of the year and remember what went right in 2008.

The Crunchies, our sometimes kitschy and irreverent awards ceremony, is back for v2. Join GigaOm, VentureBeat and Silicon Alley Insider, and TechCrunch as co-hosts and masters in ceremonies on Friday January 9, 2009 at 7:30 pm the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

Starting today, you can nominate your favorite companies and products for consideration in fifteen different award categories. Our focus is start-ups, but big companies and products can be considered as well. Self nominations are welcome. Grab a badge here and get your community to support you for finalist consideration. Nominations are open through December 10, 2008 midnight pst.

The Crunchies co-hosts will choose five finalists per award category based on the submitted nominations and the company accomplishments made in 2008. Popular voting will open on December 15 and run through January 5, 2009 midnight pst. The full rules are here.

Just like last year, don't come expecting a highly produced Oscars ceremony. But that doesn't mean it won't be extremely entertaining. We have a number of special surprises, and we promise a great evening with the community to celebrate our technology and tenacity together.

As ever, we need the help of sponsors to make the evening possible. Sponsors of all shapes and sizes appreciated. Please contact Jeanne Logozzo or Heather Harde if want to participate in the awards ceremony or reception to follow.

Make someone's year. Nominate a company for a Crunchie today.

[Photography provided by Zivity]

This morning, however, we get a real-time market appraisal of Jerry's value to Yahoo as CEO: -$2 billion.

Yesterday, the stock closed at $10.60. This morning, it looks as though it will open at about $12. That difference--$1.40 times 1.39 bilion shares outstanding--gives you the market's appraisal of the CEO change.

See Also: Yahoo Needs A New CEO: Post Nominations Here!

ADDONS.MOZILLA.ORG (AMO)

FIREFOX/GECKO

Complete Meeting Notes