SOMEWHAT FRANK

Somewhat Frank Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas

So you haven't been doing your holiday shopping or you are totally at a loss as to what to get for that tech savvy friend or family member? To help you out I have created a list of holiday gift ideas. Of course, if you are ordering some of these products you had better do it as soon as possible to have them in time for giving. Printing out a picture of the gift to share as sort of an IOU while the gift is shipped could also work but just isn't the same as the real thing. If you feel like the holidays have crept up on you, you are not alone. We actually all had 5 less days this year between Thanksgiving and and the Christmas holiday. This article should give you a few last minute holiday gift ideas.

Polyvore: Flickr For The Fashion Shopper

Are you a fashion trend setter? If so, you might want to check out Polyvore. Polyvore is a social fashion site where users can create arrange outfits or inspiration boards to share where you and others can potentially buy the included items. Polyvore enables users to drag and drop clothing items or snag items from the Web to create new outfits which are then tied into various shopping sites and could offer some interesting revenue sharing options. Launched in February 2007 and backed by Benchmark Capital, Polyvore recently hit the one million outfit mark.

Imagini For Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas

If you have not made a wish list yet your time is growing short but don't fret. Imagini, not mentioned previously in my wish list round-up, might be able to help you both create personal wish lists in a flash as well as help you come up with gift giving ideas for others.

Help Finding A Nintendo Wii

Are you looking for a Nintendo Wii? I know some of my friends are. One of my friends is even thinking about getting in line at 5 o'clock in the morning at the Nintendo retail store in New York to try and snag one. The store only allows you to buy one Wii at a time if you are one of the lucky souls that gets one at all. However, there may be a few other options on the Web that might be less time consuming and physically challenging to get your hands on a  Nintendo Wii.

Mallicious Shares Shopping Deals & Coupons

With the holiday shopping season upon us, do you want to save some money on your holiday shopping? If so, you might want to check out Mallicious. Mallicious not to be confused with 'malicious' offers a social deals site to find and share all the latest deals and coupons.

Holiday Gift Wish List Round-Up

The holiday season is upon us and it is time to get your holiday wish list in order. In my family if I do not produce and circulate a wish list I could end up getting some random gifts for the holidays. While all gifts are appreciated, sometimes the best ones are those that you wished for. What's the best way to collect, organize and share your holiday wish list? There are a number of Web 2.0 sites that are devoted to creating shopping or holiday wish lists and I will showcase eleven of them in this article.

Shoeboxed Organizes Your Shopping History

After two of the biggest shopping days of the year Black Friday and Cyber-Monday respectively I figured it was probably important to make sure you save your receipts. You may throw them in your wallet, purse or in a shoebox under your bed somewhere. With Shoeboxed you can save all your receipts in one place online. Shoeboxed aims to make it easy to keep track of your own personal shopping history by offering an online repository with sprinkles of social candy to make sharing it easy to share some of your personal shopping history.

Dawdle Video Game Search & Marketplace

Dawdle, a Chicago-based startup, recently launched to offer video game lovers a new place to buy and sell games, gaming systems and accessories. Dawdle tries to take the hassle out searching for items online by devoting the site to matching buyers with sellers via an innovative matching engine.

Yapta Tracks Airline Fare Drop Savings

There are number of ways to save money on travel airfares. However, there is one that you may not be aware of.  Basically, airlines have a policy of refunding ticket holders the price of the difference if a fare drops. Yapta which stands for "Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant," has built its business around this policy as a place to find out if you are due any money back from a fare drop.

Grayboxx Local Search Powered By Neighbor Recommendations

Grayboxx, a Silicon Valley-based local search startup, has been in stealth mode for quite sometime but recently surfaced by kicking off a tour of the United States cities last week in Burlington, Vermont. Grayboxx bases its local search results on recommendations of neighbors coupled with some snazzy algorithms to assess user behavior.

GrubHub Food Delivery Search Expanding

Even with a drawer full of take-out menus finding places to order food can sometimes be a tough task. GrubHub.com, a Chicago-based food delivery and menu startup developed by Mike Evans and Matt Maloney, looks to help you find a place to order food and has been making some moves to improve.  Placing over $1M in delivery orders per month in Chicago and have now focused their efforts on expansion.

The site enables users to enter an address and then GrubHub returns restaurants that deliver to that address. GrubHub displays a menu, reviews, and coupons for a restaurant. Users can register and place a food order online.

Text2Store Local Deals Widget Launches

Text2Store, a Chicago-based startup, leverages text messaging to send deals and coupons directly to your cellphone. Text2Store recently launched a local deals widget that shares the revenue of each click-through. Similar to other advertising and affiliate programs, anytime you help someone save money with a coupon text message accessed from your site, Text2Store will pay you 25% of the negotiated income with the advertiser.

Do You Need A Hug (Shirt)?

CuteCircuit thinks you need a hug as the company has created an innovative shirt called the Hug Shirt. Leveraging Bluetooth technology and SMS text messaging, the Hug Shirt lets you send a hug to your fellow hug shirt wearing friends via your mobile phone. Each hug you send is played back like a message. So if you tap on your left shoulder the receiver of the message will feel that tap wherever they receive the message.

Moo Stickers Arrive (Literally)

Moo, a UK-based printing startup, puts an unique and personalized spin on traditional items like business cards and notecards. Moo loves to print as they continue to roll out additional offerings. In mid-July, Moo announced the launch of Moo StickerBooks.

Car Buying: Online To The Drive Home

After driving a used Toyota Avalon for the last few years, I finally figured out what vehicle I wanted  to buy and made the move on Sunday at Infiniti of Tyson's Corner. I am now a proud owner of an Infiniti FX35 (shown below). This article will summarize some of the online resources I used to purchase my new vehicle.