If you're reading this, you already know you're screwed. Someone, somewhere has been forgotten on your gift list, and you're scrambling. As per usual, we at RWW have got your back. Here are five ideas that will not only save you from certain disgrace but just might make you look a little more with it and wired than your loved ones expected. Sponsor 1) Of-The-Month Clubs Flowers, beers, books, even dog treats - for every hobby, there's a club membership that will bring the recipient monthly or even weekly gifts. With this kind of gift, you'll be the hero all year round - in fact it'll give you and the lucky recipient added incentive to communicate more often if you don't now. 2) Netflix Membership For the movie buff or couch potato in your life, this gift says you condone and embrace the cinematic lifestyle. Memberships are tiered, so you can be as budget-conscious (or as generous) as you like. 3) Pro Apps or Paid Features For all the free web apps we use and enjoy, there are often pro versions with special benefits. I've personally enjoyed a pro Flickr account for ages, and the RWW gang love the speedy, unlimited-HD goodness of our pro Vimeo account. If you have new parents in your life, try a kid-centric subscription model web service such as LilGrams . 4) Multimedia Gifts Piracy is a dying art, so for the music, movie and game aficionados on your gift list, look around the web for legitimate sources of multimedia content. Gamers will love Microsoft Points for XBox Live or similar goodies for Wii and PS3. And for the youngsters and musicians, you can't go wrong with an eMusic or similar subscription. 5) Know Thy Geek: Fonts, Domains, and Software I've been lusting after a particular domain name for a few months now. If someone knew me well enough to buy it, that lady or dude would be the most awesome Santa to date. And I won some brownie points myself for buying a special person a very special font he'd been wanting for quite some time. Likewise, if you've heard a hobbyist or nerd enthusing about a software update that might qualify as a bit of a splurge, the holiday is the perfect time to surprise him or her with a shiny, new email notification or ZIP file. These kinds of gifts show that you know the person well enough to understand and support his or her need to geek out. And what better gift is there, after all? Discuss

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5 Very Last-Minute Gifts from the Internet Hero/Shopping Mall Zero

In the competitive world of tech journalism and blogging, quality can sometimes take a backseat to speed. While most bloggers double check their drafts before having their work scrutinized by editors and audience members, mistakes do slip through the cracks. With text-to-speech programs, errors become glaringly apparent. Sponsor Eight Interactive just launched its FeedMe Tech iPhone app . The service lets us listen to top tech news while running errands, walking the dog or cooking our holiday feasts. It's a free application with feeds from 10 popular tech sites including Lifehacker , TechCrunch and ReadWriteWeb. At the moment users cannot add additional feeds; however, the application does record what you've read, where you've stopped reading and the posts you'd like to save. For now it's a barebones application that displays how online content providers can better reach their audiences. However, because it transcribes every character, the service can sometimes offer comedic results. iPhone app demo for FeedMe Tech. from 8Interactive on Vimeo . Bloggers should take note that FeedMe Tech reveals every grammatical error and misplaced comma. Couple this with the fact that the program's default voice is set to depressed British robot and you'll realize that a poorly written article offers an experience a bit like being in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In the spirit of spending more time with family members, I, for one, welcome our depressed robot overlords. To create a custom-branded FeedMe application contact Eight Interactive . To try FeedMe Tech download it here . Discuss

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Can Text to Speech iPhone Apps Improve Tech Blogging?

Not long ago it was considered revolutionary to do all of your holiday shopping from your computer. Amazon and other companies on

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Will 2010 be the Year of Net TV Shopping Integration?

You have to wonder how often this happens these days. High-speed coverage (or at least coverage that's advertised that way) is now widespread, and there have to be times when a solid 3G connection can beat an understaffed checkout line hands-down. Which means customers are bringing the competition into the bricks-and-mortar stores with them --

What are you going to buy this holiday season? Gift cards aren't very personal, but friends' recommendations can be. Richard MacManus recently covered the trends in e-commerce over the past decade. He noted that Amazon and eBay have dominated the online retail market with their model of using implicit user data to generate recommendations for others. Although this model will surely remain a centerpiece of the online retail experience, it may soon face competition as "social shopping" takes off. Sponsor This guest post was written by Brynn Evans. What is social shopping? This is similar to the question of "What is social search," which I addressed previously by describing the three flavors of social search : what they are, why they're relevant and how they will help you search better. The Amazon and eBay model of online retail tapped into what I refer to as "collective social search." Social shopping, on the other hand, is more like "friend-filtered social search." In social shopping, you see recommendations and reviews that your friends have shared. You see items that your friends have purchased or brands that your friends have shopped with. This matters a lot when you're shopping for a digital camera and are stuck deciding between three different models. Of course, the last 10 years' worth of people's purchasing histories and written reviews on Amazon may help you narrow your choice - if you can filter out the noise. But those reviewers are entirely anonymous to you, even though they may use a real name and have a rating history with the site. The decision you are making, as with most decisions, will carry consequences going forward, which is a part of the reason why collective intelligence can't provide the necessary emotional "spark" in quite the way that a personal recommendation can. Patricia Mejia , a commenter on Richard's e-commerce trends post, explained why she wants this in shopping: "I want to be inspired, intrigued and entertained when I shop online." Algorithms don't provide that emotion. But a recommendation from a friend just might. Plus, users increasingly expect this, and the larger and more connected our networks become, the more powerful this social shopping model will be. What are the social shopping services that do this best today? (Hint: not Amazon.) Sites like ProductWiki are devoted to product comparisons, but their user base is most likely not your peer network. ThisNext and Kaboodle lie closer to the intersection of social media and e-commerce. They are predominantly social networks dedicated to sharing products and personal reviews. Kaboodle's user profile for " aplyler " closely resembles other social networking sites, and the site provides functionality for creating product lists, commenting on items and, of course, adding friends. On ThisNext, users' recommendations are featured front and center on their profiles. Here, " rjax " has been promoted to "Expert Maven" because of her extensive collection of recommended items. Unfortunately, the collection's range is so vast that you probably wouldn't care about the Christmas ornaments if you liked her review of the Macbook art decal. Thus, the limitation with sites like ThisNext and Kaboodle is that you, your friends and the products you're going to buy all exist on those sites. In other words, the sites are social shopping silos. RunToShop , on the other hand, brings a distributed social networking model to social shopping. A small Finnish startup, RunToShop aims to bring social recommendations to you wherever you may be, and from the friends in your network who you trust. This means that if you're shopping for golf clubs on Smart Golf , recommendations will be embedded on the site through the RunToShop widget. Currently, all user reviews are shown, but in the next release, recommendations from friends will be prioritized. (You can pull in your friends with Facebook Connect.) RunToShop also integrates with Facebook . So, if Facebook is where you spend most of your time, you can browse product offerings and friends' recommendations directly through the RunToShop Facebook app. Finally, its distributed social networking platform allows your product reviews to percolate out to other sites where those products exist. If your long-lost sister, for example, discovers one of these products through LinkedIn, she can view your recommendation right there. Based on most of the services I've seen to date, including RunToShop, the implementation and user experience around social shopping still has a long way to go. In the meantime, keep this in mind the next time you're shopping for the right social shopping service: will it provide the emotional spark you need? Guest author: Brynn Evans is digital anthropologist, design researcher and author who studies social interaction design and social search. Discuss

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Social Shopping: Putting the Emotion Back in E-Commerce

The holidays are now upon us and after today's turkey is digested, it will be time to strap on your most comfortable shoes and prepare for an early day of marathon shopping. "Black Friday," the unofficial retail holiday that lands the day after Thanksgiving, kicks off the season with deals and doorbusters...not to mention crowds and chaos. However, those of you with an Apple iPhone can get a leg up on the other shoppers who have to fumble through old-fashioned newspaper printouts that list each store's bargains. You can have you all the deals at your fingertips thanks to new iPhone applications that list everything on sale. And that's not all, either. Read on for our guide to preparing your iPhone for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season beyond. Sponsor 1. Apps That List Black Friday Deals First and foremost, you need to download the apps that list this year's Black Friday Deals. Our favorite is the Black Friday app (iTunes link) put out by Dealnews . This app not only features the "official" deals already revealed through company press releases, but also includes "leaked" deals that have found their way to the net without the company's consent. Although today's paper is likely to now reveal those leaked deals to the world, we already trusted their accuracy thanks to a Best Buy employee who fact-checked a few of them against what he knew would be on sale. Spot on, he told us. The Black Friday app is simple to use as there are only three buttons to deal with: a deals buttons that lets you scroll through a long list of tomorrow's bargains, a Black Friday button that list deals by store, and a shopping list button which stores the save while browsing through the other two sections. A search box at the top of the stores listing also lets you find a store by name instead of having to scroll for even faster lookups. Another bonus about this app is that its life extends beyond Black Friday. After tomorrow, the app will be updated to show you Cyber Monday and After-Christmas sales, as well as year-round deals. Other contenders: Powered by TGI Black Friday and DealCatcher.com, another great app (iTunes link) lists deals and stores, too. Plus, this app lets you search by category and browse through the latest ads. 2. Price Comparison Having already established itself on other mobile platforms, ShopSavvy (iTunes link) finally made its way to the iPhone just in time for Black Friday. This barcode scanning application lets you know if you're really getting a deal by comparing the store's price with more than 20,000 other retailers who provide their pricing data to ShopSavvy. The app isn't limited to online deals, either. It also compares prices with local stores so you can find out if it's just a matter of heading down the street to save a few more bucks. ShopSavvy works on all iPhones (2G, 3G, and 3GS). Just aim the red laser over any barcode and the pricing info will automatically appear on the screen. Other contenders : Red Laser (iTunes link) is another popular barcode scanning application for the iPhone, but unlike ShopSavvy which is free, this app costs $1.99. The Amazon Mobile app (iTunes link) is nice to have as well thanks to its experimental feature called "Amazon Remembers." Using your phone's camera, you can snap a picture of an item to store it in a virtual shopping list. The app will then seek out that item on Amazon's website and post the pricing information and other details to the app for you to view. 3. Store-Specific Apps A few big name brick-and-mortar retailers also have their own iPhone applications listed in the iTunes App Store. With these store-specific apps, you can search for deals, reserve products, check local availability, makes lists, and more. Some of the best apps in this genre include the following: B&N Bookstore : Browse products or search through millions of books, DVDs, and CDs. You can also use your phone's camera to snap a photo of the cover of the item in question to get product details, reviews, ratings, and local availability. Best Buy: The electronics retailer offers two iPhone applications - Best Buy Weekly Deals and the Best Buy Gamers Club . The Weekly Deals app lets you scour through the weekly ads (great for after Black Friday is over, too) to get product details, read reviews, see the ratings, and even purchase using a special mobilized version of the Best Buy website. The Gamer's Club app is similar, but focuses just on video games, consoles, and accessories. Wal-Mart : Wal-Mart does have an app, but it's nothing to get too excited about since it just focuses on electronics. And when you need to get more details, it redirects you to the company's mobile website. However, it's worth installing if only to remind you to compare that big screen TV you're eyeing with the often cheaper prices found at Wal-Mart. Target : Target's app is a bit better since it lets you search for all products at your local store. You can check availability and it even shows you where inside the store the item is located. Great for scoping out your Black Friday route in advance! Plus, if you don't know what to get someone, a handy gift finder feature will make recommendations based on age, gender, price, or other attributes. Toy "R" Us : The Toys "R" Us app lets you virtually shop through the company's "big book" for toys by popularity or category. You can see product details, read reviews, and add toys to a list of favorites which can later be emailed to you. A "Find a Store" button also helps you find the closest store to your current location. 4. Don't Get Lost - Download Mall Maps to Your iPhone MEDL Mobile's Mall Maps app (iTunes link) is an essential download for Black Friday shoppers. Featuring the maps and store lists for over 1,000 shopping centers across the U.S., this app saves you time as you no longer have to fight the crowd gathered around the mall's directory board. Instead, you can view detailed floor plans and store lists with corresponding numbers all within the palm of your hand. This app isn't free (it's $2.99), but committed shoppers will agree the price is worth it. 5. Didn't Find It? eBay It Instead If your shopping expeditions left you empty-handed, there's still eBay. But now you don't need to be at a computer to find items, bid, watch, or makes purchases. The latest update to the eBay Mobile app (iTunes link) also takes advantage of the iPhone's pop-up notifications to remind you when an auction is about to end or if you've been outbid. A new eBay app called eBay Deals specifically focuses on finding you deals based on personalized searches that you can create, edit, and save. This is handy if you're looking for a hard-to-find item that isn't always available on the site or if you like regularly browsing a particular category or genre. Like the main application, eBay Deals is also free. Discuss

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How to Prepare Your iPhone for Black Friday

Last night we wrote about Forrester's prediction that online holiday retail sales will grow 8% this year to $44.7 billion. comScore had similar numbers about the growth of online retail - toy web sites grew 9% in October, as did the retail apparel segment. Online personal finance service Mint.com has joined the festive statistics parade, with data analyzing some of the U.S.'s leading retailers. Mint analyzed spending data and compared it to one year ago. The data is for top performers in the third quarter this year, based on "average monthly spend per user versus recession lows." Sponsor Interestingly, Mint's data says that Q4 sales will not be as good as last year - which is the opposite of what Forrester predicts. However Mint does say that consumer electronics and clothing are set to rise in Q4. Check out the charts below and compare them to Forrester and comScore's data . The highlights, via Mint.com: Aeropostale - the clothing retailer is up 10% year-over-year, having grown consistently quarter over quarter. Best Buy - the electronics retailer is up 1% Q3 year-over-year, hit a recession low of -7%. Fry's - while competitor Best Buy's sales exceed where they were at this point last year, Fry's remains down -7% year-over-year (though it's up from a -16% recession low). J.Crew - the clothing retailer's lowest point was -3%, but it has since entirely corrected and even improved sales 4% year-over-year. Sears - the department store's sales are up 8% over this time last year, having dipped to -10%. Target - after an initial drop to -8% in Q109, Target has halved that loss and is currently down only -4% year-over-year. See also: Online Retail Thriving: 8% Growth Expected This Holiday Season Top Internet Trends of 2000-2009: E-commerce Discuss

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Mint Data Shows Online Retail Rebounding