New Year - Tag Archive

Technology Bloggers community awards 2012

14 Replies Christopher Roberts

Slightly later than last year (I was on holiday in Italy over New Year this year), I am now going to announce the winners of Technology Bloggers community awards!

This is the second year of community awards, and this year, the awards were democratic. I gave you (the community), the opportunity to suggest awards and nominations, and then you voted on who you wanted to win each of the six awards.

This year each award had 4 nominees, meaning that there were 24 nominations; which were filled by 13 different people.

You have voted, and the results are now in. Here are this years winners.

Top Commenter

Nominees:

  • Lillie Ammann
  • Peter Lee
  • David Jamieson
  • Neil Duncan

Runner Up

Lillie AmmannThe runner up for this years top commenter community award is Lillie Ammann! Congratulations for Lillie for her nomination, she doesn’t comment very often but when she does, it is always kind words and useful feedback 🙂 You can find out more about Lillie by visiting her blog.

Winner

Peter LeeWith 57% of the vote, the clear winner of this years top commenter award is Peter Lee! My thanks go out to Peter for his fantastic contribution to the blog. Peter commented on the blog around 60 times in 2012, which is quite a lot! Never were his comments bland or meaningless though, they always added value to the article, which is a credit to Peter and the community. Peter has a website which you can visit called Computer How To Guide.

Top Writer (Contributor)

Nominees:

  • Alan Tay
  • Hayley Anderson
  • Nick Sotos
  • Chadrack Irobogo

Runner Up

Hayley AndersonHayley Anderson took 29% of the community vote, putting her in second place. Hayley likes to write about nanotechnology, a very interesting industry which is advancing all the time. Hayley maintains a website herself, which is about Microscopes.

Winner

Alan TayThe winner of the top contributor category of the community awards 2012 is Alan Tay! So far Alan has contributed 7 articles to the blog, and displays many of the characteristics of a good writer. Alan often replies to people who comment on his articles, and generally writes thoughtful and useful material. Alan is a specialist in IT Security, which he blogs about on his own site too.

Top Writer (Author+)

Nominees:

  • Christopher Roberts
  • Jonny Hankins
  • Steve August
  • Ron Fletcher

Runner Up

Jonny HankinsIn a very respectable second place is Jonny Hankins. Author and innovation and responsibility researcher for the Bassetti Foundation, who currently resides in Boston (USA), Jonny has been a great author this year. His posts have inspired, amazed and amused, making him a true credit to the blog. Check out more of his work by visiting the Bassetti Foundation website.

Winner

Christopher RobertsIt is with the utmost pride that I announce that the winner of the top author award 2012 is me – Christopher Roberts! It was a close fought contest between me and Jonny and myself, with 37.5% and 62.5% of the vote respectively – I am honoured to have won. Personally I feel that Jonny’s posts are often better than mine, but I shall acknowledge to the public vote and declare myself the winner. Thank you everyone 🙂

Rising Star

Nominees:

  • Steve August
  • Jonny Hankins
  • David Jamieson
  • Chadrack Irobogo

Runner Up

Steve AugustWith 25% of the vote Steve August is the runner up for this award. Steve is relatively new to the community, and yet in the 5 months of 2012 that he was part of the community, he posted 7 app reviews – his preferred area of writing. Steve also contributes to Alpha Digits where you can read more of his work.

Winner

Jonny Hankins63% of the vote saw Jonny Hankins take the 2012 community award for rising star! My heartfelt congratulations go to Jonny for his fantastic contribution to the blog. With 59 posts and a series under his belt already, who knows where 2013 will take his ever progressing blogging career!

Most Friendly Member of the Community

Nominees:

  • Tammi Kibler
  • Peter Lee
  • Lillie Ammann
  • Chadrack Irobogo

Runner Up

Lillie AmmannLillie Ammann was also nominated for this category, and took 25% of the vote, making her the runner up for this award 2012. Again, well done Lillie for the nomination and votes, you are a truly valued member of the community.

Winner
Peter LeePeter Lee took his second award this year by winning the most friendly member of the community award. Huge congratulations to Peter, as willing two awards is quite something! I look forward to your participation in 2013 🙂

Top All Rounder

Nominees:

  • Christopher Roberts
  • Jonny Hankins
  • Alan Tay
  • Chadrack Irobogo

Runner Up

Jonny HankinsNow for the big one, the top all rounder. In the past I have referred to this as “Technology Bloggers ultimate award” as it is for someone who is an example an outstanding community member, which is why it is very deservingly that Jonny Hankins was nominated for this award, which he claimed runner up status for. One community award and runner up for another two, not a bad 2012 Jonny!

Winner
Christopher RobertsI am truly humbled to have received 91% of the vote for this award. I love this blog and the people who make it as great as it is, which is probably why I put so much time and effort into posting content, moderating comments, tweaking things and generally just doing my best to make it a fantastic site to visit. Again, I would like to thank everyone who voted for me, I am truly grateful.

Well that’s 2012’s awards over, 6 categories, with 7 unique winners and runners up, democratically chosen by you: the readers of the blog.

2012 Community Award Winners

2012 was a brilliant year for us, and our visitor numbers prove it. Here is a sneak peak at some traffic stats that I wouldn’t usually publicly release.

Technology Bloggers Traffic

The number of visits the blog has had (per month) since it started on April the 13th 2011.

Happy New Year everyone, here’s to 2013!

New Year’s Resolution: Find the Apps that Motivate You

19 Replies writerevan

New Year’s resolutions are a funny thing because most people make them with the expectation that they won’t keep them. As the excitement of the turning year begins to fade away into the monotony of work and everyday life, so too does our resolve to make this new year the best yet by losing weight, saying goodbye to cigarettes, and making the effort to stay connected to family and friends.

But if you really want your resolutions to stick this year then you need to make a plan that keeps you on track for success, and modern technology can help. Here are just a few apps for Apple devices that are sure to help you keep all of your resolutions this year!

TraxItAll

If one of your biggest problems with your New Year’s resolutions in the past has been tracking your progress in order to stay motivated and see how far you’ve come, then this app will certainly solve your problem. With a user-friendly interface that allows you to enter goals and report on progress daily, a simple system for tracking that involves yes/no answers (Did you work out today? Did you count calories? Did you call mom?) and a section for notes (30-minute workout, 1,500 calories, blood pressure 110/70), and a chart to view monthly progress, you’ll quickly see the rewards of your efforts, and all for $1.99.

Resolutions 2012

There are actually two apps by this name in the iTunes store, but the better version by far was made by 2Morrow Mobile and comes with a price tag of $0.99.

You’ll have to start by entering your resolutions, and from there you’ll be prompted to make a plan of action that will help you to reach your goals. With a step-by-step approach and reminders to keep you on track (not to mention optional sharing via Facebook, Twitter, and SMS), you’ll have a much better chance of getting to your goal weight, laying down the cigarettes, or finally saving up for that dream trip to Paris this year.

Jillian Michaels Slim-Down Solution

If you ever wanted this pocket-sized personal trainer in your pocket, now you can have your wish. With her free app for the iPhone (or other iDevice) you can now take Jillian from The Biggest Loser everywhere you want to be. You’ll get 30 slimming recipes and 30 fat-burning exercise routines with this version (plus daily tips, weekly podcasts, and more), or you can get much more with the paid service. At $3.99 per month it’s cheaper than a gym membership or joining a diet program.  And having a personal trainer in the palm of your hand? Priceless.

LIVESTRONG MyQuit Coach

For fans of the LIVESTRONG series of apps, this little freebie will be a welcome addition.  With a simple approach to finally quitting that sets reduction goals and prompts you to track your cigarette consumption, you should have no problem kicking the habit. With more than 1,500 satisfied customers (those are just the ones that rated the app), it could just provide the motivation you need to quit for good.

Skype WiFi

In the world of cheap internet innovations, this could just be the best service to hit computers, phones, and tablets. No matter where you are in the world, if you can find an internet café you can talk to your friends and family practically free with this amazing app. You only pay $0.06 per minute (via Skype credit) and it allows for unlimited talk, text, browsing, download, etc. And if you can’t find a hotspot, it will locate one for you from more than a million locations. So if staying connected is one of the many New Year’s resolutions you’re bound to break, this app could make it a lot easier (and cheaper) to get in touch.

Technology Bloggers community awards

21 Replies Christopher Roberts

At the end of 2011, here at Technology Bloggers we are going to celebrate with an award ceremony. We are a community blog, and thought the year, loads of fantastic people have been working on continuously improving the blog, taking it to new heights!

Now, at the end of the year, we shall celebrate the people who have helped make this blog the huge success it is today.

This year the awards have all been awarded by me (Christopher Roberts) as a member of the admin team. However next year I hope that we can vote on the awards, so that the community decide who in the community deserves the award.

So, without further ado, the awards!

This year we have 6 awards up for grabs:

  • Top Commenter – The person who posts valuable comments which help to create the fantastic community we have on the blog
  • Top Writer (Contributor) – The contributor who has made the most valuable contribution to the blog – in terms of the quantity and quality of articles published – this year
  • Top Writer (Author and Admin) – The author – or higher rank – who has made the greatest contribution in terms of the quantity and quality of articles published this year
  • Rising Star – Who is really going places? Who is helping to improve the blog and has great potential?
  • Most Friendly Member of the Community – Who has been the most pleasant and kind person on the blog this year?
  • Top All Rounder – The big one! Technology Bloggers ultimate award, who is the best example of a fantastic member of the community?

So, to the awards!

Top Commenter

The Nominations:

  • Alan Tay – Always among the first to add his view, Alan almost always adds interesting information to an article, and he also likes to interact with other commenters – the characteristic of a really good commenter
  • Diana Studer – Diana has taught me many lessons about respect in blogging and always writes very interesting and thought provoking comments!
  • David (from TheOnlyCog) – David speaks his mind, asks questions, adds information, therefore contributing a great deal to the commenting community
  • Chadrack Irobogo – Although Chadrack does not comment very often, when he does, he makes very valuable points, has very good grammar and is always full of support

And the winner is…

Chadrack's AvatarChadrack Irobogo! Pleasant mannered and well written, Chadrack’s comments often bring new information and ideas to the table, which help to improve the community.

Top Writer (Contributor)

The Nominations:

  • Marc Madrigal – Marc likes writing about technology and the web, and he does it very well – useful articles which can be both constructive and thought provoking
  • Alan Tay – Alan’s articles are always popular, probably due to them being well written, interesting and helpful
  • Andrew Doyle – Andrew writes well written articles, which often attract attention from the community

And the winner is…

Alan's AvatarAlan Tay! Alan is a really big member of the Technology Bloggers community, commenting, reading and writing, his articles make great reading and really do add value to the blog 🙂

Top Writer (Author and Admin)

The Nominations:

  • Ron Fletcher – Ron’s articles are among some of the most popular on the blog, he focuses mainly on apps, and always writes good, interesting articles, and then often replies to the comments that arise from what he has written
  • Jonny Hankins – Jonny is new to WordPress, but is making giant steps towards becoming a really good author, he wrights interesting and insightful posts, which usually fire up a debate
  • Christopher Roberts (Admin Team) – Okay, I can’t give an award to myself, but the category was looking a bit empty, since we only have two authors, so I chucked myself in too 🙂

And the winner is…

Jonny's AvatarJonny Hankins! With 8 articles in his inventory, Jonny is quickly gaining experience and becoming a very good writer, who is liked by the community.

Rising Star

Nominations:

  • Jonny Hankins
  • Alan Tay
  • Ron Fletcher

And the winner is…

Ron's AvatarRon Fletcher! Ron has been a great contributor to the blog since he joined us in July, he is getting really good at replying to his commenters, is writing more and more, and what he is writing is getting better as time goes on.

Most Friendly Member of the Community

The Nominations:

  • Chadrack Irobogo – Always giving support, Chadrack is a very friendly character
  • Marc Madrigal – Marc grins from ear to ear in his profile pick, and that happiness seems to come across in the friendliness of his comments
  • Goodwin A I Manson – A very new member of the community with just a handful of comments (3 I think!) Goodwin writes pleasant and friendly comments
  • Lillie Ammann – Lillie is always full of support and always writes in a kind way

And the winner is…

Marc’s AvatarMarc Madrigal! Marc has been with the blog almost since the beginning, and he has contributed many helpful articles as well as interesting comments, the pleasant manner in which he conducts his writing and replying, makes the experience all the better 🙂

Top All Rounder

Nominations:

  • Alan Tay
  • Jonny Hankins

And the winner is…

Jonny's AvatarJonny Hankins! I felt I had to choose someone who writes for us and comments for this award, and I didn’t want to nominate myself, so I had the choice of Jonny and Alan, both fantastic candidates, however I feel that because of the outstanding progress he has made, Jonny deserves this award 🙂

Winners of Technology Bloggers Community Awards - 2011

The Nominees

Here are the 2011 nominees who didn’t get an award. They are also very deserving individuals, and I urge you to check out their sites!

To Conclude

There we have it, we had 6 awards, and 11 different people were nominated for those awards. Of those 11 people 5 of them now have one (or more – Jonny!) of Technology Bloggers first ever awards! Well done all 🙂

I know I have only mentioned a few people, but it is all of us that make this blog what it is, so thank you everyone!

And finally…

A big big thank you to everyone for a fantastic year! 2011 has been great, so lets have have an even better 2012 🙂

Happy New Year!