Demo Girl

Secret Santa gift exchanges have been around for quite some time. Too long, some may say. The biggest problem with Secret Santa’s is that no one puts any thought or effort in the gift they’re getting for a random co-worker they only speak to once a year. How are you supposed to know what to get “Frank” from accounting if you don’t even know who “Frank” is? Well, Elfster can solve that problem. It’s simple: Elfster allows you to create a group gift exchange, invite people to participate, and lets participants create wishlists and “don’t get me that!” lists. Elfster even does a random drawing of names and emails everyone the name of the person they’re buying for. You can then log into Elfster and see what that person does or does not want. Price limits can be set and you can even turn it into a gift exchange party planner with directions to the party and special instructions. It can all be kept anonymous, so everyone gets what they want and still not have any clue who bought it for them. Pretty groovy. Here’s my screencast tour of Elfster:

Flash Demo3m20s

[via Web Worker Daily]

TringMe is a web based messaging service that allows your blog or website visitors to instantly leave you a voicemail or even call you with just one click.  There’s nothing to download and your visitors don’t need to sign up for anything in order to leave you a message.  Just install the voicemail widget or the Click to Call widget on your site and viola – now your blog readers can call you at home and tell you how much they hated your latest post.  Actually, you can set up to receive calls and voicemails however you like.  You can choose to be notified via phone and email, GTalk and email, or just by email alone.  If you have a Facebook account, you can add the TringMe widget to your profile as well.  TringMe seems like a good idea but I’m not sure if I would use it on my blog.  It’s unclear how they are going to deal with spam and I for one don’t need any more spammers in my life.  I will, however, try out the Facebook application.  TringMe is in private beta right now but I have 3 invites for the first 3 requests in the comments.  Here’s my screencast tour of TringMe:

Flash Demo2m3s