The 2nd Annual Open Web Awards, sponsored by Mashable, has issued a call for nominations. Through November 16, you can nominate a company for recognition in any of the 26 categories that range from photo sharing and dating to online games and travel.

-posted by Rachel

One of the companies that I've followed for years, Panicware, is now missing in action. The company, which offered a really nifty pop-up stopper for your Internet browser, no longer has a website and searchers are directed to a blog. It actually looks like founder Matina Fresenius is heading into uncharted waters with a line of Panicware kids clothing. You can check it out at www.panicware.com.

-posted by Rachel

New Seattle-based startup Divvy went live with a site that helps members rent whatever they'd like to whomever they'd like through the creation of private websites linked to calendars and PayPal. Founders Aaron Freed and Brandon DeCuir have created an online portal where you can "divvy" up a condo or where a church might rent out its facilities for weddings -- all through personal webpages. Regardless, it's the latest entry into the very active startup market here...this despite a slowing economy.

-posted by Rachel

We're in the home stretch of the Mobile Village Mobile Star Awards(tm) competition...but there's still time for you to cast a ballot. VOXUS is a nominee in the Best Wireless & Mobile Technology PR Firm category; VOXUS clients Nextrials, CipherLab, Perlego and AirMagnet are also nominees in various categories. So exercise your right to vote -- for us! Go here to read more. Voting closes October 20.

-posted by Rachel

I was sorry to read that one of my former clients, after an almost meltdown in August, is now officially R.I.P. Action Engine was sold to MobUI, a Redmond-based startup that coincidentally was founded by two ex-Action Engineers, John Burry and Brandon Albers (ably assisted by former marketing director Anne Baker, who formed her own firm post-AE). I'd think that no one would know the value of Action Engine's technology better than former teammates. Best wishes.

-posted by Rachel

Congrats to Marcelo Calbucci of Sampa -- he's been compiling an index of Seattle startups for more than a year that ranked them according to search engine statistics. Beginning this week, he's moved the project to www.seattle20.com and added aggregator feeds from other startup blogs in the Seattle area. He has also added original content from contributors such as Alyssa Royse, Matt Hulett, Rebecca Lovell, Danielle Morrill and Keven Leneway, creating a new digital resource for Northwest-based entrepreneurs.

-posted by Rachel

One of my favorite Seattle-based startups, Lilipip, is proactively restructuring its business model as a result of slower-than-expected growth. Instead of producing YouTube-like animated shorts for kids to view on mobile devices, the company has changed its name to Lilipip Studios and is now producing animated stories for companies and their products. Too bad, in a way -- I loved the concept of short films that toddlers could watch on mom's cell phone when the going got tough.

Lilipip's first customer under its new business model is another Seattle-based startup, Others Online. You can see the short flim clip on the company's landing page.

-posted by Rachel

Who'd have thought that I'd look back and sigh about the Google good old days? Like when I could search for Old Boyfriend in complete anonymity and then laugh hysterically when I found out that he crashed and burned during the dot-com bust and is now wanted in 30 of the 50 states. Yes, folks, you can kiss your stalking abilities goodbye, now that Ziggs has launched. Although the site is really meant to help you control your personal brand, it has the odd side ability to notify you of anyone who has Googled your name...and to tell you who that person is. Yikes. I just hope Old Boyfriend isn't a member yet.

-posted by Rachel

It was bad enough that John Cook and Todd Bishop, two of our favorite reporters and bloggers at the Seattle P-I, left the publication earlier this month to join a new initiative at the Puget Sound Business Journal. And kudos to them, it sounds like an exciting venture! But recently, I got word that Cherie Black, the P-I's health reporter and blogger, has also left for greener pastures. AACK.

Earlier this year, the P-I started offering itself as a home for citizen bloggers with columns ranging from Jason McBride's "Eating Weird" to Carolyn Chambers Clark's "Relationship Repair." Maybe this is how it plans to continue to develop new media without replacing departing staff members.

-posted by Rachel

Did you know that the pig in Seattle's Pike Place is named Rachel? Just a weird coincidence, I'm sure...anyway, there's a new blog in town for those of us interested in the Seattle tech scene. Meet at the Pig is a really fun compendium of events that will appeal to your inner geek. And, if you're interested, the site is looking for new writers; drop Justin Martenstein a line via the online contact form. Upcoming piglets (events) include the Seattle Blogger Meetup on September 24 and Seattle Startup Drinks on September 26.

-posted by Rachel

Seattle Webgrrls is resurrecting -- the next meeting is Thursday, September 4 at 6:30 p.m. This is an interesting organization dedicated to empowering women through the use of technology in personal and professional lives. Visit the site for further details and RSVP information.

-posted by Rachel

It's always interesting to see what our competition is up to -- and here's a very unique twist to the standard blog I see on many agency websites. Kevin Dugan, the director of marketing for FRCH Design, and Richard Laermer, CEO of RLM PR, created the Bad Pitch Blog to immortalize all of those missteps PR people make with editors and analysts. I have to say, it's worth a look -- PR Week picked it as a competitor in the "best blog" category of its latest competition.

-posted by Rachel

Our friends at Pure Networks have a new boss: Cisco Systems acquired the company for $120 million. It's actually a pretty good marriage -- Pure Networks has a great little product in Network Magic, a software that makes it easy for consumers to set up home networks. And the company was already a partner with Linksys, a router supplier that Cisco previously acquired.

-posted by Rachel

Y Combinator, that quirky VC firm that brought us local startups such as JamGlue and RescueTime, is now accepting applications for the winter 2009 funding cycle. Deadline is October 17 at 10:00 p.m. PST. These VCs even have a shortlist of the types of problems they'd like to see solved (talk about being proactive!). If you've got a cure for some of the following, you need to set up a company pronto:
- simplified web browsing tied to social strata/interests
- Internet dating
- any potential competitor to Microsoft desktop software (Microsoft must be really happy about this)
- online learning applications
- off-the-shelf home security

There are other ideas that are even grander, such as solving the declining readership problem newspapers are facing through competition from Internet-based news sources.

-posted by Rachel

Apple is launching MobileMe, Apple's replacement for .Mac, on July 9. Heads up that www.mac.com will be out of service between 6 p.m.-12:00 a.m. Pacific that day. MobileMe remotely syncs computers and devices, including the iPhone, so there is an upside for many of you .Mac fans out there.

-posted by Rachel

Our friends at Seattle-based Imagekind have a new boss...the online art store has been acquired by CafePress for close to $20 million.

-posted by Rachel

Mashable, one of the more entertaining news sites on social networking, is kicking off its SummerMash Tour in Seattle on July 12. It looks to be one of the events of the season! The party gets started at the Showbox SoDo at 7 p.m. Tickets begin at $14, and you can find out more here.

-posted by Rachel

California-based Glassdoor debuted this week with essentially the same business model as Seattle-based TrenchMice, which closed up shop the end of April. It's a career community where anyone can find and share (anonymously) insider looks at companies. Glassdoor boasts executives from companies such as Zillow, Expedia and TripAdvisor, and its "sneak peek" companies include Cisco, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! But since TrenchMice closed because it plateaued in traffic, it'll be interesting to see how Glassdoor overcomes that problem.

-posted by Rachel

Nice review by Associated Press tech writer Peter Svensson for the new Samsung Instinct, the first real competitor to the Apple iPhone. Sprint Nextel will begin offering the phone on June 20, getting a jump on the new 8-gigabyte iPhone, launching on July 11 and backed by the AT&T network. Apparently, there are also new BlackBerry models coming out later this year for Verizon and AT&T. It's interesting to note that all of these phones are featuring cameras with at least 2 megapixels -- the first thump in the death knell for low-end stand-alone digital cameras.

-posted by Rachel

One of our clients is an avid pilot and likes to fly into Gig Harbor for meetings. I'm thinking he might be interested in this story about a Boeing 727 that's been abandoned at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport in Vietnam. It's been there since December, but no one seems to know who the aircraft belongs to nor when/if he or she plans to return for it.

Boeing might want to take note of this -- perhaps there's a new partnership opportunity for installing a LoJack device on future aircraft.

-posted by Rachel

Although it's a competitor's slogan, Clearwire might be wondering whether or not its investors can clearly hear it, along with the tunes its proposed suitor, Sprint Nextel, has been singing. A general investor's meeting is being held this week in New York to discuss the implications of the companies' merger. There might be a lot more news coming out of this conference, since industry rumors are swirling about a reorganization (again!) within Sprint to shore up sales. The Wall Street Journal also reported last month that Deutsche Telekom is "considering" acquiring Sprint...this as a follow-up to its purchase of VoiceStream (now T-Mobile) seven years ago. Might make sense, but this would mean the combined companies would have three different networks, handset supply chains and brand names. Stay tuned.

-posted by Rachel

My former coworker-turned-full time blogger, Deb Hamilton, has hit the big time. She was quoted in a Newsweek article this past weekend -- and I can understand why. She's now the leading expert in developing bento lunch boxes for U.S. schoolchildren. (A bento is a Japanese box lunch.) I've written about her blog site before, but you should check it out at www.lunchinabox.net.

This is a shining example of how the media world has changed to enable someone to take a passion (in this case, an interest in healthy and portable lunches) and turn it into a full-time career.

-posted by Rachel

Sinrod Marketing Group's international opinion panel just completed a survey of 75,000 adults to determine first names associated with intelligence. The winners: Abigail, Alexis, Grace, Leah, Meryl and Vanessa for women, and Alexander, David, John, Kenneth, Samuel and Tim for men. The names most associated with leadership were Ruth, Alexander, Dwight and Lance. You can see the entire results of the survey in The New Baby Name Survey Book.

The fact that none of us at VOXUS have these names kind of puts the validity of this research in dispute.

-posted by Rachel

Remember the old song by the Manhattan Transfer called "Operator," where the singers want to get Jesus on the telephone? Now there's a web startup that's gone a step further. It enables those who are swept up to heaven in the Rapture (according to Christian tradition, this is what happens before the AntiChrist's seven-year reign of terror leading up to Armageddon) to send emails to those of us sinners left behind. For only $40 per year, YouveBeenLeftBehind.com will let you send messages to up to 62 people six days after you've departed Earth, if you're one of the raptured ones. And how does this happen when, presumably, the owners of the site have also zoomed on to their just rewards? There are five gatekeepers for the website, and if three of them don't log on for six days in a row, the emails are sent. I could point out some of the potential security hazards of this, or make any number of witty comments...but I'll just point you toward the article in Wired's blog. It's a good read.

-posted by Rachel

When I first began working in the PR business, late night runs to Kinko's for last minute presentations and copies were the norm. Before Powerpoint, color copiers and whiz-bang office supplies were readily available, it was just me and "Kinky's" that stood between a client's success or failure on the road. So it is with some regret that I noted that FedEx, the new parent company of Kinko's, is dropping the name in favor of shoring up the FedEx brand. I suppose it was inevitable, as thousands of us no longer make midnight runs in our pajamas to fix one final typo in a presentation booklet. Maybe that's a good thing.

-posted by Rachel

Interesting article in VentureBeat earlier this month. Microsoft is notorious for fluffing its market figures by emphasizing the positive, so it's been widely noted by analysts, editors and bloggers that the company has been curiously silent on Zune...and now we know why. Only 2 million units have been sold since it launched in late 2006; in comparison, Apple sells a little over 3.5 million iPods a month. It's hard (and maybe unfair) to compare the two figures, as Zune is only sold in the U.S. (and the iPod is global), but one can safely say that Zune is underperforming -- and I don't think its new gaming initiative is going to make up the sales gap.

-posted by Rachel

Six Hour Startup, a Seattle-based networking and educational organization, is sponsoring a pretty interesting conference on May 31 at the Columbia City Theater. If you're interested in starting a business, this is the place to go -- you'll get all of the nuts and bolts you need to be off and running. Best of all, it's just $99 and includes lunch (a bargain). Speakers include entrepreneur Andy Sack, Dan McComb from Biznik.com and Carolyn Duncan from Fundinguniverse.com.

-posted by Rachel

So I just got back from Key West, where life is definitely on the wacky side, only to find that the Seattle startup community might be trying to emulate that light-heartedness (or just downright craziness). Drumroll, please...in my absence, Seattle welcomed i-booze.com, the brainchild of California escapee Karim Varela. Still in beta, i-booze provides instant gratification for those of you too busy (or too lazy) to leave home to buy an amazing array of -- how shall I put this? -- disparate products that I never thought I'd see on the same shopping list. The catalog includes "Baby Stuff" (diapers, etc.), "Drinking" (including a category for chick drinks), and "Sex Utilities" (you know what I mean) alongside more mundane items such as bongs and nitrous oxide. After I stopped laughing, I wondered if maybe i-booze.com is the poster child of marketing genius, as I bet I'm not the last one to write about it.

-posted by Rachel

Our friends at Yapta and Strangeloop Networks made the first cut in this year's Red Herring Top Tech Startups in North America. So did Jott Networks, NanoString Technologies and Teradici Corporation. We'd say this is yet another indication that the Pacific Northwest startup community is thriving. You can see the entire list here.

-posted by Rachel

Our friends Byron Acohido (who lives just up the road) and Jon Swartz, two reporters with USA Today, have launched their book, Zero Day Threat. It's got an intriguing subhead: "The Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity." Wired is running an excerpt that explains how Mr. O, a Nigerian national, created the largest data security breach in history when he hacked into the confidential information of 4.3 million individuals held by ChoicePoint. Fascinating stuff.

-posted by Rachel

Interesting development overseas...the French courts have ruled against a blog aggregate site, Fuzz, for printing a link pointing to an article containing details of the private life of actor Olivier Martinez. In typical French hyperbole, this judgment is being called "a black day for the French web." The courts held the website editor, Eric Dupin, liable for collecting and publishing links to articles of questionable validity, even though he didn't initially write the articles. (For those of you not familiar with Fuzz, it's similar to any aggregate site, such as Digg.) One of the reasons this story is interesting: the French court is saying that blog aggregators have the same level of journalistic responsibility as writers of original content. If you can read French, you can find more details in Le Figaro.

-posted by Rachel

Seattle-based Lockdown Networks has closed its doors...but the story lives on in comments to a blog posting by the Seattle P-I's John Cook. It's pretty enlightening reading about the eternal push/pull between marketing and product design.

-posted by Rachel

Ksenia Oustiougova, CEO of Lilipip has co-founded a new website that seeks to support women entrepreneurs in the Seattle area. Go take a look at PregnantWithStartup.com.

-posted by Rachel

So I'm fascinated by flash mobs, impromptu and seemingly random events that are often so over-the-top that they're funny enough for YouTube. A flash mob pillow fight is scheduled for Pike Place Market on Saturday, March 29 at 3:15 p.m. Details can be found here. Apparently, this is being sponsored by the Seattle Pillow Fight Club, proving that yes, indeedy, there is a hobby for everyone.

-posted by Rachel

With VOXUS client IdentiPHI in the biometrics-based security business, we thought it was pretty interesting to read how another local company is utilizing biometrics to make living in Florida a little safer for its residents. Sagem Morpho, with US headquarters in Tacoma, announced the deployment of its Rapid ID System throughout the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Mandated by the Jessica Lundsford Act (the young girl kidnapped and killed by a sexual predator), this system enables a police or parole officer on the street or in a remote location to use a small portable device to scan and send digital fingerprints through a closed network. Within seconds, the image is matched to a database of sex offenders, probationers and individuals with criminal records in Florida -- allowing safety personnel to more quickly apprehend wanted criiminals. Sounds nifty -- and maybe something we should consider in Washington.

-posted by Rachel

I like to think that VOXUS has taken the lead in creating an enjoyable work atmosphere -- but my hat is off to the folks at 37signals (www.37signals.com), that nifty little company that brought Basecamp and Campfire to the market for building collaborative work environments. According to a blog post, 37signals has adopted several new workplace strategies for 2008 that I'd like my boss to take note of: four day work weeks (oh, yeah, I'm so there), stipends to pay for the development of new hobbies (I'm thinking I'd like to learn Greek...in Greece) and individual credit cards for discretionary spending (see previous reference to Greece). I used to envy the cafeterias, bus systems, massages and gyms for Microsofties and Googlers, but now those perks seem so old school.

-posted by Rachel

Attention, ladies: according to this month's Cosmopolitan, the Number One new hot spot for meeting single men is...the Apple store nearest you. Find an outlet -- and maybe true love -- here.

-posted by Rachel

Marcelo Calbucci at Sampa recently listed his picks for the most influential entrepreneur/bloggers in Seattle -- and for the most part, we'd agree with his selections (but maybe not their rankings). His list includes folks like Kevin Merritt at blist, who recently wrote about his startup's process in entering and preparing for a launch at DEMO, the "60 Minutes" man of fame Glenn Kelman at Redfin and entrepreneur/investor Kelly Smith at Curious Office. We also like the blog at Wetpaint, which didn't make the list this time. It'll be interesting to see how the rankings change, as Marcelo plans to issue another list in the future.

-posted by Rachel

So it's well-known that VOXUS is a dog-friendly office. Maybe that's why I hadn't heard about I Can Has Cheezburger until John Cook of the Seattle P-I wrote about it in his blog. This bizarre Seattle startup gives cat lovers a place to upload their photos with captions that, frankly, make me laugh and scratch my head. What's even weirder is that John reports that the angel investor-backed company is profitable! You gotta wonder...

-posted by Rachel

Seattle-based Inu Treats was selected as a runner up in Intuit's Just Start competition, and received a $5,000 cash prize. The startup makes healthy dog treats.

-posted by Rachel

Think outside the box! If you're looking to share your web analytics experience, join your compadres at the next Web Analytics Wednesday being held at Temple Billiards in Seattle on Wednesday, February 20 at 6 p.m. It's being sponsored this month by ZeroDash1. WAW is a global social networking event hosted in cities around the world...it's got beer and billiards, so what's not to like?

-posted by Rachel

So we all know that, unfortunately, it's sometimes the PR department or agency's job to keep reporters away from top company honchos. That's why I'm so impressed with the Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher, who pens the "Boomtown" column for the WSJ's blog, All Things Digital. She wanted to meet Yahoo's chief, Jerry Yang, and was denied access through normal PR channels. She found out that Yahoo had offered a lunch with Jerry as a prize in the DonorsChoose blogger challenge. While she didn't win, it was a creative way to try to gain access to a notoriously inaccessible person. And kudos to the All Things D staff for continuing its fundraising efforts -- you can learn more here.

-posted by Rachel

Matthew Mullenweg, the founder of the software WordPress that runs much of the world's blogging sites, had one of the funniest blog entries (http://photomatt.net/) of the new year so far. Matt names the top ten folks who emailed him the most in 2007 -- and his mom ranked third. I'm not sure who I got the most email from, but it might very well be the person in Nigeria needing help to launder money. I bet Matt's Mom is a lot more interesting.

-posted by Rachel

Kingston resident and Pulitzer Prize winner Byron Acohido, who now writes for USA Today has co-authored a new book with USA Today tech writer Jon Swartz on security threats to sensitive data and financial transactions. Due to be released in April, Zero Day Threat explores how banks and credit bureaus are actually helping cyber crooks steal personal identities. Barnes & Noble will carry the book, and it's garnering rave reviews from security consultants who know the industry well. Local residents may remember Acohido in the mid 1990s as the then-Seattle Times reporter who broke the story on design flaws with Boeing's 737, causing a massive (and expensive) recall and replacement effort.

-posted by Rachel

David Berlind, formerly an editor and blogger at CNET (parent company to ZDNet) for the last 10 years, has moved on -- and his new gig is pretty impressive. He'll be joining CMP as the executive director of the Interop conference. Hope he loves Las Vegas...you can read more.

-posted by Rachel

Time to vote for our home-grown startups. Two area ventures grabbed semi-finalist spots in Intuit's "Just Start" contest : Melodies About Me, based in Bremerton, creates personzlied music for children, and Seattle-based Inu Treats makes all natural dog snacks with an Asian flair. The winner gets $50,000 in startup seed money.

-posted by Rachel

Attention, Vancouver BC-area startups: nPost will host a networking event at Library Square sometime in early February. You can learn more about the event by monitoring the signup wiki here. And if you're fans of Jay and Silent Rob, the duo is already registered to attend.

-posted by Rachel

The next meeting of the Seattle Tech Startups group will be on Tuesday, January 22 at the downtown branch of the Seattle Public Library, beginning at 6 p.m. The topic: "From Startup to Steady Revenue," exploring how young companies can build a sustainable business.

-posted by Rachel

Want to ogle Google?

Google will have an open house at its new office in Fremont on Tuesday, January 15, beginning at 6 p.m. You're invited to sneak a peek and grab a bite, but you have to RSVP.

-posted by Rachel

One of our favorite industry analysts for life sciences is Chris Connor at IDC. He recently endorsed the new direction that Seattle-based Insightful is heading with its products for data analytics. The company just announced the availability of Insightful Clinical Graphics, which helps researchers present data in visual terms. The company is a tad late in jumping on the bandwagon of delivering tools that make mountains of data more relevant to diverse audiences, particularly those that are not necessarily in the pharmaceutical industry...but there is a big market out there for easy to use products that can deliver analytics through graphics and illustrations. We've always been impressed with a much smaller local company, Arkitek Studios that's been around for years – the company uses animation to help customers such as Dendreon and Sonus explain complex research data to investors and other audiences.

-posted by Rachel

'Tis the season for weirdly fascinating stories...take the Word Of The Year Contest or WOTY. I had no idea that Merriam-Webster sponsors the contest annually. This year's winner is w00t (pronounced "whoot" and spelled with two zeros), an exclamation of joy used primarily by gamers. One of the runners up is Facebook, which the dictionary defines as a verb. Not such good news for the Facebook folks, I'd think -- looked what happened to Kimberly-Clark's Kleenex brand. Once it became a household word and stood for any type of facial tissue, it became extremely hard to protect the trademark in court. Today, the company spends mucho money defending its property rights.

-posted by Rachel

The MIT Venture Lab once again sponsored Startup Demo on December 13. Startups featured this year included Redmond's 2Bot Corporation, Seattle-based Athleon Sport, Safari Development (Denmark) and its Talking Letters application, Seattle's TeachStreet, ex-Microsofties Shan Sinha and Alex DeNeui's DocVerse and Overcast Media.

-posted by Rachel

Gig Harbor is just full of interesting companies. One down the street is GottaPlay Interactive, a company that is establishing itself as the "Netflix" of video game rentals. GottaPlay just anounced Stephan P. Muller as its latest board member, and the man has got some great street cred for such a small company: he's held global executive positions with Apple and Reuters. Welcome to the neighborhood!

-posted by Rachel

Marcelo Calbucci and the folks over at Sampa are doing a great job of creating a monthly list of startups in the Seattle area. It's always interesting to see the new companies that are added to the list, some of which have names and/or purposes that are mystifying or just downright humorous. My favorites this month: imaPodHead, Human Proxy and its product, inluu and Beyond Wine and Cheese.

-posted by Rachel

You're probably getting tired of my posts on technology company name changes in Seattle...but here we go again. Centeris recently morphed into Likewise Software. The Bellevue company's been around for quite awhile, so given that, the name change may come as a surprise.

-posted by Rachel

OK, so it's not the cover of the Rolling Stone. But Ksenia Oustiougova, the founder of the soon-to-be-launched Lilipip, is on the cover of the local Russian newsletter, MIR (available in Seattle Safeways). The boss says I'm obsessed with Lilipip, but I do believe this is a local startup that you should keep your eye on. It expects to emerge from stealth mode before the end of the year.

-posted by Rachel

Our friends at Pure Networks recently conducted a survey that uncovered a disturbing tech habit. Almost half of the respondents did not think it was wrong to piggyback on someone else's WiFi connection. 'Nuff said.

-posted by Rachel

Ho-ho-hold it...yet another new name for a Seattle area tech company. SchoolSoft has become DreamBox Learning. There must be something going on in town, what with new names for BlueDot (Faves), ZenZui (Zumobi), eProject (Daptiv) and God knows how many other startups that I was just getting to know. Marketing and branding companies must be doing well in the Emerald City. If it's still called that.

-posted by Rachel

For all of you gadget heads who didn't rush out and buy the new iPhone, Sprint is launching its BlackBerry Pearl on Black Friday (November 23), according to Gizmodo.

-posted by Rachel

So now there's absolutely no reason for any man (or woman, for that matter) NOT to send flowers for just about any occasion. Jackson Fish Market, that wacky Seattle software development startup that advertises its products as "hand crafted" and that brought us Invitastic as an alternative to eVite, just launched They're Beautiful. You guessed it, virtual flower arrangements. I have to admit, the bouquets are visually arresting, but call me crazy for still wanting the real thing...at least until the JFM folks can add scent to the delivery package.

-posted by Rachel

Yet another startup in Seattle is reworking its name. This time it's BlueDot, now known as Faves. Gaining a dot com extension (as opposed to a dot us extension, which the company previously owned) is reason enough for a social networking site to make the switch.

-posted by Rachel