Skip to Content

Submit your nominations for the Luxist Awards' Best in Decor
AOL Tech

contests posts

Filed under: Fun, Microblogging

Freezly: use Twitter to get free stuff

There's an absolute treasure trove of free stuff on Twitter, but it can be hard to find the best giveaways.

Freezly is a new site that points you right to them, links and all, so you don't have to follow a ton of extra people to hear about the best contests. The front page of the site features a hotlist of popular giveaways, sorted by the number of times they've been retweeted.

There might be more to Freezly's algorithm than retweets, but whatever they're doing is working. Sometimes you'll have to retweet or reply on Twitter to enter a contest, and sometimes you can just go to a website and collect your freebies, but there's a lot of great stuff out there.

Free business cards! MacBooks! Ludacris' car?! It's a bonanza out there, and Freezly will help you get in on it if you're so inclined.

[via Mashable]

Filed under: Microsoft, Browsers

You might hate it, but would you use IE8 for $10,000?

OK, so it's really just a chance to win $10,000 (Australian), but would you?

You'll have to do a few things to get in the action. First, of course, you'll have to become a legal resident of Australia. The DIAC website can help you with the process. Once you've checked that off, you also have to follow @tengrand_IE8 on Twitter to get the daily clues and then put on your Columbo trench coat and use IE8 to uncover the road to riches.

Gotta love the tagline they used: "But you'll never find it using old Firefox (So get rid of it, or get lost.)"

Oh, you crazy Aussies!

I know it's a contest to promote their own browser and it makes sense to use proprietary features to ensure people are actually using IE8, but how Microsoft is that? "This is the most compliant Internet Explorer yet, but we're running our least compliant contest ever using it! Yeeeeeeeeeehaw!"

Wouldn't we all love it if the winner used Firefox and IETab to pull off a win? To quote Bart Simpson, "The ironing is delicious."

[via NeoWin]

Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers

Mozilla wants to give you a free MacBook Pro for your killer add-on!

Add-ons have always been important to Mozilla, and they're one of the big reasons a lot of users decide to browse with Firefox.

We've seen a number of innovations recently, like Jetpack and the introduction of Collections (don't forget to check the Downloadsquad Collection out if you haven't already). Mozilla's never been content to sit still - which is why they're always encouraging the community to get involved.

Take the Extend Firefox 3.5 challenge, for example. If you can come up with a creative, innovative, or just plain cool, you could just win yourself a MacBook Pro - or one of several other kick-ass prizes.

Last year's winners included Pencil and Read It Later. Who knows, your creation could very well take the blue ribbon this year!

The contest runs through October 2nd, so get cracking!

Filed under: Design, Macintosh

Show off your OS X theme-ninja skills

We love contests, and that goes double for contests that take skill and effort to pull off. Macthemes2 is sponsoring an all out battle to the death over Mac Themes, and they're inviting you to throw your well-Photoshopped hat in the ring.

They write, "So without further ado, we're ecstatic to announce the MacThemes Theme For a Week Contest. With over 13,000 elements to theme in OSX the grueling task of creating and producing a theme takes the right kind of artist. That's why we decided to shake things up a bit. Instead of a long, drawn out development period, with little interaction from users and meager rewards at the end, the Theme For a Week Contest, as its name implies, lasts a week, with a (mock-up) development process as clear as glass and rewards fit for a king"
They're giving away a ton of cool gizmos and chotchkys for the skillful designer with a flare for all things desktop.

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google

Get free stuff using Google Blog Search

google blog search
I discovered something interesting when I was in college. If you want to win free tickets to a concert, it's not much use trying to be the 95th caller to the local Morning Zoo-style radio station. Just be the first or second caller to the local college radio station.

In fact, once I remember the deejay saying that the third caller would get free concert tickets. I walked over the phone, picked it up and dialed. I was the first caller. So I hung up, waited a moment, dialed again, and I was the third caller.

What does this have to do with Google Blog Search? Well, with radio stations, there are big well-known web sites with huge audiences, and there are small college stations. On the web, there are A-list blogs and web sites that have thousands or entries every time they give away prizes as part of a contest. And then there are small blogs trying to build traffic for their sites.

Read more →

Filed under: Internet, Video, Social Software

Zooppa launches - user generated advertising goes social

For those who have mastered their narrative skills with a camera and don't feel like waiting for YouTube to start sharing revenue, Zooppa (pronounced: zoo-pa) just might be your ticket to fame and fortune. As a new startup that's been stirring some buzz for a little while now, Zooppa melds user generated video with advertising for a unique business model. Businesses supply advertising briefs - what their product is, who they're targeting, any brand-specific design elements, etc. - and users create advertisements for the company, uploading them for Zooppa users to vote on. After voting closes, the winning video scores a cash prize, though we aren't sure exactly how large of a prize that is just yet.

This looks like a fantastic idea for both aspiring marketers and small businesses on little to nonexistent budgets. Who knows: could we see one of next year's Super Bowl ads come out of a Zooppa contest later this year?

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio

Joystiq

TUAW

Daily Finance

Autoblog

Urlesque

Engadget

WoW

Switched.com

FanHouse