Scholz: YouTube, wackiness lead best of 2006 lists

By Claire Scholz | Sunday, December 24, 2006

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I thought it would be fun to spin through the “best of 2006” Web sites to see what the year hath wrought.

Over at Merriam Webster’s Words of the Year 2006 www.m-w.com/info/ 06words.htm, “truthiness” won hands down by a 5-1 majority. According to Steven Colbert, the word’s originator, it means “truth that comes from the gut, not books”. Hum, I wonder who he was thinking about when the word popped into his head. The rest?

2. google

3. decider

4. war

5. insurgent

6. terrorism

7. vendetta

8. sectarian

9. quagmire

10. corruption

National Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061211-top-stories.html revealed its top stories as:

1. Lost Gospel Revealed; Says Jesus Asked Judas to Betray Him

2. “Crocodile Hunter” Death Extremely Rare, Caught on Film

3. Gospel of Judas Pages Endured Long, Strange Journey

4. “Lost World” Found in Indonesia Is Trove of New Species

5. Noah’s Ark Discovered in Iran?

6. Monster Rabbit Stalks U.K. Village (But No Sign of Wallace or Gromit)

7. Murdered “Bog Men” Found With Hair Gel, Manicured Nails

8. Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule

9. Muslim Athletic Wear Covers Skin Without Cramping Style

Apple’s iTunes listed the 100 most downloaded albums and songs at the iTunes Store in the United States.

1. Daniel Powter — “Bad Day”

2. Nelly Furtado — “Promiscuous”

3. James Blunt — “You’re Beautiful”

4. Gnarls Barkley — “Crazy”

5. Sean Paul — “Temperature”

6. Justin Timberlake — “Sexyback”

7. The Fray — “Over My Head (Cable Car)”

8. Shakira — “Hips Don’t Lie”

9. Natasha Bedingfield — “Unwritten”

10. Chamillionaire — “Ridin’”

Time’s magazine www.time.com/time/2006/ techguide/bestinventions/ gave its Best Invention of the Year award to YouTube.com. In their words, “It’s been an interesting year in technology. Nintendo invented a video game you control with a magic wand. A new kind of car traveled 3,145 miles on a single gallon of gas. A robot learned to ride a bike. Somebody came up with a nanofabric umbrella that doesn’t stay wet. But only YouTube created a new way for millions of people to entertain, educate, shock, rock and grok one another on a scale we’ve never seen before. That’s why it’s Time’s Invention of the Year for 2006.”

Business Week ranked our nation’s business leaders at http://images.businessweek. com/ss/06/12/1207_bestideas/index_01.htm.

Epicurious Magazine ranked “The Joy of Cooking” 75th anniversary edition as the best cookbook of the year. It was followed by “Happy in the Kitchen” by Michael Richard, “Italian Two Easy” by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, “Starting with Ingredients” by Aliza Green and “King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking.”

I was going to list a couple sites that honor the “Worst of 2006” just for kicks. But I made a slipup on my keyboard (don’t ask me what) and ended up at the Colorado Department of Transportation’s site, www.dot.state.co.us. Yikes, we’re supposed to drive those snow-heaped roads tomorrow. Or not! So in case you’re wondering, the Colorado DOT heads my list for 2006’s best.

Happy holidays, everyone, Be safe, be smart and be funny.

P.S.: In case you want to make very sure Santa is ho-ho-hoing his way to your door, check out NORAD’s Santa tracker (complete with SantaCam) at www.noradsanta.org/ index.php.

Claire Scholz is the president of AsioStudio.com, an Internet design and marketing company. She may be contacted at claire@asiostudio.com.