Google eBookstore – Although this new feature by the search giant still exhibits some major hiccups (specialty book lists are lacking content, such as the NY Bestsellers list, perhaps due to location constraints), this new service by Google is a commendable effort.

Despite the eBookstore’s limited availability of free books compared to its large number of paid books offered, the cherry on top of Google’s library/bookstore  is the eBook reader interface. This makes the reading of any book virtually as enjoyable as reading the actual physical copy on an indulgently soft armchair by a warm fireplace. The screen shot below shows the ‘Best Free’ eBook list, and the lower screen shot displays the reader platform in action using Jane Austen’s globally renowned Pride and Prejudice. Obviously, this service’s magnitude connects us, the users with pretty much every book ever written. I only wonder what Amazon.com has to say about Google’s eBookstore…

Why Did You Buy Me That? – We’ve all been there before; a nicely wrapped box with your name on it makes its way to your end of the table, you open it up and find out it’s…. your least favorite thing in the world or the ugliest thing you have ever seen. Let us celebrate that awkward gift receiving moment that unites all people across the universe -bad gifts- with Why Did You Buy Me That.

Do you have a horrible gift you received from your in-law and have no idea what to do with it? Submit it here. To get you in the mood of the things you’ll find on this cool Weekly Blog winner, see the two photos below.

And my favorite…

Little People – Here’s a super cute blog, a Weekly Blog winner from earlier this month. As opposed to many of the art blogs out there -however beautiful and inspiring they may be- this particular one is entirely different. The art itself (and the artist behind it) is guided by a simple yet revolutionary concept: “little hand-painted people, left in London to tend for themselves.”

The result? See for yourself with the spectacular images below. Who is behind these lovely creations? He or she wishes to remain anonymous. The only thing we can learn about Little People’s creator is that he or she has another blog celebrating a similar concept of art.

Nikon’s This Day – This site could best be described as a “web content page that shows what happened on that day in the past, at some place in the world.” So if for instance, today’s date is December 19, 2010, This Day displays an important past event that took place on that date sometime in the past decades or centuries. Each entry is accompanied by an HD image, and the background music will make you feel as if you’re strolling around a futuristic yet peaceful museum.

Explore Nikon’s This Day and learn a bit of history along the way. Below is the entry for Dec 19, 1851, which marked the death of a famous English painter. Guess who?

Papa’s Burgeria – In this Burger joint sequel you’ll need to run this greesy spoon place like a pro. Take orders, grill the burgers according to your customers’ preferences and build their burgers with the right condiments and veggies, in the right order. This sounds easy, but wait till you have five orders to take care of in less than 10 minutes!

For more fun and addicting games, be sure to visit our I ♥ GAMES page. Bon Appetit!

P.S. If you haven’t voted for your top game of 2010, do it now!

Top Sites of 2010 – It’s that time of the year again, and we have the ultimate ‘Best of 2010’ face-off for you to participate in. It took us many hours of hard work and clamorous debates, but we’ve finally managed to narrow down the 40 Weekly Fave finalists for you to choose from as the best of 2010.

Declare who is your king of the Web by visiting the  Top Sites of 2010 Voting page and simply “Like” your website of choice (you can only do this once for each listed nominee). But do it quick – voting ends December 26 and winners will be announced on December 27. By the way, we also have a Top Games of 2010 voting event for you to take part in. Don’t you just love democracy?

Google Hotpot – If you’re already familiar with Foursquare, the Google Hotpot service offers the same underlining service concept -social networking with friends based on geo-location and business ratings- only it does it much, much better. Google has exceeded Foursquare’s service in every possible way, thanks to a large scale combination of the various Google tools; maps and street view, altitude, and search (including images, user reviews, related articles and loads more ) all come into play to offer an ultra geo-location service.

The end result is an all-you-could-possibly-need geo-location service, aimed mostly at the wine & dine aspect of entertainment (search restaurants, diners, cafes, etc.). You can see the screen shot below of the restaurant search I did, ending up with the Spotted Pig, a British restaurant in the West Village neighborhood of NYC. You will see how one page includes all the basic information (phone number, map and driving directions, menu), BUT there are also photos of the restaurant and its dishes (including a street-view), actual reviews of former guests of the restaurant, a list of related places and more formal, critic-based restaurant reviews.

I didn’t stop at the Hotpot’s eating-related business search and looked for cool museums to visit in San Francisco. Did Google Hotpot live up to my expectation? Oh yeah.

Just think of this service’s extreme usefulness in the mobile context. You could search for practically any kind of business or entertainment venue near you in real-time, in a matter of minutes, see what bistros your friends have been to and recommend others to visit as well, how to get there, even what to order. As expected, this is another phenomenal service by Google.

TripWow – This super cute tool by TripAdvisor, my #1 travel guide and rating place, is an absolute must feature to make use of when you have returned from your vacation and wish to share your photos in a fun way with friends and family.

The TripWow interface is attractive and easy to navigate through. Start by uploading your photos (you can choose between several photo storage providers such as Facebook, flickr and Picasa as well as uploading pics from your PC or Mac). Next, customize your sideshow by selecting a theme, background music, and related text (your name, your vacation destination and more). See a solid example of TripWow’s whole nine yards via my sideshow, titled “My Crete Getaway,” a trip I had last summer.

Historvius – Some travelers strive to be the antithesis to traditional tourists, seeking rarely visited, off the beaten path sites around the world, avoiding famous sites and the crowds at all costs. But that doesn’t mean famous sites have become overrated. On the contrary, international tourist sites such as Egypt’s pyramids or the huge man-shaped statues of Easter Island are still on my to-visit list, and the fact that many people flock these places each year is not about to deter me from doing so.

Historvius is a wonderful information place on mainstream (and less known) tourist sites worldwide, offering a super cool platform for learning more on your next sought-after site (note that you won’t be able to find info on cities per se, rather only on attraction sites). Start your site search by selecting your vacation destination, or choose a time period you are interested in as a filter, or, if yo wish, search by historical figure. There is also an open search for those interested. I had a specific site in mind I wanted to learn more about when I gave Historvius a try, and I enjoyed it tremendously. The photo below is a hint. Click it to get to the site’s page.

Totally Cool Pix – The Weekly Blog winner from earlier this month made it to last week’s Weekly Faves collection, and for an evidently good reason. Totally Cool Pix is an amazing resource of phenomenal photography, capturing compelling, surprising and inspiring photos from around the world showing current affairs and news in image form. The anonymous creators of Totally Cool Pix select only the absolute best photographs out there, offering semi-professionals to submit their work in exchange for $100-$150, and proper credit on the site.

To explore the visual wonders of Totally Cool Pix, I suggest starting with the two photo galleries, Top Pictures of 2010 Part 1 and Part 2. Please note that some photos show graphic images of real people, but then again, the true power of story telling often entails such depictions. Below I have included a beautiful photo* by Adam Hunger I found on Totally Cool Pix which he had taken for Reuters, showing what Black Friday was like for many of Americans last month.

*The photo has been re-sized to fit the dimensions of this blog. To see its original size and annotation, please click here.

How About We… – When I used to be a member of a certain online dating site, the experience was always awkward and felt a bit fake. Each man’s profile I read on the site seemed like a marketing pitch and I would always approach every message or conversation I had there with great suspicion and doubt. If the online dating experience is not your cup of tea either, but you’re still eager to meet singles, check out How About We…

This site’s basic approach is fundamentally different from any other online dating site. Instead of constructing a (let’s face it) sugar glazed profile of who you are and what you’re looking for, you come up with your idea of a good date by starting with the words “How about we…” (ex. How about we visit my neighborhood’s new brewery?) This way you have a much better chance of attracting singles interested in the same things you are, hence, increased probability of a good match.  My friend Mia from Palo Alto, CA tried out this service and said it’s “a refreshing take on online dating I’d actually like to try out for a while.” Need I say more?

Primetime in No Time – What seems like a commendable attempt to be a cross between Hulu, primetime TV and YouTube, Yahoo TV’s Primetime in No Time offers short recaps of TV’s best and worst moments, aired the day before when most families sat in front of the tube to watch their favorite primetime show.

If this is Yahoo’s effort to close the gap with Hulu, we’re dealing with a predestined, futile battle with the later being the obvious winner. Although the funny in-between narration on the Primetime in No Time videos is cute, it would take much more of Yahoo to offer a solid comeptition to other services currently offered online by the likes of Hulu, CastTV, and soon by Netflix as well.