That’s right, everyone’s favorite drugged-up darling (and one of the top memes of 2009) is finally getting his say on the Comedy Central show Tosh.0: sans narcotics.

At this point, we’ve all seen the hilarious video of wee David, hopped-up and spaced-out after a trip to the dentist. Now comedian Daniel Tosh is bringing the boy back into the limelight on his weekly Internet-oriented show, the second season of which begins tonight at 10:30 p.m./9:30 p.m. C.

Tosh runs a pretty fun racket with his “Web Redemptions,” segments during which the stars of Internet viral videos get a second chance at greatness. Last season, Tosh took on Afro Ninja, Miss South Carolina, Puke Kid, Scarlet Takes a Tumble, Chris Crocker, Balloon Guy, Worst Best Man, Reh Dogg, Drunk Dunk, Skateboard Fail Girl, Tron Guy, Backyard Wrestler, Crying Giants Fan, Nintendo 64 Kid, Trampled Cheerleader and Home Shopping Fail (you can check out a recap here).

David after the Dentist marks the first Web Redemption of the season, and it promises to be a doozy, if the below clip is any indication. My favorite part? When Tosh asks D’s dad: “Do you think you’ll film him getting high as a teenager?”

Check it out below and tune in tonight for more:

Tags: david after the dentist, humor, video, viral video, youtube

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The report found sales for the five-week holiday period reached $10.8 billion, a big improvement from the 6 percent decline during the 2008 holiday season.

The holiday season had its share of fluctuations. Overall revenue declined three out of the five weeks. While the second week of the season posted the largest revenue growth it only represented for 15 percent of overall holiday sales. The final week of the season also saw revenue growth and represented 22 percent of all sales, so the success of the final week was more relevant to the overall success of the season.

"The dynamics of the holiday season changed this year; the holiday season started before Black Friday as retailers ran Black Friday-like sales throughout November," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. 

"That move may have lessened the Black Friday hype for consumers, but the increase during the final week of the season is a sign that consumers either went back out or waited it out to get the best deal."

PCs and flash-based camcorders were popular this holiday leading the way in unit growth among large categories, but total sales numbers were dependent on the success of PCs and flat-panel TVs.  Combined they accounted for 41 percent of the revenue over the five week holiday period, up from 39 percent in 2008 and 34 percent in 2007.

Despite the high revenue, flat-panel TVs registered a decline in dollars of 13 percent, in line with their performance during most of 2009.  That decline pulled down the industry overall. MP3 players, for the third year in a row, were the largest unit volume category despite increased ASPs and declining unit volumes.

"Just cutting prices this year was not enough to guarantee successful sales results," said Baker.  Flat-panel TVs had a disappointing holiday because there wasn’t enough price-cutting on the right items, while notebook PCs and camcorders offered new form factors and price points that drove enormous increases in units and revenue despite falling prices."
 

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"The 2009 online holiday shopping season was a positive one as its growth rate slightly surpassed our forecast and returned to solidly positive rates after nearly a full year of marginally negative growth," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

"Among the highlights of the season was the first $900 million online spending day and a strong late season spending surge, propelled by effective retailer promotions, guaranteed shipping and a major snowstorm on the eastern seaboard that convinced many to shop from the comfort of home."

Tuesday, December 15 was the heaviest online spending day of the year and of all time, at $913 million, one of nine individual spending days to surpass $800 million during the 2009 holiday season.

Cyber Monday ranked as the second heaviest spending day of the season, the highest it has ever ranked, with $887 million in spending. The third heaviest spending day of the year was Tuesday, December 1, with $886 million in spending, followed by Wednesday, December 16 with $874 million and Monday December 14 with $854 million.

Jewelry & watches rank as the top performing online retail category for the holiday season growing 20 percent over 2008. Consumer electronics ranked second with 15 percent sales growth, driven by strong sales of flat panel TVs, mobile devices and e-readers. Other categories performing well included event tickets (up 8%), computer hardware (up 7%) and books & magazine (up 6%).
 

Related Articles:

>Cyber Monday Deals Attract Online Shoppers

>Walmart Wins Thanksgiving, Amazon Wins Black Friday

>Online Retailers See Strong Cyber Monday Sales

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The world has suffered for most of this year due to the bank collapses and ensuing economic recession that swept across the globe. Yet there have been signs of recovery, especially during this holiday season. Black Friday was a big win for online retailers and Amazon had one of its best Christmases yet.

Now that the holiday season has passed, we finally have a full picture of how online retailers performed this Christmas, thanks to data gathered by comScore. The numbers are good — really good. According to the web statistics company, e-commerce sales rose by 5 percent, enough to break $27 billion in online business.

comScore measured online shopping from November 1 to December 24 and broke it down into its most important components, including Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Green Monday and the weekend before Christmas. Every time period except for Green Monday did far better than it did in 2008.

As you can see, online retail jumped from $25.8 billion to $27.1 billion during the two-month period. And as we already knew, Black Friday saw a big increase in sales from 2008. It looks like December 14 was the busiest day of the season, garnering $854 million in online commerce.

Online retail’s rise can be attributed to a lot of factors: an improving economy, more web-savvy people choosing to do more of their shopping online and rising social media marketing budgets — to name a few.

We’re glad to hear this good news about online retail and the improving state of our fragile economy, and we hope the trend continues.

Tags: black friday, business, ComScore, Holiday, online retail, stats

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The 40 largest online-retail Web sites achieved their highest level of customer satisfaction during the 2009 holiday season, according to a survey by ForeSee Results, an e-commerce consulting firm. These companies averaged a satisfaction score of 79 on ForeSee’s index compared with a score of 74 in both 2008 and 2007.

But a similar survey of the 110 online retailers that ForeSee works with—which range from large to small—found that overall satisfaction dropped to a 73, compared with a 75 in 2008 and a 77 in 2007. The smallest companies took the biggest hits.

“The strong are getting stronger and the rest of the pack is getting weaker,” says Larry Freed, ForeSee’s chief executive.

There are a few reasons, Mr. Freed says. In particular, the most successful e-commerce Web sites are increasingly operated by companies that also have retail stores. Among the top 40 e-commerce sites only six aren’t affiliated with a retail chain. These companies have started to better integrate the physical and online experience and have tended to invest more in their Web sites than smaller online only companies, says Mr. Freed.

There are notable exceptions; Amazon.com Inc., which has no stores, was the highest rated company in ForeSee’s survey and is generally regarded as the most successful online retailer. But the big Web-only companies have extensive reviews and other information about their products, and have continued to invest in the look and feel of their sites.

That’s important. During the 2008 holiday season consumers were focused on price above all else, as the economy contracted. But in 2009 ease of use was once again a prominent indicator of satisfaction, says Mr. Freed. Many smaller retailers avoided making investments that could improve their sites as a way of controlling costs during the recession.

In all, online sales from the beginning of November through Dec. 20 totaled $25.5 billion, up 4% from 2008 but still lower than in 2007, according to online-tracking company comScore. But the rising tide isn’t lifting all ships. Sales among the top 25 retailers grew 13% in November compared with a decline of 10% among small and midsize retailers, comScore said.

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The volume of mobile transactions tripled on a year-over-year basis, according to eBay, and the current rate of unique mobile visits per day is around 750,000.  People aren’t just grabbing lots of cheap odds and ends, either, considering that a 23-foot boat recently sold for $19,108 and a Steinway grand piano sold for $10,000.

Then here’s a curious detail: mobile commerce seems to have become especially popular in the Lone Star State, since "[f]our of the top 10 U.S. ZIP codes for number of people buying via their mobile phones are from Texas."

Anyway, Lorrie Norrington, the president of eBay marketplaces, concluded, "Mobile is changing the way people shop this holiday season. . . .  eBay buyers and sellers have rapidly embraced mobile commerce this year, and this holiday season has been a mobile commerce tipping point.  Shopping will never be the same again."

eBay sellers and regular retailers who haven’t already done so are sure to spend the next several months adapting.

Related Articles:

> eBay Fined $2.6 Million Over LVMH Sales

> eBay Previews Possible Geotargeting Feature For Sellers

> eBay Back On Its Feet After Search/Browse Outage

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Last month, Amazon’s Kindle broke sales records as it was once again a hot item to give this holiday season. When countless people turned on their new Christmas Kindles for the first time yesterday, what do you think was the first thing that they did? That’s right: they bought ebooks to fill up their Kindle hard drives. A lot of them.

In fact, those new Kindle owners broke a record. According to Amazon, yesterday marked the first time that more ebooks were sold than real books.

The Digital Book Revolution? Hold Your Horses

- While not releasing any numbers, Amazon announced that more Kindle books were sold than real books through Amazon on Christmas day.

- It would make sense that there would be elevated Kindle purchases on Christmas; people getting new Kindles as gifts would certainly want to make them useful by adding their favorite books.

- It also makes sense that real book sales would be down. The Christmas shopping season would have passed and most people were concentrating on their families, not shopping, that day.

If we follow the logic trail, then Amazon’s announcement that the “Kindle is the most gifted item ever” makes perfect sense. Its announcement is also mostly PR smoke and mirrors. More people may have Kindles now than ever, but ebook sales still pale in comparison to the countless paper books that were sold this Christmas season.

We do have to give credit where it is due, though; it is another milestone for the constantly-growing e-commerce giant. Amazon sold over 9.5 million items (a staggering 110 items per second) at its peak on December 14th, yet another record. It’s also safe to say that the Kindle, even with new competitors entering its territory, will continue to dominate and grow as more and more people embrace digital prints from their favorite authors.

Tags: amazon, eBook, ebooks, gadgets, Kindle, tech

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"Using Google Insights for Search, we can see that the hottest toys over the last seven days include stalwarts like Pikachu and Legos, as well as newcomers, such as the Nerf Marshmellow Shooter and the surprise hit of the holiday season, a blanket-with-sleeves known as the Snuggie," says Eric Lopez of the Google Retail Team.

"In the shopping category, we’ve seen Black Friday reach new heights, toping the rising search term list over the last 30 days as consumers continue to seek out the best prices," adds Lopez. "Consumers too continue to turn to familiar, top retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon and Macy’s."

Google has been encouraging retailers to start looking ahead to the rest of the Winter season with regards to what people will be searching for: things like Valentine’s Day gifts, Prom dresses, wedding planning, ski equipment, etc.

On a positive note for retailers, new research from Market Force Info finds that a good percentage of consumers intend to "splurge" on at least one item over the next few months.
 

Related Articles:

> Site Usability Issues Matter During the Holidays

> Google Earmarks $20M For Charities As Holiday Gift To Everyone

> Going Home For The Holidays? Google Wants To Tag Along

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Originally posted at The Download Blog

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The gifting season is nigh, and with about a week to go for holiday shoppers, the home-stretch can be grueling if you’re still crossing people off your list.

Out of ideas? Looking for a deal? Well, you’ve come to the right place. From Fail Whale T-shirts, to sleek iPhone cases, to digital gifts you can order the night before Christmas, these great gift guides will cover all of your tech and social media-minded loved ones.

10 Great Digital Gifts for Social Media Lovers

For that special someone who prefers digital toys over physical ones, check out these gift ideas which include music, movies, games, and more.

Mac Gift Guide: 10 Buying Ideas for Apple Fans

Shopping for someone who always has one eye on her Macbook and the other on her iPhone? Check out these gorgeous “Mac-cessories” that will delight any Apple connoisseur.

10 Unique Gifts You Can Make with Help from the Web

Craving a little creativity this year? This post covers ten super fun ways you can personalize your gifts online, including custom candies and unique cookbooks.

10 Gift Suggestion Sites for Hapless Holiday Shoppers

There’s one in every family – that person who is just impossible to shop for. If you’re short on ideas, just throw a bit of data into these suggestion sites, and you’ll be brimming with options in no time.

Twitter Gift Guide: 15 Ways to Shop for the Twitter Obsessed

If you can distract your favorite Twitter fiend from his smartphone for a few seconds, you might be able to give him one of these fabulous tweet-themed gifts, which he will then promptly tweet about.

The 10 Oddest Geek Products You’ll See Today

Let’s face it: Nerds can be hard to shop for. Make it easier with a few suggestions from this collection of geeky oddities that will blow the pocket protector off that “special” someone.

HOW TO: Use Social Media to Find Deals This Holiday Season

Put down the coupons and fire up your Internet. Social media is the best way to find a bargain this holiday season. This post shows you how.

7 YouTube Holiday Shopper Videos That’ll Make You Glad You Bought Online

When you’re finally done cruising the web for holiday gifts, kick back, relax, and enjoy all the retail horror you missed while you were pointing and clicking your way through the season.

Do you have other great ideas on where our readers can find great gift ideas and discounts online? Share them in the comments below.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sonurdongel

Tags: gift, Gifts, Holiday, Holidays, List, Lists, online shopping, shopping

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Winter, the most beautiful and the coldest season of the year is here with all its beauty and attractiveness. The subtle beauty of the winter attracts almost everyone with its appealing snowfalls, the taste of hot chocolate, the adventure of snowboarding and the fun of making snowmen.

We all enjoy the charm of Winter; how serene the sun shines, the snowfall, frosty climate, snowball fights, fun of skating, warmth of fireplaces and of course Christmas – The Festival of Lights, and all the warmth and feelings related to this auspicious occasion. All these things make us feel ecstatic and delighted in the chilly season of Winter.

For this post, we’ve collected 45 beautiful winter illustrations and wallpapers for you, such that you find them as soft as a pillow and as cold as ice. This entire collection of Winter beauty is a pure pleasure for the eyes! Have a look at this collection and enjoy the frosty season.

Winter Illustration

Winter Tears

Winter’s Kiss

Winter’s Kiss

Winter Illustration

Snowman vs Santa

Winter

Winter

Winter Wonderland

Winter Sun

Les papillons

La fille de la neige

Winter Illustration

Winter Friends

Beautiful Season Winter

Athansor

Winter Begone

I Love Snow

Season Series: Winter

Winter Wallpapers

Lost in winter
Available Resolutions: 1680px × 1050px

Winter’s Peace
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px

The Winter Sun
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px

Winter Season
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px

Talvi Winter Widescreen
Available Resolutions: 1680px × 1050px

Winter Wonderland
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 647px

Central Park in Winter, New York City
Available Resolutions: 1600px × 1200px

Winter Dreamland
Available Resolutions: 1280px × 800px

Winter Dream
Available Resolutions: 2560px × 1024px Dual Monitor

Snow Path
Available Resolutions: 2560px × 1024px Dual Screen

Winter
Available Resolutions: 1680px × 1050px

Frosty snowman
Available Resolutions: 1600px × 1200px

Winter Holliday
Available Resolutions: 1680px × 1050px

Law Library
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px

Winter Tree
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 681px | 3008px × 2000px

Winter Brightness
Available Resolutions: 1680px × 1050px

Seal bear and Cola
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px

Coca-Cola Bears
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px

Siberian Winter 4
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px | 1280px × 1024px | 1600px × 1200px

Winter Wallpaper
Available Resolutions: 1920px × 1200px | 1600px × 1200px | 1024px × 768px

Crystallized Dihydrogen Monoxide
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 633px | 5344px × 3303px

Winter Wallpaper
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px | 1280px x 1024px | 1680px × 1050px

Siberian Winter 4
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 768px

Winter Star Filled Skies
Available Resolutions: 1024px × 667px | 3008px × 1960px

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‘Tis the season for holiday kitsch and Yahoo has embraced the spirit of Twitter and the season to bring you Social Mojo, Holiday Edition.

Modeled after the original Social Mojo experience, Holiday Mojo will analyze your Twitter stream using a “not very scientific” process to determine what kind of seasonal Twitter user you are.

Depending on your holiday tweeting ways, you could be one of eight different seasonal Twitter users. Are you a snowman, toast master, gingerbread man, or nutcracker? Just enter your Twitter name on the Yahoo Holiday Mojo page to find out.

It’s cute, harmless, and yet another way to celebrate the time of year. So, what kind of seasonal Twitter user are you? Let us know your results in the comments.

Snowflake – Drifting from here to there, no one is better at following people than you!

Regifter – You’re great at passing on the retweets.

Toast Master – You have a lot to say and take advantage of your 140 characters to say it!

Mistletoe Magnet – You like to bring people together with all those hashtags.

Snowman – Based on how rarely you tweet, you’re clearly the strong, silent type.

Nutcracker – You’re so good at uncovering the best URLs!

Gingerbread Man – All those followers make it clear that you’re quite sweet.

Noise Maker – You like to keep the conversation going with all those @replies.

Tags: holiday mojo, Yahoo

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On Tuesdays we’re typically greeted with new album releases on iTunes, and today is no different. But this Tuesday, iTunes has also gifted us with iTunes Rewind 2009: a look at the top-performing songs, albums, movies, TV shows, apps, audiobooks and podcasts of this year.

Given iTunes’ growing prominence, especially as it pertains to music and apps, the look back at 2009’s top downloads provides insight into the year’s most widely experienced media moments.

When it comes to top music sellers, the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” sold the most singles, while the Kings of Leon’s “Only By the Night” was the top-selling album for the year.

Top-selling iPhone apps include The Sims 3, The Oregan Trail and Need for Speed Undercover. In the movie department, the original Twilight got the biggest bang and brought in the most buck as the year’s top rental and seller. Pineapple Express and Quantum of Solace came in a respective second and third place as top sellers in the movie category.

Apple decided to have a little fun with their 2009 iTunes top performers, going so far as to dole out honorary awards to a handpicked group of celebrated movies, music and TV shows. It should come as no surprise that Lady GaGa was declared Best New Artist, while the Artist of the Year award went to Michael Jackson.

Of course Apple wouldn’t be so bold as to share how much their top performers pulled in, but it’s still an interesting look at the year’s hottest digital content. For a full look, make sure to check out and explore iTunes Rewind 2009 — meanwhile, we’ve included the top 10 music, movies, television and apps lists below. Take a look and weigh in on the results in the comments.

Hot Music

Top-Selling Songs:

“Boom Boom Pow,” Black Eyed Peas
“Right Round,” Flo Rida
“Poker Face,” Lady GaGa
“I Gotta Feeling,” Black Eyed Peas
“Gives You Hell,” The All-American Rejects
“Just Dance,” Lady GaGa & Colby O’Donis
“Party in the U.S.A.,” Miley Cyrus
“The Climb,” Miley Cyrus
“Dead and Gone (feat. Justin Timberlake),” T.I.
“Use Somebody,” Kings of Leon

Top-Selling Albums:

Kings of Leon, “Only By the Night”
Various Artists, “Twilight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)”
Lady GaGa, “The Fame”
Taylor Swift, “Fearless”
Dave Matthews Band, “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King”
Michael Jackson, “The Essential Michael Jackson”
The Fray, “The Fray”
Jay-Z, “The Blueprint 3″
Eminem, “Relapse”
Black Eyed Peas, “The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)”

Hit Movies

Top Sales and Rentals:

Twilight
Pineapple Express
Quantum of Solace
The Proposal
Star Trek
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Paul Bart: Mall Cop
Up
Bolt

Must-See TV

Top-Selling Shows:

Mad Men, Season 3
LOST, Season 5
24, Season 7
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 6
NCIS, Season 7
Top Gear, Series 12
The Office, Season 6
South Park: Uncensored, Season 13
House, Season 6
Gossip Girl, Season

Popular Apps

Top Sellers – Games:

The Sims 3 ($6.99)
The Oregon Trail ($4.99)
Need for Speed Undercover ($4.99)
Medden NFL 10 ($6.99)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour ($4.99)
Assassin’s Creed ($4.99)
Flight Control ($0.99)
Cooking Mama ($6.99)
Civilization Revolution ($6.99)
Wheel of Fortune ($4.99)

Top Sellers – Apps:

MobileNavigator North America ($89.99)
MLB.com At Bat (Free)
Textfree Unlimited ($5.99)
Tom Tom ($99.99)
Golftshot: Golf GPS ($29.99)
SlingPlayer Media ($29.99)
ColorSplash ($1.99)
Pocket God ($.99)
Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite ($9.99)
The Moron Test ($0.99)

Tags: itunes, itunes rewind 2009

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Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on Apple Unveils the Top Songs, Movies and Apps of 2009
• Seo Tools

27 Free Christmas Illustrations

The best thing about the holiday season is getting presents, so we asked the very talented Kai Loon to put together a special set of completely free illustrations to give away. The set includes 27 illustrations to mix and match with everything you need to make cards and promotions. Download the set for free, to use in personal or commercial projects.

Seasonal Files!

Around this time of year you often find yourself in need of some creative assets themed for Christmas, new year and the holidays! We’ve assembled some of the best seasonal files from around the Envato Marketplaces into 5 great collections:

1. Top Holiday Flash Files
2. Christmas & Holiday Music
3. Seasonal Vectors and Graphics
4. Holiday Themed Motion Graphics
5. Seasonal Email Templates

$7000 of Giveaways over 24 Days on AppStorm

Since you’re readying AppStorm, you no doubt already know about our giveaways here, but just in case … Mac.AppStorm and Web.AppStorm are running giveaways every single day for 24 days leading up to Christmas! It’s a total of 138 licenses worth over $7000 up for grabs, and David’s even thrown in a few free AppStorm holiday wallpapers! And if you enjoy AppStorm, look out for our third AppStorm site which is due to launch right after the giveaways, along with a redesign and a hub site at AppStorm.net!

Winter of WordPress

Selling WordPress themes has rapidly turned into a cottage industry allowing web designers and developers everywhere to earn a steady stream of income ranging from hundreds to many thousands of dollars a month. Because the quiet winter months are one of the best times to invest some time theming we’ve put together a little showcase site called Winter of WordPress to tell you all about the opportunities in WP theming!

96 Tuts+ Giveaways + Wallpaper + Caricatures

For 12 days starting on December 21st, Tuts+ is going to be hosting a massive set of 96 giveaways across all 8 Tuts+ sites including pillows, books, Amazon vouchers and Plus memberships. On New Year’s Day there will also be a special 2010 wallpaper by James White and our very own Ian Yates is putting together caricatures of the entire Tuts+ team

Special Edition Comics Plus ThinkGeek Giveaways

Over on our work blogs FreelanceSwitch and WorkAwesome we’re celebrating the holiday season with ThinkGeek and Marketcircle giveaways along with our annual NC Winter’s FreelanceFreedom and Memo:random special comic strips!

Happy New Year from Envato!

So keep an eye out for it all happening across the Envato network throughout December! And from all of us here at Envato, have a lovely holiday season and a happy new year!

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27 Free Christmas Illustrations

The best thing about the holiday season is getting presents, so we asked the very talented Kai Loon to put together a special set of completely free illustrations to give away. The set includes 27 illustrations to mix and match with everything you need to make cards and promotions. Download the set for free, to use in personal or commercial projects.

Seasonal Files!

Around this time of year you often find yourself in need of some creative assets themed for Christmas, new year and the holidays! We’ve assembled some of the best seasonal files from around the Envato Marketplaces into 5 great collections:

1. Top Holiday Flash Files
2. Christmas & Holiday Music
3. Seasonal Vectors and Graphics
4. Holiday Themed Motion Graphics
5. Seasonal Email Templates

$7000 of Giveaways over 24 Days on AppStorm

Enjoy apps? Well our two App review blogs – Mac.AppStorm and Web.AppStorm – are running giveaways every single day for 24 days leading up to Christmas! It’s a total of 138 licenses worth over $7000 up for grabs, and David’s even thrown in a few free AppStorm holiday wallpapers! And if you enjoy AppStorm, look out for our third AppStorm site which is due to launch right after the giveaways, along with a redesign and a hub site at AppStorm.net!

Winter of WordPress

Selling WordPress themes has rapidly turned into a cottage industry allowing web designers and developers everywhere to earn a steady stream of income ranging from hundreds to many thousands of dollars a month. Because the quiet winter months are one of the best times to invest some time theming we’ve put together a little showcase site called Winter of WordPress to tell you all about the opportunities in WP theming!

96 Tuts+ Giveaways + Wallpaper + Caricatures

For 12 days starting on December 21st, Tuts+ is going to be hosting a massive set of 96 giveaways across all 8 Tuts+ sites including pillows, books, Amazon vouchers and Plus memberships. On New Year’s Day there will also be a special 2010 wallpaper by James White and our very own Ian Yates is putting together caricatures of the entire Tuts+ team

Special Edition Comics Plus ThinkGeek Giveaways

Over on our work blogs FreelanceSwitch and WorkAwesome we’re celebrating the holiday season with ThinkGeek and Marketcircle giveaways along with our annual NC Winter’s FreelanceFreedom and Memo:random special comic strips!

Happy New Year from Envato!

So keep an eye out for it all happening across the Envato network throughout December! And from all of us here at Envato, have a lovely holiday season and a happy new year!

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The Nook has been one of the hottest tech gadgets this holiday season, either because it’s an eBook Reader or because it carries the Barnes & Noble name (one of the three major booksellers in the United States). Whatever the reason, after being delayed, the Nook sold out extremely quickly, and now, won’t be back in stock until January 15th of next year.

(…)
Read the rest of Barnes & Noble Nook Is Really Delayed [B&N Nook Delayed Until Past Christmas]

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The Christmas holiday season is almost here, so I thought it would be a good idea to complete a list of free Xmas graphics, vectors and icons that are available for you to use.

I have put together a collection of some of the best spots you can find over 200+ Free Xmas Graphics, Vectors & Icons, I hope you enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Do you want a FREE Web Template – “Site Under Construction”?

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday have already passed by but that doesn’t mean we don’t have more deals to show you for the upcoming holidays. In fact just today Best Buy has issued a press release revealing its intentions for the upcoming period.

Best Buy has announced that the holiday shopping season will bring you a special 99-cent standard shipping price for all its products. The offer is available starting today and it will run for just a limited time. The offer won’t be available for items which require a scheduled delivery but everything else will come to your door for just $.99.

Besides the special shipping price Best Buy has more surprises for you. The company will guarantee Christmas deliveries for all orders placed no later than 11 AM Eastern Time on December 21. In case you don’t want to wait in line but you’d rather pick your gadgets from the store yourself then this option is also available. Buy online and 45 minutes later you’ll be able to pick it up in a store near you. Although the offer is available until 3 PM local time, December 24, make sure you buy all those gifts in time to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

John Thompson, senior vice president, BestBuy.com., had this to say about the holiday season:

We know that consumers are looking online to find the best deals this holiday season, and we’re providing new and exciting ways to bring value and convenience to their shopping experience. Whether consumers end up buying online or in store, we want to provide all the tools necessary for them to find the right gifts in a way that’s most fitting with their needs.

In other words, the company has also decided to help you, your family and friends to shop easier at BestBuy.com. The website features a holiday gift center where you’ll find wish lists and the new Pitch-In Card which is a gift card that will let all those interested contribute to at any time. Another significant change is the addition of PayPal as an accepted online payment method. And now you can shop from Best Buy from your smartphone too by simply pointing the browser to m.bestbuy.com.

What are you going to buy from Best Buy this Christmas?

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In addition to free airport Wi-Fi, Google has another gift to you this holiday season — aka this flu season. They’ve been working with the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services to develop a tool for locating flu shot providers near you, located at google.com/flushot.

The tool leverages Google Maps to show you nearby vaccine locations for both the seasonal and H1N1 swine flu varieties. They stress that the project is just getting started and they’re still gathering more information about flu shot clinics for a number of areas, with help from the HHS, the Centers for Disease Control and state and local health agencies.

Google also hopes the launch will encourage more vaccine providers to contribute information to the project. So far flu vaccine data is compiled from clinics in 20 U.S. states and pharmacy chains across the country. They advise calling ahead to any particular provider to confirm availability for either of the two vaccines.

Do you plan to get a flu shot this season?

Tags: flu season, Google, Google Maps, H1N1, health, swine flu

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The growth rate represents an increase from 2008, when, on the heels of the global financial crisis, online holiday retail sales in the U.S. grew just five percent. Forrester defines the holiday shopping season as months of November and December.

"Despite the lingering effects of the recession, the online space remains the retail industry’s growth engine," said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst.

Sucharita Mulpuru
"What’s different this holiday from past years is that online retailers will manage to the bottom line, which will change some of the tactics they have employed in the past."

The National Retail Federation has forecast a one percent decline in overall U.S. holiday retail sales for this year. A recent Forrester survey of more than 4,000 U.S. online consumers found that 94 percent of those who made a purchase online within the past three months plan to continue to buy online this holiday season. Nearly three- quarters (72%) of retailers surveyed in "The State Of Retailing Online," a Shop.org study done by Forrester in Q3 of this year, say they expect online holiday sales to increase over last year.

According to Forrester, retailers will cut down on automatic free shipping and require price thresholds to qualify for free shipping. In addition, online retailers will use more cross-channel customer service options, advanced merchandizing software that will offer more product information, and improved social networking tools that will allow people to share purchase decisions with friends.

"Tighter offline inventories may benefit the online channel as consumers go to the Web looking for products – and prices – they can’t find in stores this holiday," said Mulpuru.

"Online retailers will be ready for them with a special focus this year on engagement and service."
 

Related Articles:

> Online Retailers Seek To Imrpove Checkout Process

> More Holiday Shoppers To Go Online To Save

> Consumer Online Spending To Grow 24%

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More than a quarter (26%) of shoppers plan to buy more gifts online, up from 21 percent last year. Eighty-five percent of consumers report the main reason for shopping online is still time savings, but 40 and 38 percent of shoppers respectively also rate wish lists and reviews as increasingly important.

The majority (88%) of holiday shoppers are willing to pay full price for difficult to find items, customer conveniences and good customer service such as an 800 number, online chat, and email alerts when orders are shipped.

Lauren Freedman
President of E-Tailing Group

The most popular items shoppers are likely to buy online include books, clothing, music, gift certificates, toys and electronics, cited by 33 percent of respondents.

“It’s exciting to see shoppers continue to embrace the web channel, especially in these challenging economic times,” said Lauren Freedman, President of the e-tailing group.

“We as merchants must remain vigilant and deliver truly convenient, compelling and customer-service oriented experience to continue to reap market share channel gains.  With this, and other findings from the report, retailers can implement targeted strategies that will greatly improve business results for 2009 and beyond.”

Other highlights from the survey include:

• Sixty-two percent of shoppers report that high shipping charges remain the primary reason they will not buy more online, highlighting the fact that free shipping offers will again be very compelling this season. 
• While shoppers indicated a desire to remain loyal to their favorite retailer, 70 percent indicated that they are likely to shop competitors’ websites or retail stores when they encounter out-of-stock products this holiday season. 
•  In-store pick-up for products purchased online was cited as important by 60 percent of shoppers. 
• One in three shoppers plan to use a mobile phone for shopping-related purposes such as price checks, in-stock checks, and redemption of promotions this holiday season. 
• This holiday season social networking sites will influence shopping behavior for 37percent of online shoppers versus 24 percent last year.

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Although consumers plan to be thrifty with their spending this holiday season, the majority (85.3%) will shop online.

With the current economic concerns, the survey found only 14.6 percent of respondents plan to spend more this holiday season than they did in 2008, while one third (32.7%) expect to spend less and 30.1 percent plan to spend about the same as they did last year.

Women will be more frugal than men this holiday season with 38.1 percent planning to spend less on gifts and entertainment, compared to 27.3 percent of all men. All income segments will trim holiday spending this year with 29.5 percent of those with household income (HHI) of less than $35,000 cutting spending, as will almost half (46.%) of households reporting HHI of $35,000-$75,000, and nearly one third (31.3%) of households reporting HHI of $75,000 or more.

Chuck Moran
Chief Marketing Officer
Burst Media

Despite the fact that 63 percent of consumers are concerned about credit card security when making an online purchase 69.3 percent still plan on making an online holiday purchase. Consumers will also use the Internet to "window shop." The most popular online window-shopping activities are comparing different retailers to find the best price (56.8%), and comparing the features of different brands (55.3%).

The Burst survey also found there does not seem to be a clear start to the holiday shopping season as only 13.6 percent of respondents consider "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving) to be the official kick-off.

"There is no denying that consumers will be shopping online this holiday season, and it is clear that the holiday shopping season for consumers has no definitive starting point," said Chuck Moran, Chief Marketing Officer for Burst Media.

"This provides an incredible opportunity for marketers to spread their holiday message on the Internet this year. Advertisers can start building awareness now, and quickly change to a more seasonal action as the holidays approach."

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We all know that Twitter’s become one of the most powerful communication tools on the web. But even 140 characters can be too long and difficult for some people. That’s why we’ve covered other “alternatives” to Twitter, such as the 26-character Flutter. But what if even that is too long for your short attention span?

Well, a new clip from the upcoming season of MTV’s Popzilla has the answer for you: Duck-Clown-Fern. Introduced by an animated Ashton Kutcher, Duck-Clown-Fern is the “first and only social network where you keep people updated on your life by posting a picture of a duck, a clown, or a fern.”

In the parody video, Popzilla’s version of Ashton explains the benefits of joining Duck-Clown-Fern. The biggest selling point is its ease: all you have to do is pick one of three (and only three) pictures of, you guessed it, a duck, a clown, or a fern.

Seriously, we had a kick out of Popzilla’s clip (we may have shared one too many pictures of ferns and ducks internally today), but that’s exactly what MTV is hoping will happen – people find it funny and share it with friends. We already know that social media and viral video have proven to be a successful tactic in promoting upcoming TV shows. It’s helped change late night TV, produced big buzz, and even saved Chuck.

Will these short funnies (there are plenty more) help Popzilla? We probably won’t know until the end of this season, when MTV either renews the show or gives it the boot. If these clips can build buzz or even go viral though, they could give the show a boost.

Once you watch the video, be sure to update your status in the comments. Only ducks, clowns, and ferns are allowed.

Tags: ashton kutcher, mtv, twitter

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Online retailers may not feel the hit as much as some brick and mortars, however. According to Nielsen, online retailers, as well as value retailers like dollar stores, discounters, and club stores will attract "the lion’s share" of holiday spending. The firm says consumers will want to minimize trips and search for the best values.

According to Nielsen’s findings, 86% of consumers expect to spend the same or less than lest year. There is a 7% increase in the "less" category, from last year. Still, Nielsen thinks holiday sales will rise 0.03%, accounting for $90 billion.

"Given everything the consumer has absorbed over the past 12 to 18 months, the fact that we expect this coming holiday season to be flat in dollars can be viewed as a modest positive," says James Russo, Vice President, Global Consumer Insights at the Nielsen Company.

"Americans have undergone a fundamental change in how they spend their money, and the days of stretching finances to make purchases not deemed as necessary are over, at least for the time being," adds Russo. "That said, our research has shown that consumers are looking forward to loosening their purse strings a bit, but only once they feel more confident about the state of the economy and their personal financial situation."

October approaches. Many consumers begin shopping well before Thanksgiving, and that means the time is close at hand to begin preparing. Online discounts and free shipping have historically been popular motivators for purchases. If you can swing these things, it will likely be in your best interest to do so.

It’s as good a time as any to get heavily involved in social network participation as well. If you’re a retailer, you’ll want to be out there conversing and staying in people’s minds as they search for gift ideas for their friends and families.

Nielsen says traditional items like apparel, toys and technology will be the most popular categories, but at restrained levels and primarily sold in "value" channels. They say products like cookware, kitchen items, bed and bath accessories and alcoholic beverages will also do well. Gift cards are one category where consumers plan to spend more this holiday season, followed by toys and apparel. Office supplies, pet stores, home improvement and drug retailers are not expected to so as well.

A couple of additional findings were that 20% of households said that they had no plans to entertain at home or away from home during the holidays, and spending cut-backs are being driven by all income groups.

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