polling

Automattic acquires PollDaddy

Web-based polling and survey company PollDaddy has been acquired by Automattic, the company behind the Wordpress platform and the Wordpress.com blog hosting service.

PollDaddy offers free polls. (My most recent one is on this post: Five old-fashioned Web concepts that need to die.) The option to run more detailed surveys costs either $200 or $899 a year, depending on the volume of replies you've signed up for.

PollDaddy is based in Sligo, Ireland. CEO David Lenehan told me the company will be staying there and that his office becomes, "Automattic's first office anywhere in the world.&… Read more

Friday Poll: Which tech product is Joe Biden?

According to you, readers, Barack Obama's an iPhone, while John McCain is a phonograph, and Sarah Palin is a Hello Kitty assault rifle.

Now, in the final installment of our presidential-race-related Friday Poll, our thoughts turn to Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Obama's running mate. With so much attention on the other three candidates, it was a little hard to come up with our choices. Luckily, Biden's been around a long time, which gave us some good material to work with.

If none of our poll options quite hit the spot, be sure to suggest your own in … Read more

Start-ups: How freaked out are you?

We've been covering the economic crisis in depth recently (see The tech downturn: How long and how bad?). If you're a tech entrepreneur, we'd like to know how the stories of doom and gloom are affecting you. So chime in. Answer these two questions:

Startups: How freaked out are you? ( polls)

Just in from GigaOm: Inside Details of Sequoia Capital's Doomsday Meeting With its Companies

Friday Poll: Which tech gadget is Palin?

In the wake of Thursday night's vice presidential debate, we return to the important question only you the voters (or you, the underage reader, or you the foreign reader, or you the felon) can answer. Since we started with Barack Obama in the Crave presidential gadget poll before turning to John McCain, we'll give first jabs...er dibs, to Gov. Sarah Palin.

Got any ideas other than the options mentioned in our highly scientific poll? Let us know in our talkback section below. And if you have suggestions for next week's Joe Biden poll, be sure to … Read more

Friday Poll: What would get you to buy a T-Mobile G1?

Unless you've been living in a cave (and as comedian Jon Stewart recently pointed out, that might be the safest real estate investment around these days), you probably noticed that a little phone called the T-Mobile G1 made its debut this week.

Now that you've had a chance to glimpse the first phone powered by Google's Android software, would you plunk down for a G1? And if so, what would be the main factor motivating you to become a G1 owner?

Click here for full coverage of Google Android.

Friday Poll: What kind of gadget would McCain be?

As part of CNET News' election coverage, we thought we'd turn the Crave Friday Poll to a burning question on the minds of so many voters. If the two major presidential candidates were tech gadgets, which would they be?

Last week we asked you which gadget Democrat Barack Obama would be. The iPhone (aka the JesusPhone) handily beat out the other three options, taking 43.3 percent of the vote. Windows Vista was second at 27.5 percent, Facebook third with 19.3 percent, and Baby's First Walkman last with just 10 percent of the vote.

Today we … Read more

Friday Poll: Is Obama the iPhone?

As part of CNET News' election coverage, we thought we'd turn the Crave Friday Poll to a burning question on the minds of so many voters. If the two major presidential candidates were tech gadgets, which would they be? We'll start with Barack Obama and move on to John McCain next Friday. After all, we believe in equal opportunity (that's equal opportunity harassment) here.

If none of our poll options quite fits, in your view, be sure to suggest your own ideas in the Talkback section below. We know you'll come up with some great ones.… Read more

Friday Poll: Which summer movie hit the comic book mark?

When Crave editors Leslie Katz and Erica Ogg asked me to mastermind the inaugural Crave Friday Poll™, my first reaction was, "Get the hell outta my office! I'm trying to sleep in here!!" After a visit from HR and a few tears--mostly on my part--I agreed to come up with something.

I suggested the "Best Comic Book Movies of the Summer." Thing is, comic book movies are way too mainstream these days to be considered "geeky." Also, The Dark Knight would predictably clean up, followed by Iron Man and then everything else.

So … Read more

Poll: Gamer's bill of rights--is it necessary?

I don't know. Something about framing the purchase and playing of video games in the same light as the practice of religion, defending one's property, and attaining redress from one's government strikes me as a tad overly dramatic.

On the other hand, I get it: gaming is serious business. Like, to the tune of almost $10 billion a year, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

And like any industry, consumers have come to expect a certain level of service. That's why two game developers compiled a list of 10 "rights" PC gamers have. The … Read more

Poll: Seinfeld and Vista, what gives?

As CNET News reported earlier Thursday, Microsoft has tapped Jerry Seinfeld to star in a $300 million marketing campaign aimed at countering negative perceptions of its oft-maligned Vista operating system.

The comedian, best known for his eponymous NBC sitcom, will reportedly get $10 million for the campaign, which is expected to play off the phrase "Windows, Not Walls," and to stress the connection between people and ideas.

Comedians Will Ferrell and Chris Rock were also considered for the new advertising spots, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported details of the marketing push. The paper said … Read more