Yeah, it's an Apple-dominated bunch of remainders. Maybe I'll make tomorrow's three-fourths Microsoft for some balance.

Kindle iPhone App Now Available for Over 60 Countries

If you live in one of the many countries previously ignored when it came to availability of the iPhone Kindle App, you can stop crying: The handy-dandy app can now be downloaded through the App Store in over 60 countries. If you're still somehow overlooked, then I'm very sorry and wish I could offer you a tissue. [App Store]

Apple Named Takes Best Brand, Best Ad, Best Marketer, Best Award Winner Titles

Adweek just wrapped up their "Best of the 2000s" Awards and Apple walked away with three shiny pretend trophies. One for the brand itself, one for marketing strategies, and one, oddly enough, for the "Get a Mac" ad campaign. Congrats to them, and while at it: Congrats to Gawker for taking the "Blog of the Decade" award in the same listing. Now are we done with these awards yet? [The Loop]

Google Brings Yet Another URL Shortener Into the World

As if we don't have enough URL shorteners, Google has decided to toss in one of their own making into the new versions of the Google Toolbar and FeedBurner. I'll admit that http://goo.gl/ is kinda clever and that at least there's some assurance that links won't mysteriously disappear overnight as with some tiny websites, but I still groaned when I read about yet-another-damn-URL-shortener. [Google Blog]

Sad you missed it? Yeah, us too. It (along with Giz Gallery) is indicative of the type of events we'll be doing more of, so don't worry about it if you missed this one. We'll have lots more coming up with glamorous people, exciting tech and good times all around. To see the recap on Fleshbot, hit up the link. And yeah, that link's NSFW too. Dude, it's Fleshbot. [Fleshbot]

The brassiere is one of the award-winning bits of science and invention from this year's quirky, eccentric and downright entertaining Ig Nobel Awards. These awards are, in the words of organizer Improbable Research, a celebration of achievements that "make people laugh and think." A laundry list of past "winners" from The National reads like this:

In 2001, the physics award was given to Dr. David Schmidt for his research into why shower curtains often to blow inwards. In 2005, a team from Keio University won for "training pigeons to discriminate between the paintings of Picasso and Monet."

Dr. Deborah Anderson, also a former winner, was on hand this year to remind everyone about the effectiveness of Coca-Cola as a spermicide. To conclude, she was allowed seven words to describe her area of expertise—contraception—in detail: "Male contraception. Sheath it or beat it."

Cranking It to 11—With Science!

This year at Harvard's Sanders Theater the awards show didn't let up, with the aforementioned brassiere winning in the Public Health category. Why public health? Well, aside from providing support, the bra doubles as a life-saving gas mask; one that could be handy should a biological attack strike somewhere soon, like the unmentionables department at Macy's.

I kid, but this brassiere seriously works. Those D cups are the brainchild of the voluptuous Dr. Elena Bodnar of Illinois (by way of the Ukraine, backside pictured, above); and Raphael Lee and Sandra Marijan, both of Chicago. Bodnar passed on giving a big speech, and instead gave the audience a live demo. Her "volunteers" were a handful of Nobel laureates assembled on the stage, including Krugman. By the end of the demo, she had removed multiple bra gas masks from under her shirt and no fewer than four Nobel laureates were protected from chemical attack thanks to a hot pink layer of satin.

Brilliant Insanity Ensues

The rest of the night was, sadly, light on gadgets, but it did manage to get this cynical blogger to laugh pretty consistently.

There was a four act banker's opera (left); there were impromptu science experiments; and there were two Mexicans who managed to create diamond film from tequila. There was a researcher from Kitasato University who reduced Japanese household waste by 90% thanks to bacteria found in panda shit.

Acceptance speeches were brief, and if they weren't, an eight-year-old girl was on hand to interrupt the winners and move things along. Benoit Mandelbrot, the man who invented fractals, gave a 60-second keynote, was interrupted by the girl, and then sat down to play poker. Onstage.

All told, the event was a trip, and I encourage any of my Boston brethren to see it at Harvard next year for their 20th anniversary. If you do, then you too will know exactly what 1,000 paper airplanes descending from the rafters to pelt the stage below looks like first hand.

Editors Note: The official Ig Nobel awards video goes live soon at Improbable TV. Check it out.

DSLR:
(two-way tie)
-Canon EOS Digital SLR
-Nikon D Series

Point and shoot:
-Fujifilm Finepix S Series

Premium Point and Shoot:
(two-way tie)
-Canon PowerShot G Series
-Lumix (Panasonic) DMC-TZ Series

Ultra Slim:
-Sony Cyber-Shot T Series

Head on over to Hot Hardware to see the rest of the survey results in detail and feel free to use the comments to let us know how correct/insane these results are. [Hot Hardware]

While we agree with the fact that it's pretty and that it has a touchscreen (can't really argue about that) and that it might make other phones better, the development platform still won't "officially" be here until February, plus, we don't really know how often Apple will actually evolve the software as of yet. We're not saying we wouldn't give it the invention of the year (hell, I wrote a book on it), we're just saying we wouldn't slobber quite so much as Grossman did and award points for things that aren't quite here yet. [Time]

The flamboyant in-house cinema room boasts 24-karat gold gilding details, hand embroidered fabric seats and genuine antique candle holders throughout. That's nothing compared to the technology behind the flush finish. There are twenty-four 12-inch subwoofers, CAT/MBX speakers tuned by professional engineers, a 200 pound, 3 feet long Runco MBX-1 projector, which is able to crank out 40 ft wide images, thirty-eight distinct audio zones, with the cheapest speakers costing $2000 /pair and touchscreen controls, which double up as controls for the whole house. The cost of all this flawless gadgetry? A staggering, $3.4 million. We'll keep saving. Hit the link to check out the full gallery. [Home Entertainment]

Apple also walked home with the "Most Anticipated Gadget of 2008" award, for, you guessed it, the iPhone. Editor of T3, Michael Brook said:

Apple really does appear to be an unstoppable force right now. The iPhone and the iPod Touch may have received some mixed press at times, but consumers are salivating over the products and the company is still unshakeable.

Take a look at the list of winners after the jump, and tell us what you think. Did the best games win?

The 2006 People's Choice 1UP Awards, as chosen by gamers voting on the 1UP Network, went to:
Game of the Year: Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Wii) - Nintendo
Most Innovative: Wii Sports (Wii) - Nintendo
Puzzle Game: Lumines II (PSP) - Buena Vista Games
Music/Simulation: Guitar Hero II (PS2) - Red Octane
Online/Multiplayer: Guild Wars Nightfall (PC) - NCsoft
Fighting/Wrestling: WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 (360, PS2, PSP) - THQ
Adventure: Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Wii) - Nintendo
Action: Dead Rising (360) - Capcom
Racing: Need for Speed: Carbon (360, PS3, PS2, PC) - EA
Sports: Wii Sports (Wii) - Nintendo
Shooter: Gears of War (360) - Microsoft
Strategy: Viva Pinata (360) - Microsoft
Role Playing Game: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (360, PC) - 2K Games

The Editors' Choice awards were presented as follows:
EGM (console gaming):
Game of the Year: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) - Nintendo
Artistic Direction: Okami (PS2) - Capcom
Level Design: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) - Nintendo
Designer of the Year: Eiji Aonuma
Multiplayer Experience: Wii Sports (Wii) - Nintendo

Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (PC gaming):
Game of the Year: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC) - Bethesda Softworks
Best Artistic Direction: Defcon (PC) - Introversion Software
Designer of the Year - Relic Entertainment
Best Multiplayer Experience: Company of Heroes (PC) - THQ
Best Narrative: Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC) - EA/Valve Software

We're glad to see our favorites, Gears of War and Viva Pinata up on the list of winners! – Charlie White

The 2006 1UP Awards Winners [1UP]

The Weblog Awards voting is open all week, closing on Friday, so please don't forget your Gizmodian pals when you cast your ballot (one per email address) for Gizmodo in the following categories:

•Best American Weblog
•Best Computers or Technology Weblog
•Most Humorous Weblog
•Best Writing of a Weblog
•Best-Designed Weblog
•Weblog of the Year

Could we win all six? Could happen!

Vote Here for Gizmodo!

Why us? We're kinder, funnier and more handsome, plus we have better pictures and get the stories first. And, we're not backed by some evil corporation that sends you countless coasters in the mail.

And remember, you are allowed to cast a ballot once every 24 hours, so vote 'em up, and may the best blog win. Tell your friends. Alert the media. Everybody: Gizmodo! Gizmodo! Gizmodo!

Cast Your Ballot! [The Weblog Awards]

Cast Your Ballot! [The Weblog Awards]

That friendly Japanese terminator may be smiling now, but snap your gum too loudly and it will fucking eat your soul.

METI to establish Robot of the Year Award [Pink Tentacle]

Vote here you sheep!

Sony, Dell Top Best Brands Poll [Extremetech]

Thanks to those readers who stuck by us through the transition. Let's raise our mice in a toast! To many more image-based awards to come. Salud!

Award [Forbes.com]