New online gift registry

It is getting easier to figure out what to give someone for a gift. Now all you have to do is go online, check their registry and see what they want.

Kazowie (http://www.kazowie.com) users can create a one-stop gift registry for weddings, events, or showers by compiling products from any online shop, boutique, or megastore, instead of choosing from a select few department stores. Once directed to the Kazowie registry, the purchaser can navigate to an online store through the registry, or find the store locally to purchase the gift offline. Kazowie can help the registrar manage gift quantities and fulfilled items.

Users can explore products in Kazowie in multiple ways: recently listed items, most popular items, what friends have added to their lists, or by browsing through the entire network. Lists of any kind can be created and customized by grabbing items from other people, submitting the product's URL or by using the Kazowie browser tools. Users can join or create groups and begin discussions, be a recommendation expert by creating a buyer's guide, as well as create a poll to get opinions from other users of the site. Anyone can join by logging in with existing accounts through Yahoo, Google, OpenID and AOL/AIM or by creating a new account. Users can also subscribe to friends' RSS feeds to keep in touch with their Kazowie activities.

I think I prefer the old way, though, of surprising someone. And one new source I've discovered for online shopping is a site called Rush Gifts. They specialize in helping you pick gift items you can send so they arrive in a hurry. Check out http://rushrushgifts.com/