This contest is gonna be sweet.

HMmm, I agree for certain extent. However, it is left to Stammy to come with swift decision.

Here are my picks…

Photojojo
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Photojojo
Good posts on photography and gadgets.

Photoshop Insider
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/
SK writes on photoshop and phototography. He gets at least one guest expert each week to write on a new area.

Blog of Tim Ferris
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
Author of the Four Hour Work Week experiments with lifestyle design.

Good luck with the site!

-k

Digital Inspiration: Lots of how-tos, updates on webservice features, etc.
http://www.labnol.org/

Lifehacker: Tools to streamline work and increase productivity
http://www.lifehacker.com

Hackaday: Interesting hardware and software hacks
http://www.hackaday.org

Tucker Max is the best blog of them all.

http://www.filmforthesoul.blogspot.com
http://www.thevaultofhorror.com
http://www.yeetle.blogspot.com

As for the suggestions for your website, I don’t have any, because for one, it’s not my website, and two, it’s perfect just the way it is, and if people do not like it, then that’s their problem. I’m definitely not asking for flattery points, but some people probably do have the slightest idea how hard it is to run a site, so I congratulate you on being a success.

1) Disqus. ‘Nuf said.

2) More posts! I only heard about this blog a few weeks ago, thanks to this contest, but I’ve been subscribed ever since. Anyway, quality is great, and I’d love to read more! I guess Skribit is supposed to help with that, haha.

Blogs (I figure I’ll go for extra credit and do both):

I’ll aim for ones that I think are relatively obscure.

1) TechCrunch (http://www.techcrunch.com)

haha, jk ;)

1 for real) Digital Inspiration (http://www.labnol.org)

Good blog about tech, lots of handy little tips and giveaway alerts.

2) Freakonomics (http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com)

Ok, not really too obscure, but might be unread in this crowd. They always present a very interesting way of thinking about problems.

3) Kevin Kelly (http://kk.org/kk)

Lots of good posts on tech, the singularity, science, the future, etc

Finally, and I’m sure pretty much everyone here has already visited this one, Jessica Mah Meets World — which was how I found out about this whole contest! Anyway, great blog, you can find it at http://jessicamah.com/blog.

saidthegramohone.com : a gorgeous and straightforward mp3 blog, the best i’ve found in english (actually, in canadian!)

3quarksdaily.com : science, arts, lit, politics, gossip…

mcsweeneys.net : this may no longer be considered a blog, since its grown itself an empire. except that it’s been a sort of ur-blog since…mid-nineties? longer? and still a daily for me.

dooce.com
allfinancialmatters.com
fabulousfinancials.com
consumerist.com

You are doing great with your blog (far better than me). I feel hypocritcal critiquing you . . . but I want the laptop so here are 3 suggestions:

1. Reach your readers’ readers. Offer to write a periodic guest post on the blogs of your readers (use Skribit to find out who wants you to write and what they want you to write about). Link it back to your blog.

Example: after you went to the car show, I would have loved for you to have written a guest post on my blog about any Hydrogen powered cars you saw.

Benefits: strengthens relationship with your readers (shows them you are interested in them), builds incoming links from relevant blogs (SEO), exposes loads of new readers to Stammy.

2. Each time you review a product, include links to a few reviews that others have written. Don’t make your readers go find them on their own. You inspired this suggestion when you told me about Skribit AND its competitors in the same email–I really appreciated that I didn’t have to go looking.

Further, invite your readers to submit links to reviews they have read or written.

Benefits: lots of relevant links (more good SEO), more reader involvement, and more value for your readers.

3. Periodically highlight one of your readers. Write a short post about what makes them or their work fascinating/special. Or write about how they’ve influenced your work.

Benefits: it could turn out to be one of your best networking tools. People who you’ve written about will be more than excited to do business with you, promote you, and help however they can.

Well, I hope these are of some worth. I’m going to the forums to post so I’m eligible!

http://www.alistapart.com/
http://www.456bereastreet.com/
and
http://www.43folders.com/

http://www.danielbru.com/

http://internetducttape.com/

http://www.smileycat.com/index.php

Great minimalistic themed blog, some things I think you could add/alter would be
maybe adding some tags in a more prominent place, in a floating cloud perhaps to the upper right hand side. I saw that you have tags on the bottom of the blog, I missed it for awhile, I also saw that you have tags on your archives, maybe you like the clean look?
You love flickr, why not make a page that features some of your photos? You could also put some media up where you can post some flash videos, maybe showcase the nike ad, etc. You could also maybe do a few tutorials? Check out this player, it’s free and awesome!
http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=JW_FLV_Player

Not much I change with you site, I love how you provide interaction with people
through skribit, etc. Thanks Paul!

-Raquel Rodriquez

I was posting my 3 blogs for you to look at. Now, all of my witty commentary is lost, and I don’t have time this morning to try to recreate it. Unlucky I suppose.

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/ is a pretty good personal finance site. I’m trying to read some older stories as my day allows

http://www.milehighhockey.com is my place for Colorado Avalanche hockey. It’s rough getting any kind of coverage here in Oklahoma, and the writing makes me laugh.

http://www.the-isb.com/ is a pretty funny comics-based site. good for a quick cheap laugh and ALT text fun!

Anyways, I still have little thoughts about how you can improve PaulStamatiou.com…

If you are planning to make an improvement for your site, do not include in your plan the changing of colors or the replacement of the layout of your site. The layout with white background and soft-color fonts is always presentable for me. However, it’s up to you as you’re the owner. If you had a better and more beautiful layout than the current layout, then, use it.

A site is worthless without the visitors and readers, that’s why I’m suggesting that you maintain the giving of love and importance to your readers and visitors. What I mean is when someone comment or ask questions that are worth replying for, you should reply and answer. It’s usually what the readers and visitors need and want. When people visit your site, there main intention is to gather reliable, believable, and valuable information. That information could be gathered not only from the articles and posts but also from the reactions and replies made by the other readers and the blog author itself.

More people expect reliable content from reliable sites, so keep posting interesting and genuine news, and reviews. Some people will want tips and guides from real technologists. Give tips to them without any doubt because they thrust you and the information that they could get from you. Keep posting regularly to fill your readers craving for new, fresh and updated contents.

What else could be improved? I think no more. That’s all… Keep up!

Blogs I’m reading, probably, you may not have read yet.

http://www.makemoneyonline-x.com – This is a blog of an 18 year old student which inspires me that indeed there is money in blogging. The contents of the blog are honest and suitable for all readers, especially for student like me.

http://www.yugatech.com – This is a blog that talks about the latest and coolest technology. You may want to visit this blog as it is also a technology and reviews blog, just like yours.

http://insoymada.wordpress.com/ – This is a blog of a newspaper columnist and musician/rocker. I enjoyed reading this blog for the contents are entertaining and they reflects to the life of the ordinary people and individuals.

Thanks again… James Palar

As far as improvements to your site go, I really think you’ve done a great job with it! The only thing I would like to see is posting more often. Although, the quality of most of your posts is enough to last the several days that often come between them.

The only other suggestion I could have is to clean up the side bar a little bit. The recently popular is getting a little large and I feel like there is just too much going on, that it could be cleaned up a little bit.

Thanks again Stammy, have fun judging the entries!

First off, thank you so much for hosting such a fantastic giveaway!

I just found your website today, and I’ve enjoyed looking around. I can’t see anything that needs improvement, except for the fact that I encounter technical difficulties when I attempt to post to the forums. I was able to make 2 posts but have been unable to make any others since – I get a “Topic Not Found” error every time. I sent you an email detailing the problem, and also included the post I was attempting to make, in the hopes that it will still count as my 3rd post and entry into the contest!

As for the blog recommendations, here are my picks:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ – Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Horribly Wrong
http://x-entertainment.com/updates/ – X-Entertainment: a blog about retro toys and pop culture
http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/ Candy Blog: A blog about my favorite food. ;)

Thanks again for the chance!

-Beeb
(forum username:hardertobreathe)

I tried to pick fairly unique blogs, and blogs that spanned multiple topics.

http://deadspin.com/
A great sports blog, doesn’t just deliver the news, very humorous

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/
Sure, I can get my technology news from Engadget, but that can be a bit dry, I believe this is much more fun to read

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/
Perhaps my favorite blog ever, humor is becoming increasingly more difficult to find on the internet. Helps to brighten my day