Favorite Links of 2011
Google Reader - between the Android app, Reeder for iPad, and the website, keeps me up to date on the news.

Stack Overflow and other Stack Exchange sites - one of the best ways to get help and help others.

9GAG - thanks to (our summer intern) Vicky for showing this to me, I waste a lot of time looking at internet memes.

Best Entertainment of 2011
Friday Night Lights - the final season was aired on NBC in the first half of the year. It gets my vote for the best drama of all time.

Community - one of the smartest and most brilliant comedies in recent memory. It's a shame NBC doesn't get it and has decided to "bench" it for the immediate future. It doesn't get good Nielson rating because a majority of their audience watches it on Netflix/Hulu/DVR/etc.

Thor - it won't win any awards for best screenplay, but 1) it was a beautiful movie with great special effects, and 2) the closer we get to an Avengers movie, the more this geek gets excited!

Favorite Restaurant
Rachel's Creperie - at the end of the block of my new co-working space, offers a new way to try many kinds of foods you'd normally just slap in between two pieces of boring bread.

Favorite Game
Farkle! - the link explains all of the rules. All it requires is 6 dice and 1 or more friends. It channels Yahtzee but has some fun twists.

Favorite Mobile App
Words With Friends - I know it's more like the game of 2010, but this year they added the Android version so I can play Facebook and iPhone friends, and it gives my brain a quick puzzle when I have some downtime.

Favorite Technology Innovation
Music in the Cloud, either Google Music, Amazon Cloud Player, or iCloud - they make listening to the same music on my laptop and my phone a snap. Sync-less bliss...

Favorite Cause
It wasn't new to 2011, but I think 2011 is when Kickstarter really became huge. It's amazing to see peoples' dreams come to life.