Execz and designers gathered in San Fransisco last weekend for the 4th Annual Webby Awards. The awards have become increasingly popular as a ?measure of quality? ? or, more accurately, a chance to be bigged up by the bigwigs. Categories included arts, commerce, games, humor and kids. Judging was done by 270 members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a group that describes itself as encouraging the ‘progress of new media’ and includes celebrities such as actor Robin Williams and musician David Bowie Award presentations were juggled between animated film clips, live music and special effects. The event had an extravagant, Hollywood-style. The hall was decorated in the theme of H.G. Wells’ ‘The Time Machine,’ which included such futuristic decor as a round movie screen and flashing lights.Guests entered the auditorium on a red carpet patrolled by paparazzi - actually actors paid to shout questions and use flash cameras that had no film. But perhaps wisely, Webby winners? victory speeches were limited to five words. ?Three letters &√Ǭ£45;- I.P.O,’ a representative from Adbusters, the winner in the activism category, told the crowd. We wonder if he saw the protestors outside the ceremony, those holding the banner which read ‘Dotcoms Displace’, who were upset at the effects of soaring real-estate prices in the city - prices in San Fran are now rivalling Tokyo in places, and are forcing many low-paid workers to leave the area altogether. Probably not. The party was too loud and self-congratulatory to hear the protests of the real world.



THE WEBBY AWARDS - 2000 WINNERS &£45;-Activism: Ad Busters - www.adbusters.org

&£45;-Arts: Web Stalker - www.backspace.org/iod/iod4winupdates.html

&£45;-Broadband: Video Farm - www.videofarm.com

&£45;-Commerce: BabyCenter - www.babycenter.com

&£45;-Community: Cafe Utne - cafe.utne.com/cafe

&£45;-Education: Merriam Websters-Word Central - www.wordcentral.com

&£45;-Fashion: Paul Smith - www.paulsmith.co.uk

&£45;-Film: Atom Films - www.atomfilms.com

&£45;-Finance: Gomez.com - www.gomez.com

&£45;-Games: GameSpy Industries - www.gamespy.com

&£45;-Health: Thrive Online - www.thriveonline.com

&£45;-Humor: The Onion - www.theonion.com

&£45;-Kids: Scholastic.com - www.scholastic.com

&£45;-Living: Epicurious - food.epicurious.com

&£45;-Music: Napster - www.napster.com

&√Ǭ£45;-News: Jim Romenesko’s Media News - www.poynter.org/medianews

&£45;-Personal Web Site: Cocky Bastard - www.cockybastard.com

&£45;-Politics & Law: Politics.com - www.politics.com

&£45;-Print/Zines: Nerve - www.nerve.org

&£45;-Radio: Lost and Found Sound - www.lostandfoundsound.com

&£45;-Science: Lascaux - www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux

&£45;-Services: Evite - www.evite.com

&£45;-Sports: ESPN espn.go.com

&£45;-Technical Achievement: Google - www.google.com

&£45;-Travel: Outside Online - www.outsidemag.com

&£45;-Television: MSNBC - www.msnbc.com

&£45;-Weird: Stile Project - www.stileproject.com