We just closed the voting down on The Flashies, our first annual TechFlash Community Choice Awards. We had a blast putting together the categories and nominees, and thanks to everyone who voted. There were some super close races, so every vote counted. But at the end of the day, there can only be one winner. Without further ado, here are the winners for each of the 11 categories.

Best Tech Hire of 2009: And The Flashie goes to... Karl Siebrecht of AdReady who won with 27 percent of the vote and just edged out Don Dodge of Google and Dan Vetras of Visible Technologies. (This category also generated the most votes with more than 1,000 cast). Nomination: Another former aQuantive executive, Siebrecht, set sail from Microsoft this past fall to test his skills again in the startup game. Interestingly, Siebrecht was close to taking a job at another company when he got an inside look at AdReady's self-service display advertising technology. He was immediately hooked. Three months after taking on the president and COO title at the Seattle startup, Siebrecht was promoted to CEO.

Microsoft Video of the Year: And The Flashie goes to... "Hosting Your Party." Nomination: Awkward doesn't even begin to describe this video -- which, in Microsoft's defense, was produced by an outside company it had hired to organize launch parties for Windows 7. The video also inspired some very funny parodies.

Technology Platform of the Year: And The Flashie goes to ... Windows 7. The hometown favorite -- which received 37 percent of the vote -- easily beat out second place finisher iPhone 3Gs. Nomination: Microsoft might just have salvaged the reputation of its flagship product with the debut of this new Windows version. Windows 7, released to the public in October, was designed to be more lightweight and stable than its predecessor, while making it easier to manage open windows and set up home networks. The release hasn't been without complication, but better performance and application compatibility have put Windows 7 well above the 3-year-old Windows Vista in the minds of many PC users.

Biggest Tech Debacle of the Year: And The Flashie goes to ... AT&T's network performance. Nomination: Just how frustrated are AT&T's customers with dropped calls, missing text messages and slow Internet connections? Give this a try: Go to Twitter and type in the word #att. There, you will find numerous complaints about the carrier's spotty network performance, including this recent Tweet: "#att you are the WORST carrier in history!!! #fail." Ouch. AT&T is trying to address the problems -- even going so far as to release an iPhone app earlier this month to allow customers to geographically tag network problems. But consumer complaints are mounting, and pressure is rising on Apple to take its popular iPhone to more U.S. wireless carriers.

Craziest Tech Idea of the Year: And The Flashie goes to ... The ChefStack Pancake Machine. Seattleites must love their breakfast foods, as the device won with 32 percent of the vote. It was helped since Nathan Myhrvold's crazy projects -- including a hurricane stopper and global warming suppression system -- split the vote. Nomination: This $3,500 automatic pancake machine, from Seattle-based ChefStack, promises to churn out "perfect panless pancakes" at a rate as high as 200 flapjacks per hour. ChefStack was founded by R.J. Selfridge, who spent 10 years as head of operations at Tully’s Coffee, and the machines have started to gain acceptance in commercial settings. ChefStack recently raised $2 million in funding.

Tech Triumph of the Year: And The Flashie goes to ... TechStars emerging in Seattle. Nomination: The arrival of a new technology incubator may not be considered a triumph in some circles. But what's interesting about TechStars -- which also operates incubators in Boston and Boulder -- is how the startup community has tossed their support behind the program. Venture capitalists from Maveron to Ignition to Trilogy are involved, as are a countless number of entrepreneurs as well as employees from Microsoft, Starbucks and others. "It's the first time something like that has happened here or, frankly, anywhere that I can think of," said Madrona's Greg Gottesman, who is helping to organize the program along with angel investor Andy Sack. TechStars and the the recently launched Founder Institute are bringing more options to entrepreneurs in Seattle. And that's a good thing.

Coolest Thing We Saw This Year: And The Flashie goes to ... Vioguard Self-Sanitizing Keyboard. Nomination: This device, developed by Microsoft Hardware veterans, uses germicidal ultraviolet light to combat the spread of disease, as an alternative to manual cleaning. After use, the keyboard automatically retracts into an enclosed monitor stand to be bathed in the ultraviolet light. The company, Bothell-based Vioguard LLC, is selling the device direct to consumers for $899 while waiting for FDA approval to offer the keyboard to hospitals.

Startup Deal of the Year: And The Flashie goes to ... Ontela merges with Photobucket. Nomination: The nitty-gritty details of the merger weren't disclosed. But Ontela founder Dan Shapiro was pleased with the outcome when he announced it earlier this month, saying that the "potential value of the two companies combined is even better than either of them separately." The deal certainly had its complexities, since Denver-based Photobucket was purchased by News Corp. for $250 million two years ago. Seattle's Ontela, meanwhile, had raised $15 million in venture financing from investors that included Walt Disney's Steamboat Ventures, Oak Investment Partners and Voyager Capital. They are putting more money into the new company.

Celebrity Tech Endorsement of the Year: And The Flashie goes to ... Bono's shout-out to Bill Gates. In one of closest races, the top three finalists were separated by just one vote. Nomination: This wasn't a plug for a product, but as celebrity endorsements go, it doesn't get much better than what Bono did for Bill Gates during U2's October concert in Vancouver, B.C. "Without him, and without his business, we just wouldn't be where we are today. It's his birthday today. Bill Gates is in the house," Bono said, before leading the cheering crowd in a rendition of "Happy Birthday."

Technology Buzzword of 2009: And The Flashie goes to ... Cloud. Nomination: Nope, it no longer just means those puffy white things floating in the sky. Now, the cloud represents any service on the Internet. In one of our favorite moments of the year, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison went off on the buzzword in a classic rant in which he called cloud computing "nonsense" and noted that "all it is is a computer attached to a network."

Top Tech Story of 2009: And The Flashie goes to ... Apple's Booming iPhone Ecosystem. Nomination: People have been talking for years about the power of mobile computing. But it took Apple's Steve Jobs and crew to actually crack the code. They did it with the iPhone and the App Store, which gained considerable momentum in 2009. By November, the company had announced that developers had created more than 100,000 applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.