My website (economyofeffort.com, in case you’re reading this on one of my blog mirrors) has hosted my personal “wish list” for some time. The idea has been to give friends and relatives an easy way of finding things to buy me on gift-giving occasions.

Finally, a new website has come along to handle wish lists - MasterWish (www.masterwish.com). It makes creating online wish lists a lot easier. The “Wish List” link in my menu to the right will lead to a page that takes you to various sections of my MasterWish list. The site’s got buddy lists, Amazon.com integration, and some other neat features. I had thought about writing a web-based wish list application, but this site renders that exercise unnecessary.

Some people think such lists are tacky, but honestly, nobody wants to give a bad present. Nobody likes trying to buy gifts for someone and having no idea what to get. And perhaps worst of all, nobody wants to buy someone something they already have. I love it when other people have wish lists to go from, if for nothing else but a starting point.

So, anyway, a new website for you all. Do your love ones a favor and put an end to the gift-buying guessing game. And save yourself trips to the store for returning crappy gifts.