From a hurricane-suppression system to a pancake machine, we covered a ton of interesting and unusual projects and products this year. But which one deserves the TechFlash title of Craziest Tech Idea of the Year? That's the category for today's vote in The Flashies, our year-end community choice awards. And the nominees are ...

Continue reading for detailed descriptions of the nominees for today's category, and our reasons for including them. Check back throughout the week as we continue to roll out more Flashies categories.

As with previous categories, free to offer a write-in candidate in the comments below. Other readers will be able to support your nomination by logging in and clicking the "like" button next your comment. We'll announce all the Flashies winners in a post at the end of the year.

ChefStack Pancake Machine: 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.

Intellectual Ventures' Hurricane Stopper: Bill Gates was among the people who collaborated with Nathan Myhrvold, the Intellectual Ventures head and former Microsoft chief technology officer, on this plan for suppressing hurricanes. The system proposes to prevent or minimize the impact of the tropical storms by mixing warm water from the top of the ocean with cold water from the bottom. Scientists aren't so sure about the idea, but Myhrvold insists the concept is valid.

Internet Detox Center: This 45-day reStart Internet Addiction Recovery Program in Fall City, Wash., promises "to help internet and video game addicts overcome their dependence on gaming, gambling, chatting, texting and other aspects of Internet Addiction." All for a mere $14,500. Our post on the center was among the most widely discussed and read of the past year on TechFlash.

Jeff Bezos' Waterproof Kindle: Not an official product, but a makeshift solution for using the Kindle electronic reader in the bathtub: Seal it into a 1-gallon Ziplock bag. The idea was floated by none other than Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos in an interview with the New York Times. "It’s much better than a physical book, because obviously if you put your physical book in a Ziploc bag you can’t turn the pages," he said.

Soda Machine of the Future: The Coca-Cola Freestyle, developed by Bellevue-based Bsquare and Coca-Cola, is a network-connected vending machine that dispenses up to 100 types of drinks. The system takes advantage of the connectivity to allow for central monitoring of sales and equipment status. It also lets operators download updated software, beverage recipes and LCD artwork on demand. It also uses RFID chips from Seattle-based Impinj.

Stratoshield: Stop global warming with sulphur in the stratosphere: Another brainchild of Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures, this project proposes to reduce or eliminate the effects of global warming by using a tube to pump sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, shielding critical areas of the Earth from the sun just enough to reduce the temperature slightly. This idea was also criticized by scientists, but Myhrvold was on CNN this weekend defending the concept.