We've already highlighted some of the "tech debacles" of the past year. But with the holiday upon us, we're feeling a little more cheerful. That brings us to today's installment of The Flashies: "Tech Triumph of the Year." Vote in this poll, or offer a write-in candidate in the comments.

For a more detailed description of each nominee, keep reading.

Amazon.com's blockbuster year: Remember during the dot-com bust when people wrote off the online retailer as Amazon.toast? Well, those people have another breakfast item to think about these days: egg on their face. Amazon's stock is trading near an all-time high, with shares surging 169 percent so far this year. There haven't been many missteps this year, other than the deletion of "1984" and "Animal Farm" from the Kindle. (See "Tech Debacle of the Year") And it looks like Amazon.com's strong sales will continue, with the company grabbing additional market share during this tough economic period.

Ben Huh

Cheezburger Network's growth and profits: Ben Huh is even surprised by the success of Cheezburger Network, the offbeat set of comedy Web sites that he runs from a tiny office in Seattle's lower Queen Anne neighborhood. After all, who knew that a site about cats, bike crashes, ugly home interiors, misspelled signs and other oddball photos and videos could become such a new media powerhouse in 2009? But don't be fooled by the wacky name. Cheezburger is a real business, with multiple revenue streams and profits. When we caught up with Huh last week, he was struggling to fill more than half a dozen open positions. And the former journalist also told us of the company's historical weakness: marketing. That's the scary part. Cheezburger has grown almost entirely through organic means (and without venture capital), and is now attracting more 200 million page views per month. Just imagine if the content kings get that marketing thing figured out in 2010.

Cray Jaguar speed record: Seattle supercomputer maker Cray put itself atop the closely watched list of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers when an upgrade of its Jaguar XT5, installed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, clocked in with a peak speed of 2.3 petaflops, or more than two-thousand trillion calculations per second. See our recent interview with Cray CEO Peter Ungaro for more on the company.

First Flight of the 787: After repeated delays, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner finally took flight on Dec. 15, as the world watched. The milestone provided a much-needed lift to the company, as well as the engineers and other workers responsible for the next-generation jet. With big implications for the company's suppliers in the region and around the world, the first flight is currently leading the voting in the Puget Sound Business Journal's reader poll on the top business stories in the state this year.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. (Credit: Yahoo)

Microsoft finally does a Yahoo deal: Whether or not this turns out to be a good thing for Microsoft (or Yahoo) remains to be seen, but the search and advertising partnership forged by the companies in July was a triumph of willpower, at least, for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The partnership, in which Microsoft will handle the underlying search technology for both companies, was the culmination of more than a year-and-a-half of talks -- dating back to Microsoft's unsolicited (and unsuccessful) bid to acquire Yahoo in early 2008.

(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Steve Jobs back to work: It might not rank up there with his triumphant return to Apple in 1997, but CEO Steve Jobs' return to the company this year, following a liver transplant and a five-month leave of absence, means he's still at the helm of a company that has played a huge role in defining the direction of computing, portable entertainment and mobile communications. In the meantime, his time away showed that Apple has enough depth in its executive ranks to reassure investors still nervous about Jobs' health.

TechStars emerges in Seattle: 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.