Tag Archives: Websites

SideTour Finds Unique Things for You to Do in Your Own City

Posted on by

Whoever said that you can only explore new places and discover new things when you travel obviously hasn’t tried SideTour. You won’t have to fly out and the drive often isn’t very far, since you’ll only be taking a “tour” in your own city.

That’s the concept that SideTour is working with, and they’re constantly adding new tours and experiences for people to try out.

sidetour chicago

The NYC-based service offers a variety of in-city tour options for the bored local, whether it’s dining with a renowned chef or meditating with a banker-turned-monk to find some inner peace. The experiences being offered are varied, and the best part is that you can experience it all in your very own city.

SideTour currently caters to locals from New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. If you have something you want to share with others, you can even host your own tour using the service.

Sidetour1

Who knew you could experience so much in your own zip code?

[via Laughing Squid]

Own Mutually Lets You Split the Cost for Stuff You Want

Posted on by

Ever dreamed of owning something extravagant, but just couldn’t afford or justify the cost for something you’re not going to use all of the time? Well, a new website is in the works which lets you split the cost of items with others so you can each reap the rewards without having to pay for the whole thing.

own mutually

OwnMutually is launching an online matching system which allows strangers (or friends) to chip in to purchase items together and split the cost. You end up with joint ownership, but it’s a great idea for things you might not use all of the time – like a boat, sports car, vacation cabin, or a recreational vehicle. In addition to providing the item listing and funding system, OwnMutually also plans on offering a system for scheduling and timesharing property purchased through the platform. Here’s an overview of how it works:

own mutually 2

I can speak from personal experience that joint ownership and timesharing isn’t always the most pleasant thing, but it is a good way to enjoy things you might not otherwise get to enjoy.

OwnMutually is still in the preview phase, but you can check out the site now if you’re interested in learning more.

Hell is Other People: Antisocial Media

Posted on by

There are times in your life where you just want to be in the company of yourself. Unfortunately, you can’t choose to avoid people when they’re already there, right in front of you, and it’s just rude to walk on by without saying hi or exchanging pleasantries at that point.

Social media is all about getting social and being with people – at least virtually. Antisocial media is the opposite of that, and Hell is Other People is a product of an experiment based on this concept by Scott Garner.

hell is other people map

Hell is Other People is basically a web app that uses data from your Foursquare account to check and determine the current location of your friends, family, and other contacts. It will then map out a route for you that avoids any place where people you know are checked in.

It truly is an app for the antisocial.

Scott did a test run on the app when he took a walk in Manhattan following the “safe zones” marked by Hell is Other People. You can check out what happened (and whether the app was right or not) in the clip above. 

[via C|NET]

Twitter acquires social startup company Spindle

Posted on by

Twitter has acquired another startup.This time, it's a social company named Spindle that specializes in helping people discover the best social updates from shops, restaurants, bars, and other...
    


Find ‘Hot Local Cats’ In Your Area With the Adult Cat Finder

Posted on by

Looking for an adult friend in your area? No? Yeah, neither am I, but that’s not going to stop those annoying ads from popping up on your screen without warning when you’re visiting certain websites.

Injecting a lot of humor and making fun of these websites is the Adult Cat Finder.

adult cat finder 1

It might have a slightly alarming name that might put you off, but don’t let its name fool you. In fact, I would suggest that you take it quite literally, because this little “widget” will find you hot local cats in your area.

adult cat finder

Check out the Adult Cat Finder yourself and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

The “service” was created by Fountain LA and it puts Kitten on a Keyboard in the spotlight.

[via Laughing Squid]

Amazon’s Storyteller Helps You Turn Your Script into a Storyboard

Posted on by

You might be a budding writer with a script for what you think could be the next big thing in movies. But making the words leap out of the page and onto a storyboard is difficult if you don’t have the artistic skills to carry out your concept. The Storyteller tool that Amazon has just debuted is designed to help you out with this.

amazon storyboard 1Bring your ideas and vision to life by clicking through the Storyteller’s various menus and adding pre-drawn and custom backgrounds, characters, props, and settings. This will help you sell your story and hopefully find a director or producer who’ll be willing to work on your film once they see what your concept is all about.

amazon storyboard 2

Amazon Studios director, Roy Price, explains why they came up with the tool: “We’ve found that many writers want to see their story up on its feet in visual form but find it harder than it should be to create a storyboard. Storyteller provides a digital backlot, acting troupe, prop department and assistant editor – everything you need to bring your story to life.”

Sounds neat, doesn’t it? You can try out Amazon Storyteller here.

[via Dvice]

Twitter Partners with Vizify to bring #FollowMe

Posted on by

It is a biographical mini-movie of sorts and bears a deep relationship to YouTube’s “broadcast your self” message. However, this feature is prominent on Twitter and employs the technology of Vizify....
    


Jessica Alba Wraps Dear Eleanor and Shares Pics on Twitter

Posted on by

Jessica Alba posted several photos from the Dear Eleanor movie set on Twitter that has her fans buzzing. One of the photos show her in a retro swimsuit that only a few women can wear and still look...
    


CentUp Lets You Pay Your Favorite Publishers While Funding Charities

Posted on by

If you love reading stuff on the Internet, you know that most independent publishers earn their living by selling advertising space on their websites. While this is definitely an important part of keeping small online businesses up and running, publishers and content creators are always looking for new ways keep the lights on and cover their operating costs.

centup

Now, there’s a new startup called CentUp which aims to put a little spare change in the pockets of publishers, while giving readers the satisfaction that roughly half of their money is going to a charity of their choice.

centup 1

CentUp works similarly to the Facebook “Like” button, but when you click it, you can show your support for your favorite websites and blogs by paying them a small amount of money. Keep in mind that CentUp doesn’t block content in any way. You only contribute if you like the site and got value out of the content. In fact, it’s recommend that publishers place the CentUp button at the bottom of their content.

In addition to your pennies going to your favorite sites, your money will be split with one of several diverse small charities. When you first sign up for the service you select a charity of choice, and charge a preloaded donation amount on your credit card. This amount can be set to automatically reload if and when you use it up.

centup 2

Donation amounts are paid in “CentUp credits” – which each represent one cent of your cash balance, and can be increased beyond your default amount at the time you decide to contribute to a specific piece of content. CentUp automatically splits each credit into three pieces and distributes them – 45% to the publisher, 45% to the charity, and a 10% fee for operating the platform and covering credit card fees.

centup 4

At any time you can log into your CentUp profile to see who you have contributed to, view a list of publishers, and edit your preferences.

centup 3

To date, there are just a handful of publishers and six charities participating in CentUp, but its founders expect that to grow substantially in time.

If you like what CentUp stands for, you can sign up for the service by simply clicking the CentUp button at the bottom of this post, or by visiting their website.

JumpStartCity Crowdfunding Site Tries to One-up Kickstarter

Posted on by

I’m a fan of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing of products. However, sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo don’t really let the community decide what sort of projects make the cut for a funding opportunity, so alot of similar – and sometimes downright crummy ideas make it to the stage where they can be funded.

JumpStartCity is new arrival on the crowdfunding scene, which wants visitors to help pick which projects are even eligible to ask for funding.

jumpstartcity

The biggest thing makes JumpStartCity unique is the addition of its “Elevator Pitch” stage – which allows those with products and services to convince readers that their projects are worthy of funding. Personally, I love this idea to help weed out the riff-raff before any money changes hands, and should help keep the number of projects which make it to the funding phase down to the cream of the crop. Members of the community can be notified whenever new ideas are submitted, providing greater visibility to each and every project than competitors.

Another step along the way is the Promotion Stage. This is a phase which occurs prior to funding to allow creators to promote their products and services and build buzz before fundraising begins. After they’ve built up some momentum during this stage, only then do they move on to the “Active” or funding stage. Unlike other crowdfunding sites, the funding stage is short – only 20 days – focused on producing the biggest impact in the shortest period of time. Creators can extend this by another 20 days after successful funding if they so choose. One other nifty feature of the platform is called “Cash at Goal” – which allows creators to immediately receive their funding as soon as the goal is reached, with any overages coming at the end of the fundraising period. This gives creators the ability to start their projects earlier if their goal is met early.

There are also benefits to community members for being active, including greater influence, extra points you can “spend” for your favorite elevator pitches, and potentially cash for receiving and watching elevator pitches. Early project backers also get a 10% discount during the first 24 hours of funding. Community members also get 1% of their purchase price back in the form of credits which can be used on future projects.

Since the site is in its infancy, JumpStartCity does face an uphill battle convincing consumers to participate in their site instead of the already-established players in the crowdfunding market. However, they do offer a unique approach with benefits to both creators and buyers which could set them apart.

You can sign up for JumpStartCity here, and then check out the current projects in the funnel here. It’s definitely worth checking out.