Tag Archives: websites

Play DJ — Or Just Listen To A Stranger’s Rad Music All Day — On Turntable.fm

Amelia McDonell-ParryJuly 11, 2011 //

Hot new website alert! Turntable.fm is a new website — accessible to anyone with a Facebook account — where users get to play DJ for thousands of online listeners. So, how does it work? When you log in to the site, you have a choice of either entering an existing “room” or creating a “room” yourself. Each room can have a max of five DJs playing music that fits with the room’s theme at one time, but even if you’re not DJing, you can sit and listen. If you do want to DJ, you upload songs into the queue and when it’s your turn, your top song will play. Users can then vote if the song choice is Awesome or Lame — for each “Awesome” vote, the DJ gets a point which can then be put towards other site privileges, like fancy avatars. I haven’t had the balls to play DJ yet — users can chat online while the songs play and sometimes their assessment of a DJ’s picks can be harsh — but I have been hanging out in various “rooms” all weekend, listening to a mix of songs that I either haven’t heard in awhile or wasn’t privy to before. So far, my fave rooms have been “Indie While You Work” and “Just Dope Tracks” which plays a variety of hip-hop tunes from all eras. If you love music and are looking to mix up audio routine, check it out! [Turntable.fm] Keep reading »

Not Sure If You “Can Do Better”? Let Strangers Decide!

Amelia McDonell-ParryNovember 15, 2010 //

I’ll admit, when I’m scrolling through my potential online dating matches, I’m sometimes thinking, I can do better. I can do better. I can do better. And also, though far more rare, Eek, he can do better. And, I imagine, when I message someone who I think might be a good match for me — someone I think would be worthy of going on a date with — and they don’t reply, I acknowledge that he’s probably thought to himself, Eh, I can do better. And that’s fine, because I would like to meet someone who agrees that we might be good for each other. But what if you’re the type of person who can’t make that kind of decision for yourself, especially in the looks department? Who stares in the mirror and is unable to answer the question, How hot a guy can I actually get? Let CanDoBetter, a “social networking site that fuses together traditional dating and a ‘New Age’ experience,” help! Keep reading »

FashionStake Allows You To Become A Fashion Funder (With VIP Perks)

Leonora EpsteinSeptember 5, 2010 //

Harvard Business School student Vivian Weng has had first-hand frustration with the fashion industry both as a consumer who pays high prices for clothing and as someone who has worked with designers who struggle to reach their target audiences. In an attempt to “democratize fashion,” she’s just launched FashionStake, a website that allows users to put a “stake” into an up-and-coming designer. How it works: Pre-order an item from an exclusive collection, or pledge $50 or $150 to the designer’s target fund. Once the goal is met, the designer creates the collection for the users, who get a $125 store credit and a 40 percent discount. There are also some extremely special VIP perks for people who invest certain amounts, including tickets to NYC Fashion Week, freebies, and lunch with the designer. FashionStake already has some recognizable names on their roster: The first designer is Nicholas K, followed by Lewis Cho, Aira, and Yotam Solomon. Keep reading »

Oak & Co. Gives Young Designers Exposure

Lily QJuly 30, 2010 //

The hardest thing about being a new designer is not so much the creativity — if you’re good, you’re good — it’s getting exposure for the awesome clothes you’re creating. Some designers with amazing wares actually struggle for years just to get their clothes in front of the right eyes. New website Oak & Co. aims to change that by offering sustainable up-and-coming designers a hub for selling their wares. Some of the pieces are a little more hippie than chic, but a fair few of the choices are pretty great-looking pieces that you won’t find elsewhere. Plus, buying a dress from Oak & Co. means you’re being environmentally friendly and supporting developing designers. [ApparelNews.net] Keep reading »

Teri Hatcher Launches A Lifestyle Site

Wendy AtterberryMay 12, 2010 //

Teri Hatcher is sick of Gwyneth Paltrow having all the fun. That is to say, she wants to tell women how to live their lives better too, so she started her own lifestyle site: GetHatched. Unlike Gwynnie’s GOOP, Teri’s site doesn’t advocate slurping kale juice and spinach soup or staying at the most expensive hotels while vacationing in Morocco; her angle is all about balancing life as a busy mom. “GetHatched is about finding your way to the ME part without getting lost along the way. My desire is to be able to reach women, lots of women, and supply just the right boost they might need on any given day,” says Hatcher. So, how does she provide that boost? Well, if this video is any indication, she does it through sex talk. And sleep talk. And discussing with regular non-celeb moms how their men can get them in the mood by cleaning up around the house and making sure the kids get off to school OK. I guess this is kinda like porn for the busy middle-class mom? I don’t know; did the world need really need another celeb telling normal people how to live their lives better? [via Huffington Post] Keep reading »

Teri Hatcher To Share Her Life Online

Catherine StrawnMarch 30, 2010 //

Teri Hatcher is following in Gwyneth Paltrow‘s footsteps, with a new online publication in the works. The “Desperate Housewives” star has teamed up with Disney to launch GetHatched.com, a website for women. “I have a compelling passion to be a woman with other women,” she said. “We’re the caregivers, the teachers, the lovers.” Huh?

It makes sense for a corporation to want a big name involved when they launch a new website — instant publicity! — but can Teri be the driving force behind a media empire? Will people care enough about what she has to say for this to pay off for Disney?

As for content, Teri will supposedly be talking about “what worked for me and what hasn’t,” like the time she went to pick up groceries without doing her hair and got snapped by paparazzi: “I should have taken an extra 30 seconds to show I have style.” Thanks, Teri, that advice was really helpful. If today were April 1, we’d think this was a joke. [THR via AV Club] Keep reading »

Play Chatroulette, NOW!

Ami AngelowiczJanuary 14, 2010 //

Listen up, people! I think I just discovered the Holy Grail of all internet fun. A friend of mine told me about this site called Chatroulette.com. It is literally a virtual, social roulette game. You log on (you need a web cam of some sort) and the site connects you randomly with another person in the world for a video chat. You can actually see and hear this person while you IM with them!! The future is here! For my first round, I was connected with Chad, an IT guy who works for Chatroulette. (He was doing some routine site checks.) I asked him what he wants the Friskyverse to know about the site. He replied, “That it’s fun!” No s**t, Chad. Too bad he was hot and I realized that I haven’t brushed my hair yet today and am still wearing my gym clothes. Bummer. [How come the first time I try it, I get a guy jerking off? Must be a fluke. Otherwise, totes SFW! — Editor] When I spun the virtual wheel again, I was connected to Anna, a 17-year-old girl hanging out with her cat. Whoever came up with this idea is a freaking genius. Try it now before the rest of the world catches on! Keep reading »

Dating Site Kicks Out 5,000 “Fatties”

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJanuary 4, 2010 //

BeautifulPeople.com is an ultra PC online dating site where only the mega-hot are allowed to post profiles. In order to get listed, members go through a rigorous rating period whereby site managers inspect their pictures and determine whether they’re gorg enough to join the club. But after the holiday season, as members posted new photos of themselves, site managers noticed a HORRIFYING thing—some of their members had (gaaaaasp) put on a few pounds. So, the site kindly kicked out 5,000 members, encouraging them to reapply “when they’re looking their best” and go through the rating process again. The founder of the site explained this move saying, “As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but the fact remains that our members demand the high standard of beauty be upheld. Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded.”

While this whole thing smacks of a publicity stunt—just like I don’t believe Warren Beatty slept with 13,000 women, I don’t believe that this rinky dink dating site has 5,000 members who so obviously gained weight over the holidays—but if it’s true, pretty horrifying. [Telegraph] Keep reading »