Some highlights from around the web today (no joke!):
5. Facebook adds “Hate” Button
4. Adobe releases Content-Aware Age Tool
3. Virgin journeys to the center of the earth with Virgin Volcanic
2. Apple patents the Rectangle
1. Google makes GoogleMaps compatible with original 8-Bit Nintendo
GW being GW
It’s a long weekend, and the weather is nice in the northeast. So if you’re itching to get outside, try these ideas on for size, all taken from Stray Boots games…
1) NYC – Wall St. & Old Manhattan Game – Stand proud at Federal Hall where George Washington was inaugurated.
2) Boston – Downtown Boston Game – Declare your loyalty at the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was read aloud.
3) Washington DC – Penn Quarter and Chinatown Game – Pay respects at Ford’s Theater where Abraham Lincoln was tragically assassinated.
4) New Orleans – French Quarter Game – Drink like a leader at the Old Absinthe House where a half dozen presidents have gotten hammered.
5) Nashville – Downtown History Hike – Party at Printer’s Alley, where Andrew Jackson’s inaugural procession started.
Our CTO enjoying the V-Day Love
We’ve been at the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator now for just over a month, and it’s been a great experience so far. We’ve met loads of bright, super-helpful people from the program’s “mentors” to the other companies in the accelerator with us. It’s amazing how collaborative the entrepreneurial spirit is here in NYC, and at ERA specifically.
Today, one of those companies, Appy Couple, celebrated Valentine’s Day (and their app being approved by Apple’s App Store!) with pink champagne and pastel pastries. Being the generous folks they are, they shared the love with all of us, brightening up our afternoon with a little bubbly and frosting. So now that we’re buzzing, we figured what a perfect time to share the buzz about these guys Appy Couple for all you mobile fiends out there.
Appy Couple makes happy couples by offering the bride and groom a new way to share their wedding experience with guests. They provide a service that allows couples to quickly create their own beautifully designed and personalized mobile wedding app, letting them enjoy their special day with friends and family in a fun, modern way. The best part is that guests can download the app for free, so everyone at the wedding can take part in the fun. And the app manages the entire wedding experience from engagement through honeymoon, so when you forget the directions to the wedding, you’re not up the creek.
Appy Couple hasn’t officially launched yet, but they will be soon, so if you know some engaged couples who are getting married in the digital age, send them to www.appycouple.com. And if you pre-sign up, you’ll get a promo code for a great discount.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Taken from my guest blog on the awesome up and coming dating site HowAboutWe.com.
Dating is inherently awkward. It’s half-interview, half-recreation, and at the same time hopefully fun, but potentially excruciating. This invention of modern love has somehow mutated into the ubiquitous idea of dinner and a movie. “Let’s sit awkwardly across the table and watch each other shove food in our faces, then go sit in the dark in silence.” Whoever came up with that must’ve been a real Casanova.
That’s not to say eating out and watching films aren’t great activities, but are they really the best setting to get to know someone in a comfortable environment? “Check please!”
So isn’t there a better way?
What we do at Stray Boots is pretty simple; we provide fun and interactive, cell phone-guided “urban games” that are part scavenger hunt and part walking tour. You get challenges delivered to your phone and visit cool spots in the area to complete them. See a Stray Boots urban game in action here.
When I started the company three years ago, the idea was to provide people a more fun, interesting and interactive way to explore the city. (It was never to get anyone hitched or laid.)
But after we piloted our first “urban games” in 2009, we discovered a big segment of our customers were raving about something altogether different from interactive sightseeing. “We had lots of fun. Perfect idea for a couple on their 2nd date!” wrote Joe from NJ. “I highly recommend giving it a go for romantic roaming, that forthcoming date deserving a little more amusement and creativity than the last guy or girl brought to the table.” cheered Nell Alk from PaperMag. “An awesome date idea,” echoed hotdateideas.com.
Then I looked at customer photos (that they send in as part of the games’ “photo ops”) and realized what a huge subset of our customers are couples. And that got me thinking, why all the date-y-ness?
But then it made sense: Stray Boots games make an amazing date. You’re getting out and exploring the city, doing something active and interesting. You visit a bunch of places along the way, so you get to see what interests your date and what doesn’t. All of the challenges and spots you visit during the game give you stuff to talk about, so there’s never a dull moment, never an awkward silence.
On top of that, you play our games at your own pace, so you can stop along the way to grab a quick bite or a drink, and make the game fit nicely around your date, rather than fit your date nicely around a waiter’s impatience and a movie time. Best of all, it’s affordable and unique. It makes you look interesting for suggesting it, and doesn’t break the bank.
So after learning what a wonderful dating activity our games turned out to be, we decided to take it one step further. This year in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, we engineered a game made specifically for dating. It includes stops like petting puppies and practicing poetry, among loads of other playful challenges. So if you’re in the mood for a change of pace, check out one of our games. We can guarantee you won’t leave with something stuck in your teeth.