I've made some killer internet time-wasting discoveries today, kids. First of all, if you have a computer and a smart phone, you are missing out on LIFE if you are not playing with THIS.
And this? Well this is just the eternal awesome time-suck. You're welcome.
(Click on it to open)
The Secret Door is presented by Safestyle UK
Dear lord... This is both scary... and enticing. Um, who wants a robot?
Autom, the robot designed for dieters is made to keep you engaged and held accountable for food choices
The brainchild of Cory Kidd, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a doctorate in human-robot interaction, Autom was developed back in 2010 and enjoyed a flurry of media attention last year.
According to a report in Mashable this week, the device is poised to hit the US market early next year, at a fraction of its initial cost projections. Available for preorder now, Autom will be shipped in early 2013 for a price of $199 (originally it was thought to be priced at $500) with a monthly subscription of $19.99.
At a height of 15 inches/38 cm, Autom can sit atop your kitchen counter and "chat" with you about your diet and health goals. Its blue eyes open and its head swivels as a computer inside its head allows it to search for a human face in front of it and maintain eye contact.
The bot will ask you about your habits, share motivational tips, and give you personalized suggestions based on your recorded information. To respond to questions, users can select the most relevant answers on its touch screen. The company says it hopes to develop another version with voice recognition.
So that Autom doesn't become boring, it'll receive automatic updates to keep conversation fresh. Plus it comes complete with a calorie database of nearly 75,000 foods, including restaurant meals.
P.S. The actors in this commercial are universally creepy. However I totally endorse dressing Autom up with a hat. Everyone should wear fun hats.
In my "real life," I deal with a lot of entertainment sites, blogs, press... Anyway, a particularly nice member of said press has, in the name of his outstanding website, created an app and I asked him if I could share it with my readers (that would be you, muffins).
And so the pitcher becomes the pitch-ee... (Did that sound awkward? Eh.)
So I want you to check out the Movie Clock from FlickDirect.
Movie Clock is the first and only app to allow simple social interaction over various networks with a focus on upcoming movies. A single tap allows users to 'check-in' to upcoming films and interact with friends and followers around the globe. Location awareness features use the device GPS to pinpoint users in the theater they are watching the movie.
Also -- this is my favorite part -- you can search the Movie Clock database for your favorite upcoming movie and set an alert to remind you on the film's day of release in theater or on home media (DVD releases!). After being reminded to buy tickets via the app, Movie Clock allows users to connect at the theater.
Other extended features of Movie Clock include the ability to find show times for local theaters based on your GPS coordinates, in-app ticket purchasing and streaming movie trailers.
Movie Clock is available on the Apple iTunes app store as 'Movie Clock' and 'Movie Clock Lite', respectively. The lite version has a limited feature set but allows an in-app upgrade to bring the functionality up to par with the full paid version (and only 99 cents so come on).
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! (Yes, I've been saving that up.)
If you comment below - well, I generally always appreciate comments and almost always respond - but in this case, the first five people to comment will get a code that will allow them to download the paid version of Movie Clock for free. Because here at COFG, I am willing to spend 99 cents on five readers. I go the distance for you. It's what I do. ;)
I love this -- Ziplist references itself on their own Facebook page as a "mobile recipe box." Genius.
Meet the ZipList Meal Planner, which is the simplest way on the web to plan your meals. It enables users to plan a week or month’s worth of meals in a few easy steps or just create a meal queue – just like Netflix for things you want to make sometime soon.
(Netflix except it's FOOD, people... Um, could it also prepare and serve me my food? This is not so much to ask for, right?) But it makes decisions for you. I mean, I think that’s kind of awesome. As I generally do not like to decide anything.
Users start by choosing recipes saved in their ZipList e‐recipe boxes and adding them directly to their meal queues, where they can see their week’s recipes at‐a‐glance. They can then assign dates to different meals based on how much prep time they have; a more elaborate recipe can be saved for a Friday night family dinner, while a 5‐minute meal might be perfect before Thursday night soccer practice.
What’s more, users can tap into easy‐to‐use “add to shopping list” integration to add ingredients for all meals in their meal queue to their weekly shopping list in seconds. Weekly meal plans can be integrated into online calendars so meals each day go along with the rest of the plans for each day. Other functions include the ability to make full calendar meal plans by using your meal queue as a staging area before assigning recipes to certain dates.
I feel like if I really dove into something like this that kept me this organized, I might actually have a shot at being a healthy cooker and eater.
Follow them on Twitter and fan their Facebook page!
As it happens, I do like to bitch and moan sometimes (ok, I do it often) and this week, I was reflecting on how much Facebook, Twitter and the like have changed the way we socialize. I was thinking that soon, someone was going to have to intehrate online etiquette into Emily Post's lesson plan.
Keeping in mind that these are derived of my own beliefs and opinions, here are some "case studies" on the matter which might inspire your online etiquette:
Twitter stalkers. This one time, I saw a celebrity at a sushi restaurant and I tweeted about it. Within days, legions of his fans were following me on Twitter. Next thing I knew, a couple of them were wishing me a good morning AND a good night. EVERY. DAY. It was incredibly irritating. Mostly because they were on another continent and as they told me good morning, I was going to bed... They got blocked. They got the hint.
Pinterest loons. I realize the very nature of the site is to share things with people but we should all be out in the internets, finding unique things to bring to the table. If you're going to sign on and just repin every single thing I pin, you're missing the point. You're also annoying me. FYI, that's how I came to make this pin.
Furthermore, random company or person, do not tweet, direct message, or pin something that implies you are awesome and I should follow you. That is essentially the #1 way to make sure I do the opposite.
Overcommenting. Heads up - I work in PR and I'm on Facebook and Twitter ALL DAY, but even I can resist the urge to comment on everything I see posted to my timeline. And I appreciate that you think I am awesome, but it kind of creeps me out when you comment on any and all things I post. Within minutes. (And that goes double if you are a mere acquaintance, not someone I know well.)
Lack of response. If it is your intention to NOT write back to people's comments, then you are in the wrong place, bub. Start a diary. Keep it on your bedside table.
Politics and religion. I'm not saying it doesn't belong on the internet but you'd better believe it's going to start a dialogue. That may go on forever. Don't be all surprised.
Don't be an asshole. You post something that makes you happy and someone shits all over it. You post a fact and someone immediately points out how wrong you are. You're loving this weather and someone tells you it's going to rain. Your baseball team is winning and someone wants to remind you how many games out of first they are... Don't be that guy. Never be that guy.
Abusing the Twitter. If you wanna chat with a friend, use AIM. Use your DMs. I don't need to know about your dinner plans in my feed.
Play-by-play blogs. You know why wants to read a recount of your day in great detail? Almost no one.
Game invites. Hey facebooker, if you've invited me to feed your horse on your ranch 18 times and I haven't yet, I'm not going to. I am glad you enjoy that game; it's just not my thing.
I could probably go on. I'm sure I have more however I'd hate to alienate everyone I'm friends with. As it is now, I'm pretty sure a couple of you are going to leave critical comments... Which is fine. I took that into consideration before writing this.
I also asked some fellow bloggers what their social media pet peeves were as well:
With thanks to Linz, Miz Meliz, Sunshine Wonderland, Minnesota Girl in LA, Raised by Culture, Happy-Healthy-Hip and Baby Bump and Beyond
Bonus Section
As a spin-off, if I may, some Blogger pet peeves. Take note of this, fellow bloggers. As a blogger AND publicist, I am in a unique postion to help you. Does that soung a little smug? Probably. Doesn't mean I'm wrong, though!
Identify yourself. You're clearly blogging. On the internet. Throw us a bone, writers. Tell us your first name. Give us an e-mail address. Gmail is free so there's no excuse. Spam sucks but it's a fact of life. Get over it. Just be smart enough not to click on any links that look dodgy.
Don't say yes to everything. We can smell that a mile away.
Send links. Once you've written about something, be a publicist's best friend and forward them a link to the story. Bonus points if you also include a link to the Facebook and Twitter posts about it.
Be nice. It used to be that publicists needed you more than you needed them but let's be honest -- there are THOUSANDS of blogs out there. We may still need you, but not as desperately as some would like to believe. A little courtesy goes a long way.
What the's #1 way to make a publicist immediately close your site? SOUND. Don't play music or especially ads with sound. Horrible.
