Posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 by Shachar Pessis
ElfYourself – The idea of elves is what usually comes to mind when referring to ‘Santa’s little helpers.’ ElfYourself gives you the opportunity to become one with style, even if just for a short while. A friend once told me that the essence of our time here on earth consists of enjoying the small things in life and having fun in doing so. ElfYourself does just that: add a picture of yourself and your loved ones and take pleasure in singing a nice song together. If you are looking for cooler holiday stuff, you should go ahead and check out our Holiday Spirit Faveline. The holidays are the perfect occasion for appreciating the people who add that special something to your life. Holding true to the holiday spirit, I’d like to take this opportunity and thank all of our devoted users from the bottom of my heart; you are what keeps us going, the forceful engine behind the AllMyFaves machine. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you. AllMyFaves sincerely wishes you serene and blissful holidays! Stay tuned for 2009 as we are about to launch an exciting personalized “My Faves” feature especially for you. Thank You! The AllMyFaves Team.
Speakaboos – Speakaboos brings classic children’s entertainment into a digital world. Beloved characters and treasured stories are given new life through amazing celebrity performances (Clay Aiken, Tom Arnold, Kevin Bacon), beautiful illustrations and original music. At Speakaboos, children develop literacy skills while learning about technology in a safe and fun environment. The commendable variety of the site’s offered stories includes: Arthur Lost and Found, The Ugly Duckling, Jack and Jill, Cinderella, GoldiLocks and the Three Bears. This service is free – you can watch as many stories as you like online. The only catch (which seems reasonable) is that if you want to experience the stories to their fullest, meaning downloading a story and playing it on your DVD player in full TV screen mode, it costs $0.99 – fair enough, isn’t it? Please note that Speakaboos will definitely join our Kids page on our next update.
Mahalo Answers – Mahalo is a human powered search engine founded by Silicon Valley veteran entrepreneur Jason Calacanis. Mahalo has recently launched Mahalo Answers. Jason describes Mahalo Answers as a “knowledge exchange where you can post questions which are answered by other users. Optionally, but highly encouraged, you can offer a tip for the best answer given for your question.” Tips are given in the form of virtual currency called “Mahalo Dollars,” and upon accumulating the minimum of 40 Mahalo Dollars (worth 30 USD), you may claim your earnings via PayPal. If all this seems familiar, you’re not wrong: this is exactly what Yahoo Answers offers, minus the addition of the tips twist. Will it work? Will people actually offer money for answers? Will Mahalo conquer the Answers market? Only time will tell. Until the future reveals the answer to that question (any tips for that?), you can take part and try to earn 100 Mahalo bucks of your own by submitting the best answer to the question: what are The Best 10 films of 2008?
NiceTranslator – Although web technologies’ development has made a serious jump in the past couple of years, the field of online translation still remains a rather cumbersome one in terms of ease of use and efficiency. NiceTranslator provides an improved interface for translating text on the Web. Two weeks ago our WeeklyFaves featured Frengly – a web translator of which the resemblance with NiceTranslator comes from its appealing interface. I’ll share with you a secret: both translators operate thanks to Google, creators of the Google Translation API. This API enables users to use the Google code and so, those who use it only have to worry about adapting the interface. So now you have two friendly translators to choose from, which one will it be – NiceTranslator or Frengly?
Petfinder – Petfinder is an on-line, searchable database of animals that need homes. It is also a directory of over 10,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the USA, Canada and Mexico. With Petfinder pet lovers can search for a pet that best matches their needs. In addition, Petfinder offers articles of related subjects such as: Introducing Your New Cat to your Old Cat, Estimated Yearly Cost of Pet Ownership or How to Choose a Vet. To sum it up, if you are considering bringing a pet into your life, Petfinder is a great starting point. And if your love of animals can be described as liking them from a distance, then Cute OverLoad is the right place for you. Miowwwww….
The Nest – I always thought that single and married people share the same problems – silly me :-)… According to The Nest, being married is a totally different ballgame and the first years of marriage are the most critical. So if you just got married, TheNest is the place for you. From how to spice up your sex life to finding a great recipe for when the in-laws are coming, TheNest has everything covered. TheNest will also prepare you to ‘the future’ and guide you through the steps of buying your first house. And if you are planning on having a baby, then TheNest has a specialty site just for that: The Bump. If none of these family nurturing issues tickle your nerves you should take comfort in one of my fave Beatles songs – Hello Goodbye.
CouchSurfing – Are you planning on traveling abroad but don’t have a place to stay, or do have an accommodation option that is less than appealing? If your answer is yes then CouchSurfing might be a great solution. CouchSurfing is a worldwide community of people who open their house and welcome you to stay with them. Even though free accommodation is a great cause by itself, this doesn’t reflect the site’s goal. The real goal is to allow people to take part in shaping a better world. CouchSurfing strives to make the globe a better place by opening our homes, our hearts and lives to others. By doing so, we open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world! For more info about CouchSurfing I advise you to check their FAQ section. It is very thorough and explains all the aspects involved.
Human Rights Action Center – On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the full text of which appears in the following link. Chances are you won’t read it. After all, we aren’t lawyers, we are merely humans… Keeping this in mind, this declaration might interest you nonetheless. Therefore, The Human Rights Action Center has taken the liberty of compressing the essence of the written deceleration into a cool 4:32-minute video which is accessible to and understandable by all. THIS IS WORTH WATCHING !!
Love @ first site – “Love at first site” is an interactive film, shot entirely on location at the Greek island of Paros and in the city of Athens. It is the story of how Petros, a young Greek man and Joanna, an English girl on vacation in Greece, fall in love “at first sight.” The two spend a magical week together, only to break up and never see each other again. The story unfolds in “flash back” style and users get to experience the love story from the beginning. Only by your actions and correct choices can you set forward the love story and bring the two heroes back together at the big finale, two years following their first encounter on Paros. The story is accompanied by a great song that asks “What’s the price of love got to do with love?” Your answers to that are welcome.
HotCorn – Help a happy little ball of fire pop all the popcorn on the screen. Make good use of the powerups so that you can really do it in style! Do you remember the Crazy Frog – Popcorn song? More Weekly Games updated every Wednesday.
Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah everyone!
