78thand2nd

Cool New Tech: Outalot

The newly launched Outalot can be helpful if you’re on the go and need to find some close-by bars or restaurants via your mobile or iPhone.

The location-based guide -- which just launched for New York -- allows users to rate, comment, and tag favorite local spots and the founders are positioning the service as "social bookmarking, but for physical places rather than URLs."

Have a gander here.

Cool New Tech: Flyrig Apartment Listings

There's a new entry in the world of online apartment listings. Dubbed FlyRig.com, the site is a map-based apartment rental listing service which includes broker reviews, a searchable database of local info (restaurants, schools, etc.), and transit info.

According to a rep, users can rate brokers and comment on their listings, pointing out discrepancies between the description and actual unit, and the site has signed up almost 300 brokers from agencies around the city and are shooting to bring the broker membership to over 1000 by summer.

You can check them out here: Flyrig.

Nanny Watch At 85th, John Jay Park

There's some ranting happening on nanny police site ISawYourNanny.com. The blog -- which is your online destination if you are the type to debate ad nauseum about, say, the proper length of a nanny's skirt (picture from site) -- has some recent UES activity going on.

Here's news from Friday on 85th -- it seems a nanny was "possibly" cursing at a child, which is followed by some comments like:

I think blackberry mom is an inspiration. All those fools typing on their blackberries like it so important. This makes sense.

English? Yes. Sense? I'll let you be the judge. The 85th Street incident was preceded by some negligent UES behavior in John Jay Park.

Check out the mania here.

Download UES Walking Tours To Your iPod

The travel section of the Times did a piece over the weekend on different groups producing narrated neighborhood walking tours. The "tours" are mp3 files you can download to a player and they vary in what they deliver, but hopefully it ends up being an insightful and new way to look at a section of the city.

Tourcaster was one of the companies mentioned and they offer this tour which hits parts of the UES.

Find Free Parking

Found via Curbed, the just-launched website Primospot offers info on legal, free parking spots in neighborhoods around Manhattan. The site catalogs thousands of parking signs, giving you an idea of what street sides offer the longest parking (one day or more, two days or more, etc.) at any given moment. Check it out here.

Cool New Thing: Legal Neighborhood Parking Spot Finder  [Curbed]

Virtual UES Launches In Second Life

The Upper East Side has gotten its birth in virtual world Second Life as a compliment to CW's Gossip Girl. According to Millions Of Us, the company behind the fake world creation, the UES space will be open for exploration through the end of the week "at which point we will start a very interesting social game that will take place in the city."  No further details are given, but the Second Life area is already rubbing people the wrong way, like this guy, who has the best 'about' photo I think I've ever seen -- including full-on wink and avatar shot.

The UES Second Life area seems to include only the following blocks: 59th to 64th, from Fifth Avenue to Park Ave.  A shot can be seen here.

Cool Tech: NYC Subway Google Map Hack

Found via our friend at SecondAveSagas, check out onNYTurf.com’s NYC Subway Google Map Hack if you're in need of a quick and comprhensive look at the subway and PATH systems. The site's owner is attempting an upgrade but is running into some roundblocks from the MTA. Read about the dust-up here.

Find The Best Parking In The Neighborhood

Here's a cool site for all you car owners who pay to park -- check out the recently launched bestparking.com (it’s actually a relaunch of NYCgarages.com with some new features according to Curbed) which allows you to calculate parking rates and includes a mobile version.

More:
Cool New Thing: BestParking.com Upgrade [Curbed]

If Only There Were A Social Networking Site To Connect Republicans With Women Who Liked…

LateNightShots, according to their website, is a "closed social network which allows you to explore Washington DC's social landscape and bar scene."  The "closed social network" part sounds like a crappy bar, with a dick bouncer.  But this "exploring DC's social landscape" part sounds interesting, maybe we could sneak in and make some new friends, right? 

Well, then there's this, which is part of a scathing cover story in the Washington City Paper on the closed social networking site: [the site is for] "UNC grads who work hard to maintain that special mix of date rape, shitty beer, and racial homogeneity that is the Georgetown nightlife." Date rape types, shitty beer, racial homogeneity -- I live on the Upper East Side, so I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about, but go on and make a point that makes sense to me.

Here's part of the Washington City Paper story, which opens with a sit-down with three members of the site:

The three guys sitting at the bar at Town Hall in Georgetown swear it’s a true story: A friend of theirs called a buddy in the middle of a sexual conquest, placing his cell phone out of view. When the voice mail picked up, it recorded him asking his lady, “You like that Republican cock?”

The guys are wearing golf shirts and drinking Miller Lites. They’ve been telling raunchy tales about what happens after dark in Georgetown, playing toward expectations. They know I’m a reporter on assignment. At first, the sordid tales of preppy hookups just make me laugh.

Then the bearded one in the middle busts out with this: “Do you like anal sex?” I squint. I’m confused. “Do you do anal?” he repeats, head bobbing with excitement. The litany continues. Do I want to take it in the ass? Have I ever taken it in the ass? My silence is taken as an affirmative and he announces that this interview will go no further unless he receives a hand job. I retreat into a hole carved out during similar sessions in high school and head for the door.

Republican cock, anal on the first meeting, no ones leaves until a hand job is given -- I know what you're thinking -- it sounds classy, but why should i care? Online reports go on to say the site is expanding to three markets, and by one account, the markets are suspected to be: Charlotte, Atlanta and...wait for it...yeah, New York.

Tech blog TechCrunch believes the site is more than an online hangout for rich, white, Republicans:

There has been some coverage of the site elsewhere that suggested it was nothing more than an exclusive Republican white boy hangout space (or words to that affect). I couldn’t see it. Whilst there may be members with a strong political bent it’s not immediately evident in the member areas. There is a richness of member submitted content, reviews and discussion that would suggest an appeal to a much broader church, the only limitation being that you live in Washington DC, enjoy going out at night and are impartial to the occasional alcoholic beverage.

And DC political blog Wonkette has been running a regular item on LateNightShots, complete with a mole reporting from within the group this item, which was reposted by an intern into a forum (thanks Glanton). The date with a LNSer went well until this:

We start a movie and after 10 minutes he starts kissing me. Again, pretty awesome. BUT he starts getting into it more quickly than foreplay normally progresses. The kiss quickly gets uncomfortable as he starts grinding on my leg. Keep in mind I am still sitting up at this point, so he’s side humping me. I begin to pull away and he burries his head in my shoulder and starts aggressively humping me! I have no idea what to do, so I just continue to watch the movie over his shoulder. Finally, he got frustrated and quit. I laughed at him and went home completely turned off. Now, he is raping my cell phone and keeps asking when he’s going to see me again. Someone please explain what the hell just happened to me! hahaha Who seriously does THAT!?”

That -- leg humpee -- is pretty much an average night at American Trash.

So, is LateNightShots up and running in NY?