Apple Lover Seeks Same At Cupidtino, An Online Dating Site For Mac Users.

The brain child of four geeks in San Francisco and Seattle with backgrounds at Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, Cupidtino, is a new online dating site for Apple lovers and Mac users.



With around 30,000 registers users, the site has a look and feel of the Apple site, but no formal affiliation. The creators were inspired by the fact that Mac and Apple fans seem to share a similar aesthetic in terms of style, music, taste and tech... so why wouldn't they share romantic interests and attraction? At least that's the supposition.


above photo by Rome Wilkerson


A personal friend of mine and yes, a Mac user and Apple fan, actually met someone with whom he's fallen in mad mac love on this site, which prompted me to blog about it. Albeit, one positive case study does not a matchmaker make, but it was enough to get me to investigate a little further.



Since my stats show that my readers are predominantly (by a small margin) Mac users, I figured some of you might be interested in pursuing this as an option for finding your compatible mate - or as Cupidtino cutely calls them, Macheart.




above: screen grabs of the site show it's nice clean Apple-like interface and design.

So, what are the demographics on the site thus far and what do these folks have in common? I couldn't get a percentage breakdown of the age groups, but was told that users range from age 17 to 69 and that the site is GLBT friendly. But here's a breakdown of the member locations and some of their preferences from the very nice folks at Cupidtino as of September 8th:

Top Five Cities:
LA
NYC
SFO
London
Moscow

Top five states in the US and the percentage breakdown:
California (25%)
New York (10%)
Texas (6%)
Florida (5%)
Illinois (5%)

Top Five Countries:
USA
Germany
Canada
UK
Russia
USA: Rest of World split = 55:45

Members also share their favorite songs, movies and iPhone apps from iTunes. Here's the most popular songs, movies and apps the Cupidtino users are sharing now.

Top Five Songs:
Viva la Vida - Coldplay
Bad Romance - Lady GaGa
Uprising - Muse
Alejandro - Lady GaGa
Fireflies - Owl City

Top Five Movies
Avatar (2009) James Cameron
Star Trek J.J. Abrams
Fight Club David Fincher
The Matrix Larry Wachowski ; Andy Wachowski
Iron Man Jon Favreau

Top Five iPhone Apps
Facebook
Twitter
Shazam
Pandora Radio
Angry Birds



HOW:
You must be a registered Mac user and sign up using your Mac computer. And no, having just an iPhone or iPod touch doesn't work.

PRIVACY:
Your profile is public by default, which means anyone can see it - even if they're not Cupidtino members. They do give you an easy set of options to hide it from non-members, or hide it from everyone if you so desire.

PAYING:
The pricing structure is very different from other online dating sites. Sign up for free. Contact anyone for free. Pay only $4.79 a month to read messages you've received. In other words, sending messages is free. Reading them requires the paid monthly membership, but if someone replies to your message, you can then read or reply messages in that conversation even if you're not a paying member. (confused? it's outlined in their FAQ section).

Unlike most other online dating sites, membership is easy to cancel at anytime using your Paypal account.

BLOG:
Their accompanying blog features monthly members and has some fun stats and info as well as user generated content like consumer made videos.

GET SUPER SOCIAL AND YOU CAN HAVE 6 MONTHS FREE.
You can get a free 6 month membership if you succumb to all the social media. First, your profile has to be complete (a photo, basic info and selected favs), follow @cupidtino on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, and they'll give you a complimentary membership for six months (you’ll be able to send and receive unlimited messages) + other member privileges.

•Sign up on Cupidtino
•Follow @cupidtino on Twitter
•The Cupidtino page on Facebook

And yes, they have just designed an iPhone app for Cupidtino, which will be available any day now.


all information courtesy of Cupidtino

Still single and surfing on a mac? What are you waiting for? Sign up now.
Cupidtino

New Social Site, Cougars & Co., Capitalizes On Growing Trend

Yes, it's for real.
My first reaction was "eeeeuuuuwww", then "hmmmmm", followed by "naaaah." But others may claw their way to this new social networking site that capitalizes on the growing trend of older women dating (seducing?) younger men.



The brains behind the concept, Shelli Netko, the founder and president of Cougars & Co. says:

"My main goal in starting Cougars & Co. was to create an environment where women could learn to love the life they live and live the life the love. After all, age is just a number. Recent surveys show 34% of women in their 40s date men who are younger and 17% of women in their 50s do the same. This isn't just a trend, it's a new social norm that both women and men are obviously embracing. Women are gravitating to younger men because they seem to have more of an energetic spirit that matches theirs. Women are taking better care of themselves, as a result, 40 is the new 30; 50 is the new 40. So the age difference becomes a non-issue. You don't have to be a Hollywood star to go out with someone 10 or 15 years your junior, but God Bless Demi Moore for bringing it into the spot light!"


above: the world's most well-known Cougar and Cub; stunning actress Demi Moore and her hottie husband, Ashton Kutcher.


The press release:
The dating jungle just became that much wilder with the recently launched social networking company Cougars & Co. The brainchild of Arizona entrepreneur Shelli Netko, Cougars & Co. is a members-only online community where older women and younger men have the opportunity to meet, mix and mingle, shop and travel all in the name of fun. Cougars & Co. getaways are for the cougar or cub in you who needs a little “me” time – think R&R with a little bit of “BAM!”



“The cougar and cub culture is a growing trend that is less concerned with age and focused on reinventing yourself at any age,” Netko said. “While we plan to go nationwide with our charity bachelor auctions, we thought Scottsdale was the perfect place to introduce the Cougars & Co. concept and begin our social network.”

The site, which is now live, is offering an introductory $1 membership to those that join during the first month. After April 30, the monthly membership fee is $9.95.

Members can join the hunt by creating a profile, joining groups, creating their own groups and initiating online connections. For members looking to get out, monthly happy hour events will be held and year-round getaway vacations for cougars and cubs will be organized.

The Charity Bachelor Auction


As part of the company kick-off, Cougars & Co. is holding a charity bachelor auction on Thursday, April 1st in Scottsdale, AZ. Valley cougars will be pleased to see there's much more on the men-u than chips and dip when as many as 10 cubs (including a past contender for The Bachelorette) strut their stuff all in the name of charity. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Women's Wellness Center at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Care.


above: Greg Bilbro, (previously on "The Bachelorette") will be a bachelor in the Cougars & Co. charity auction in Scottsdale

Cougars & Co. also offers clothing you can purchase from their site, such as the two examples below. And they will be adding more merchandise soon!



Interested? Curious? Perversely Fascinated?

Buy some merchandise, learn more or Sign up here.

note: This is an updated version of the original post.
all images and information courtesy of Cougars & Co.

Match.com is for Plebians; Introducing the Snottiest Online Dating Service: The Diamond Lounge

Beginning this October, the Diamond Lounge -a 'social networking' site for the elite (aka an online dating service for the pretty and wealthy set), requiring application and 'approval' will launch.

They are purposely vague on the site but if you dig deep enough (under membership terms) you will find the details.

My favorite part of the application is the following:



And I love that the 'fees' have yet to be determined.

If they truly want to be the MOST EXCLUSIVE club, they ought to only take American Express Centurion Cards as their form of payment. And, if you don't know what that is... you should automatically be rejected.


Above: The American Express Centurion Card (aka The Black Card)

By the way, no surprise this "Diamond Club" is centrally located in London. P-shah.

Below is reprinted directly from their site:

THE MOST ELITE COMMUNITY EVER CREATED------------------------------------------------

The Diamond Lounge is a new online members' club aimed at the world's genuine elite.

The club will launch on October 1st, 2007 and will provide members with a sophisticated and refined online environment where they can meet and interact. The Diamond Lounge will be totally private and non-members will not have access to the club or be able to see who is inside. Membership will be granted on an exclusive and discretionary basis and many members will join through personal invitation.

The Diamond Lounge will provide members with a variety of quite different online experiences. On the one hand, the club will be traditional and formal. On the other, it will be decadent, extravagant and even a little hedonistic.

This is private business networking, social networking and dating for the world's most amazing people. A secret society where everyone has to keep the secret. As one person put it: "This is Small World meets Studio 54!"

INSIDE THE CLUB
The Diamond Lounge has been heavily influenced by the ultra-exclusive private clubs of the 80s and the somewhat 'retro' feel of the site will reflect this. It will be a beautiful, technically advanced and highly secure online world where the elite can get together out of view of everyone else.

Everything about the Diamond Lounge site will be luxurious and personal. Members will be able to create totally individual profiles that mirror their own personalities (and can work with our award winning designers on these if they choose to). They will be able to interact with other members using live video links and even utilise an array of business networking and collaboration tools. In addition, they will also be able to take the club everywhere with them (as the Diamond Lounge site will function on mobiles, PDAs and the iphone).

The Diamond Lounge will also have an incredible 'real life' element with members having exclusive access to some of the most lavish private parties and events ever staged. Expect to be very surprised!

PRIVACY
A central focus of the Diamond Lounge is privacy. The owners of the club and those managing it won't divulge information about members or events to those outside the club. In fact, many of the events will be so secret that their exact locations won't even be published until the very last minute.

And members will also have to respect the privacy of others. Quite simply, who is the in the Diamond Lounge, and what happens in the Diamond Lounge, must stay in the Diamond Lounge!

MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA AND OBTAINING MEMBERSHIP
To become a Diamond Lounge member, you must be successful, sophisticated and attractive and genuinely have something interesting to bring to the club. You can obtain membership either by being directly invited or by submitting an online application which can (but does not have to be) supported by a recommendation from a trusted existing member.

THE TOUGH DECISIONS
All decisions about who to accept for membership are taken by an anonymous, pre-appointed and representative Committee of 'elite' individuals. This Committee is external and none of the Diamond Lounge Management Team can influence their decisions.

Membership to the Diamond Lounge is reserved for the real elite. It is unashamedly difficult to obtain and is already being highly sought after.

APPLYING ONLINE
If you have not been personally invited but fit the Membership Criteria, click here to apply to be accepted for membership.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE CLUB
As was the case with so many of the private clubs that inspired it, you will probably never know exactly who is behind the Diamond Lounge. It's all part of the secret!

Apply here.