I have a confession: I’m an online dater.

A little over a year ago, after my Big Breakup of 2006, I decided I needed to get out there. And get out there, I did. I dated my way through New York City, often with humorous results. Some dates turned into brief relationships, some turned into ranting emails to my best friend.

And though I was pretty picky about what I was looking for, I learned all too often that there is a difference between how a guy presents himself in answers to questions in an online profile and how he actually acts sitting in front of you, over too many glasses of Sangria.

And since sharing is caring, dear readers, if you ever find yourself trolling online personals, keep an eye open for the following red flags I’ve noticed and know what to expect:

He leaves the “Occupation” field blank, or answers it with something like “Who cares?”

He is either unemployed or hates his job with a passion, which he will talk your ear off about on your date. Before sticking you with the bill when you half-heartedly offer to pay. Read More »

Gonna switch it up a little bit today… I have a couple of questions to answer, but afterwards, I’m going to pose a question to ya’ll, to see if I can’t get to the bottom of something that I’ve recently found particularly vexing.

Today, we’re going to deal with the world of wonders that is the internet. Yahoo! (C’mon, that was a funny pun, right?)

Laura S. asks, “Is partaking in an online sex chat with someone other than my boyfriend considered cheating?”

Well, first things first… do people still partake in online sex chats? I remember back when I was like 12, and the chat rooms on AOL were still a novelty, we’d all get a kick out of pretending we were a young girl and chatting up 50 year old pedophiles (We were easily entertained. Back off).

But even with the rise of internet dating, I guess I’ve missed out on the attraction of a sex chat. I mean, if it’s a video chat, that’d be one thing. But plain old chatting? Meh.

Anyway, back to the question at hand… as a guy that’s cheated on more than a few occasions, I’d hate to think that having internet sex with someone that you’ll probably never meet is tantamount to screwing your boyfriend’s best friend’s brains out. I’m not sure why you’d do it, or what pleasure you’re getting out of an online conversation that your boyfriend can’t provide in person, but as long as it’s relatively innocent, I don’t think it could be considered cheating. Read More »

I don’t really see the point of having a private profile on Facebook. It’s like having a security system in the suburbs — it’s needless protection. And also anti – social!

Private profiles are especially aggravating when all I want to do is see the profile of my ex – boyfriend’s new girlfriend and it’s locked down like Paris Hilton circa last week.

What makes you so special that you have a protected profile, hmmm? You’re not a celebrity or a minor socialite. You’re not even that pretty!

Sorry. I digress. Read More »

Now that summer’s here and I have lots of time to sit around and do nothing, I often spend more hours on Facebook or Myspace than should be humanly possible. I’m not even sure what I do for so long on these sites. I click, stare, click, stare, click…it’s sort of like an odd addiction, and I’m not proud. Not proud at all.

And sure, there are days when I question the validity of such sites. In the beginning of the Facebook craze, I was totally against it. What the hell do I want an online profile for? I thought in the beginning. What do you do, just stare at people at all day? Initially, I thought it was a completely stupid idea.

Somewhere along the line my thoughts changed, and I became one of the millions who gladly post pictures and contact information for all to see. Isn’t this what our parents warned us about when we started signing on in the 1990’s?

“Don’t you dare put any personal information up on the internet, young lady!” My mom would warn as our modern screamed and coughed and finally signed me on with a computerized You’ve Got Mail! “There are crazy people all over the place.” Read More »

When we first got a computer—and the internet—my sister and I pitched a fit. At age 8, I was sure that this thing called the “web” my mother was so engrossed with, was a passing fad. My mother has always been technologicaly minded, I mean the woman was getting New Zealand pen pals for her fifth grade class in ’97. Now she’s assigned homework to 11-year-olds via her webpage and getting her class to create podcasts. Which is why, in this day and age, it is a bit easier for my mom to keep tabs on my whereabouts day in and day out.

I’ll have to admit that I’m horrible about calling home. For the most part, my life is just so damn busy and by the time I think to call, its way past their bed time. Fortunately for my mother (who has just learned to text… she never could get cell phones) she can harass me lovingly in about five different technological forms.

Point in case:

Mom 6/6/07 10:28 am: Hi call me!

Mom 6/6/07 1:33 pm: Please call me and let me know how u r! Read More »

Did you know that millions of people have been using their cell phones as a dating service? Um yeah, well I just heard about it too. Absolutely proposterous, right?!

With the rise in popularity of online dating now at an all-time high, it’s not news to anyone that we have access to just about anything, literally right at our fingertips. From finding directions, to ordering take-out, to searching for a job, to making celebrities out of nobodies, the internet does everything for us, including helping us hook up.

And as the good old web has joined forces with Blackberrys and Palm Pilots and all the other freaks of technology that seem to do everything in the name of communication, cell phones can now be used to access dating services from anywhere at anytime – making the booty call or booty graze that much more convenient for everyone! Yes, hard to believe, but it is now even easier to have casual, spur-of-the-moment sex. Read More »

Do you like to put stuff on your cat?

That random question headlines an even odder website, stuffonmycat.com.

What is this website all about? Well, it’s a little place in cyberspace dedicated to pictures of cats with stuff on them. Cats with teacups on them, cats with shoes on them, cats with baby clothes on them…just pictures and pictures of cats covered in stuff.

It sounds strange, but once you go there, you’ll find it hard to look away. Most of the cats are adorable. Some are freaky. All of them have owners who have found time to throw things on top of them. Read More »

No, I’m not saying that it’s gone for good, but with recent online advancements, the huge industry is going down.

The New York Times reports that “the established pornography business is in decline — and the Internet is being held responsible. The online availability of free or low-cost photos and videos has begun to take a fierce toll on sales of X-rated DVDs. Inexpensive digital technology has paved the way for aspiring amateur pornographers, who are flooding the market, while everyone in the industry is giving away more material to lure paying customers.”

Some of these amateur photographers happen to be college students. Take the example of Indiana University co-ed, Keira, who caught a lot of heat for the amateur soft core porn site she was running out of her dorm room.

With free options like this, who needs to go out to the store and actually spend money on a DVD?

Read More »

If you need proof of just how much media, and, more specifically, Internet blogs, now have complete control over our culture in a way that seems to hypnotize us all, look no further than Allison Stokke.

Who the hell is Allison Stokke, you might ask?

Allison Stokke is an 18-year-old California high school student, winner of the 2004 California state pole vaulting competition and University of California scholarship earner. It also just so happens that Allison Stokke is what males would refer to as “totally smoking.”

It all started with the simple snap of this picture. Now, Allison Stokke is one of the most popular searches on the Internet and has been absolutely bombarded by Myspacers, sports bloggers, journalists and creepy men alike.

The only problem is, Allison and her family hate all of this newfound attention – especially the blog on With Leather that turned her into a sex symbol literally, overnight. Soon after, Stokke and an entire article written about her made the front page of the Washington Post – a place usually reserved for actual current events, like….um….yea, that little war that’s been going on.

Stokke speaks out about her unwanted fame in this clip.

While I feel bad for this girl, (it’s not like she’s Lohan, who keeps going out at night, asking for it) she never asked for this and seems genuine in simply wanting to be an athlete and nothing more) I don’t think she should keep putting herself in the public eye. (see more photos after the jump) Read More »

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

As if college life wasn’t hard enough, your late-nite boozing binges, questionable hook-ups and prof pranks are soon to become public record at New York University. According to gawker.com, a new trashy gossip site focused on the lifestyles of NYU students and faculty is in the works at TheU.com.

“Some of their post ideas were the 100 hottest NYU students (“but in an edgy, sarcastic way!”), who’s the biggest Adderall user on campus, and “crazy shit we’re sure happens at NYU!” Like dorm pervs, maybe?”

Yikes, this could be dangerous. I mean, we’ve all heard about how much trouble those drunken jackasses in the RV had getting jobs after Borat hit the big screen- A site like this certainly can’t be good for the career.

Sounds pretty gorgeous to me.