Sometimes, when it’s Friday night and everyone you know is out but no one thought to invite you along and that guy across the hall who seemed interested yesterday just hugged another girl in the threshold of his room and then closed the door — you just wish there was a way to create the perfect boyfriend and feel better about yourself.

Well, technology hasn’t reached the point where cyborg robots that look like Christian Bale can be bought for your enjoyment, but it has gotten one step closer with Webkare (“web boyfriend” in Japanese).

Suddenly all the rage in Japan (“over 10,000 members just 5 days after its release on September 10, racking up 3.5 million page views in the same time frame”), Webkare is a social networking website that combines instant messaging, profiles, role playing, and virtual dating.

In typical Japanimation style, the 4 “boyfriends” you can choose from are cute in a skinny, 12-year-old, slightly flamboyant, animated way — although it’s not just ‘tweens who are logging on. According to TechCrunch,”52% of members are Japanese females in their twenties, with thirty-somethings accounting for 18% of the user base.”

We’re not sure what to make of this — even though we have been this desperate before. What do you think? Random and weird, or just what the doctor ordered for lonely girls everywhere?

I’m risking my life to get this out to you. Seriously. According to a recent New York Times article, blogging can cause death. Don’t believe me? Well, here’s the evidence:

Two weeks ago, 60-year-old technology blogger, Richard Shaw, died of a heart attack. Only a few months earlier, in December, another tech blogger, 50-year-old Marc Orchant, died of a massive coronary. Also in December, the well-known blogger, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack.

I told ya. Of course, there is no official diagnosis that blogging caused these incidents, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised. Blogging can be majorly stressful. According to the article, “bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.” Read More »