sex

What happens when you try for a Cloud Girlfriend

For those at CNET who tug on my leash, I am sometimes a guinea pig.

However, when they ordered me to get a new girlfriend, I was a little disturbed by the personal nature of the request.

Weren't there laws against this kind of thing? Politely, they explained to me that I needed a girlfriend who didn't actually exist, but who would satisfy me at a virtual--and therefore more profound--level than any terrestrial being.

Feeling deeply relieved--as anything other than a virtual woman would most certainly cause intractable problems--I set about testing Cloud Girlfriend.

This was launched in a flurry of hype-nosisRead more

Match.com to screen for sex offenders

Match.com will start checking its members against a national sex offenders registry.

The company expects to start the new policy in 60 to 90 days, Match.com told CNET this morning, and confirmed that the policy will affect both new and existing members.

Match.com has been considering the option for a while, but yesterday's decision was hastened as a result of the attention brought on by a lawsuit filed last week, spokesman Matthew Traub told the Associated Press yesterday.

A woman in California has sued Match.com, claiming she was sexually assaulted by a man that she … Read more

A warm welcome to the 'world's first 3D porn movie'

I am not sure what you did last night, but perhaps you did not manage to attend an artistic event of world significance.

Many people in Hong Kong did. And there are probably no words to describe the envy you will feel when you discover what you missed. For last night, moviegoers in one of enterprise's most pulsating outposts witnessed what was billed as the world's first 3D porn movie.

Please don't scream with anguish. Oh, that wasn't anguish?

Still, let me tell you that "3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy," according to Agence France-Presse, … Read more

Antiporn Indonesian lawmaker caught viewing porn

There's something quite endearing about politicians.

They'll rail against drunk drivers, just before being caught driving in an intoxicated state. They'll vote for anti-gay legislation, even though they might themselves be gay.

And then there are the ones who would cheerily declare that sex is a frightful thing, while themselves indulging in all sorts of carnal behaviors that might make their constituents blush or envy.

But none, surely, has offered more food for cognitive dissonance than an Indonesian politician who, like Brazilian soccer players, goes by the name of Arifinto.

You see, Arifinto helped in the passing … Read more

PornWikiLeaks reveals identities of porn stars

For some reason, I am reminded of Eric Schmidt's dictum.

You know, the one that went something like: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

It comes to mind because someone whose motivations seem slightly troubling has taken it upon himself to be the Julian Assange of porn.

For there now exists a site called PornWikiLeaks, on which, as you might be able to imagine, certain intimate details of porn stars are displayed for all to see.

The site doesn't … Read more

Serena Williams' sexy video game ad 'unauthorized'

So you work for a video game company. Say it's called 2K Sports. You are about to launch a game called "Top Spin 4."

Now, tennis isn't quite the most popular sport in the world. And you need to persuade, oh, young, happily hormonal men to buy your game.

You hold a brainstorm that takes at least some minutes. You decide you need to make your game sexy. "Serena Williams is sexy," someone says. "Yeah, yeah," someone else replies.

Your minds then hotfoot it to an ad concept in which Williams looks … Read more

At SXSW, a presentation on how to have geek sex

For some at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW), the goal is funding. For others, it is networking. But some seek some other lasting and uplifting joys.

While there will, no doubt, be many fine presentations that will stimulate tech minds to reach for higher goals, one of the first wanted to stimulate tech minds about something important for many attendees--stimulating tech bodies.

Violet Blue, who seems to be something of an expert on all things sexual, yesterday offered a practical guide to geek sex.

I wasn't aware there was anything different about technologically obsessed carnality. However, Blue … Read more

Study: Miami top online flirting city in U.S.

I have a soft spot for Miami.

It is the only American city worth inhabiting from October until April. It has, to my mind, one of the finest restaurants in the U.S.--Sra. Martinez. And it does often seem to have its priorities in the right order: Gym before breakfast. Breakfast before beach. Beach before dinner.

Now, Miami appears to be embracing another fine characteristic. According to the social network Badoo, Miami experiences more online flirting than any other city in America.

Badoo's global study looked at 12 million flirtatious contacts over a one-month period. In a … Read more

Study: Women use Facebook to compete for men

I want you to focus on Kim Kardashian. Do you think she uses her looks to compete for attention?

OK. Now I want you to focus on Facebook. Do you think that women post lots of pictures of themselves to compete for the attention of others--men, for example?

I worry that your answer to both these questions will be "yes." I worry even more, because your views might be confirmed by research from a couple of academics at universities in New York, Texas, and Hawaii.

For their work, published in a journal called "Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social … Read more

New Facebook app nags your crush to break up

Hey, if you dump your boyfriend, you'll be happier. How do I know? Because you could be with me.

How do you know you could be with me? Because I'm in your waiting room. No, not in the waiting room at your dental surgery. I'm in your Facebook WaitingRoom.

You might have thought that the Breakup Notifier was enough to make love's course run smoother than your own sometimes coarse behavior has managed to effect. Breakup Notifier is a Facebook app (since blocked by Facebook) that notifies you the minute one of your many crushes became … Read more