Well, it started with chat rooms, then online dating, then destigmatized online dating, then further legitimized Facebook hookups so can we really be surprised that Japanese girls are all over the latest
web love trend: The Virtual Boyfriend?
The just-launched
Webkare is a social networking site in Japan — aimed solely at young women — that encourages its members to flirt with and capture the hearts of the virtual boyfriends available. Five days after it was announced, over 10,000 users joined up to try their hand at virtual dating.
I don't really remember the
Star Wars installment where queen Amidala was quite this sexy. Beautiful, tough Natalie Portman yes, white go-go boots, no.
Still, I know some people will be into this
Amidala costume.
One of the main reasons that green power hasn't taken off is its high price tag, but Australian PhD candidate Nicole Kuepper may be changing that. This green-thinking student has discovered a way to
produce solar cells using a pizza oven, nail polish, and ink jet printers.
According to the
The Sydney Morning Herald:
Ms Kuepper realised a new approach would be needed if affordable cells were to be made on site in poorer countries: "What started off as a brainstorming session has resulted in the iJET cell concept that uses low-cost and low-temperature processes, such as ink-jet printing and pizza ovens, to manufacture solar cells."
Thought
The Bachelor was silly? At least the guy from The Bachelor doesn't tell you that he'd rather hang out with his HDTV.
That's basically the premise of a new reality show, called
Gadget or the Girl? where contestants choose between a mystery gadget and spending a weekend with a hot lady.
As the
Gadgettes pointed out in their NPR interview this week, manufacturers market to ladies one way, by giving their products flashy and recognizable (therefore, girly?) names like "Chocolate" or "enV" instead of something like VX12345.
I feel like this has gotten a little out of control, and now there exist some phones whose names sound more like a cologne you would spritz on your wrist, rather than put up to your ear. Take my quiz and tell me which is the name of a cell phone model, and which is the name of a perfume!
When I read this article on a study that said
guys are more into video games than women (it's infuriatingly titled "Games Are a Guy Thing"), I thought I'd do a poll about it — and then I realized what a big Duh that was. Of course video games aren't "a guy thing" — but do our reasons for playing them differ based on our genders?
The study says that video games appeal to a man's need to conquer, which I can't argue with, because I think I play video games out of my need for fun, not because I want to be the dictator of Sims land.
I've been a little bit hesitant to write about the
Wii Fit Stripper Pole game because I'm a little conflicted. But since it appears that it's going to happen, here we go! A Stripper Pole game disturbs me a little, but since it's part of Wii Fit, I think of it as the same level as those stripping exercise classes that popped up a few years ago and seemed cheeky and fun.
Last week's article in the
NY Times about women posting their grievances online about their exes made me wonder where people are drawing the line at privacy anymore. One woman made a YouTube video divulging way too much information about her soon-to-be ex, and others are blogging about their breakups as they happen.
I'm all for catharsis, and these women may get some needed support, but I think they're revealing too much and putting themselves up for close scrutiny.
Sorry, boy geeks, the Website of the Day does not apply to you today.
Mon.thly.Info is a free service that tracks your menstrual cycle. Can I be real with you?
For girl geeks, our first role models weren't just the Babysitters Club or the Sweet Valley High twins — no, they were the ladies in our first video games, the female characters that gave us representation and made us feel comfortable playing those games in the first place.
They went up against their male counterparts and decimated ghosts, Bowser, and male rivals, ruling the pixels with their feminine wiles. And they did it in style, whether it was a bow on the head, a pink ball gown, or some booty shorts and braids.
