match.com

8:52 p.m. tonight: Your best chance this year of an online date

You know I care about you, don't you?

Sometimes it might not seem it because I make jokes about your favorite brand, religion, or Justin Bieber. But I want you to be happy. I don't like the thought of you sitting all alone in front of your computer, wishing that somebody would just put their arms around you and tell you they love you.

So I need you to know that tonight's the night when your life is most likely to change -- at least if you're single, or merely in a miserable relationship that's heading for hell's flaming gates.

Tonight at 8:52 p.m. is your best chance to get an online date -- yes, all year. … Read more

The 404 1,016: Where we need a social network for our social network (podcast)

Leaked from 404 Podcast 1,016:

Thank you, Facebook: A way to demote annoying 'friends' on the sly. Want a vibrating tattoo that alerts you to a call? Nokia does. Three online dating sites agree to screen for predators. AT&T's vibrating steering wheel tells you when to turn, claims less distracting than visual cues. Miami judge says BitTorrent downloads are protected anonymous speech. Wait, nevermind. Bathroom break video : Wes Anderson's 'Made of Imagination' Sony TV commercial.

The 404 988: Where do you guys know how to post videos to Facebook? (podcast)

Great news for our live listeners--the stream is back! Please bear with the short delay that allows the stream to buffer.

We'll keep working on it, and in the meantime we put together a great show for you today with fun stories about a dummy politician citing an article from The Onion, the pitfalls of online dating, prototype headphones with built-in proximity sensors, and a conceptual McDonald's ad campaign that uses seedbombs!… Read more

The 404 963: Where we're not crying, it's just raining on our faces (podcast)

To wrap up the penultimate week (for the year) of the 404 Podcast, we're running through Apple's year in iTunes--from the best-selling apps to the most-downloaded movie online.

We'll also tell you about a woman who made $1,200 exploiting dudes on Match.com, give you a tour of Amazon's massive Costconian warehouse in Seattle, and question the artistic merits of photo-filtering apps like Instagram.… Read more

Woman settles in Match.com sexual assault lawsuit

A woman who sued Match.com claiming she was sexually assaulted on a date has settled her lawsuit after seeing proof that the site now screens its members for sexual predators, according to the Associated Press.

Carole Markin had sued the online dating site in April following the reported assault after learning that her date had previously been convicted of sexual battery. Rather than seeking financial damages, Markin's lawsuit asked that Match.com start reviewing its membership for signs of sexual predators.

Shortly after the suit was filed, the dating service announced a new policy whereby it would check its members against a national sex offenders registry. … Read more

First dates from hell exposed in 140 characters

Now that people rely on the Internet for love (I saw a Match.com commercial claiming one in five relationships starts online), it's only natural they would return to the Internet to recount the dates that didn't end in magic. A new Twitter page called First Date Hell, and its accompanying aggregator, Crapdate.com, give serial daters a chance to dish their first-date horror stories in 140 characters or fewer, and some of them are pretty bad.

Rhodri Marsden started Crapdate.com after relaying first-date stories back and forth with friends at a local pub. His first post about one particularly long uncomfortable silence inspired some his 17,000 Twitter followers to reply with their own real-life nightmares, like this one from @BibiLynch, whose first date took her to a Laundromat, then proceeded to pay-phone ring his dad to describe her physical assets in agonizing detail.… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1450: Lick my 9Volt (Podcast)

Can you tell Brian Tong is back on the show? Actually, we're legitimately wondering whether a home-brew electroshock like battery licking could produce video game skill improvements like DARPA is seeing with their electroshock research. No, really. Also, Google shuts down Google Video, President Obama wants a universal login that's not Facebook Connect, and Match.com just got a whole lot more trustworthy. --Molly

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

Match.com sued after alleged sexual assault

You never know whom you are meeting on dating sites.

Now, one California woman is trying to get a court to declare that you actually should be told the bare minimum: whether your potential date is a convicted sex offender.

The woman, identified in legal papers as Jane Doe, is suing Match.com, according to ABC News.

Her attorney, Mark Webb, held a press conference this week to explain the philosophy behind the suit. He said his client had no reason to believe that the man she met through Match.com had previously been convicted of sexual battery.

Criminal charges … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1407: BOL Computer Love special (podcast)

It's Valentine's Day, everyone, so we've got a special edition of Computer Love with special guest Dr. Wendy Walsh dishing out the love 2.0 advice. Also, in the tech news, the worst-kept secret in the tech world is unveiled in Barcelona: the PlayStation Phone. Plus, 10-inch tablets creep out of the woodwork to take on the iPad -- finally -- and will an iPhone Nano make an appearance? --Molly