Helping men behave badly

Think of it as a high-tech little black book--including X-rated chapters.

GirlFriend X is software that aims to help men manage their love life by keeping track of dates and profile information such as birthdays, hobbies and professions. The application is designed to let users import pictures and profiles from online dating sites.

The program is also geared toward cold-hearted tactics. For example, it contains a so-called yield calculator: "If she isn't worth it, the yield calculator will tell you to ditch her and move on," the GirlFriend X Web site says.

In addition, GirlFriend X provides "reminders" to help a guy with things like avoiding dinner with a girl's parents and easing girlfriend juggling. "Soon enough, you will be dating several girls at once, and GirlFriend X will make sure all goes smoothly," the site says. "Equipped with an excuse file, you will always have a way to back out or postpone, if the case need be."

Social networking sites, whose members can expose themselves to friends of friends, have been all the rage recently. But GirlFriend X appears to be focused on hiding Web activity that involves a different sort of exposure. The product is designed to enable private Web searches, with search histories deleted after every use. "This privacy means you can look at AsianCheerleaders.com whenever you want, and no one will ever know," according to the site. (Apple Computer is also building a secret-surfing feature into the Safari browser that will ship in the next version of its operating system, dubbed Tiger. A page on Apple's Web site states Safari also protects your identity on shared or public Macs. Using the privacy feature, your personal information and activities on the Web are never saved, so they can't be snooped later on.)

The GirlFriend X Web site itself has pornographic content (the home page reveals as much). And its parent company, PCBootyCall.com, bills itself as an "adult marketing service company."

Even so, the company is looking to bridge the worlds of porn and Internet partner seeking. "More than anything, GirlFriend X is the new face of online dating and adult entertainment," the site says. And it is about to get a face-lift. The company is hiring and plans to release a new version of its Web site in October.