By now most Google users are likely familiar with Google Instant, the tweak to their search that allows for constant changes to search results with each letter typed. As a NY Times article pointed out, though, some terms related to “violence, hate and pornography” are filtered out, so they don’t come up immediately with Google Instant. Instead of producing results as you type, the search results go blank if you enter these types of words and you’re asked to press Enter in order to continue. Continue Reading →
Technology
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Texting During Sex – Is It OK?
I recently came across this old (by internet standards) information graph on Mashable.com, which suggests that 10% of the 25 and under crowd feel that it’s acceptable to text during sex. As suggested by the author, I started off being a little worried about the future of our civilization, but was relieved when I followed the rabbit hole back to the original article, where the report’s author clarified: these young folks felt it was acceptable to interrupt sex to respond to a text. While this is still a somewhat questionable act, it ruined my visions of the simple logistics involved in texting during sex.I thought of one partner bent over pecking away at a keyboard while the other is poking from behind; one partner riding no-handed so she can update her Twitter; one partner facesitting, the other on Facebook. Interesting ideas for erotica or porn, but not very practical in real life. Continue Reading →
City of Tyler, Texas Blocks Sex Sites
Recently, my partner was on a business trip to Tyler, Texas. On his way back home, he was sitting in the Tyler airport and tried to log on to MySexProfessor.com. But oops! He couldn’t. Because apparently MSP “violates the City of Tyler Internet Usage Policy”. Continue Reading →
A Shirt That Hugs
An old friend of mine came to visit me last weekend. This was the first time since we started college that she has been able to come visit me in Chicago. So, playing the good tour guide, I took her to the Museum of Science and Industry. While the museum is generally full of fun and interesting things, I was most excited about discovering The Hug ShirtTM . This shirt, designed by Ryan Genz and Francesca Rosella is an exciting combination of technology and fashion. Continue Reading →
Landlines and Love: A Response
This morning, I read a lovely piece on Gizmodo titled “An Ode to Landlines and Desk Phones” which turned out to be different than I thought. Sentimental as I am, I expected it to tie in a love – and I mean a real love and a yearning sense of nostalgia – for landlines and phones of yesteryear. Instead it was an informative piece about using Google Voice over a land line, about desk phones and about the sheer weight – literal and figurative – about using a landline. Very well written and smart, and with the perfect accompanying images, it just didn’t go down the path I was on with a title like that. But then again, I’m always looking for signs of love. Continue Reading →
FaceTime Sex (Uncut)
I recently wrote a post about FaceTime sex for Gizmodo, which I highly recommend that you check out on their site. But because I am a big time chatterbox, I have many more things to say about FaceTime sex that my editor was far too nice to tell me were too much, too long, or too sentimental to say - even though, perhaps, they are. In any case, here they are, in full form (minus the parts you can find edited more astutely on Giz): Continue Reading →
How The Bra Changed Sex
The first bra was invented in 1913, and patented a year later, by Mary Phelps Jacobs, a New York socialite who purchased an evening gown that is said to not have worked well with the whalebone corsets of the time. Through the assemblage of silk handkerchiefs and ribbons, the first brassiere was born – and it changed sex and attraction in myriad ways. Continue Reading →
How The Dimmer Switch Changed Sex
It couldn’t have been long after Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb in 1879 that the novelty of having brightly lit night-time sex began to wear thin (“Not the light bulb again tonight, honey!”). Continue Reading →
How Alarm Clocks Changed Sex
Who would have thought such a tiny bedside gadget could change sex so dramatically? Continue Reading →
Facebook Makes It Easier To Classroom Stalk People You Like
According to this MediaPost article, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, a university in Brasil, is now offering enrollment in its classes in Facebook. When students register for classes, the news may be added to their newsfeed, as in “Debby Herbenick has now registered for HPER F255: Human Sexuality”. Except, of course, it would be in Portuguese and sound much sexier when read out loud. Continue Reading →