Slashdot Mirror
Date Pagers
Structured Audio writes: "Found this in Dvorak's Forbes column. These
are hip in Japan,
China,
and Germany.
See those links for details, but it's essentially a pager-like
device that you program with details about who you'd like to
date. When it detects you're near someone who also is wearing
one of these, and your profiles match, it gets the two of you
into a conversation. Wow!" These frighten me.
The process, at least in this case, appears rather less bizarre than everyone seems to assume is the case for "arranged" marriages.
To the point, a year ago, there was an exchange of "resumes" that bore a striking resemblance to that which you might use to find an employer. (There's also a story about a "brother's boss's niece, but that's another story...)
In thinking about it, this really isn't particularly bizarre at all.
If all you're after is a sex partner for the evening, then probably an exchange of "medical resumes" would be in order, verifying that nobody's going to get an extra STD.
On the other hand, if a more "permanent" relationship is intended, an exchange of "personal resumes" and references can cut through a lot of the posturing and other dishonesty that happens as we pretend to be more attractive than we really are.
I mentioned the process to one of my married coworkers, and he at first thought arranged marriage to be a very peculiar thing, but then thought it might have been useful to have "character references."
Long and short is that these "tools" aren't necessarily any worse predictors of success than the "dating scene" that, with the divorce rates these days, are obviously not terribly good predictors of "relational success."
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Ok I admit this thing sounds potentially lame, I'd heard about them a year ago or so. However underneath the flashy, wireless technology this is just _another_ way to meet people. If your goal it meet people - it gives you something in common with someone or at least a conversation starter, how many date-oriented conversations started with "Hey, nice cell phone". It's not a technology that's going to make people hide in dark rooms typing on computers waiting for someone they match with to walk by. It's a technology you use to start conversations and interact with real people instead of just ignoring everyone.
It's like going to a dance club or bar, but being in contact with the 'dating scene' all day instead of only a few hours in an ear-thumping club or local bar pounding drinks. It's a chance to meet someone in a more 'normal' environment.
Ok think about it people. If you want to gay bash or stalk women or whatever, you don't need one of these gadgets to tell who you want to hurt. There are (unfortunately) lots of hate crimes now, without such gadgets. There will most likely be hate crimes with such gadgets. I don't think it's the technology that is the issue in that debate.
__ No registration required to read this message. They did it in the Matrix.
On slashdot, it's quite obvious that the standard dictionary doesn't apply. Try the New Hackers' Dictionary (The jargon file, eh?):
troll v.,n.
2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup,
discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are recognizable by the fact that the have no real
interest in learning about the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly creatures they are named after, they exhibit no
redeeming characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll."
Ya just gotta use the right tool for the job.
HAND.
-Ed
this
Think about it, you are walking down the street.. your "date pager" goes off... you look around for the other person, only to find that he/she is not exactly what you are looking for in a person "physically" speaking. I tend to go for more of a dark haired 5 feet 8 inches type of woman.
What will happen when you have to say, "We both like Quake, Slashdot, Linux, and GCC. But I'm still not going to date you".
I know what you people are going to say, "It's not the looks that matters, but the personality". You are right, but we as humans are shallow slime. I would be ther first person to admit that I speak to members of the opposite sex b/c they are good looking. I met my current girlfriend that way. It just kind of worked out that we had a lot in common.
Its also nice to have differences too. I would get really bored waking up every morning to coffee and a conversation of the finer points of TCP/IP.
My girlfriend likes to go outside. I like to play on my computer. I have introduced her to the fine art of deathmatching, and she introduced me to a bright shining star that hangs above my house for 10 hours a day (the sun).
All I'm saying is that you will find better relationships with people that don't have the exact same opinions that you do.
The only good thing that I can see out if this is finding more Quake III Arena buddies.
I can see it now....
Male Lovegety profile:
Good sense of humour [x]
Caring [x]
Obsessive [ ]
Large Income [x]
Ex-wife [ ]
Children [ ]
Romantic [x]
Large penis [x]
Cheers,
SuperG
I wouldn't get one of these devices myself, but hey! Supposing two violent homophobes with baseball bats get the same idea...
--
Xenu loves you!
I wonder...
...if Natalie Portman likes pouring hot grits down her pants, too!
by Anonymous Coward on Tue March 14, 12:13 AM CST (#5)
It appears some of the moderators didn't understand this post. It was both on-topic and not a troll. Allow me a moment to explain.
The idea behind the post, obviously, was that this particular troll would be ecstatic if he could find a mate who shared his excitement when he pours hot grits down his pants. This goal, combined with his obvious Natalie Portman fetish, is a rather common topic on slashdot.
Now to the on-topic part. This "troll", if you prefer to call them that (I don't, it doesn't match the proper definition of "troll"), looked at this particular article, and, suddenly, saw a possibility for all his dreams to come true at once!
Wistfully, he/she posted "I wonder...if Natalie Portman likes pouring hot grits down her pants, too!" Now consider what would happen if this poster, equipped with one of the devices the story references, were to run into Miss Portman, and discovered that she did, indeed, like hot grits down her pants? I think, and I can imagine you all agree, that he would be both on-topic, and scored +5/interesting.
But, it appears, the moderation system has failed yet again, and an obviously on-topic post has been moderated down as a "Troll". I metamoderate frequently, and believe me, "Troll" is not a valid definition in most cases. Indeed, I'm under the opinion that "Troll" should be, often, a bonus. True trolls catch those of us who post before thinking in a tight spot.
My guess is that some of these moderators have been caught by true trolls, and now associate "Troll" with any post they don't like. If the above post were to be moderated down, it should obviously be moderated down for "Overrated" since Offtopic and "Troll" don't apply here.
Moderators, use a dictionary.
-Ed
this
...to totally overlook the possibilities:
You walk into a pub and spot a total cutie. You bring out your hacked DatePager, point it at hers/his, and WHOAH... all of a sudden her/his DatePager goes off, identifying your sexy self as being a perfect match.
Dishonest, yes, but all's fair in love and war.
-- I can't think of anything witty to put here. Sorry.
Scary indeed.
And even aside from these nefarious uses, would you ever trust a person to program those things *honestly*? What woman's going to program hers with "nagging b*tch who only wants men for their money"
---
The real thing here is to be able to list not just optimal "dating configurations" but configs for other things as well:
2-Hour layover? No worries! You'll be automatically notified if any Linux-minded persons enter your area!
Comdex sucks rocks this year? Link up with everyone else who agrees with you, and go get tanked somewhere fun!
Car battery died? Let everyone in the parking lot know that you could use a jump, without having to raise your voice!
Okay, I probably made the whole thing look even stupider, but there's a lot of networking potential here. Society (and population density in some areas) gets in the way of getting to know our neighbors--with the right application this system could introduce us to the true "neighbors" we might never otherwise become aware of.
But that's just my own spur-of-the-moment, ill-considered .02gp
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.