love

Geek's marriage code: Propose Marty McFly-style

Who says geeks don't know how to do romance right?

Among the geeky gestures of amour we've seen, there was the guy who popped the question in Super Mario World, the guy who engraved a proposal on an iPod, and the man who asked for his love's hand via patent application.

The latest inductee into the Geeky-Proposal Hall of Fame? Google software engineer Corey Goldfeder, who went so far as to stage a fake Michael J. Fox retrospective at a local movie theater and then digitally edit himself into "Back to the Future" to pop the question to Andrea (and about 20 onlookers he recruited so the theater wouldn't look suspiciously empty).

The proposal was fitting for the couple, who met at a costume party where Goldfeder came as Marty McFly, the time-traveling protagonist in the sci-fi action adventure comedy, which they both call a favorite.

Goldfeder used some borrowed chroma key equipment to digitally replace Fox's face with his own. With some splicing and voice-over work, he staged a conversation between time machine inventor Doc Brown and Marty McFly (wearing Goldfeder's visage) about whether the time was right to propose.

"At the end of this conversation, the movie me then turned to face the camera and prompted the real me to propose," said Goldfeder, 27. "I got down on one knee, pulled the ring out of my pocket, and asked the love of my life to marry me." She said yes, and both families entered from another room to congratulate the newly engaged couple. (See a video of the proposal after the jump.) … Read more

Couple, stranded by ash, get married by Webcam

Technology is increasingly assisting true love along its course from true north through true happiness to relationship gone truly south.

So, as a singular supporter of the digital aspects of love, my heart is pumping with extra vigor at the news of a Webcam that saved a wedding.

You might have heard that folks who happen to be over in Europe are having a little trouble with the first angry thing to come out of Iceland since the great Magnus Ver Magnussen's contorted face while winning the World's Strongest Man Contest for the third time in a row … Read more

Why Facebook is for haters

It's time to be honest.

What are you really feeling when you're on Facebook, poring over every vacation picture of that Martha you dated in high school? Are you inspired with touchy-feely interest in your fellow woman? Or is there something a little more corrosive burning your bones?

I ask because I was edified into indigestion by a piece of research from the University of Missouri School of Journalism that suggested humans might be, surprisingly, horrible little drama queens. "Emotional Responses During Social Information Seeking on Facebook" does for the human condition what "Jersey Shore&… Read more

Top 5 reasons you should get the Apple iPad

Lots of folks are hating on the iPad. Now most fans of the new Apple tablet don't need help defending their favorite, but we figured a few might. Or more likely some folks just don't know why the heck they'd want to buy an iPad. Well here are five reasons.

Haters please move on to the Top 5 reasons you should NOT get an iPad. we made that episode just for you. Lovers of the iPad should post their own justifications in the comments below. If you want to be entered to win the lame prize, please … Read more

Textual relations--Jasmine's Tech Dos & Don'ts

Now more than ever our interpersonal relationships are dictated by electronic communication, which in turn depends upon some form of the written word. Text is of course a great way to express oneself, whether in an e-mail, an instant message, or a text message. However, when it comes to interacting with your friends, family, and business associates in this way, there are a few things you may want to keep in mind:

DO send a text to convey quick details, such as a time and address for meeting with a colleague or friend. Texts are also a great way to … Read more

Nintendo DS gets romantic

Finally, they were alone.

He looked at her with those eyes, even more piercing than the epee he used when fencing. He took her in his arms. In an instant, Michiko's nose was but an inch from his and her fate seemed even more closely entwined with that of the man she loved, Beaulieu Riddenbacher.

Just as she thought he was going to kiss her with those big lips as soft as the pillows at the love hotel, he whispered in her ear: "Did you know we're being ranked?"

She felt her heart hit her shirt with all the strength of a torrid tsunami. She knew people out there would be registering their opinions about their tryst. She was a lover of technology as well as a lover of men. She had always had her own secret affair with her Nintendo DS. It didn't make her attractive to men necessarily, but it brought her to a heightened state of being every time.

That's why her thyroid pounded like a murderous hippopotamus' conscience when she heard that Harlequin Books, publisher of such romantic novels as "Tough To Tame" and "His Convenient Virgin Bride," was to be the first non-Japanese publisher to be inserted into Nintendo DS in Japan.

Michiko, with technology as the negligee to the naked vulnerability of her heart, shivered at the thought that "DS Harlequin Selection: Love Stories for Grown-Ups" would comprise 33 of the finest romantic novels penned by Harlequin authors and the New York Times best-selling novelists. … Read more

Man marries animated pillow

Sometimes, love is two-dimensional. Especially, it seems, for men.

I never thought I would be able to write a more moving headline than "Man marries video game character." But here we are, gathered today, to celebrate the union between Lee Jin-gyu and a pillow.

Yes, it has taken a mere three and a half months for the video character betrothal to seem nothing more than cheap publicity for stunted minds.

What is so very beautiful and exciting about this union is that the husband can take his new bride anywhere. I have, indeed, embedded a little footage of the happy couple at the amusement park, strapped in for what promises to be a wild ride.

The bride, you see, is called Fate Testarossa. It would be beneath me to suggest that she is built for speed. Indeed, she seems from the footage to offer a comforting and reassuring presence in a world that has clearly gone beyond any normal definitions of insanity.

Fate Testarossa is a magical character in the Japanese anime series "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha." And she is imprinted on this "dakimakura" pillow in a most lifelike, serene representation.… Read more

Bride and groom send video game invitation

Imagine you are somewhat advanced in years. You still get your news from a physical newspaper. You still get your pleasure from a physical person.

Then along comes your wacky nephew, or just some distantly removed acquaintance, who decides that you have to work a little to get to their wedding. This may well be the dilemma facing the invitees to the wedding of a couple of German geeks, Darina and Niko.

According to Offbeat Bride, a place where couples share their propensity to waft away from "beaten aisle," Darina explained in an entirely harmonious way: "We … Read more

Why your wife should be 27% smarter than you

I, like many others, am looking for science to control the world. Humans have used their instincts for far too long. They have bungled too much. Now it's time for the scientific to become beatific.

I am therefore leaping as if it were February 29 to discover that scientists in Europe have finally come up with the perfect formula for the ultimate human condition: marriage.

Regular sufferers here will know that this subject fascinates me beyond the usual level of engagement. A little while ago, mathematicians came up with a formula for choosing a wife. Essentially, it involved selecting … Read more

Oscars ban online dating site ad

A man is caught red-handed by his blue-bodied wife.

He is in bed with another woman. His wife is not happy. His wife, in fact, begins to assault him. She slaps him, as he and his other woman try to escape.

Is this a scene from "Fatal Attraction"? Is this, perhaps, a cinematic homage to two Oscar-nominated movies, "It's Complicated" and "Avatar"?

No, it is merely a commercial for AshleyMadison.com, the site that helps married people hook up with, well, other married people. AshleyMadison claims to have 4.5 million members and … Read more