Online Dating for Singles

Unique and Creative Date Ideas

Online Dating Magazine has published an article listing some creative date ideas and unique dating concepts.  The dating idea titles include: Drive in Movie with a Twist, Picture Perfect, New Beetle Bugavan, Glow Sticks at the Beach, and These are a Few of My Favorite Things.  From the article:

"The key to putting together a unique date is the thought and planning you put into pulling it off. The woman (or man) will quickly recognize the extra effort you put into creating the experience and that will raise his/her opinion of the relationship. Take some time to put serious creative thought into what your next date will be. Creative and unique dates are likely to always stick out in your partner's mind forever, even if you eventually part ways. It shows you as a fun, creative, and thoughtful person and soon you may find your partner inviting you on a creative date!"

Visit this article on Online Dating Magazine to read full detail on each of these unique dating concepts. 

Toothing for Singles

An article in Wired Magazine details what may be the next advancement in meeting people.  The new trend is called "Toothing" and uses Bluetooth technology to send messages to those in social situations, with hopes of meeting each other.  From the article:

"To play, you need you need to activate the Bluetooth facility available on your mobile phone, which will then show a list of people within a few yards who are also active. Then write a message and press send."

This seems very interesting and it could be kind of fun.  As long as people use common sense, it really is not that different than approaching an attractive person in a crowded bar.  Click here to read the full article. 

Biological Factors in Relationships

Ever wonder why your long term relationship sometimes loses its spark?  Or why most couples divorce after year 4 of marriage?  According to the latest "Dating From The Inside Out" column on Online Dating Magazine, it could be biological.  From the article:

"Biology, working against us, continues to persuade us to ruin perfectly good relationships in pursuit of its procreation goals. The basic neurochemical reward for engaging in passionate sex is a blast of dopamine to the “pleasure/reward” center of the “primitive brain.” In rat studies, the mechanism has been known to work so well that it’s been found that allowing a rat to stimulate the “pleasure/reward” part of its brain without constraint, it can “delight” itself to death without even stopping to eat.

"Based on the above, can we then surmise that biology really serves our best survival interests when it encourages that sort of chemically addictive scenario? It has now been argued that this compelling, chemical reward mechanism that worked well for distant forbearers in relation to the scarcity of food and sex, now actually creates havoc in the modern world. It may be precisely what is behind other social addictions such as gambling, food, alcohol and drug excesses, obesity, and the like."

This may seem as if all relationships are ruled by our instincts, but author explains that "harmonious relationships offer far greater rewards than biology’s mere empty disadvantages" and that we have the power to pick between remaining loyal and thrills of intimate union.  In any case, the most important thing is to find balance and understand what makes you feel most comfortable. 

Who Picks Up The Check?

An article in CBS News examined the ever-present concern about who should pick up the check on a date.  It turns out that determining how the bill should be paid may be "less about independence and more about instinct."  From the article:

Anthropologist Helen Fisher says it's natural for a man to want to pay the check and that something comparable happens all the time in the animal world.

"Chimpanzees will catch a little rabbit or hand over sugar cane. The bird catches a fish and hands it to the female," Fisher says. "The exchange of food for sex. It's called courtship feeding. You see it in insects. In fact, it's so common in insects that they call it the nuptial gift."

Online dating service Match.com also did a survey on the same subject and found that 71 percent of men think they should pick up the tab on a date and 58 percent of women agree. The article indicates that, although nowadays it is perfectly acceptable for the woman to pick up the check, the basic rules haven't changed much.  Men still tend to have that instinct to pay as a symbol that they are looking for more than just friendship.