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Tinder ditches its hidden desirability scores
Tinder has revealed that it no longer relies on its top-secret "Elo" desirability score to create matches. Instead, it apparently uses a new algorithm that sounds very similar to the old one, with the most important parameter being how much you use the app. Despite saying "the case has been solved," Tinder didn't really describe exactly how the new system works, leaving jilted users to (once again) speculate on why they're failing to, well, score.
THQ Nordic did an 8chan AMA and it went as well as you'd think
The marketing team at THQ Nordic woke up on Monday morning, made some coffee, powered on their computers and decided to host an AMA on a website blacklisted by Google in 2015 for hosting "suspected child abuse content."
UK to question Tinder, Grindr over age checks in dating apps
Tinder and Grindr are about to face close scrutiny over their age policies. The UK's Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Wright, plans to ask the dating app giants about their age verification and safety systems after a Sunday Times report revealed dozens of incidents of sexual assault and exploitation against children who managed to sign up for the app, including over 30 instances of rape. He wanted to know what tools Tinder and Grindr had in place to "keep children safe from harm," and vowed "further action" if the dating services didn't provide adequate answers.
How sex censorship killed the internet we love
When was the last time you thought of the internet as a weird and wonderful place? I can feel my anxiety climbing as I try to find current news stories about sex. Google News shows one lonely result for "porn," an article that is 26 days old. I log out of everything and try different browsers because this can't be right.
Tinder settles lawsuit over age discrimination
Mature romantics just caught a break. Tinder has settled a lawsuit accusing it of age discrimination for charging the 30-and-up crowd double to subscribe to its premium Tinder Plus service. The Match Group-owned brand will pay $17.25 million in cash and in-app features (such as $25 checks, Super Likes and Plus/Gold subscriptions) to users who had to pay $20 per month instead of the $10 offered to younger customers. Tinder will also have to stop charging general age-based rates in California, although it will have the option of discounting service for people 21 or younger.
You can’t pay for 'the wall' with a porn tax
An Arizona Republican is attempting to place a levy one of the world's most popular hobbies, especially if you've got any alone time. State senator Gail Griffin is pushing a bill that would force adults to pay a $20 online "porn tax." Revenue from the initiative would be channeled into building a wall along the state's southern border.
Health and beauty tech continues to fail pregnant women
There's a thread on Fitbit's Feature Suggestion forum titled, "Add Pregnancy/Nursing mode for more accurate calorie estimates," with the first comment logged in December 2013. It was locked at 328 comments and 1,388 upvotes. In the comments, hundreds of women chimed in to agree and add their own requests, including tweaks to Fitbit's menstruation-tracking features, nursing settings, weight-gain monitoring and other pregnancy-specific notifications. A moderator lurked, editing labels and updating the status of the request. At 4:41PM on May 6th, 2014, a moderator updated the pregnancy-feature thread to "New." By February 14th, 2015, the status had shifted to, "Not currently planned."
The Morning After: AT&T tries to explain its 5G fib
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Another day of CES kicks off as our team has been uncovering the more curious exhibitors taking up residence in Las Vegas. Before you check those out, though, get your People's Choice votes in ahead of tonight's Best of CES Awards and let your voice be heard.
The Osé blended-orgasm machine sounds like a microrobotic marvel
Lora Dicarlo technical director Lola Vars won't disclose the precise mechanics powering the Osé pleasure wand (that's how trade secrets work, after all), except to say that it uses microrobotics, air flow, thumping and "come hither" motions in the place of harsh vibrations. The Osé is the first hands-free device designed to draw out blended orgasms, those that stimulate the G-spot as well as the clitoris. It's a sleek, matte black device with a bulb on one end that stays outside the body, on the clitoris, while the massager strokes the G-spot internally.
CES might be the home of tech, but not all gadgets are welcome
Lora Haddock was disappointed, sad and frustrated when she was notified that the CTA had decided to rescind an award for a personal massager made by her company, Lora DiCarlo. The Ose, which the company touts as the "world's first hands-free device for the holy grail of orgasms" had been selected as a CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Robotics and Drone category. But barely a month later, according to emails Lora DiCarlo provided to press, the committee took it back.
Greetings from CES 2019!
It feels like CES only just ended, but we're back in Las Vegas for the 2019 edition and we couldn't be more excited. Just like always, there will be plenty of cars, TVs and smart appliances. But, we're here to separate the wheat from the chaff and bring you only the best (or at least the most interesting) tech from CES 2019. The show floor hasn't even opened yet and already several companies have made a splash -- including Apple, which continues to skip the event in any official capacity. But that hasn't stopped it from grabbing some attention. Of course, you don't want to miss out on all our liveblogs, our three epic days of live stage shows which all culminates with the official Best of CES awards on Thursday at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.
OhMiBod debuts an Apple Watch app for its remote vibrators
OhMiBod's power to let folks connect with one another from opposite ends of the internet just got a little bit bigger. The company has announced that it is building both an Apple Watch app, something it originally pledged to do back in 2015, as well as an Alexa Skill for its pleasure products. Apple Watch users will be able to use their heart rate -- via the Pulse feature -- to control the intensity of its Bluetooth-enabled vibrators.
Scarlett Johansson says fighting deepfake porn is 'fruitless'
Scarlett Johansson knows better than most how horrible a place the internet can be. She's been the victim of leaks before where private photos have ended up publicly available. And now she's been targeted by a new kind of harasser, ones that use artificial intelligence to create surprisingly convincing (but fake) pornographic videos of her. One such video has racked up over 1.5 million views, and she's come to the sad conclusion that trying to fight these "deepfake" videos is "fruitless" and a "lost cause."
Study: Women are abused every 30 seconds on Twitter
Earlier this year Amnesty International released a report discussing what many of Twitter's female users already know: the social network is not always a great place to be if you're a woman. Now, a new study reveals the hard statistics on just how toxic the situation is. According to the report by Amnesty International and global AI software company Element AI, female journalists and politicians were abused every 30 seconds on Twitter in 2017.
The internet war on sex is here
During the Great Internet Sex War, that began in the United States during its Facebook Era, people were forced to stockpile their porn. Lube was bought by the drum and hidden in bunkers, alongside vibrators and air-gapped computers holding valuable troves of accurate, non judgemental sex information. Gimp suits were stored upright, oiled, and ready for doomsday's call. Explicit gifs became a black market commodity, and there were rumors of a Thunderdome ruled by cam girls. Every sexual identity, except the singular one deemed safe by the corporations, went into hiding. Fear prevented even the mere mention of sexual pleasure on the networks and in communications.
Grindr president defends controversial LGBTQ marriage remarks
The president of Grindr is trying to walk back controversial same-sex marriage comments reported by the app's in-house magazine and elsewhere. "Some people think that marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman, I think so too, but that's your own business," Scott Chen wrote on Facebook yesterday. The post, originally reported by Grindr's Into magazine, had users of the app and LGBTQ+ publications like Out wondering whether he supported gay rights.
The real villain of Netflix's adult thriller ‘Cam’ is big tech
NSFW: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts.
Tinder's Swipe Surge tells you when there's a rush of potential dates
If you've used dating apps long enough, you know it tends to be easier to find a potential match at certain times than others -- you might have better success on Friday night than Wednesday afternoon, for example. And Tinder wants you to capitalize on that. It's testing a Swipe Surge feature that alerts you when there's a rush of activity in your area, increasing the chances of both finding a match and striking up a conversation. People who've joined the Swipe Surge will bump to the front of the queue, and you'll even know who's currently active.
Facebook Dating expands to Canada and Thailand
Facebook's quest to help singletons find love continues. After launching its Dating feature in Colombia in September, it's now rolling the service out to Canada and Thailand. And, presumably based on feedback from its Colombian users, it's adding a couple of new features.
Silicon Valley’s Brett Kavanaugh problem
As we steel ourselves to careen numbly toward whatever new horrors lay in store with Trump, his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, and the conservative politicians willing to help them, it's impossible not to contemplate how deep and depraved the culture of silence actually goes here. USA Today wrote: "When Kavanaugh gave a speech in 2015 at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law and stated, 'What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep. That's been a good thing for all of us, I think,' he summed up the culture perfectly (...) It was their job to protect each other from their misdeeds no matter how big or alcohol-fueled. The boys kept each other's secrets."
