General News

Syphilis is not generally the first thing that comes to mind when I think of things that make me laugh, but a new faux-dating site, part of a government campaign in Alberta, is doing its best to help Canadian citizens giggle their way to good health.

Alberta Health Services, in conjunction with Alberta Health and Wellness, recently unveiled a $2-million campaign to raise awareness about the rising syphilis rate in the province. Alberta's rates of sexually transmitted infections are the highest in Canada, and syphilis in particular has spiked in recent years. The campaign includes radio and television advertisements, as well as a parody of the online dating site Plenty Of Fish - PlentyOfSyph.com.

With witty catch phrases like "Spread the love!" and "be a part of something infectious today," PlentyOfSyph.com is garnering plenty of attention. The faux-dating site features imaginary profiles like that of beardedclam_69, who says "Let's not waste time. I like doing things in person;-) msg me now and I'll show you my 4 sexy tattoos, 2 hot piercings, and 50 small bumpy rashes on my body - and if your lucky I'll let you graze your tongue over each and every 1!!!" Another fictional user, Sapphic4syph, says she's looking for someone with whom to walk "rash-covered hand in hand through the forest."

But PlentyOfSyph.com is not all about stomach-turning profiles and graphic photos - the site also offers information on where to get tested in Alberta, and includes links to general information on STIs.

While some, like Angela Mulholland of CTV news, are calling their approach a "refreshingly funny take on a serious health problem," others, like the CEO of PlentyOfFish.com, Marcus Frind, are less amused. "You'd think the government of Alberta would have better things to do than spend millions of dollars creating a parody of Plentyoffish.com and than flood the Print/ TV/Radio with it," he wrote on the Plenty Of Fish blog. "Yes syphilis is a serious issue, effecting ~200 people a year in Alberta. What I don't get is why parody a mainstream dating site? It's completely the wrong demographic in many, many ways. The average age of Plentyoffish is 39 years old not 19."

Alberta officials are sticking by their campaign. "Alberta Health Services has not been contacted by, nor received correspondence from, Plenty of Fish," Shannon Evans, spokeswoman for AHS, wrote to the Calgary Herald.

So far, the eye-catching campaign seems to be working: the site has had 14,000 visitors since going live a week ago.

For more information on the dating site spoofed by Alberta Health Services please read our review of Plenty Of Fish.

This Father's Day weekend is also the weekend that Chemistry has planned for their next free communication promotion. Starting Friday June 17 Chemistry will allow all members to communicate with each other at no cost. This promotion is only for 72 hours and ends at midnight on Sunday June 19.

Chemistry.com and the matching process between members of the dating site is designed for singles who are looking for long term relationships. If this is something that interests you, then this Father's Day weekend would be an ideal time for you to try out this service as this promotion will let you experience what Chemistry has to offer for free. Plus, who knows, maybe you will communicate with your perfect match this weekend as it will be extra busy as other's will be checking out the dating site as well due to the extra publicity.

The last Chemistry free weekend was in May (see Story). To find out more information about this popular only matchmaking site, please read our Chemistry.com review.

Late last month eHarmony announced a new feature for their dating service. Members can now tell when their matches were last on the site by checking out the "Active Within" enhancement that is visible (or will be soon) next to the matches name. The activity is broken down into 5 increments with "Today" being the shortest and "Over three weeks ago" being the longest.

This feature has been requested for a long time as it helps members to prioritize which of their matches they should contact first. You have a better chance of contacting someone who was just on the site as opposed to over 3 weeks ago.

For more on this story you can read the eHarmony blog and to find out more about this dating site, please read our review of eHarmony.

Shaadi.com made Fast Company's "The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies" list. The online matrimonial service came in at number 39 and is the only dating site to make the list. Other companies on the list they beat include GE, Samsung and Cisco.

The write-up indicates that the goal of the site being marriage for its members, along with their résumé like profiles, and the fact that they plan to go mobile in 2011 as well as opening retail sites for marriage counselling as the reasons it made the list.

For more on this story you can read number 39 on the list. To find out more about this matrimonial service you can read our Shaadi.com review.

The owners of Match.com, IAC announced plans on May 30, 2011 to buy all outstanding shares of Meetic for 15 euros a share. IAC currently owns 27 percent of Meetic already through a deal where the sold their European business to Meetic in early 2009 (see Story).

Meetic is valued at 347 million euros which works out to about $497 million in USD. The share offer by IAC is about 12 percent higher than the closing price last Friday. Since then trading has been suspended at Meetic's request.

Meetic's co-founder Marc Simoncini has entered into an agreement with IAC to sell about 3.7 million shares which works out to about 7% of the total outstanding shares. He also still plans to remain on Meetic's board of directors.

To find out about IAC's most popular dating site you can read our Match.com review.

Ever dreamt of becoming a romcom star like Meg Ryan, Kate Hudson, and Matthew McConaughey?

Bob Murray - a 34 year old commercial real estate investor from Milwaukee - didn't set out to become a leading man on the silver screen, but his search for The One might make him a film star anyway. After three long-term relationships that spanned 12 years, and a year of singlehood, Murray decided to embark upon an adventure that he hopes will lead to lasting love and a movie deal. Last month, he began a 17-day road trip that will take him through 8 cities - St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, Santa Fe, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and a TBD city in Oklahoma - during which he will go on prearranged dates with women he met online, all the while documenting his every move with the help of a small film crew.

And did I mention he'll be traveling by cab?

In addition to a production assistant, sound expert, and camera operators, Murray will be joined on his journey by Paula Heus, a cabdriver who will also dish out romantic advice as an unofficial life coach. "She's a real firecracker and not afraid to state her opinion about things," Murray told the Bellingham Herald. When his quest is over, Murray hopes to tour the film festival circuit with a documentary about his unusual search for love.

Heus' cab has hardly left the driveway, but already Murray's project has hit a few roadblocks. A planned stop in Amarillo, TX had to be abandoned after Murray was unable to get a response to his search for a date in the city, and a rule that dates could only be arranged two weeks in advance was made when scheduled meetups with two women fell through after they found boyfriends before Murray arrived in their cities.

Murray was also able to raise less than $5,000 of the $20,000 he hoped to earn to fund the trip, so he was forced to foot much of the bill himself and exchange equity in the film for further donations from his largest investors. In spite of these setbacks, however, Murray has been on his first date in Milwaukee, with an actress named Cynthia Kmak, and has plans for adventures along the lines of mountain climbing and skydiving in other cities.

You can follow his progress on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/percent40dateamerica, and Facebook, at www.facebook.com/dateamerica.