Virtual Girlfriend 649
Sven-Erik writes " BBC News reports about a Hong Kong based company called Artificial Life that has developed a solution for men without a partner, in the form of a virtual girlfriend that appear as an animated figure on the video screen of a mobile phone. But there is a downside to the virtual girlfriend - she will require more flowers and gifts than many real women. All virtual girls will look the same - but each girl will behave differently - depending on how much money is spent on her. In return, she will introduce them to different aspects of her life, like letting them meet her female friends - also electronic images. Artificial Life is hoping to launch the new game later this year, on the latest 3-G mobile phones.
Virtual girlfriend? (Score:5, Funny)
Matchmaker Dating Services (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Matchmaker Dating Services (Score:5, Funny)
Who's the 1% you've included that can't even get the virtual girl?
Re:Asian Guys (Score:3, Interesting)
No, 50% of all first born are male. 50% of all second born are also male. So 50% of all born are male. It does not matter that the second born only happen in the case where the first born was female.
Tor
Re:Virtual girlfriend? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Virtual girlfriend? (Score:5, Funny)
It's not even that novel an idea (Score:5, Interesting)
When I pondered the nature of this phenomena I could draw only one conclusion - they're much like flight sims in the sense that you could theoretically apply the skills you've built there to real life. Remember key facts about her. Give gifts. Manage your time so you can work to earn money to buy said gifts while still maintaining a relationship. Say the right things. Do everything right on a date. Climb the relationship ladder so she'll put out.
Of course the details vary by game and all of them have a distinctly Japanese sense of relationships, which is why you see so few outside of Japan. And it doesn't have anything like the nuance of real relationships - it practically trains you not to do or expect anything unique either. And when it comes to the hentai, the "lessons learned" are frequently worthless and often morally repugnant, but nevertheless fit into some twisted perception of dating.
So, this expensive mobile realtime version of a dating sim is just an evolution of the concept. Albeit a rather expensive one. Frankly, it doesn't seem like it needs to be online. And the fact that all "girlfriends" look alike reeks of encouraging either mental or programming laziness. It must have some other special realtime hooks, like an advanced voice synthesis and interpretation engine, or an extensive and up-to-date library of keywords and responses.
Re:It's not even that novel an idea (Score:5, Interesting)
So, how to make it unique?
Just a little glue. The pieces are already all in Japan.
One of the many things that Japan is (in)famous for, and perhaps wishes it wasnt, is imekura (image clubs) and telephone clubs. An imekura is where you go for koosu-purei (course play) - sexual fantasy vignettes. For everyone salaryman who has ever wanted to be a train groper but had either too much decency or too little nerve, they have an answer: a train car mockup complete with an OL (or a young woman in a high school uniform, if that's your thing). They also have OL fantasies, nurses, the usual suspects. SM at some of them.
Then there are the telephone clubs. The girls are often high school girls, the customers are not high school boys. Go to the telephone club, use the phone, maybe get to make a date to meet up with a girl. If you meet up, money and bodily fluids will be exchanged.
In other words, Japan has no shortage of young women, high school girls (and even some jr. high school girls) willing to put out for money, either in a direct cash transaction or in exchange for expensive designer bags and such.
Enter (no pun intended) the virtual girlfriend.
You play the game. You buy her presents, do and say all the right things, etc. If you've been very good, a real, live meatspace girl (who has been getting her cut from all these virtual presents for the virtual GF) shows up.
She doesn't know your real name. You don't know hers. But she does know your history with the virtual GF and takes over the persona for a little while in meatspace. Maybe she'll go to some function with you. Maybe have dinner or go to a movie, have a meatspace date with the virtual girlfriend. Or maybe you just head straight to the love hotel, which is what she really showed up for: real-life sex with the virtual girlfriend. Whether this would require some additional presents (most likely the foldable kind that go in your wallet) or not would have to be worked out. If, or how much,she needed would probably depend on what kind of cut she was getting from those virtual presents.
Is this a troll or something? Heck no. Anyone who has lived in Japan for a while (and BTW, I love the place; none of this is trash-talking Japan, I'm just describing some things that are there. No, I don't go to those places; I'm married) knows that combining the virtual GF game with a meatspace temporary GF who just shows up for a no-strings-attached turn at a love hotel would be a huge hit. Not with the whole population, and maybe not long term, but for a year or two (maybe more), they'd make a killing.
Steps will have to be taken to ensure that neither the virtual BF (hereafter referred to as "the john") nor the virtual GF (hereafter referred to as "the ho") can find out the other's identity (nothing could stop the john and the ho from sharing this info if they wanted to; the important point is just to prevent the other person from knowing who your are without your consent), but the plan itself is fully workable.
And I won't even try to patent it
It's *so* obvious where this is wil go... (Score:5, Funny)
Last a friend of mine upgraded from Girlfriend 4.0 to Wife 1.0 and found
that it's memory hog leaving few system resources for other applications.
He is now noticing the Wife 1.0 is also spawning Child-processes, which is
further consuming valuable resources. No mention of this particular
phenomenon was included in the product documentation, though other users
have informed me that this is to be expected due to the nature of the
application.
Not only that, Wife 1.0 installs itself so that it is always launched at
system initialization where it can monitor all other system activity. Some
applications such as PokerNight 10.3, BachelorParty 2.5 and PubNight 7.0
are no longer able to run on the system at all, causing the system to
lockup when launched (even though the apps worked fine before).
Wife 1.0 provides no installation options. Thus, the installation of
undesired plug-ins such as Mother-in-law 55.8 and the Brother-in-law Beta
is unavoidable. Also system performance seems to diminish each passing day.
Some features my friend would like to see in the upcoming Wife 2.0:
A "don't remind me again button"
A Minimize button
The ability to delete the "headache" file
An install feature that provides an option to uninstall 2.0 version
without loss of other system resources
An option to run the network driver in "promiscuous mode" allowing the
systems hardware probe to be much more useful/effective.
I myself wish I had decided to avoid all of the headaches associated with
Wife 1.0 by sticking with Girlfriend 3.0. Even here, however, I have found
many problems. Apparently you cannot install Girlfriend 4.0. You must
uninstall Girlfriend 3.0 first, otherwise the two versions of Girlfriend
will have conflicts over shared use of the I/O port.
Other users have told me that this is a long-standing problem that I
should have been aware of. Guess that explains what happened to versions 1
& 2.
To make matters worse, the uninstall program for Girlfriend 3.0 doesn't
work very well, leaving undesirable traces of the application in the
system. Another identified problem is that all versions of Girlfriend have
annoying little messages about the advantages of upgrading to Wife 1.0.
VIRUS ALERT
All users should be aware that Wife 1.0 has an undocumented bug. If you
try to install Mistress 1.1 before uninstalling Wife 1.0, Wife 1.0 will
delete MS Money files before doing the uninstall itself. Once that
happens, Mistress 1.1. won't install and you will get an "insufficient
resources" error message. To avoid the aforementioned bug, try installing
Mistress 1.1 on a different system and 'never'
run any file transfer applications (such as Laplink) between the two
systems.
Re:It's *so* obvious where this is wil go... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Virtual girlfriend? (Score:3, Insightful)
No Thanks! (Score:5, Funny)
Just don't tell my wife
You don't spend money.. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:You don't spend money.. (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, any socially-inept twit can do the mental convolutions to make himself think he's actually a stud, but your dick - well, no matter what you do with the ruler, if your 'raging manhood' is only four inches long then you've got very little to rage away with. And there fastseduction.com isn't going to be any help at all, especially when your date starts to snigger over the abnormally small size of your equipment.
The last thing any guy wants to hear is "is it in yet?"
Max
Re:You don't spend money.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No Thanks! (Score:5, Funny)
well that is iron-ic
Not so funny (Score:4, Interesting)
Modern japanese women expect/want a more equal partnership and modern japanese males seem unable to supply that. So many girls are putting of getting married and therefore getting kids. You have heard of the baby boom? This is the opposite. A baby implosion. Even if the women simply postpone getting kids it will have a huge effect as later in live the changes of getting a healthy child go down alarmingly.
I have now seen several documenturies on the problem so it seems to be real.
I got the real sense that there was a huge culture clash going on with both sides expecting the other side to be something they are not.
It is easy to say that feminisme is to blame but if you ever watched a bit of japanese culture it is also easy to see why women are fed up. A male who claims he is starving because there is nobody to cook is pathetic by western standards. I can imagine that Japanese women have grown fed up with it. It is not that the japanese women don't want to get married and have kids. They just don't want to be a slave to their husband. On the other hand the boys are still raised with the ideal of the demure wife who never talks back or makes demands.
Having a few confirmed bachelors around the place adds color to the world. Having a nation of people unwilling to create families is asking for trouble when people are living longer and longer. Japan may not have enough people to take care of their old ones in a decade or two.
Re:No Thanks! (Score:4, Funny)
Christ; you're probably not serious, but if you are: Try a human being before you start jerking off into a plastic doll. For what one of those mannequins cost you could get dozens of blowjobs from real hookers. Go to Mexico. Or go to Thailand. The girls there are very good at making losers with money feel like Don Juans.
is it just me... (Score:4, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:is it just me... (Score:5, Funny)
And to think I got married...
Re:is it just me... (Score:5, Funny)
And to think I got married...
Oh, so you're already there
You have no idea how realistic it is. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:is it just me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:is it just me... (Score:5, Funny)
I could just imagine the lens of your camera phone being like HAL, staring at you, tracking you. When it discovers you plan on taking out the cellphone battery to stop it, it calls the mental institution to whisk you away.
Hell hath no fury like a cell phone scorned
Re:is it just me... (Score:3, Funny)
No big deal, that's a solved problem--just go into a soundproof room when you discuss your plans to get rid of her. The first version can't read lips, remember?
Re:is it just me... (Score:5, Funny)
But I guess if some people haven't had to deal with (in)significant-other hell, then maybe this is just what the doctor ordered. Then they can "dump" their virtual girlfriend and save a fat sack of cash. Might I suggest a nice new monitor and a DSL connection?
Re:is it just me... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:is it just me... (Score:3, Funny)
Well, if both of you have been partying properly, you'll BOTH wake up looking like Keith Richards, in which case if it lasts longer than that one night it MUST be love...hahaha
Idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Idiots (Score:3, Insightful)
They're not part of the demographic.
Skills you learn could save your real relationship (Score:3, Funny)
I'll give you a real-life example.. The other week I forgot our anniversary. This is one of the dumbest mistakes that you can make as a man and regardless of the experience you may have it may happen to you. I came home, and T. didn't even want to speak to me. She just looked away. Thank God, I remembered just in time and
Re:Skills you learn could save your real relations (Score:4, Interesting)
"You know, don't bother remembering stupid things like that. Even though my girlfriends think I'm an idiot for saying this, I'm sticking by it. Make every day special for us, and I'll be yours forever. I will never ever get mad at you for not remembering these things."
Of course, it helps that she's Eastern European and doesn't grant importance to the Hallmark Holidays(tm). American women have bought into that bullshit wholesale, I'm done with them.
Not ridiculously pathetic (Score:3, Interesting)
There was an optional mini-quest involving a lonely, melancholy woman who spent all day near the town shrine, wondering whether her father was still alive. You could offer to help find out what happened to him.
As a 13 year old boy with very little female experience, I was really enraptured by this quest, and made it my top priority! And even though the game engine's reward was (no kidding) a text message of "She moans deeply
Not as good as mine (Score:3, Funny)
Re:is it just me... (Score:5, Funny)
What traumatic child-hood experience causes you to lump "panty sniffer" in with those other extremes?
Panty sniffing is not a problem (obviously between consenting adults)
Re:is it just me... (Score:3, Funny)
Panty sniffing is not a problem
Spoken like a true panty sniffer...
I seem to remember... (Score:5, Funny)
*sigh* nothing quite like the exploitation of desperate single guys...fortunately I'm married and am above such exploitation...now off to Proflowers.com to get her a few
Re:I seem to remember... (Score:5, Funny)
I think the developer was De Beers, the gifts were 3-20k. If memory serves, the game was called Failed Relationship.
the site is called FUNHI (Score:5, Interesting)
here's an opinion. (I'm still too speechless from seeing the site the first time to form an opinion about it. I'm still at the "banging head on monitor repeatedly" stage)
There is a gift store, which allows people to buy gifts for people they like. Which mostly means that guys will try to attract the attention of the girls who've uploaded the most enjoyable bikini pictures. The gifts are simply a small GIF file with a picture of something. Like flowers or a private jet. The gifts start at 1 cent. And there's nothing wrong with the gifts that cost 1 or 5 cents. But, somehow, the social dynamic of showing a list of who gave what gifts to what person, and them being listed in reverse price order, means that some people will be very motivated to buy the expensive gifts. Like the $14.99 jet plane or the $30 credit card. Remember, they're just GIF pictures. You don't even download them. And, remember, you pay for them with a real credit card.
-Flemming Funch, ming.tv
Re:I seem to remember... (Score:4, Informative)
LET you go?? Man, I just don't understand what happens to so many man. When you get married is there a secret clause in the wedding contract requiring a 'spine-ectomy'? Why would any man have to get his wife/girlfriend to "LET" them do something. I tell my women I'm with, I'm doing this or that...I'll be back whenever I'm done. I cannot fathom having to ask permission to do anything, I'm a grown adult. I don't expect them to ask me permission either...its a two way street. But, why so many men let their women become the 'boss' of the family is beyond me. I'm pretty lassie fair about things...but, when it comes down to it..."I" make the final and binding decisions. If they don't like it, well, my motto is the "Golden Rule". He who makes the most gold, makes the rules. If they don't like it, they can hit the road, there are plenty of others out there ripe for the pickings.
Re:I seem to remember... (Score:4, Informative)
most conventional western marriages include each partner vowing to forsake all others. If your wedding vows include such a statement, then you really should make sure your partner is ok with you paying other people to rub their genitals (clothed or not) on you.
You've got to be kidding me?! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You've got to be kidding me?! (Score:5, Funny)
Art imitating life?
Re:You've got to be kidding me?! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You've got to be kidding me?! (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps it's targetted at Young Republicans and the Abstainers etc.?
Re:You've got to be kidding me?! (Score:4, Funny)
I heard she's into anal sex.
Turn on the phone's vibrator and put it in to see yourself!
Holy Cow! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Holy Cow! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Holy Cow! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Holy Cow! (Score:3, Insightful)
If the chemistry is right between you, things will happen. One of you will just know the right time to make a move.
Thinking of a date as a date can set unrealistic expectations.
MOD Parent Up Please (Score:4, Insightful)
Enough said really... striking up a friendship or rapport with someone is the best ice breaker ever.
Re:Holy Cow! (Score:3, Informative)
The problem more than anything is more in the understanding who t
Re:Holy Cow! (Score:3, Informative)
Second, you at least have been able to breach the dating barrier (although, honestly, I'm not sure I'd refer to a liason which lasted only a week as a 'relationship.' Not that brief encounters can't be sincere, touching, and meaningful, just that there isn't enough time for them to develop into full-blown relationships) You may have issues (who doesn't?), but although the symptoms are similiar in nature, the dif
Re:Holy Cow! (Score:5, Interesting)
At some point I decided to take the plunge into online dating and bought memberships at a website or two. Its not like things changed dramatically overnight, but I went from never having dated to having a date or two every month. Even though things didn't work out even a little bit with anyone for a long time, I felt like a lot less of a loser. Especially given that even if I got brushed off after a date, there were others I'd met mroe recently who "were in the pipeline"
I met several very nice (often also very attractive) women, chatted a while, decided to meet. It took me a while to even get a second date though, so take what the parent said about screw-ups and learning from them seriously. Most of the girls probably went from thinking of me as a "nice, fun guy" from chatting online to "nice but horribly socially inept" guy withing the first hour. After about a year of stumbling around I learnt to read signs, be just a little less awkward etc.
I think what the parents suggests about seeing a therapist might be a little too extreme unless you figure out there really is a problem that warrants professional help. For me, just keeping my eyes open helped go a long way. I learnt to pay attention to other people... those who are a lot more socially talented that I. Learn how to make small talk, know what topics to avoid with someone you've met 5 minutes ago, take notes from other peoples' sense of style. Don't copy them, but just observe and learn. I also made it a point to put myself in social situations that I used to avoid, talk to new people in bars/parties etc. (whether male or female).
I really do feel like a changed person over the past year that I decided to actively do something about it.
Well, time for me to go pick up a movie and bottle of wine and head over to my girlfriend's place
Heard this on the Beeb Yesterday (Score:5, Informative)
Target audience seemed to drift during the interview from 16-30 to 15-35, either way, seems to paint a bullseye on Comic Book Guy and the like. He was also evasive on how much the player pays for gifts for the girlfriend, which suggests the hook. Next it'll probably be people selling Virtual Pink Corvettes on eBay so you can meet 'her' special friend 'Skipper'.
Re:Heard this on the Beeb Yesterday (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Heard this on the Beeb Yesterday (Score:3, Interesting)
So at the end of her "virtual" life, you'll see how much she cost you.
And people are loving it.
Scary.
Does she put out? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Does she put out? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Does she put out? (Score:4, Funny)
This just isn't fair... (Score:5, Funny)
"tsk, tsk...they never had a chance..."
The sad thing is... (Score:5, Insightful)
Duh (Score:5, Funny)
Duh
Is that possible? (Score:5, Funny)
Is that even possible?
Let me be the first to say... (Score:3, Insightful)
Who would buy this service!?
One of the saddest things I'v ever read. (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks to that sentence and the topic of virtual girlfriends in general, I almost want to sit down and cry.
Re:One of the saddest things I'v ever read. AC1 (Score:5, Interesting)
A hugging pillow would do a lot of good to mildly depressed people. Even if you don't think it should work, apparently the body still responds.
I have a pet theory that some bondage/constriction etc fetishes are caused by endorphin depletion.
Thinking about it, that's kinda sad too.
Re:One of the saddest things I'v ever read. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:One of the saddest things I'v ever read. (Score:5, Funny)
What the hell does "hog the doona" mean?
Thank you...
P.S. Your unending creativity with the English language is rivaled only by the way Loudy Tourkey wiggles her wet butt when she dries off after a dive.
Threesome? (Score:4, Funny)
Ignore Mode? (Score:5, Interesting)
I got dumped by my virtual girlfriend (Score:3, Funny)
No jokes... (Score:5, Insightful)
Then I get pissed I didn't think of it first.
Virtual Girlfriend is a "service" (Score:5, Insightful)
I have this overwhelming sense of pity for some poor lonely guy out there who would have to get a Virtual Girlfriend because he cannot hold a real relationship. All this guy wants is a bit of love and respect, but he just can't get it. Then I get disgusted at the greedy, money-grubbing company trying to capitalize on these poor souls, feeding their thirst for money off of their victim's need for love and acceptance...
I'm not sure if all of this is meant to be a joke (as one respondant has already suggested) but since you are being modded as Insightful I'm going to reply as though you were serious. This company is providing a service. To think of them as exploiting someone is a real misunderstanding of commerce. Do grocery stores exploit me because I have a biological need to eat? There are numerous reasons why some guy may need to find love and finds this Virtual Girlfriend thing to be a less-risky outlet. Perhaps someone has recently been hurt very badly in a relationship (e.g., engaged and then his fiance ran off with someone else) and just isn't ready to date real people just yet. Rather than forcing him to interact with other (real) women when he's still thinking about his loss (which wouldn't be very much fun for the women he meets) or having him sit on his couch bawling to himself, this Virtual Girlfriend may actually serve a theraputic purpose. In this case, the company is not exploiting him but is helping provide a way for him to get over his loss. Yeah, it would be great if this company provided this free of charge out of the goodness of their hearts but that's not the world we live in. They developed the technology and need to recoup their investment as well as reward those who came up with the idea. This is legitimate commerce, not exploitation.
GMD
No, it's true. (Score:3, Funny)
wrong idea (Score:5, Funny)
cnn article (Score:3, Informative)
Virtual girlfriend could end dating woes
HONG KONG, China (AP) -- She needs to be coddled with sweet talk and pampered with gifts, but you'll never see her in the flesh, says a Hong Kong company that's developing a "virtual girlfriend" for new cell phones with video capability.
Artificial Life, Inc.'s electronic love interest will appear as an animated figure on a telephone screen. But she'll require a lot of attention, involving virtual flowers and diamonds, company spokeswoman Ada Fong said on Monday.
The gifts will keep the relationship going from one level to the next -- and even though it's all made up of cold, hard data, suitors will have to pay cold, hard cash for the gifts.
The amounts have yet to be determined, Fong said.
Users of so-called third-generation, or 3G, cell phones who subscribe to the game can send text messages to the virtual woman, who'll respond by voice, Fong said.
If she's neglected, "she'll be unhappy and she won't talk to you," she added.
The game doesn't allow interactions of a sexual nature, Fong said, calling it "suitable for all ages."
The company hopes to develop a virtual boyfriend for women by early next year.
The virtual girlfriend is similar to the popular Tamagotchi "pet" concept developed by Japan's Bandai Co., Fong said.
Artificial Life hopes to launch the service in the English, Japanese and Korean languages in late November. No 3G operators have agreed to offer it yet, she said.
Girlfriend??? (Score:3, Insightful)
Since you're not getting any sex, she's more like a therapist than a girlfriend.
I fear for the future of the Japanese (Score:5, Funny)
So, the men have virtual girlfriends on their phones, the women have arm pillows instead of boyfriends. Is it any wonder the birthrate in Japan is so low?
Re:I fear for the future of the Japanese (Score:3, Funny)
It's only low because I haven't visited there yet.
had to do it (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdot is my virtual girlfriend, you Insensitive Clod!
Seriously though, when I had a girlfriend, the most annoying thing about her was that she was always on my mobile phone!
What a week for women's rights (Score:3, Insightful)
It's sad to see the rate at which our runaway technological advances outstrip the advancement of society. In one hundred years we've developed flight, space travel, nuclear physics, gene therapy, and global digital communications networks, but we still can't get past treating women like property instead of people.
Articles like this are why I'm so excited about the possibilities of genetic engineering. I feel like the only way to get this bug out of the system is to change the source code. Imagine a world of humans without gender or race - imagine what we could accomplish!
For now we're stuck with a world where we hang female children for mouthing off [coxandforkum.com], create computer programs to be interchangeable currency for female slaves, pretend that gender warfare is actually a natural state [washingtonpost.com], and where female developers can't post on Slashdot without seeing the first ten replies read "show us your tits".
Humynity sure has a long way to go.
Re:What a week for women's rights (Score:5, Insightful)
There are some things that are simply built into the genes. Human men are compelled to have sex without commitment; women are compelled to form commitments. It's a broad generalization, but all of anthropology, sociology and natural biology boil down to this simple axiom.
You can try to deny it, argue it, or change it, but human nature will always defeat you in the end. The successful social institutions are the ones that use this nature to achieve good ends, the way democracy uses selfishness to achieve good government. Marriage, in essence, is a way of getting men to commit to a woman and her children by promising him an available sexual partner at all times.
Pornography in all its myriad forms, including "virtual girlfriends", is a way to give men (limited) sexual gratification without bothering with a relationship. Romance novels and movies do the same by giving women a relationship fantasy they can enjoy without an actual partner. Both businesses have been spectacularly successful over the decades because those principles are true.
Re:What a week for women's rights (Score:5, Insightful)
This belief is one of the most successful memes of all time, for obvious reasons; it allows both sexes to justify things they want to justify in the first place. (Men get to say, "I can't help it, it's in my blood." Women get to say, "See, men are pigs! We're so much more virtuous.")
There's only one problem: it's not true. The fact is that both sexes are equally promiscuous -- perhaps for different reasons, perhaps not, but everyone pretty much screws around equally.
Re:What a week for women's rights (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What a week for women's rights (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok, just kidding.
But you know, you're going way overboard. While sexism is most definitely a problem in today's societies, this little gadget is not a representation of that at all. How is this in any way sexist? It's fun and harmless. I could just as easily see a "virtual boyfriend" game. There's no sex involved here and it no more "objectifies" women than any other form of media.
A society without gender or race? You would do well to read up on some evolutionary biology/psychology. Biodiversity and two sexes are crucial components to ensure our long-term survival. We need to get rid of societal prejudice, not our biological markers. You're attacking the wrong problem.
Gender warfare may not be a "good" or "moral" state, but it IS a natural state. Hmm. Read some Richard Dawkins or Steven Pinker. The two genders evolved to perform different functions and the conflicts between them can be attributed to their differing needs and goals. This doesn't justify sexism, but that doesn't mean we can pretend there are no differences between the sexes, because there are.
I've seen this before on EBAY! (Score:3, Interesting)
(Not necessarily a work safe link)
Ok... So... Wait... Let me get this straight (Score:3, Interesting)
Sounds like all parts of relationships that guys DON'T usually like with none of the parts they do. Spending money on someone (or worse yet something) seems, well, really stupid.
Awe crap (Score:3, Funny)
How much you want to bet, she'll either blow a capacitor or overheat after 10 minutes with me.
Then she's gunna dump me.
And cheat on me with my Mac.
She ran awa;y (Score:3, Funny)
Virtual Boyfriend, for the ladies.... (Score:3, Informative)
The whole thing is stupid. Sounds like someone just rehashed the whole Tamagotchi thing, with a human face instead of some other creature to take care of.
HK Virtual Girl Friend is found superior to real (Score:4, Funny)
Bill Jones broke up with his real Girlfriend Cathy Smith today because in his words, "At least the Virtual Girlfriend puts out." When questioned about the break-up Cathy was perturbed, "Like I wanted to put out for that Lo-oo-zer! He was like always giving me these virtual things... never anything real... I mean... I'm like flesh and blood here I want real stuff. My other boyfriends bring me actual gifts."
It is this reporter's opinion that Bill is indeed better off with his HK Virtual Girlfriend because his real one was a total brat.
cool! (Score:3)
she may be virtual... (Score:3, Funny)
What are those? "A" cups?
Oh, so it is a profit motivator! (Score:5, Insightful)
You pay money for the Virtual Girlfriend program. There is no sex involved, no nudity, no dirty talk, no physical contact, not even a kiss.
Ok, now, in order to have her talk to you, she requires virtual gifts. Lucky you, for the company that makes Virtual Girlfriend can sell them to you FOR REAL MONEY, yet she will keep requiring more and more from you, otherwise she won't speak to you.
Apparently, as I understand it, not only does it waste your time, it also wastes your real money, and only rich people can afford to keep her talking to them. The amount you have to spend has not yet been determined, yet I got a funny feeling that they can change the setting on you to make her require more "gifts" that end up costing you more money. You might, oh, start by spending $20 a week on her, and then they send an instant message to your phone that turns on the golddigger routines to make you pay $200 a week. That is what I think will happen.
If you want to waste your time and money, find a webcam whore [xmission.com], cell phones have amazing web browsers now and the Internet fees and webcam fees can potentionally be less than the Virtual Girlfriend. I used that link because Maddox explains how to be a Web Cam Whore so well, that you'll know what to expect. At least you might be able to see some female body parts for your money, and be able to get some bad poetry, which should be better than the Engrish responses the Virtual Girlfriend would give you. I think Virtual Girlfriend is targeted towards the guys who visit Web Cam Whores anyway, both the Web Cam Whores and Virtual Girlfriends seem to have the same intelligence anyway, and the same low intelligence audience that cannot get a date even if they were the last man in town, with $1 million USD in a suitcase, a 2004 BMW, and used phermones to attract women.
The whole business idea of Virtual Girlfriend is to get the sad lonely loser hooked, until he is paying more money than a crack addict for a fix.
I hope that someone like Maddox writes a sarcastic review on it, besides me. ;)
Re:Virtual Boyfriend? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Oh yeah... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, come now! I'm sure you've turned off plenty of women.
Re:What about a hummer? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What about a hummer? (Score:3, Funny)