Web Surfing
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 14, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 www.eCRUSH.com
E-Crush www.eCRUSH.com
For anyone who knew somebody they wanted as their valentine
yesterday, but just didn’t find the right time to express
their feelings, there is a way for redemption ““ eCRUSH.com.
Launched on Valentine’s Day 1999, the site offers a novel
method for finding out if an already familiar person likes you
through the anonymity of cyberspace. Registering on eCRUSH.com is
simple: a sitegoer types in their name, e-mail address and other
personal information and the names and e-mail addresses of the
person(s) they have a soft spot for. The user can then elect to
have eCRUSH.com send the “crush” an e-mail asking them
to go to the site and register themselves also. After registering,
the crush can then put in the names of people that they have a
crush on. If the two people name each other on their crush lists,
the site sends both of them a message announcing they have a match
and supplies a link to where they can meet on the Web site. The
site boasts many other useful features as well. There are various
interactive games users can play in addition to quizzes with titles
like, “How do you rate as a date?” and “Will you
be a lover or a loner this Valentine’s Day?” Two flashy
games are the on-site fortune tellers. One is a magic eight
ball-type oracle that tells a person if they are compatible with
the celebrity of their dreams. The other answers questions in the
format of a cootie catcher, the fortune-telling device from
elementary school which consists of a piece of folded paper with
the four corners and various folds. Both fortune-telling games are
at least slightly amusing for novelty’s sake. In addition to
the games, eCRUSH.com contains true stories spotlighting those
dates from hell and those dates where everything just worked out
right. Users can read and rate the experiences of others as well as
report their own. The site also maintains a list of pick-up lines
that users can choose from to aid them in their adventures of love.
They can vote on any of them or contribute their own. For people
who are looking for someone completely new, eCRUSH.com also offers
regular personal ads. Overall, the site’s variety of features
makes for an interesting experience. The user may come to the site
to find their match, but stay for the other features.
Chris Young Rating: 7
Love Calculator www.lovecalculator.com
During our childhood, love matching games such as MASH provided
endless bouts of fun. Now, the much more mature and advanced young
adult can enjoy such pursuits via the World Wide Web. At
lovecalculator.com, such a device is offered to Internet users,
with the compatibility of couples determined by “Doctor
Love.” According to the site, a name can tell a lot about a
person, and hence can be used to determine the percentage
possibility a couple has to survive. The site notes that Dr.
Love’s advice should be used as an effective method to
determine whether investing time and energy into a current or
future relationship is worthwhile. Users can either check out the
compatibility between themselves and a dream partner, or the
lasting potential of an existing relationship. Lovecalculator.com
covers itself, however, adding a disclaimer to go along with Dr
Love’s advice. “It’s not possible to get 100
percent probability, therefore there’s no guarantee of any
kind that the relationship will work out between these two
people,” the site says. “The creators of this program
are in no way liable of any actions which might be taken by users
of this program. Please note that this site has no serious
intention whatsoever.” Further “Love Links” are
also provided to such intriguing sites as virtualkiss.com, which
comes complete with an virtual kissing booth. For users who may
want to keep calculating their love chances, the game is further
available for download and use off-line, making it possible for
site-goers to share the fun with all their friends.
Barbara McGuire Rating: 6
Who Do You Love?
www.whodoyoulove.com
For those who may have missed yesterday’s chance to
express their true love, fret not, there is still time and ways to
let that special someone know just how wonderful they are. At
whodoyoulove.com, Web users can send love cards that are applicable
for any day, get love advice on how to approach a crush and even
print out some love coupons to pass out to that special someone.
Especially interesting, is their translation link which informs
users how to say the three magical words, “I love you,”
in over 100 languages. Who knows, it could just be the Hawaiian
translation that would make that special someone’s heart
melt. For the superstitious type, whodo-youlove.com also offers a
“love astrology” section. This portion of the site
provides users with various options to see what the stars say about
their future. Users can check out their daily horoscope, what their
sign says about them in general as a person, as well as how well
their astrological sign matches up with others. In its “love
and sex,” category, whodoyoulove.com presents Web goers with
many useful links to sites such as condoms.net. The linked sites
are organized into various categories such as “health
issues,” “sex advice” and “Techniques,
Accessories & Aphrodisiacs.” So, who do you love? For
those who know, but aren’t sure how to break the ice, or for
those who just need a place to get started, whodoyoulove.com can be
more than helpful.
Barbara McGuire Rating: 8
