As dating websites go, eHarmony sets itself apart by offering technology-based matches based on “29 Dimensions of Compatibility” that have been confirmed by experts to play a role in creating long-lasting relationships.  The company, which has long been serving the heterosexual community launched a gay dating site in 2009 called Compatible Partners, based upon the same principles.  A recent court ruling, however, may be changing this duality.

Under a proposed settlement filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on January 26th, eHarmony agreed to link its separate websites and better publicize that it offers gay dating services.  Among the changes that eHarmony agreed to make are to change the language on their site to say that their gay online dating services are ‘brought to you by eHarmony’ instead of simply ‘powered by eHarmony’.  In addition, eHarmony will add a section to its website specifically for gay dating, much like it currently offers “Jewish Dating,” “Senior Dating” and other types of targeted online dating options.  As of now, this change has not yet been implemented, but I will be curious to see how they affect eHarmony, if at all.

What makes this case interesting (in my opinion) is that while gay rights activists insist that mainstream online dating sites such as eHarmony expand their offerings to provide gay dating services, sites such as gay.com have not yet been required to add services for heterosexual singles.  Likewise, neither Jewish dating sites nor Christian dating sites have been forced to expand their services to include singles of other religions.

While I’m thrilled about this ‘victory’ for gay rights, I am a bit puzzled as to whether eHarmony’s previous behavior was truly offensive.  Wouldn’t gay singles enjoy finding matches on a site designed just for them?  Isn’t that why gay online dating sites have grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years?  I’m curious to hear what you think about this, as the issue is quite provocative and one that is sure to continually evolve in the coming years.  It’ll be interesting to see if other dating websites will be compelled to change their policies as well.

If you’ve ever tried online dating you probably know that finding a person of interest can take time, energy and effort.  And in all honesty, you’d probably prefer to spend these things on your date, not on finding your date.  The new Apple iPad, however, can make it possible for you to look for a suitable partner from nearly anywhere.  While some versions of the iPad only have WiFi accessibility and will require being near a hotspot, the ones with 3G capability will allow singles to have internet access anywhere, which means that they needn’t wait to get home from work in order to fire up their search.

The biggest negative about the iPad is that it doesn’t have a camera of USB port, so it may be difficult to upload profile pictures or create a complete profile if you haven’t had one before.  Still, if you already have an account at an online dating site you will be able to access it from anywhere and browse the profiles at your convenience.

I predict that in the coming months as the iPad becomes more available and popular we’ll see an increase of singles looking for love on the train, bus or in the park during their lunch break.  If I may be so sly to suggest it, why not peek over to the screen of the iPad next to you – who knows, if that person is also looking for love, you can strike up a conversation, and you may not even need an online dating site!

Blackbox Republic launched a brand new private dating site for people of all orientations and lifestyles. The site combines features of social networks with the personal elements of a standard dating site and creates a place where people can share their unedited personal life and later meet up in person.

Blackbox Republic is a totally private, invitation only network. Anyone can join, but you must be vouched for by an existing member to gain wider access to the community. Content can be published to all members, or sent only to specific groups of friends. You can also post more public content to existing social networks like Twitter and Facebook from within the application.

To start you up, you need to use the sliders at the homepage, and tell the system what kind of partner are you looking for, what’s your status and what vibe are you in. The site is well designed and fun to navigate through.

“People are used to sharing their lives online but have a problem knowing where to put the more private and personal things they want to share,” said Sam Lawrence, CEO and co-founder. “The only choices before now were advertising-focused public spotlights like Facebook, or online personals sites built around chemistry tests and splintered by race, sexual orientation or religion. We are aiming for something radically different.”

Dating sites are trying their best to attract customers and to keep them in the site. It seems like the usual gimmicks don’t work anymore, and so the dating sites are going for niche interest points. After hearing about a dating site for food lovers and a DNA-based dating site, we now have a new dating site for animal lovers.

The site, Love Me Love My Pet, designed specifically for those who love their furbabies, feathered, slithery or scaly friends and who would like an easier way to connect with those of like mind.

Love Me Love My Pet was conceived and started out of a small home in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, by husband and wife Tom and Jodie. The O’Brien’s said they saw a need after many of their animal loving friends had difficulty finding their Mr or Mrs Right – simply because they could not find the right person who had the same passion for animals as they did.

You don’t actually have to own a pet to join the site. Animal lovers in general are all welcome in this site. The site presents cute features such as “Paws”, which are greetings you can send to someone for free to indicate you would like to contact them.

If you feel animals and pets are an important part of your life, you might want to give this site a chance. If you feel like checking out more mainstream dating sites, here’s a list of the best dating sites around.

Food lovers rejoice! Jamie Oliver, the amazingly cute and talented super chef, is going to launch a very interesting dating site, for those seeking love and loving food at the same time.

The site is in colabaration with match.com, a well known dating site. All you need to do is sign up to JamieOliver.com/dating and you’ll be able to contact any of the 6.5 million people on Match.com.

Oliver’s site also offers romantice recipes ideas and tips on making the first meal for your partner. Some of the recipes in this new dating site include Oysters with Chilli, Crostini and Lemon, Lime and Peppermint sorbet.

Match.com recently published a survey that pointed out that 45% of members wanted a good cook when looking for a new partner. So – brush up on those cooking skills!

“I’ve always found food to be a really powerful way of bringing people together and I thought it would be great if we could get people who loved food, to love each other”, said Oliver and added, “My site and match.com both have great communities on them and hopefully, by partnering up, we’ll be able to bring single food lovers together and make some love matches – or maybe even a marriage – happen.”

Browsing through dozens of pictures in your favorite dating site, you see a girl or a guy that you like. Now is the time to contact them, and you know what they say – first impressions are the most important! When you write a first message to an interesting person on a dating site, you want it to be written well, and you want the recipient to be impressed by it and answer you.

How do you do that?

OKcupid, a popular dating site, has analyzed over 500,000 first contact messages and came back with interesting conclusions.

First of all, you wanna avoid netspeak, too much weird slang and typos. People tend to ignore messages that are grammatically incorrect.

Another thing to avoid is physical compliments. Yes, for many people it feels weird that you give them compliments without even seeing them. More than that, a “You are so HOT baby” message is almost sure to be ignored by the ladies, because it feels like harassment. The word “sexy” is especially problematic – so save it for when you really meet the person!

When writing a first message on a dating site, you also want to be original and interesting. Don’t go around and copy-paste the same boring, generic message to all potential partners. Read their profile, find points of mutual interest and write about that.

Looking for your perfect match isn’t easy. There are so many single people out there, dating sites are full of partial profiles and mystery pictures and a lot of people are not even sure what exactly are they looking for.

Love seekers, there may be good news for you. Dating sites can now help you find your perfect match based on DNA. Studies have revealed that chemistry, in particular body odor, plays a big part when it comes to attraction. However, you can’t really identify these traits when searching for partners online.

The online dating sites that use DNA technology are based on the theory that people are attracted to partners who have different immune systems than their own. That’s why the sites limit their DNA analysis to the genes of the immune system to make its matches.

ScientificMatch claims that finding a partner with a different immune system will lead to a more satisfying sex life, less cheating, a higher rate of fertility and a higher rate of orgasms for women.

All that may be true and interesting, but ScientificMatch admits that physical chemistry alone is not enough to guarantee a successful relationship, or even attraction. That’s why the site also has the regular features such as profiles and pictures, just to be on the safe side.

For those concerned with privacy, the site promises that nobody ever knows your name and your customer number at the same time. The computer which generates the matches is the only thing that ever links the two together. Also, the DNA sample is destroyed after it has been analyzed.

The price for this innovative service isn’t small: you have to pay $2,000 in order to get a DNA collecting kit and a list of possible matches. Well, there’s no price for true love, is it? It still remains to be seen, though, if DNA sampling is the best way to find a match.

Dating can be very exciting. It’s an opportunity to meet new and interesting people, and sometimes we can really hit it off. Online dating in particular, opens the door on many new acquaintances. Now, we are all for meeting new people, of course! Dating is fun and can help you find your partner for life. Still, there are a few things a woman should notice and beware off when dating new people – especially on blind dates and dates that originated from dating sites.

Remember – in many cases, you are meeting complete strangers. Though most of them are probably good men, you should always be careful and even a bit suspicious – until you get to know him better.

Dating Safety Tips for Women

1. Meet in public places: Set your first date (and even the second and third) in public places – a restaurant, a coffee shop or a bar. Don’t go to his house or invite him to yours, even if he sounds absolutely amazing.
2. Be stingy with personal information: Don’t give him the entire details of your life immediately. You might want to disappear after a date or two, and your home phone number and full name provide easy ways to track you. Settle for giving him your cell number and don’t give your home address until you get to know him better.
3. Stay away from the married: We are not telling you this to be pious. A person who lies and cheats his wife, is almost always bound to be untrustworthy in other matters.
4. Avoid the pictureless: Some people are shy, which is perfectly OK, but still – a person on a dating site that won’t post or send his picture should arouse suspicions. He might not be who he claims to be.
5. Choose a reputable dating service: There are many dating sites out there. Try and stay in the mainstream, and go for well known dating sites. The questionable men are more likely to lurk in small, lesser-known sites. Some of the good online dating sites are chemistry.com, match.com and lavalife.com.
6. Take it slowly: Don’t rush into anything. You might think you know the man because the online chat has been exhilarating, but remember to use common sense when you decide to connect in person.
7. Trust your instincts: This is probably the best advice we can give you regarding safety in dating – trust your gut. You intuition is your best guide. If it doesn’t feel right, if he acts weird or if you find out that he lied to you – break it off.