“A LOVE so tender, holdin’ me close to you, baby I surrender….” Only the “feelennials” will get this reference.
Love is the thing that makes the world go round and, for one day a year, the world slows down to let an old guy in diapers (with wings) take over everything else.
Still you have to hand it to Cupid, as his bow and arrow has withstood the test of time. It has evolved from love letters, cards, pen/phone pals to e-mails, textmates and, now, dating apps.
Back in the 1990s I discovered what is called “crosslines,” perhaps the most primitive form of “group calling or a conference call.” It was the time when PLDT was migrating from six- to seven-digit phone numbers, and we still had those bulky rotary phones. A crossline, not to be confused with a “party line,” is a “room” where you can hear a lot of people talking simultaneously over a busy tone. Think of it as a secret chat room—or one of those radio groups UV drivers use to ask about traffic or just talk nonsense—but with a lot of noise.
To enter, you need to dial a certain six-digit number and press the switch (or plunger) quickly after the last number and, if you are lucky or persistent, you get to access the twilight zone of the telephone system.
Once you get in, usually after dialing several times (depending on the number of people joining in), there isn’t actually much you can do but listen to the people yelling out their phone numbers hoping someone will hear it. If by chance people could hear your voice, you can actually join the screaming and broadcast your number as well. That is, if you dare, as this was the time before caller ID was a thing, and everyone could get away with prank calls.
What I typically did back then was wait for a girl to give out her number, which took a looong time (usually hours but often never), and that’s the time you hurriedly put down the phone and dial her number. Remember, this was also the time before call waiting, so you had to be really fast if you wanted to be the first to contact “her.” “Her” because they often turn out to be gay guys who just sounded like girls.
Yeah, it totally sounds crazy, and it is. But I did get to talk to a few people, and most of them were a lot older than me, as I was just in high school then. Even crazier was that some wanted to meet with me, which I, of course, declined, fearing that they might just kidnap me and just sell my organs.
I met a few girls who said they’d just broken up with their boyfriends and were charmed by my modulated voice; a housewife who just caught her husband cheating; another lady who wanted to cheat; and yayas—a lot of yayas. I was never sure if they were telling the truth, but all of them wanted the same thing: they just wanted someone to talk to.
I guess it’s the same thing that makes these dating apps so enticing to try for a lot of people looking for love, although after watching Black Mirror’s “Hang The DJ” episode, I know a people would pay for a real “Coach.” Well, you could go to https://coach.dating and see how long your current relationship would last. I tried to do a Frank, and it recalibrated to two mins, and coincidentally my partner and I had a fight two minutes after and she still hasn’t talked to me as of this writing.
So, how has technology affected our search for romance? According to a recent New York Times article, we view tech in all areas as being a shortcut, since we can solve problems faster and work smarter, using less energy while doing more. It also allows us to love “smarter.” As with online dating, you can find the perfect person more efficiently, make contact more easily and rule that person in or out faster.
Daniel Jones, who edits the “Modern Love” section for The New York Times, says “Having too many choices is in itself inefficient and fantasy-inducing.” “Love is best found not in a haystack but in a pea pod.”
If you are really searching for a partner, the article notes that it’s best to narrow it down to a single-digit number, as the human brain can reasonably consider only nine or 10 choices. Beyond that, they turn to noise. Meaning, if you were to limit yourself to nine people and get to know them, give each a chance, you’d probably fall in love with one.
So if you are tired of waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right and ready to meet Mr. or Ms. Hopefully Okay, here are some of the dating apps you should probably give a try.
Match.com. Described by AskMen.com as arguably the most recognizable name in online dating today, Match.com has been facilitating dates, relationships and marriages for the last 23 years. It has a one-of-a-kind matching algorithm that individually improves it’s matching capabilities the more each member uses the site. Unlike other sites that calculate who you are and who you “should” meet based on lengthy questionnaires, Match uniquely takes into consideration what (features, attributes, qualities, etc.) you say you want, as well as what your actions on the site indicate you want.
Tinder. Perhaps the most popular dating platforms of all time, Tinder is better suited for young singles looking for casual dates. The swiping app is essentially a hot or not game on steroids, but its simplistic variation changed the mobile-dating game, generating over 9 million matches to date. With a massive 25-million-member user base, over 1 million paid Tinder Plus subscribers and an app that is currently available in 24 languages, you’ll likely find a match before you could finish that Starbucks Butterfly Pea Lemonade Cold or Tahitian Vanilla Macchiato.
eHarmony. Ready for true love? eHarmony has maintained its position as a leader in the online dating industry for being the go-to site for finding true, lasting love. Unlike other mainstream dating sites that continually update features to adapt to current trends, eHarmony stays true to its roots, dating back to its launch in 2000. The backbone of the eHarmony matching system is its unique 29 Dimensions of Compatibility matching system, based on years of research into an ever-increasing number of relationships.
Other dating sites worth mentioning are Zoosk, Coffee meets Bagel, Sapio, Skout, Happn, Blume and, for our LGBT readers, there’s OKCupid, Bumble HER, Grindr, ManHunt and my former officemate’s favorite, Planet Romeo. Be warned though: these apps may be popular, but it’s still best to exercise a lot of caution when meeting people for the first time. Don’t be ashamed to tell a friend or loved one that you are seeing someone you met online, and tell them where you plan on going just to be safe.
WIN AN OPPO F5 RED AT THE ARENA OF VALOR WEEKEND TOURNAMENT
OPPO Philippines has teamed up with Arena of Valor, the fastest-growing 5v5 multiplayer online battle arena in the Philippines, and will be having a special Lunar Year offer (February 16 to 18), giving away red packets for every 5v5 Grand Battle or Ranked game that contains in-game items—and the rare Oppo F5 Red.
Each day, players may acquire up to two red packets, which could contain eight Hero Shards, eight Skin Shards or the grand prize: the Oppo F5 Red. Players are encouraged to play over the long weekend for a chance to win one out of the five Oppo F5 Red smartphones to be given away.
Experience seamless gaming with Oppo smartphones featuring its game acceleration, stop unwanted notifications feature and effortless boost system, best for playing games like Arena of Valor. Get to enjoy games in the best way you can with the latest 2.5GHz octa-core processor on the Oppo F5 series and A83, and that 18:9 Full Screen Display.
HOW TO GET FACE UNLOCK ON YOUR HUAWEI NOVA 2i
Huawei is showing some love to its Nova 2i users as it releases a new software upgrade that adds the face-unlock feature to their smartphones.
To upgrade your phone, go to Settings-System Update, click the upper right-corner button with three points and download the latest full package, install and you are done. With this new Face Unlock feature, the Huawei Nova 2i is expected to stand out against competitors at the same price point. This can easily be set up in Settings: let the front camera detect your face so it can unlock the phone using advanced facial-recognition software.
Comparing it with other phones with similar features, the Huawei Nova 2i is more user-friendly, as it offer two options: 1) Direct Unlock or 2) Slide to Unlock. If you choose the slide-to-unlock setting, you can take advantage of the intelligent notification display—smart lock-screen notifications. If the Huawei Nova 2i identifies the smartphone user is not the face ID owner, it will automatically hide the information or content from any notifications; in this way, your privacy is protected perfectly.
The Huawei Nova 2i face ID recognition has three dimensions of protection, namely, 1) Storage Security, where consumers’ face information are stored in the Kirin chipset’s CPU TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) area, which achieves chip-level security; 2) Algorithm Security, which means that the algorithm collects more than 1,000 points of face information to make your phone only recognize your face; and 3) To prevent being unlocked when your eyes are closed, which ensures that someone can’t unlock your phone while you’re sleeping.
You can get the Nova 2i for P14,990 at Huawei Experiences Stores and partner retailers nationwide, or by adding P500 on top your Smart Postpaid plan, or via Home Credit on or before February 28 at zero-percent interest for over six months.
EXPRESS YOUR LOVE WITH PHOTOS THAT GO BEYOND THE SCREEN
Here’s a cute techie gift idea for your creative significant other. Because remarkable moments shouldn’t be kept hidden away in your camera roll, why not gift them with a device that doesn’t just give you a hard copy of each photo, but also prints the magic that comes along with it: the HP Sprocket. Whether it’s couple selfies, group photos or shots taken at one of your favorite places or hangouts, the HP Sprocket instantly makes every moment more meaningful. The HP Sprocket is a very compact printer that can print your photos in full color and, with the HP Sprocket App, you can even edit your photos with frames, texts, stickers and filters on the go. Use HP Sprocket app’s Scan Mode and it can even transform your photos into augmented reality. Check out goo.gl/rNA13C.
The HP Sprocket is available in HP stores and selected retail stores, and through Lazada at www.lazada.com.ph/hp-sprocket.