Each week, Ariel Waldman serves a tasting of the latest in sex and tech.
Adult FriendFinder Gets Acquired
TechCrunch carries in the rumors about the recent unconfirmed acquisition of Adult FriendFinder. The sometimes frightening ads we see pasted across splogs are in demand and apparently for a lot of dough. With estimates ranging from $500 million to a laughable $1 billion, Penthouse Media Group seems to have made the quasi-porn purchase. CNN asks, "You know how you'll be trying to do work, and the Internet will inexorably drag you into porn?" Yes, but we can only ask CNN, "You know how you'll be trying to look for porn, and the Internet will inexorably drag you into trashy ads?"
Atari Provided Pixelated Porn
Adult game development used to get some action from Atari. At the time, the adult games couldn't be sold as games, so they remained on sale only in adult specialty shops. "Adult entertainment" like Custer's Revenge consisted of naked cowboys raping tied-up Indians. Others such as Bachelor Party were far more innocent in their rough-edged animations, only providing a Pong-like strategy of gaining women like points. Kotaku has more cartridge case studies from the '80s.
Drew Carey Likes Phones And Sex, Not Phone Sex
Drew Carey made the collage of a cover for last Sunday's issue of Parade. The issue covered the latest in technology, which undoubtedly means they were late to the iPhone coverage game and are milking it for what it's worth a few months later. Regardless, Carey talked about his tech-fetish:
"Getting a new phone is like having sex for the first time: You figure it out and then spend the rest of the evening just playing around. Hey, I can do this and I can do that. Let me show you again. Look how great this is. Im obsessed with my iPhone. I love being able to whip it out and show people pictures.
He also mentioned going on virtual dates with his IRL fiancée in Second Life. Virtual candle-light dinners are not necessarily recommended unless you're comfortable with the occasional Furrie crashing it.
i'm willing to bet Drew Carey likes phone sex, too.
3
Adroitbeing
I'm lost
September 2003
NOV 20, 2007 10:14 AM
The range being quoted regarding Adult Friend Finder is largely to acknowledge that a deal is under consideration and substantial due diligence is required since the AFL business model is complex, wide spread, poorly documented, and the company's performance along its many lines of business are largely unknown.
If a deal happens, it will be nowhere near $1billion and may be less than $500 million, largely because those
frightening ads we see pasted across splogs
are incredibly expensive and are likely not yielding an acceptable return on investment.
Trying to screw the enemy, who is tied to a pointy, ouch-y cactus, under heavy fire, wearing nothing but boots, hat, and a smile? No wonder the brilliant strategic mind of Custer fell at Little Big Horn.
Christ, I think I'm actually related to him. This might explain why I'm such a fuck-up.
arielwaldman
San Francisco, CA
July 2007
NOV 20, 2007 04:00 AM