The Atlantic has some interesting articles this month, namely, the cover story about Online Dating and the Technology column about Google Earth.

The cover story is way too long to even attempt to excerpt here. If you're interested, let me know and I'll email it to you. They get into the "logic" online dating services like eHarmony.com and chemistry.com use to match people up. Crazy, but interesting.

They also included a sidebar of "niche" matchmaking services, which I am posting here as a public service to all you individualists.

Conservative Match (www.conservativematch.com ) "Sweethearts not bleeding hearts"

Liberal Hearts (www.liberalhearts.com ) "Uniting Democrats, Greens, animal lovers & environmentalists who are like in mind and liberal in love"

Good Genes (www.goodgenes.com ) "[Helping] Ivy Leaguers and similarly well-educated graduates and faculty find others with matching credentials"

MillionaireMatch (www.millionairematch.com ) "Where you can add a touch of romance to success and achievement!"

The Atlasphere (www.theatlasphere.com ) "A place where admirers of Ayn Rand's novels can meet, 365 days a year, to network, find shared interests, and perhaps ... even fall in love"

May-December (www.maydecember.net ) "Years apart, coming together"

Golfmates (www.golfmates.com ) "The world's premier online dating service designed specifically for the golfing community"

Riders2Love (www.riders2love.com ) "Bringing Bikers Together ... For a Ride or For a Lifetime"

EquestrianCupid (www.equestriancupid.com ) "The best dating site in the world for friends and singles who are horse lovers"

CowboyCowgirl (www.cowboycowgirl.com) "Join thousands of singles that share your love for the country way of life"

GothicMatch (www.gothicmatch.com ) "Where gothic friends and singles feel at home!"

Single FireFighters (www.singlefirefighters.com ) "The ONLY place to meet firefighters without calling 911!"

Positive Love (www.positivelove.com ) "Don't let STDs control your Love Life"

Singles with Scruples (www.singleswithscruples.com ) "[Emphasizing] integrity and good character"

Private Affairs (www.philanderers.com ) "Discreet Extramarital Personal Ads exclusively for discriminating men and women seeking an Extramarital Affair"

Asexual Pals (www.asexualpals.com ) "Because there is so much more to life!"

The interesting part about the Google Earth article - besides covering the technology in an historical context - is the descriptions of the implementations springing up using the Google Earth toolkit to attach annotations (clickable pictures, descriptions, links) to specific geographical points. They cite Ogleearth.com and Gearthblog.com for news, screenshots and links to some practical examples. Some less practical examples: an overlay from Blogwise.com shows who is writing a blog in your city with links to the blog, and a Flickr overlay on the Geobloggers site where you can see any available photos of the geographic location you're looking at.