You probably know by now that free doesn’t necessary mean cheap, and when it comes to dating, especially online dating - there are a lot of opportunities to meet people without punching in your credit card digits. One of our readers, Jen, directed us towards another great free site called OkCupid! They stand by motto “OKCUPID IS FREE AND WILL IMPRESS EVEN YOU!” Don’t you feel flattered. Created by the people behind SparkNotes, the site features clean slick Web 2.0 type design, convenient navigation, and most important - a patent pending magic formula that is used to match people. The formula is based on 3 factors: your answer to a question (such as “Which is your favorite gadget?” with answers being “a) iPod b) Nokia N70 c) Palm”) , your preferred answer, and the importance of the question to you (The detailed explanation of the formula).The site is very quick, running on a proprietary web server.
Registration is amazingly quick, to get started, you only need to enter simple things first. Another interesting thing is that the OkCupid!’s software is tracking your activity to study you. Pretty much a big brother of online dating - it’s so sophisticated that it’s plain scary. The guys behind the site are really smart (looks like most of them went to Harvard & MIT) that we wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes the Google the of dating world one day. The only disadvantage (and the advantage at the same time, since it’s functioning as a filter) is that the site is too sophisticated for an average mySpace user. If someone doesn’t have a PhD in math and starts reading FAQ before registering, forget it! They’d leave for Craigslist. But if you’re a geek at heart, this is probably the right place to find a person you might like.