Desperately need a girlfriend? Buy a ‘cloud girlfriend’ instead

By Jeffrey Van Camp March 29, 2011

For decades, geeks have somehow been able to score incredibly hot girlfriends in the movies. It’s a common thing. But now, thanks to the Internet, the illusion of social acceptance is just one low monthly fee away. Cloud Girlfriend is an upcoming service that aims to help you get a girlfriend by acting like you already have one. Don’t want a real girlfriend? Well you can always chat with the imaginary girlfriend you paid for.

The service isn’t running yet, but Co-Founder David Fuhriman defined the service on Quora: “It is a site that allows people to define what is their ideal girlfriend. Then they interact with her on a social network site. The girlfriend is operated by a real girl. It is not a sex chat or pornography service.”

Though it’s never a good sign when a tech startup is immediately accused of being a sex chat or pornography service, we have to say that a cloud girlfriend could help many climb the social ladder, if she’s done right. No one is going to believe that Kyle, the nerd from keyboarding class is dating a supermodel, but if he nabs a moderately attractive young woman on Facebook or Twitter, well, that may be believable, for a while. We are already pondering the many hilarious ways Kyle will try to bring his girlfriend to life once his friends start wondering why she’s never around. It’s the perfect plot for an 80s sitcom.

However, there are a lot of unanswered questions. How much will it cost? Is it a monthly charge? Can you come up with an online script for you and your girlfriend? How do you communicate? Will she act out a painful breakup? Will she upload pictures of you two together? Is there a premium plan that includes texting? What about phone calls? Can you get a girl to hang out with you at the mall?

Our biggest question may be the most enlightening for those of you who are considering this service: why would you pay for this when anybody can create a fake online girlfriend for free? It takes five minutes to set up a Facebook profile and a Google Image search. And if you do it yourself, only your imagination limits the shenanigans you might pull.

Topics

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

Computing

Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain

Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Computing

I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close

Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Computing

How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams

Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.