Love + Sex

All my single ladies - let's be brutally honest. The real reason we're still single is that we hate dating. And the reason we hate dating is that it's a colossal time suck.

'The hours it takes us to get ready - hair, makeup, clothes, nails, shoes, dental work - could be spent on so many more productive things. Like expense reports. Or cleaning toilets. Or creating a Mad Men graphic flow chart.

But a new software application for Skype promises to change all that, taking the hating out of dating.

Skyecandy is an innovative form of virtual speed dating that takes place entirely from the comfort of your laptop. That's right, dating no longer requires clothing from the neck down. A webcam, a coat of lipstick, a pair of fuzzy slippers - you're set for your hot first date.

(Don't even stress about makeup - the relatively poor video quality is a blessing for your complexion.)

Skyecandy costs nothing - you just sign up via your existing Skype account or download Skype to your computer. (That's free, too, and only takes a few minutes. Unless you spend an hour perfecting your profile snapshot like I did.)

Oh yes, I tried out the merchandise. And lived to Skype about it.

I signed up for my first virtual date on Wednesday afternoon. I was greeted by a vibrant map of the world that invited me to click from country to country and see how many eligible bachelors were logged on.

Russia - 3.

Australia - 2.

Brazil - 1.

United States of America - 14.

Yep, during a busy lunchtime in the United States of America, only 14 users were logged on. And those 14 weren't necessarily signed up for a speed dating session.

So when I checked into the session itself (a new one begins every six minutes), I kept my parameters as wide as possible.

I requested a male between the ages of 18 and 99, who lived "anywhere" in the world. As long as he had a webcam and was breathing, I'd jump into the Skype with him.

For my first session, I signed up to meet five guys. Each date lasts five minutes, with a one minute transition, during which you can vote "yes" or "no" and rate your date's friendliness.

Easy peasy. I adjusted my webcam, plucked some lettuce out of my teeth and watched the speed dating clock tick down.

Even though I was kicking it on my living room floor, I started to get some serious first date jitters. But I needn't have worried. At the appointed time, I got a little ping with this message: "Oops, there is no match for Date 1."

Gaaaaaa! Story of my life!