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I think everyone would enjoy predictions about the Internet circa 1995.

But the aspects of the Internet that I would like to underscore are those which instantiate new forms of interaction and which pose the question of new kinds of relations of power between participants. The question that needs to be asked about the relation of the Internet to democracy is this: are there new kinds of relations occuring within it which suggest new forms of power configurations between communicating individuals? In other words, is there a new politics on the Internet? One way to approach this question is to make a detour from the issue of technology and raise again the question of a public sphere, gauging the extent to which Internet democracy may become intelligible in relation to it.

Mark Poster, “CyberDemocracy: Internet and the Public Sphere”, 1995

Taxi passengers in the Washington area can now pay for their rides using credit card machines that do more than accept money: Barwood Taxi of Kensington has installed the area’s first touch-screen self-payment video devices in 200 taxis. (WaPo)

SAN DIEGO, California — People in the dating scene will be able to use iPhones as “sleaze detectors” to quickly check whether aspiring mates are creeps or gems.

Background-check powerhouse Intelius on Tuesday used a DEMO technology startup conference to introduce a DateCheck application that lets Apple’s globally popular smart phones be used to expose information people are hiding.

“Records don’t lie, but people do,” Intelius product marketing manager Katherine Herman said during an on-stage demonstration.

“DateCheck is tougher on my dates than even my Dad was.”

DateCheck users armed with names and telephone numbers can mine the gargantuan Intelius database to uncover whether people seeking romantic connections fail to mention unflattering facts such as criminal pasts or current spouses. (*)

The only place I was consistently rejected from as a non-21 year old was the continental president’s club. Despite repeated attempts, they refused to budge even in light of my promises to not even go near the bar, much less get sloppy pre-flight.

Even with mediocre coffee and airline-esque muffins, it’s a pretty huge personal win to finally be 21 and allowed in without my parents.

I should probably submit my friends’ profiles to this, right?

You’ve probably heard the line before that Georgetown “just isn’t a dating school.” Vox thinks it may have something to do with students’ tendencies to meet over solo cups instead of over coffee—and we think it’s high time that Hoyas try the latter.

So in the grand tradition of the Washington Post’s Date Lab series, Vox is setting out to play matchmaker for Georgetown students. Every two weeks, we’re going to select two students to meet up at Uncommon Grounds on a Saturday afternoon, where the Corp will generously provide free tea, coffee, and bagels.

We’re all a little voyeuristic, so afterwards, we’re going to ask participants to tell us a little bit about how the date went so we can tell our blog readers. A Voice photographer may pop in to UG to snap your photo, too.

Students will be selected from among those who respond to our survey, so get moving! It’s time to meet someone new—and get free bagels as part of the deal.