The Love Machines

Valentines may now be wired, but online dating is also fostering some very 19th century courtship

After his first marriage ended in divorce, Steven Rudin, 42, decided to have a go at online dating. He wasn't expecting much. In December 1998, he logged onto a website he'd heard about devoted to matching prospective mates with an interest in rural life, countrysingles.com Soon enough one profile caught his eye, that of Ann Christensen, also 42. Within a few weeks, the two were e-mailing each other, and by February they were engaged. Rudin moved from Seattle to Fresno, Calif., found a job as an auto mechanic, and last June he married Christensen, a customer-service rep with an...

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