Yet another intriguing niche dating state has been created. This one is for virgins to meet other virgins.

Not surprisingly, some of the articles about it do have a somewhat cynical tone. Take this one, in which the writer says that even though the site is intended for those with pure intentions, "I confess to having a crisis of confidence in the purity of everyone who might sign up".

Lately the idea of sexually assertive older women ("cougars") actively pursuing younger men has become very popular in the media. There have been countless reports on this phenomenon, and even a popular comedy series starring Courtney Cox. Sadly, a recent study has shown the trend to be something of a myth.

It's not surprising. Often ideas promoted by Hollywood are found to be largely false. Think of the successful American cop shows and the many cliches, conventions and stereotypes they rely on. One thing that real law enforcement officers must find consistently laughable is the speed with which fictional detectives solve crimes and apprehend the criminals.

Sure, there's more than a grain of truth in these shows, but that becomes heavily distorted by the need to tell a compelling story and be entertaining. I think the same could be said of the cougar phenomenon.

From time to time dating sites survey their members on various issues and release the results to the media. It's a clever tactic, since it serves to promote these sites as well as offer some interesting (and often entertaining) information.

A recent example: Ok Cupid has found that iPhone users are more sexually active than those who use the Android phone.

The methodology might not be the best, but it certainly makes for an amusing story. And it will probably increase sales of the iPhone a little, too!

Comedians often use sex as inspiration for their material. This has a lot to do with people's anxiety about sex, which can be increased and then released by the humorist.

Sex and humor have something else in common: They are often among the first things that totalitarian regimes try to stamp out when they take power.

We're certainly not living in a totalitarian state in Australia. However, governments of all stripes do have a tendency to seek more power over people's lives than less. (And freedom of expression is certainly an issue that many people are concerned about now. The present Labor Government's plans to filter the internet have a lot of people really angry - and not just social libertarians.)

For these reasons it's not surprising that the famous comedian Sandy Gutman - aka "Austen Tayshus" - is running as a candidate for the determinedly anti-censorship Australian Sex Party.

Hugh Hefner has been interviewed by Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper. He will certainly have angered feminists yet again with his comment that "women are sex objects".

Still, his unreconstructed attitudes to women certainly haven't made him any less popular with the many beautiful girls he spends his days and nights cavorting with. His obvious hedonism hasn't done any harm to his health, either! Even his worst enemies would have to admit he's in very fine shape for a man in his eighties.