While thousands of women Bloggers assembled in San Francisco for the BlogHer '08 Convention this weekend, Second Life BlogHers had plenty of chances to hang out inworld at the BlogHer conference in Second Life!

At this point, it takes a lot to shock me when it comes to using women's naked bodies to sell other products. Yet back in late April, I ripped an ad for Cabana Cachaha Brazilian rum out of the May 5 issue of New York Magazine. The black and white print ad featured a super slim, utterly hairless, totally naked-sans-a-thong-tan -line-and-stilettos woman on lifting her perfect nude ass in the air and arching her back. In small print at the bottom, viewers were promised uncensored photos, footage, and more online. Curious, I headed over, but it wasn't up and running.

BlogHer's annual conference begins July 18, 2008, and once again Ask Patty is a proud sponsor of BlogHer in Second Life. BlogHer is one of the top women's online networks and the number-one guide to blogs by women.

I was delighted and surprised to receive a personal copy of "The She Spot" last week from Lisa Witter, co-author and political blogger on the Huffington Post, with her letter letting me know AskPatty.com had been featured as a case study on page 102.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced changes to its vehicle safety rating program for the first time in seven years.

While listening to the radio the other day, I heard a teaser for an upcoming Marketplace (7/7/08 show, Racing after gay consumer segment) that made me stay by my radio to wait for the show air. The teaser was something to the effect of, and I'm just giving you the gist of what I recall, 'car manufacturers race to advertise to the untapped gay market.' My immediate response to this promo was to talk back, and I do mean to speak out loud, to my radio, "What!?