Love: There’s an app for that

There’s a lot of things technology can help you with nowadays — finding directions, groceries, cheap gas. So why not landing you a date on Valentine’s , or at least making the infernal holiday fun?
As the inevitable Feb. 14 approaches, here’s a list of apps and websites that can help you decode a crush’s body language, send a sickeningly cute (but hopefully still endearing) message to your girlfriend or score a last-minute present without paying the procrastinator’s premium for shipping.
Aloqa
This app features a bevy of channels for all things local to you -– which can now include a first date. You can search for match.com profiles and hook up with dates using this app, available on Andriod, Blackberry and iPhone. And if things work out, there are other channels that can help you pick out flowers, a restaurant (or a coffee shop if they’re kind of ehhh) or … a hotel room.
Free. Download it from the App Store.
Body Talk
Maybe you’ve spent too many Friday nights playing Guitar Hero. Or the call of Halo was too strong and you just couldn’t trouble yourself with dating during those wasted college years. If face-to-face social interactions still strike you as a burning mystery, download this app onto your iPhone, which serves as a pretty comprehensive dictionary of body language, complete with video snippets. Whenever your date folds her arms or purses her lips, you can whip out a handy cheat sheet and see how you’re doing. (Also great for people-watching.)
$1.99. Download it from the App Store.
iFallinLove
Keep active tabs on your significant other -– or send a cute missive to a crush with this app. It shows a beating heart that grows bigger or smaller, depending on your beloved’s proximity to you, and turns red once you’ve elected to “fall in love” with another iPhone-toting sweetie. If the linked hearts grow dim and start to drift apart when activity is low, you can send a “Thought Sparkle” –- bouncing stars encoded with your handwritten (err, hand-typed) Valentine’s Day message.
$0.99. Download it from the App Store.
iNaked
OK, so this doesn’t actually exist. But if it did, iNaked would be a pretty great way of sticking one to Cupid (well, or getting sued). Just point your iPhone at anyone, and they appear naked in real time. The video of a fake demo has generated lots of buzz and 200,000 hits on YouTube.
LoveAffinity
For the semi-superstitious, compare birthdays between you and your significant other (or crush) and find out your compatibility. It’s based on zodiac signs, and you can tweet or share on Facebook your results (only if they’re good, of course.)
$0.99. Download it from the App Store.
Pick Up Lines
You don’t have to use tactics from “The Game” to seduce, but this app probably won’t help you much –- it’s more for laughs. Beware of actual use, unless you want to get some big eye-rolls. Download it for the treasure trove of cheesy pick up lines, classified into Classy, Romantic, Dirty and Funny: “You must be Jamaican because Jamaican me crazy.” Better yet, browse through the really corny ones with a crush for a shared chuckle.
$2.99. Download it from Blackberry App World.
Milo.com
Shop last-minute without forking over that overnight shipping price at this site, which lists real-time availability and prices of local vendors. You can click through a selection of Wii games, fuzzy house slippers and Family Guy DVDs, figure out who’s selling it cheapest in your area, and pick it up: Sans shipping fees, and minus the hassle of trudging through multiple stores.
Free.
Wedding Mapper
This one’s for valentines who’ve found themselves a permanent better half. Billing themselves as a Yelp and Aardvark for the newly engaged, Wedding Mapper provides reviews of 75,000 wedding vendors in over 12,000 cities. Couples can send questions to other engaged couples on the hunt for the perfect venue and vendors.
Free.