Skype could be the biggest thing in dating since red roses and a glass of wine for the lady, according to the LA Times.

Over the weekend the paper carried the story of Mark Passerby and Salwa Al-Saban, who developed a transatlantic love thang via the magic of Skype. Despite living 5,000 miles apart in Michigan (him) and Cairo (her), the pair married a mere month after meeting online.

Salwa and Mark also used Skype Video to get to know each other better. Mark, a 41-year-old technology developer for an estate agent, even set up a film projector at home and pointed his Web camera at it so they could watch movies together.

Now almost a year after their wedding, they're finally living together in the US. "Everyone around us thinks we're crazy," said Salwa, a 25-year-old doctor. "But it is much more perfect than anything I could have ever wanted."

This is just one of many global courtships made possible by Skype. According to the LA Times, Skype has spawned love connections between Belgians and Japanese, Germans and Israelis and even a
Guatemalan nail technician and a Canadian member of "inteliigent design" advocates the Raelians. I'm saying nothing.

As I reported a couple of weeks ago, Skype's potential as a matchmaking force has not gone unnoticed by dating agencies. David Finlay, co-owner of dating site SomeoneNew.com (14,000 members and counting), says that Skype allows his singles to get to know each other far more quickly than email.

"The natural thing to do is to talk to one another, not to type," he said. "It's a little bit of nostalgia here -- we're actually speaking to each other again."