Girl sees boy. Girl leaves card. Boy looks up girl on Web. Boy and girl meet. Sparks do not fly. Next. Welcome to the next generation of online dating, where a card with a code, satellite tracking systems and a forum for proposed date ideas offer new promise for singles.

Lori Cheek, 37, used this method recently. She was walking through the meatpacking district of Manhattan when she spotted a handsome man sitting with friends at dinner.

She took out her small black card. “I nestled it in his French fries,” she told The Times, “and kept going.” The card the man found in his fries read: “Look up. You might miss something.” Below, in smaller letters, were the words “find me,” a code and the address of a new Web site for singles.

These new entrants into the dating game say it is superior to big online sites like Match.com and eHarmony. com because it is faster and allows people to reach out to those they are attracted to instantly.

The world is their dating pool. “It’s almost like you’re shopping online,” Ms. Cheek told The Times, “but you’re shopping in real life.” Once the meeting is agreed to, what to do on the first date? Again, singles can turn to the Web for new ideas, The Times reported. The site HowAboutWe.com is a place where members can express themselves by proposing dates that begin with the words: “How about we. …” A perusal of the site reveals many not-so-creative ideas, but a few sounded promising: “How about we … get old school kites and fly them at the beach?” “How about we … give candy to strangers?” “How about we … dress like security guards and boss people around” at the Museum of Modern Art? “You can tell so much about somebody based on the date they propose,” said Aaron Schildkrout, one of the site’s founders .

Of course, trends emerge as to the type of dates people propose. Coye Cheshire, an assistant professor at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, said strangers gravitate to the same things at the same time as preferences are spread through word of mouth or social networks, The Times reported.

He and colleagues at Berkeley have studied countless online dating profiles and observed that while people think their tastes are distinct, most profiles say people like fine dining, movies and long walks on the beach. “What’s interesting about it is the way that we try to show that we’re special and unique is that we like to do things just like everybody else,” Professor Cheshire told The Times with a chuckle. Some people take a more serious approach, hiring a coach and following a specific program.

Back in 2008, Midge Woolsey, a classical radio show host in New York, did just that with Diana Kirschner, an author and dating coach, who wrote “Love in 90 Days.” Dr. Kirschner required her to try out at least two different dating sites and keep at least three men on a revolving list of active dates, wrote The Times. There were dozens of potential matches, but when Ms. Woolsey settled on one, her coach advised her: “Don’t do it.” That is, until Dr. Kirschner met her choice. Then the coach changed her tune: “He’s perfect for you, just perfect.” Ms. Woolsey married him on August 7. TOM BRADY