A South African man has proved that condoms can save your life, in more ways than one.  The 37-year-old jump master, Carl Dionisio, made a bungee chord out of 18,500 prophylactics. That’s more rubbers than even Jenna Jameson’s market share, but Dionisio took an even deeper plunge—almost 100 feet. “It was difficult as the condoms are slippery,” he said about making the rope. Perhaps they should have used the ones without lubricant. [IOL]

Planning a vacation this summer? Sometimes travel guidebooks don’t give the really useful information, like how to say, “I’d like to wake up next to you” or “The condom’s split!” Sex in Every City: How to Talk Dirty in Every Language won’t help you order a cappuccino, but it will help you speak to your Swedish or German or French lover. [Sex in Every City, $10.39 @ Amazon.com]

Until you decide to settle down and start making babies, you’re probably doing whatever you can to prevent the formation of zygotes. If you’re in a serious, long-term relationship, this can be costly—a 24-pack of Durex Extra Sensitive Lubricated Condoms costs about $20, and, depending on factors like insurance and brand, a pack of birth control pills can cost between $5 and $50. Multiple that by 12 and you have enough to buy a pair of Christian Louboutins [Or two abortions! Kidding!—Editor]. Unlike the pill, condoms are something that either person can pick up at the drugstore, so sharing that cost is a no-brainer. But if your protection of choice is the pill, should your boyfriend contribute to the cause? We ask our friends—both male and female—whether it’s appropriate for the guy to pay for part of her prescription.

The Brazilian government inaugurated a factory yesterday that will use the rubber collected by hundreds of small time Brazilian “rubber tappers” to make, well, rubbers. [SIDE NOTE: I propose that anyone who uses condoms as his/her primary form of birth control should be called a “rubber tapper.”] The factory has the capacity to produce 100 million condoms a year, and by giving these rubber tappers a livelihood, the government is hoping the trees in the Chico Mendes forest reserve will be protected. [AHN]

Trojan has asked Johnny Depp to be the spokesman for their brand, hoping that he’ll star in TV commercials promoting magnums (we knew it!) and help them with their sex safe campaign in which the brand plans to send free condoms to Third World countries. DListed suggests that the tagline for the Magnum campaign be, “If if it’s big enough for Johnny, it’s big enough for you”, which cracks us up and also makes us kind of hot. [DListed]

You probably heard about the LifeStyles photo booth that prints pics atop a strip of condoms. Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush were among the celebs who used it to get a little privacy at a Sundance party this January. Well, we heard that LifeStyles was possibly going to bring the booth to Perez Hilton’s birthday bash. They ultimately decided against it, but Perez still managed to get a branded photo booth at his party, and the sponsor, interestingly enough, was K-Y Brand (the makers of lube). Apparently sex and photo booths make for a nice combo.

It’s hard to believe that such an artsy and intelligent-looking illustration (above) is an Italian ad for Durex, especially when you learn that the same company has also used foul and degrading imagery to advertise its products. We like our condom ads the way we like our men: classy, not crass.

If you’re into computer games and contraception, play Durex’s “Egg Invaders,” where you “protect your egg from hordes of rampaging sperm eager to get their pointy teeth into your jelly!” Sadly, it only works on PCs. [EternallyCool.net and Durex]