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Online voyeurs flock to the random thrills of Chatroulette An addictive new website that links strangers' webcams is gaining popularity – and notoriety * Buzz up! * Digg it * Bobbie Johnson in San Francisco * The Observer, Sunday 14 February 2010 * Article history A new website that has been described as "surreal", "addictive" and "frightening" is proving a sensation around the world – and attracting a reputation as a haven for no-holds-barred, explicit material. Chatroulette, which was launched in November, has rocketed in popularity thanks to its simple premise: internet video chats with *random strangers. When users visit the site and switch on their webcams, they are suddenly connected to another, randomly chosen person who is doing precisely the same thing somewhere else in the world. Once they are logged in together, chatters can do anything they like: talk to each other, type messages, entertain each other – or just say goodbye, hit the "next" button and move on in an attempt to find somebody more interesting. Chatroulette describes itself as a "brand new service for one-on-one text, webcam and microphone-based chat with people around the world", but no one is sure who started the site. The owners did not respond to an attempt to contact them by email, and they have gone to great pains to protect their identities. This may be because *Chatroulette appears to operate largely as an *unregulated service and, as a result, has rapidly become a haven for exhibitionists and voyeurs. A large contingent of people seem intent on using the service's string of random connections as the basis for some sort of sex game. Users regularly describe unwanted encounters with all sorts of unsavoury characters, and it has become the defining aspect of the site for some. Veteran blogger Jason Kottke, who has spent years documenting some of the web's most weird and wonderful corners, tried the site and then wrote about witnessing nudity, sexual activity and strange behaviour. "I observed several people drinking malt liquor, two girls making out, many, many guys who disconnected as soon as they saw I wasn't female, [and] several girls who disconnected after seeing my face," he said, adding that he also witnessed "three couples having sex and 11 erect penises". Yet despite the highly offensive nature of much of the site's content, Kottke – like thousands of others – has been hypnotised by the glimpses the site offers into other people's lives. "Chatroulette is pretty much the best site going on the internet right now," he wrote. Although the site says that it "does not tolerate broadcasting obscene, offending, pornographic material" and offers users the option to report unsuitable content, the restrictions do not seem to prevent users from broadcasting explicit videos of themselves online. However, like the chatroom explosion in the late 1990s or the early days of YouTube, spending time inside Chatroulette is becoming a peculiarly modern form of entertainment, particularly popular with students in campuses around the world. In just a couple of months the site has expanded significantly as it tears through universities by word of mouth, spreading virally in a similar manner to sites such as Facebook. This has catapulted the site up the charts and brought it increasing amounts of attention from bloggers. The site had just a handful of visitors at launch, but now boasts more than 10,000 concurrent users at any one time – often rising to 16,000 and beyond. One chatter, who identified himself as Dan from Philadelphia, said that he had been using the site since very early on and that it was largely populated by people looking for any kind of instant amusement. "Everybody wants to be entertained," he said. He said he regularly goes on the site with a group of friends to hold "Chatroulette dance parties" – playing records and dancing in front of the camera in an attempt to bring a smile to the face of any passing visitor. Although Chatroulette takes the idea of random connections between people to extremes, its raison d'être is not entirely new. Internet chatrooms have been around for a generation, while an explosion of webcam sites emerged in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, millions of people use video chat services such as Skype every day to talk to their friends and families, and YouTube – which was bought by Google in 2006 for $1.65bn – is among the biggest sites on the web. There are also a number of self-broadcasting services online, including blogTV, Justin.tv and qik.com – though most provide only one-way connections. With constant campaigns against cyberbullying and abuse on the internet, there are still questions about potential abuses of Chatroulette and its dangers, but the site's rise is creating interest in many quarters. Among those wanting to chart its development is Fred Wilson, a New York-based venture capitalist with Union Square Ventures who has invested in dozens of dotcom companies, including Twitter. While Wilson says the level of "perversion and sexual innuendo" is sky-high – and does not suggest that anybody puts money into the service – he admits that it taps into something primal about the web. "The internet is this huge network with over a billion people worldwide on it. Chatroulette feels like a pretty cool way to take a quick trip around that network, meeting people and talking to them." Online voyeurs flock to the random thrills of Chatroulette | Technology | The Observer Chatroulette! Quite possibly the dumbest idea in quite a while. The possibility of connecting to something you don't want to see or that it isn't legal is surely quite high. You can view the site without a webcam and it's just weird. There were girls on one camera, a bloke on another, someone's living room on another and other weird stuff.

I'm gonna order one later today. I listen to the Kevin Smith smodcast and Joe Rogans podcast and they are both sponsored by fleshlight so they talk about it a lot and they convinced me to get one. Does anyone have one? If so which one did you get? If you have a girlfriend/wife does she know about it and what was her reaction. I broke up with my last girlfriend about a month back so I don't have to worry about that at the moment. I wouldn't of told her about it though I don't think she would of been happy, I guess that kind of attitude is part of the reason we split.

Liverpool's Jamie Carragher can take comfort from the example of Sami Hyypia Former team-mate Sami Hyypia sympathises with Liverpool's under-fire defender Jamie Carragher. By Rory Smith Published: 11:00PM BST 03 Oct 2009 Liverpool's Jamie Carragher can take comfort from the example of Sami Hyypia Head to head: West Ham's Jamaican striker Zavon Hines (right) is challenged by Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher recently Photo: GETTY IMAGES Amid the storm of criticism tossed up by his recent performances, the reports that his legs have gone and his body, wearied by years of battle, is starting to wilt, Jamie Carragher could do worse than turn to a fellow veteran for advice and comfort. Sami Hyypia, too, was written off long ago. The Finn can sympathise with the man who stood by his side, defiant, in Istanbul, when Liverpool beat AC Milan to win the Champions League in 2005, safe in the knowledge that football has the shortest of memories. Scarcely 10 games after that miraculous evening by the Bosporus, Didier Drogba tore him to shreds as Chelsea ransacked Anfield. The obituaries for Hyypia, Liverpool's rock for a decade, poured in. Carragher, 31, has endured similar treatment this season. Blamed for Rafa Benítez's team's shortcomings at set pieces and terrorised by Zavon Hines, West Ham's coltish upstart, at Upton Park a fortnight ago, there are those who would suggest that while Carragher's heart and spirit remain, he has taken those first few dreaded steps on the long road to ruin. Even John Terry, who Carragher will face this afternoon, stands accused of similar weaknesses. The Chelsea captain may be a mere stripling at 28, but such have been his injury problems and so consistently has he put his body on the line that he has the air of one much older than that. Pace, the received wisdom goes, is too much for Terry and Carragher alike. Much the same was said of Hyypia after that torrid afternoon in the presence of Drogba. Yet, three years later, three years older, the Finn stepped from the shadows at Old Trafford to marshal Liverpool's backline in a 4-1 demolition. The lesson? Pace is no guarantee of quality, age no obstacle to class. "First and foremost, you have to be a good player," says Hyypia. "If you cannot control the ball, or read the game, you can be as fast as you want, but it does not make you a better or more reliable player. "That is not to say that you do not need athletic basics and a certain standard of pace. But whatever your attributes, you need quality to cope with the Premier League, or the Bundesliga, whatever league you are playing in. But you cannot underestimate how high the value of experience in football is." Carragher has plenty of that, dealing with problems on the pitch and criticism off it. The last half a decade, under the tutelage of Benítez and beside the experience of Hyypia, has provided welcome respite from the doubts which circled the boy from Bootle early in his career. Yet the fact that his name became a byword for solidity, reliability and courage seems to have been forgotten after a shaky start to the season. Carragher has looked nervy and exposed as his fullbacks, Glen Johnson and Emiliano Insua, raid forward, dragging Liverpool's defensive line further upfield and away from their vice-captain's comfort zone. Carragher, unquestionably, is at his best with his back to the wall. He thrives, like Terry, in his role as lion-in-chief, exhorting and encouraging, delighting in his heroics. The old dog has found it difficult to learn the new trick of adapting to life as part of a team wielding the cosh, rather than resisting it. It was the space behind Johnson, behind Carragher, which Hines exploited to such devastating effect at Upton Park and that Stevan Jovetic made the most of in Florence last week. With Martin Skrtel, his usually impeccable partner, struggling to rediscover the form which made him one of Benítez's most accomplished performers last season, Daniel Agger injured and Sotiris Kyrgiakos limited, Carragher has had to endure his poor form without backup. The vultures, circling, have swooped. Hyypia, though, provides solace for his erstwhile team-mate. Now 35, the Finn has left the comfortable surrounds of Anfield for a new life at a Bayer Leverkusen side enjoying a bright start to a typically open Bundesliga season. While he admits the quality is not as high as the top four or five in England, the football is still fast and athletic. "It shows I was right to think I could still play at the highest level," says Hyypia. "I have not changed the way I play as I have got older. I have always played like Sami Hyypia, and I am still capable of doing my job every week." Carragher, four years his junior, and Terry, a further three years younger, can take heart. Their days are far from numbered. Jamie Carragher can take comfort from the example of Sami Hyypia - Telegraph

My mate's packed it in for lent and I don't know how it's physically possible. We went for a brew before and he got a scone - which was sliced in two and covered in cream - and goes "mmm, that looks like a nice pair of tits." If I packed in I'd end up in prison before long, my wanking is a matter of public safety.

I admire the 3 out of the 9 who have stated that they can wank with both hands. How do you do it? Is it the result of years of hard work or is it just natural ability? [%sig%]

is 31 and from Odense. [%sig%] Post Edited (09-15-03 14:25)