Well good morning to you. As I write it is 11:59 on saturday morning and I should be painting my skirting boards but I am putting that off to do this. I hope you feel honoured that I am prioritising you ahead of glossing!
I have been dabbling with a website called Chat Roulette this week ( www.chatrt.com )….I heard about it from Tim Lovejoy, who posted a tweet about it on twitter. (Already I sound like an internet junkie or a sad git, don’t I?) It’s a relatively primitive site, although the format is simple and, as is so often the case, when something is good it is an achingly simple idea.
You have a webcam feed from your computer, a webcam feed from a ’stranger’ and you have a text box (like on msn) to communicate if your webcam does not have a microphone. The idea is simple – the website puts you with a random person and you can communicate/have a chat or just click on ‘next’ and move on to see someone else. It may not grab you immediately, but it is addictive. There are no profile names, no personal details, you do not specify if you are male/female, etc, you just meet whoever comes up next. So far I have met several Americans, Argentinians, French, German, Chinese and a guy from Chile….but amusingly only one British person. There are so many people who use the site that the chances of meeting someone British, so it would seem, is quite slim. But that adds to the fun – the random day to day chat is so much more interesting if you don’t even know which country your stranger is from.
Yes I know the alarm bells may be ringing…the risks of this kind of anonymous site are clear…but you have to be sensible about what you’re putting out there and you have to be aware that it is possible to record what is happening. As an example of this search ‘Chat Roulette’ on You Tube. But people are becoming more savvy with this etiquette and as long as you don’t allow your 13yr old daughter on the site, all is well. On that point, there is a lower age limit of 16 years but it is quite disturbing to click ‘next’ and find someone who is clearly below that age. Such is the growing trend for this site and accessibility of the internet – unsupervised – in some homes this may be inevitable, but that is a subject for another blog. But I do wish parents would put some control mechanism in place to prevent this…it’s basic stuff….and the dangers are terrifying.
You have to also use this site with some knowledge of time zones and be aware of a basic human nature - give a webcam to a young male at a certain time of night and he will inevitably feel the need to get his penis out or remove some clothes. I think most adults over 16 have seen a willy and once you get used to the fact that sometimes you will click on ‘next’ and see a penis, you will get over this. Usually if you type ‘wow, small…’ in the text box the owner of the penis will click ‘next’ for you. I find it quite funny. But as a general rule USA are about 5 hours behind, europe an hour ahead and Asia are about 5/6hours ahead. this will usually give you a clue about the nationality of the penis!!
But that said, I have had some great banter with Americans – the day feels so much better after you take the pi$$ over their poor geography and tendency to invade places – and they think our women are all pregnant at 13 and our country is a dinky little island off Europe. In a way, both countries are right about the other. I find it blows their minds when you mention that part of Great Britain sits off the coast of Argentina, and they think it’s hilarious when you point out Canada is not one of the American states.
Some people just don’t get Social Networking on the internet. I am not addicted to it, but I find Twitter fascinating – communicating with people you just never would otherwise – and it gives you access to some high-profile people. On the other end of the scale, Chat Roulette is a bit of fun with random anonymous people and I find it’s banter all the way…but i would happily not use it for months. Facebook is for people I actually know and keep general contact with.
Some years ago I visited DisneyWorld for the first time and, in particular, EPCOT. I remember the first time I went on the ride inside the EPCOT globe - and the part where it ‘thrusts you into the future’….as far as a plastic car travelling at walking pace can. It predicted a future where people will communicate across the world with cameras and huge tv screens in their homes. This was about 20 years ago. Maybe slightly less. At the time webcams, the internet, Twitter, Facebook, Chat Roulette were not around and this vision seemed fanciful. (I would suspect many of the inventors of these sites were still in nappies if they were actually born at that point) Here we are in 2010 and we take this kind of thing for granted. I can sit at the top of the stairs and click a few buttons and chat with a stranger in China….or pick up my Blackberry and leave a Twitter post with a photo of where I am/a GPS map and this is accessible to the entire world…..or I can see what my old girlfriend is doing in Dubai through Facebook. Hmm…sometimes we take all this technology for granted.
Where will all this be in another 5 or 10 years? Well I think I will pick that as a subject of my next blog. First I have to paint my Skirting boards with a Brilliant White gloss. Wish me luck. And what will I be listening to whilst painting? Here are my ‘tunes to listen to whilst painting Skirting Boards’…..as ever the link is through the excellent Spotify.
Enjoy…
Caesars – Jerk It Out (Original Mix)
ZZ Top – Viva Las Vegas – Remastered LP Version
Jay-Z – Empire State Of Mind [Jay-Z + Alicia Keys] – Explicit Album Version
Will Young – Grace
No comments:
Post a Comment