Julia Freidman ’11
Staff Writer

As a master procrastinator, I am always looking for new ways to slack off. Usually this consists

of cheap forms of entertainment.

For instance, watching episodes of iCarly, checking out the failblog channel on Youtube, or

googling pictures of Tyler Hansbrough, a basketball player.

My newest past time to waste time has been the website Chat Roulette, a site where you talk to strangers around the country and around the world.

Basically, it’s Omegle withsound and video.

I know what this sounds like a site for pedophiles and perverts.

And it is.

I will admit I have seen more body parts than I will ever need to.

A large portion of the site’s users are just looking to get girls to flash their you-know-whats.

Some use a more subtle approach of simply exposing themselves, while others cleverly hold up signs that read “T*ts for Haiti.”

While Chat Roulette is basically a pedophile heaven, it’s not all bad.

The good thing about rouletting is the “next” button. Whenever you come across an unwanted

stranger you simply click and move on to the next person.

The reason that Chat Roulette is so damn addicting is that you never know what you’re going

to get when you click that next button.

It could be a group of college kids at a party, a classroom full of Chinese students, or a guy playing

guitar with his teeth.

Whatever the case may be, you can count on being entertained.

I myself have run into a few interesting people on the site. One was a student from the University

of Rhode Island who was an avid basketball fan, an interest we both shared.

Unfortunately he was convinced Lebron is the best player in the NBA. A ridiculous notion if

you’ve ever seen Kobe Bryant before.

We debated, shared our opinions, and eventually wound up talking about NBA live.

It turned out he was crchuck97. I had just played against him last week.

Another, was a 20-year-old on an army base out in New Hampshire.

We got to talking, and I found out he lives in Fairfield.

His family owns the Spic and Span Market, a deli my brother and I frequent.

I must have seen him there a million times.

Sometimes on Chat Roulette you run into people you know. Clearly this has happened to me.

But it’s even more fun when you talk to an actual stranger.

You can make up a completely new identity and just run with it.

For instance, last week I was wearing a Yale Basketball t-shirt.

When a stranger asked me where I went to school, I simply just showed him my shirt.

No harm done.

For the next 15 minutes or so I kept with the story– describing the team there, my classes, my

roommates, etc, to this guillible stranger.

Finally, he asked me my name so he could look me up on the roster.

I nexted him.