British commuters take note -- the respectable person sitting next to you on the train fumbling with their cell phone might be a "toother" looking for sex with a stranger.
"Toothing" is a new craze where strangers on trains, buses, in bars and even supermarkets hook up for illicit meetings using messages sent via the latest in phone technology.
"Toothing is a form of anonymous sex with strangers -- usually on some form of transport or enclosed area such as a conference or training seminar," says the Beginner's Guide To Toothing on a Web site dedicated to the pursuit.
It is made possible by Bluetooth technology which allows users to send phone contacts, pictures and messages to other Bluetooth-enabled equipment over a range of about 10m.
Users discovered they could send anonymous messages to people they didn't know with Bluetooth equipment, spawning a craze dubbed "bluejacking."
Jon, aka "Toothy Toothing" and the guide's author, explained that toothing was born after he was "bluejacked" by an unknown girl while commuting to work in London.
After a few days of flirting, she suggested a brief encounter in a station lavatory.
"The meeting wasn't a romantic thing -- it was purely sexual. Barely anything was said," he said via e-mail.
He said potential toothers begin by sending out a random greeting -- usually "Toothing?"
"If the other party is interested, messages are exchanged until a suitable location is agreed -- usually a public toilet, although there are tales of more adventurous spots such as deserted carriages or staff areas," his guide adds.
Jon, who's in his 20s and works in finance, estimates there could be tens of thousands of toothers from all sorts of professions and lifestyles. Certainly the Web site's message board is busy.
"Any toothing on these trains?" asks one poster about services between Cambridge and London, prompting positive responses from "Dannyboy" and "Zeke."
"I'll be around London Bridge mainline station around 9:45 to 10am tomorrow if anyone's interested ... ," another poster called "Boi" wrote hopefully.
While some happily recount their successful encounters, others suggest there are a few teething problems with toothing.
"I tried toothing in Tooting [south London] last night ... not a device to be found," a frustrated "Snowdog" posted sadly.
Although clearly not what the industry had in mind, toothing may lead operators toward similar, more mainstream projects.
Last month it was reported that a team in Boston had created a service for mobile phones called Serendipity, a wireless alternative to online dating.
It allows subscribers to store their personal details and what they want from a partner and when there are enough similarities between two people and they happen to be in the same area, it tells their phones to communicate with each other.
Dario Betti, of the British-based consultancy Ovum, said bluejacking had really taken off, helped by the fact the service was free.
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
RSS