Intel throws venture cash behind site that encourages tequila-shot contests

Something about this just makes me uneasy.

Bragster, a London-based site "for dares and social bets," announced Wednesday that it has secured $3.5 million in Series A venture cash. The funding round was led by none other than Intel Capital, the investment branch of the famed chipmaker.

The premise of the Digg-meets-Jackass-esque site is that members dare one another (or place open dares) to perform ridiculous feats, then insist on video evidence that they were completed. Bragster, co-founded by a former Morgan Stanley employee and an Amazon.com alum, provides prizes to some of the most over-the-top stunts and also sponsors contests like the "Undies at Uni Challenge," which appears to encourage college students to take their clothes off.

So what are some of the top bets and challenges on Bragster? One member has dared another to "slap someone around the face with a fish in a supermarket." O.K., I'd like to see that, however inappropriate it may be. Same thing with "dress like a Spartan and run around in the street shouting lines from the movie 300." Others, like "pour 2 mugs of boiling hot coffee on my laptop," start to make me uneasy. Call me old-fashioned, but somebody could get hurt. At least Johnny Knoxville occasionally informed his viewers that they shouldn't imitate him at home.

Then there's "I bet I can do 15 shots of tequila in 60 minutes." Um, that's called "really dangerous." I hope Bragster has good lawyers.

[Rick Mc Callister]

Bragster

Is someone on crack? If Intel wants to throw money away like fools,
tell them to send some to me --and the rest of us reckless souls
who have gathered up the courage to TALKBACK.

[Commander_Spock]

Hold on...

... please certify that Commander_Spock and Crew are on the listing of recipients of some of that cash that Intel appears to be throwing over board. We can certainly do with some research and development funding to get the "OS/2 Warp Engines" precisely on line running under Core 2 Duo. ;-) !