IT'S bizarre, zany, wacky, maybe even slightly odd. It's totally pointless - but, hey, that's the whole point! And guess what? It's the brainchild of people who spend much of their spare time sitting in front of computers.

We're talking "flash mobbing", where hordes of people, mainly young City-types, will, for example, descend on the same furniture shop at the same time, declare in unison, "Wow, what a sofa!", then all clear off home, no doubt tickled pink and pleased as punch.

The craze broke out in New York a couple of months ago when a group of websurfers e-mailed all their virtual nerd mates to meet en-masse at Macy's department store, then break into applause for no apparent reason before departing, leaving bystanders who weren't in on the joke totally bewildered and befuddled.

In Rome, hundreds flooded a bookshop and asked employees for titles that didn't exist by authors who weren't real either. In San Francisco, a crowd crossed a busy street waving their arms in the air and spinning round in circles. And in the latest flash mob (or "smart flock") incident in New York, a host of crazy cybersurf dudes invaded Toys R Us to bow down before a giant plastic dinosaur.

"Everything makes a lot of sense nowadays," says one mob organiser, known only as The Governor. "A bit too much sense."

And suddenly I can see why thousands of otherwise seemingly sane people spent much of the heat-wave stuck in their cars a couple of miles from a series of concerts by that creepy Robbie Williams chap - or queuing for the Sandbanks ferry.

Now I know why so many men spend their Sundays wearing shorts, socks and sandals and wandering aimlessly around the aisles of DIY stores when they have neither the inclination nor the ability to so much as change a light-bulb.

And as for all those people who flock to Wimbledon every year wearing silly hats and claiming they're there to see a British (or, failing that, Canadian) man win the singles ... well, they really are having a laugh.

And all thanks to the world-wide web and its ability to bring together like-minded people of a "quirky, whimsical, fun-loving and surreal" disposition. Flash mobbers of the world, we salute you.

Talking of flash mobs, well done to Arsenal. They've managed to have a player, (ace diver and chronic under-achiever Francis Jeffers), sent off before the season has even started. Then there's Sol Campbell, who should have joined Jeffers in his early bath - and myopic manager Arsene Wenger, who, (surprise, surprise), "didn't see" the giant England defender kick an opponent. Premiership football? You can keep it.