While I might not entirely understand the growing popularity of Chatroulette, a video chat site where users can change to a new, random partner at the click of a button, it’s interesting to see the Guardian’s and New York Times’ own take on a ‘chatroulette for news’.

The Random Guardian will throw up a random page from the past 24 hours from Guardian.co.uk, which can be changed by clicking ‘play again’.

Daniel Vydra, a software developer at the Guardian, has created the same randomiser for the New York Times too, pulling in the Times Newswire API.

It’s mainly a bit of fun, but following on from our post on Ultraknowledge and new ways to search and navigate news sites, the applications bring a note of serendipity and gaming to your average browsing experience.