The participants spent around 10 minutes sitting on sofas, making calls on their mobiles at a specified time and avoiding saying the letter "o" before exiting as swiftly as they had arrived.



In New York 400 people gathered at Toys R Us in front of a giant mechanical dinosaur. It was their sixth mob. At 7:20pm the group dropped to their knees and began paying homage to the mechanical dinosaur. Each time it roared they pulled back in fear leaving security men and shoppers totally baffled.



And if you're wondering "what's the point?" well there isn't one really. The mobs are organised by subscribing to an e-mail list and the idea is spreading around the world's time-rich internet community.



Bathers at Sydney's Cogee Beach this Sunday afternoon will witness a precisely synchronized behaviour: "2.30pm Sit down close to the water, remove the left shoe only. 2.32pm. Stand up hit the water with the left foot only..."



Of course it's only fun if observers have no idea what's going on. Media coverage may mean flash mobs disappear as fast as they've arrived.