This morning I set up a second Skype account and I added my main ID (camelot2302) to the new Skype account. So I was basically sending an authorisation request to myself to add myself to my account. This is the window my new account received.

Notice the yellow message underneath! That just cracked me up. I haven't seen it before either (I approved or declined a few authorisation requests yesterday and that yellow warning message wasn't there).

Would I want someone like me to contact me? I don't know. That is one weird unnerving eye looking at me!

The benefits of setting up a second account can be many. For a start, you can use a second account as a security precaution to check up on your home while you're away. This has been blogged about before but of course Murphy's Law dictates that I can't find those blog posts now that I need them. I vaguely remember someone at eBay blogging about it but I'll be damned if I can find it now.

Anyway, what you do is this - set up your second account (in the options panel) to answer calls automatically and make sure your webcam is switched on and obviously it goes without saying that your computer needs to be on (!). Then when you're away and you want to check up on things at home, use your main account to call your second account. When the call goes through, the second account answers automatically, the webcam kicks in and bingo, you have a security camera with which to see if a burglar is rifling through your drawers (ooh-er missus!).

The guy at eBay who originally blogged about this also had his PC speakers switched on so he was able to call to his dog who was in the room. So you can also use this second account method to harass poor animals too!

Oh and you can also use a second account to initially talk to people whom you don't quite trust yet with your main Skype account. Then when you're convinced they're not a lunatic stalker who will hound your life forever, you can move them over to your main Skype account for further contact.

Sometimes it pays to be paranoid - sometimes they really are out to get you!