Ever since its inception, one of the internet's most commonly used features is the limitless pool of jokes and wacky pictures. Millions of people around the world devote large chunks of time to this phenomenon, particularly college students who can't get enough of dorm room gags, especially if they involve beer, bloopers, and topless girls. In the winter of 2000, connoisseurs of college humor and aspiring business students Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen created a website that would cater to this discerning demographic of eighteen to twenty-four-year-olds, giving students a forum for their often tasteless, crass comedy. The pair, friends since the sixth grade in Baltimore where they grew up, had the goal of finding enough online advertisers to pay for their beer (a considerable campus expense) and creating a website " fully dedicated to grinding your academic efforts to a halt." There was never a business plan. " The greatest thing about starting a business in college," says Abramson, " is that there is very little risk." There was a $30 a month server fee and that's it.