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Life in the New Sweatshop


Last week’s Newsweek contained an interesting little article comparing user generated content sites to sweatshops. As I read it and then thought about it, I had to admit that it is true. For little to no compensation ordinary folk like us are, for all intents and purposes, creating the content that draws others to countless sites on the Internet and makes millionaires out of the owners who do little more than pat us on the head for our contributions by throwing us a few new apps here and there.

This week the industry bigwigs are meeting and playing in Sun Valley, Idaho to, among other things, try to determine how to make “mo’ money”.

The big questions?

  • building or buying digital industry leaders
  • designing the business model for generating revenue online
  • how to exploit user generated content and social networking sites

Apparently user generated material is what attracts people to the Internet but so far no one has figured out how to really turn us into slave labor. We aren’t poor Asians who haven’t any choice but to make Nike runners for $2 a day or Mexicans eager to make Hersey’s kisses for a fraction of what the company was paying Canadians in Ontario. For the most part we all have day jobs and view our blogging and networking as an outlet that we pay for via our Internet providers. Silly us.

The Internet thus far is not turning people into the same types of mindless consumers that say television does and this is a problem.

The other problem is that as content generators we are still relatively free of editorial restraints. At least as long as Net Neutrality exists but the powers that be are on that problem too. Although there seem to be plenty of us willing to write product endorsement/reviews for freebies being under the illusion that their opinion carries as much weight as the product link in their posts.

So how does it feel to be a virtual serf?

No More POTUS on My Blog: Sitting This One Out *Updated*


On the fourth of July I was listening to President Bush fumble through a speech to newly minted citizens at Monticello and Barack Obama pandering to the Veterans in Fargo courtesy of XM. John McCain took the day off and oddly I respected him for that decision.

But this week, as the Bush administration preemptively pardons itself from future war crime charges (which is just scary given all the things we DO know that they did that there is probably more and worse) and Barack Obama not only is going to vote in favor of the bill that allows this atrocity but also sanctions the constitution’s repeated trampling. But wait, it gets better. He has gone on record sucking up to those who willfully misinterpret the 2nd ammendment and the Right to Lifers, so I think I am done with politics and voting for the time being.

There is such a thing as voting one’s conscience and mine is done with voting the lesser evil because there is no such thing.

Once again the two people running for POTUS are doing it for themselves. Power and their personal legacies are all that matters. And both of them will be voting against the Constitution of our country today.

*Update** FISA passed in the Senate overwhelming with both Obama and McCain voting in favor and Clinton voting against it. Obama had campaigned for the Democratic nomination promising to fight any amnesty language in it. Apparently his promises are expedient. Good to know. Sen. Dodd, who pretty much derailed the bill last December on his own tried one more time to convince his fellow legislators to vote the bill down, reminding them that they were violating the separations of powers (something our founders were pretty adamant about) by interfering with the court system (there are existing lawsuits against the telecoms by people whose email and other communications were surrendered to the Bush administration without cause). Dodd reminded the American people that there is still hope the courts will overrule the legality of this bill, but being on the verge of a totalitarian government, as the U.S. seems to be (read Naomi Wolf), who knows? It’s a sad day, people. A very sad day.*

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Downsizing to Normal is the Hump Day Hmmm


A recent documentary on the two year old Indian girl born with an extra set of arms and legs due to a parasitic twin follows the child and her family from her transformation from “goddess” to normal child. The little girl’s family and the village she lived in revered her as the reincarnation of a goddess and as such she brought attention and tourism which provided for her family and helped the community prosper. However, her condition was such that she would not have survived beyond her teens without intervention.

The Hump Day Hmm invites us to ponder the idea of when to leave well enough alone. Do all things “not normal” truly need fixing?

Perhaps it is because I am not feeling well as I write this but I have no opinion on this topic. I question the idea of normal and norms anyway. Nothing/no one could possibly survive too much scrutiny or measurement to fit the one size should fit all theory under which we live.

In the case of the goddess girl should her welfare have been put aside in favor of the continued benefits her condition brought to her family and village? Clearly the answer is no. She was already suffering the ill effects and would have continued to decline health wise. It would have been irresponsible of her parents not to take action. And perhaps their daughter’s job was done. For two years she brought joy and prosperity into their lives and the lives of others. A huge task for one so tiny. Maybe it was her turn. Maybe being “normal” was her reward.