death by blogging

Far Side Comic

-Far Side Comic

Read an interesting article in the NY Times today.

Excerpt..

“They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home”

“A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment”

Click here to read the rest of the article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

What do you think? Are we too plugged in? Too connected? Has our home desktop become the new sweatshop?

 

Published in: on April 15, 2008 at 10:35 pm Comments (2)
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Trapped in an Elevator

Wow.. This video creeps me out.

It’s about a guy named Nicholas White who was trapped in an elevator in New York for 41 hours.

The New Yorker published Nicholas’ story in a spread called “Up and Then Down,” with this condensed video -taken by security cameras - being the highlight.

When I was growing up, I had a paranoic fear of closed spaces.

I wanted so badly to end my fear, I forced myself to sleep inside a sealed sleeping bag during summer camping trips. I would zip it all the way shut, and then I would cuddle up into a ball near the bottom.

I hated it. But it worked. After a few summers, I wasn’t afraid of dark, small spaces.

But I still wouldn’t want to be in a damned elevator for 41 hours!

(this video -and the memories it stirs up- is filled with material for The Horror Experiment!)

If you want to know more about how this experience affected Nicholas, check out this article on gawker.com,

http://gawker.com/379384/trapped-in-an-elevator-for-two-days-the-video

Published in: on at 5:29 am Comments (1)
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nearly broken noses & studies in emeralds

a study in emerald

Poor Neil Gaiman announced today that a dog-propelled-pipe hurled towards him and nearly broke his nose.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/

I felt bad for him, and decided the least I could do was promote something of his. Of course, the generous Mr. Gaiman has done all the work for me, having published “a study in emerald” for free online.

You can listen to it here:

http://harpercoln.vo.llnwd.net/o16/StudyInEmerald_full.mp3

It’s read by the author himself, is a story in the vein of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, is approximately 55 minutes long, and is a very pleasant listen, all said.

Mr. Gaiman has a very good reading voice, with a wonderful British accent - it’s rather long (the audio story, not the voice), but you might find a way to put it on your MP3 player and listen to it on the way to work, out for a run, or in the gym.

I am sure all of us wish Neil a quick recovery, and I for one thank him for the free story. And I mustn’t forget to thank HarperCollins for allowing him to be generous with his work.

Enjoy!

Published in: on at 2:47 am Comments (0)
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