The Null Device
2000/9/11
Will Britain implement a US-style "green card" system to tackle the shortage of skilled workers?
A recent survey found that one in four employers had difficulty finding staff. The information technology sector alone is forecast to need 250,000 people over the next decade.
Who are the shadowy Free Trade Youth group, protesting against the S11 protests? Young Liberals? Ayn Rand-worshipping naïves? Or an astroturf campaign run from above?
Free Trade Youth is a group of young people from around Australia (and the rest of the world) who are committed to the principles of free trade for a more prosperous society for everybody.
Digeratus Primus Mark "bOING bOING" Frauenfelder doesn't just write about mutant pop culture; he also draws some pretty doovy illustrations.
Musical iconoclast Moby's latest album, Play, made history by being the first album with every track licensed commercially, and sold almost four million copies so far, quite impressive when you consider that it's not the product of a major label. This article sheds some light on the Moby phenomenon: (via RobotWisdom)
"The irony is that a lot of people who really love music end up working for the creative service branches of a bigger corporation." But not many of them work at major record labels, according to Moby. Instead, he says, you often have "these pencil-pushers at Seagrams, Sony and BMG, who basically see music the same way they see pencils and mufflers. Maintain your quarterly market share so that your stock price is artificially elevated so your CEO doesn't get fired."
"To be honest with you, when the record first came out, having the music used in TV shows, movies and advertisements was the only way we had of exposing it to people. Radio wasn't playing the music. MTV and MuchMusic, they weren't really getting behind it. So we had no way of reaching people except through advertisements and films."
An intrepid individual has set up an S11 webcam, looking at the Crown Casino grounds. When the tolchocking starts, you'll get to see it here.