29 July 2002

Sylloge: Game as software glue Sylloge proposes a "game" (or indeed the communications glue standard to end all standards) that identifies a kind of equivalence between different computer games, or even other software, and allows "moves" to be mapped between the two. Which is probably a more abstract and poetic version of what .Net is supposed to do. 6:05:39 PM     comments

India (cold) calling the West; Ghana's orderly New York India Calling, on Channel 4 TV in the UK, 28 July 2002: The call-centre industry is still growing in India, except this time it's not just about outsourcing customer support: western companies are now outsourcing telesales to India as well. Well-educated and ambitious Indians (India has 6x as many english speakers and 50x as many graduates as in the UK, and they earn c£4/day, more than doctors) are taught about British culture (the British like to go to the opera in their time off), given "Western" identities (Seema from Delhi becomes Sarah from London), and then they hit the phones, cold-calling UK consumers and businesses. Some of them have bought the lifestyle/cultural dream that the western goods they sell promise. Other grow to hate the pretence. We felt sorry for them. Meanwhile several hours across the globe in Ghana, data-centre employees process New York parking and environmental violation tickets and dream of an orderly city. The Ghanaians can see that the city is orderly, at least in its grid. "It's easy to look at New York and see where you are going," said Christine Mensah, 35, a manager. "It's not like Ghana. With a map you can go anywhere." And they imagine that the city is sparkling clean. Why else would people be given tickets for not cleaning up after their dogs? "I know that New York is beautiful: the streets, the flowers, and the people too," said Susuana Okine, 26, whose only ties to the city are the maps she consults daily at work. "I can also testify that it must smell better than Accra. Whilst it would deprive us of this Calvino-esque vision (but probably not the data-centre employees their jobs, such is the demand for skilled out-source workers), it does seems strange that NYC hasn't smart-wired up its process a little more. 2:21:22 PM     comments