Dial “S” for … Oh, Never Mind

Call center work might not be the most glamorous profession, and apparently it’s unhealthy as well. At least that’s the conclusion the Filipino government reached, so it launched a program to help call center agents overcome such problems as too much smoking and too little sleep. In an effort to better the lives of such workers, who make up a large part of the Filipino workforce, the government is encouraging the workers to be “Stress-free, Eat the right food, and eXercise.” And, of course, some half-wit in the government decided that idea would be more easily remembered by the acronym “SEX.” After the media had a field day with its punny headlines, among them, “Call Center Agents need to have more SEX: Department of Health,” the government switched over to the more mundane slogan, “Live well, Work Well.” Hey, Filipinos: These are your tax dollars at work.

Your Government at Work, Part Two

There’s a petition going around in support of a treaty that would ease copyright restrictions, so the nearly 300 million blind people in the world would have access to printed material currently off limits to them. The White House allegedly supports the action, but there’s a hitch: in order to electronically sign the online petition, the signer must enter the correct Captcha numbers and letters that appear on screen. That’s kind of tough if you’re blind. And the government isn’t helping the situation, because its audio version of the Captcha symbols is incomprehensible. Hey, you could always send the White House an e-mail to complain. But THAT site has garbled audio as well. The mind boggles….

Who Didn’t See THIS Coming?

Google’s new Google Glass has been all over the news lately, so it was just a matter of time before the pr0n (Spelled that way to get past your spam-blocker) industry jumped in. The Adult Entertainment Industry is looking into the idea of making a “production” while the actors wear Google Glass, so viewers can see all the “action” from the actors’ point of view. (Sorry about all the quote-marks; we’re a little weirded out just writing this.) A story from Business Insider says industry pros are looking into ways to incorporate the technology into upcoming storylines (because everyone watches for the storyline). But we like this quote best, from a 10-year veteran of the biz: "Every new invention — if it sticks — porn will find a way to use it ... It just takes a little while." Really? She had to use THAT verb??

Oh, Right; You’re ‘Working’

Some people have the best gigs in the world. Case in point: those folks who work for Google Maps, driving cool cars around and taking pictures of everything. Now the team has upped the ante by sending a crew to the Galapagos Islands to take panoramic street views of the island chain, including underwater shots. A published report says the team used “…three SVII cameras on its diver-operated, motorized underwater scooter to take panoramic photographs of the coastal shelf.” And they get PAID for doing this? We need a better agent.