Financial like Whoa!

Scrolling through the postings on Media Bistro, I can’t help but notice that about 70% of the ‘job’ postings are actually for unpaid internships, 20% require at least five years of experience in the relevant field, and the other 10% seem too sketchy to possibly be legitimate.

I fully realize that times are tough now. Many companies are laying off people by the hoards and replacing them with 19 year old unpaid interns. I am by no means an economic expert, but I wonder how things are ever going to get better if people keep getting laid off from work. Seems to me like more people having no money will lead to a worse economic situation, which will in turn lead to more lay offs, etc.

What the heck is a recent college graduate to do? Join a commune? Run away with the circus? Continue taking unpaid internships until he/she has that five years of experience (all while struggling to keep a crap minimum wage job and babysitting during the non-existent free time?

Can I run away to Sweden yet? Do you have any better ideas?

Technology... and the death of the modern metereologist

While I still have the same cell phone I had when I was 15, I realize the times are a'changin'. i-phones and blackberries seem almost ubiquitous these days to the extent that I sometimes find myself thinking I possess a phone that is capable of such useful features as Google Maps. From time to time, I find myself a bit turned around, and actually pull out my cell phone only to realize that it can't help me.

It seems like these i-phones could actually be useful though. What if, for instance, there were an i-phone app about the weather that allowed for user input. Upon walking outside, something on your phone could pop up where you select the current weather conditions: light rain, thunder and lightening, foggy, clear, etc. Just a quick check list with weather conditions. The i-phone could then supply weather updates online that were up-to-date and accurate about your exact location. No more will you log on to weather.com and see something ridiculous like 70% chance of rain only to walk outside and see that it is actually raining.