XTZ is GONE. In an earlier blog I wrote about the wonders of caffeinated candy. It's still wonderful, but it appears that the XTZ company is no longer in business. They took my $54 order, and no longer answer e-mails or their phone. My conclusion: they're out of business or the biggest scam going.

Is Amazon's "Askville" an innocent social community or part of a larger Amazon universe in which some people in other Amazon ventures are able to profit from the good-will and helpfulness of folks on Askville ? The MechanicalTurk, another Amazon venture, pays people to answer questions or perform tasks. Most "pay" is very small -- sometimes, it's only a few pennies. But, some people sign up on Mturk, then post the questions on Askville, let other people research the answers, and then get paid on Mturk. Not a big issue, but some folks, if the Mturk BB can be believed, are making over $100 a week. Not illegal, not unethical, but it strikes me as very SLIMY...... I wonder how many people would answer a question if the asker indicated that the source was Mturk ?

There's also another question-related Amazon site called "NowNow", where the users are given a small amount of time in which to supply the answers. Same scam capability for Askville.

Here's the Mturk BB site: http://turkers.proboards80.com/index.cgi