Galley Slaves 'R US

Galley Slaves 'R US - update

Date: Thursday, April 07, 2005 12:51 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

by Rob Sanchez
April 07, 2005 No. 1230

I contacted Dian Schaffhauser, the author of the article "From Offshore
to Ship-to-Shore". I questioned whether the article was a spoof, and
here is the answer I just got back today:

Not a spoof. As the article mentions at the very
end, their Web site is supposed to be up in a week.
I caught 'em on the very day they publicly started
talking about their plan and did a quick interview.

The rest of Dian's response would indicate to me that she doesn't agree
that the boat will be used as a way of circumventing our labor laws
while it anchors somewhere off the coast of Los Angeles. Dian thinks
that the ship proposal is a viable way to bring the best and brightest
where they are needed, and thinks programmers should go anywhere in the
word to ply their trade. The fact that she isn't sympathetic is very
alarming because that adds more credence to her story. Her intent was
not to criticize the founders of SeaCode but to publicize the virtues
of their new business model.

Joe Stepien of New Jersey sent me this comment:

And they may originate yet another language - Sea++.
I think I'll start my apprenticeship now as a plumber
or electrician. So much for advanced degrees.

You can write comments by scrolling to the end of Schaffhauser's
article:
http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/blogdefault.aspx?view=plink&id=383
From Offshore to Ship-to-Shore

Here is another short news blip:

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/gmsv/11326098.htm

Offshoring, exciting and new. Come aboard, we're expecting you. Talk
about offshoring ... Roger Green and David Cook, two San Diego tech
execs are taking the term literally. The two plan to purchase a
secondhand cruise ship, populate it with 600 of the brightest engineers
they can find, and then park them all in international waters three
miles off the coast of El Segundo, thereby avoiding H-1B visa hassles
while still exploiting offshore labor costs. Oh, and the engineers?
They'll be given all the amenities a cruise ship has to offer: private
rooms with baths, meal service, laundry service, housekeeping and
access to on-board leisure-time activities. "Engineers can be kind of
quirky in some ways, but they can be really productive if you give them
the right setting," Green told SourcingMag.com. "We think were going
to be putting them in the perfect setting. Very few distractions.
Theyll be with similarly motivated people who are really interested
in advancing and doing this engineering work. Itll be this perfect
place for getting engineers to work."

This is my first attempt at poetry so I hope you like it. Since I don't
want to be accused of plagiarism (there are PhDs on my mailing list), I
will admit that I ripped off the "Song of the Galley-Slaves" by Rudyard
Kipling. Still it's not bad for my very first effort, no?

For the original poem that isn't even half as good as my version, go
http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/song_of_galley.html

Song of the Galley-Slaves
by Rudyard Sanchez

WE PULLED for you when the tide was against us and

the coal was almost out.
Will you never let us go?

We ate moldy nan bread and rancid curry when you

ran into the coast of Los Angeles and then
were beaten back by unemployed American IT workers.

The Captains walked up and down the deck in fair weather

singing mantras, but we were below.

We fainted with our chins on the keyboards and you did not see that

we were idle, for we still vomiting here and there.
Will you never let us go?

The salt made the mouses like shark-skin; our knuckles were cut

to the bone with salt-cracks; our hair was stuck to our foreheads;
and our lips were cut to the gums, and you whipped us because we
could not type more code.
Will you never let us go?

But, in a little time, we shall run out of the computer galley as the
water

runs along the rusty turbine, and though you tell the others
to keep coding for us
you will never catch us till you grab us by our turban
and give more coal to the boiler room. Aho!
Will you never let us go?

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