The sign in the window said "volunteers wanted". It really was as simple as that. A call to the phone number listed, an appointment to meet with the team recruiter, and next thing Sally found herself seated at a desk in a small white-washed room with three rows of computers somewhere in East London .
The volunteer work was straightforward: on-line research for a local politician every Tuesday and Thursday evening for a couple of hours. Sally recalled there being about eight other people but could not really remember. Faces changed (or so she thought) and she was distracted with her mundane tasks and surfing the net for answers.
It was easy enough: starting from the top, type in the words on the list into a search engine and then annotate how many hits came back. Pass the details on to the team leader and repeat. Sally had no idea what the purpose of this exercise was but it took her mind off other matters for a while, which was what she needed.
The problem was that repetition made the volunteer work monotonous. It also meant that Sally did not have to concentrate on anything that was intellectually challenging and her mind started wandering. When she clicked on the pop-up box that promised to divulge a 'fail-safe formula for winning' at the dogs, it was out of sheer boredom rather than curiousity on Sally's behalf. Images of a Derren Brown betting experiment on TV passed though her mind. "They refunded any losses", is what she recalled, naivete getting the better of her.
The request for a credit card number 'as proof of authenticity' had her fingers flying across the keyboard before she even realised what she was doing. She didn't have to look the numbers up, the figures and their sequence engraved on her memory, such was the abuse of her poor credit card.
Another box popped up. Token gift as 'sign of our appreciation', it said. Where did Sally want it delivered? The address of the East London volunteer site seemed most appropriate.
The volunteer work was straightforward: on-line research for a local politician every Tuesday and Thursday evening for a couple of hours. Sally recalled there being about eight other people but could not really remember. Faces changed (or so she thought) and she was distracted with her mundane tasks and surfing the net for answers.
It was easy enough: starting from the top, type in the words on the list into a search engine and then annotate how many hits came back. Pass the details on to the team leader and repeat. Sally had no idea what the purpose of this exercise was but it took her mind off other matters for a while, which was what she needed.
The problem was that repetition made the volunteer work monotonous. It also meant that Sally did not have to concentrate on anything that was intellectually challenging and her mind started wandering. When she clicked on the pop-up box that promised to divulge a 'fail-safe formula for winning' at the dogs, it was out of sheer boredom rather than curiousity on Sally's behalf. Images of a Derren Brown betting experiment on TV passed though her mind. "They refunded any losses", is what she recalled, naivete getting the better of her.
The request for a credit card number 'as proof of authenticity' had her fingers flying across the keyboard before she even realised what she was doing. She didn't have to look the numbers up, the figures and their sequence engraved on her memory, such was the abuse of her poor credit card.
Another box popped up. Token gift as 'sign of our appreciation', it said. Where did Sally want it delivered? The address of the East London volunteer site seemed most appropriate.
