Bored on the train 2

Train 2 - 2/1/8
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Mugabe and a story I thought of

So today Mugabe's opposition released their own results detailing their win. I'll have to read more about that later tonight because I didn't have much chance today.

Had an idea about a story that I would love to read or see as a film when I was on the bus this evening. It was the idea of a large town somewhere, that was completely stripped of all sense of civilization, and converted into a manufacturing machine for the unknowing trading businesses that bought the goods elsewhere in the world, through networks of traders that slowly got closer and closer to the truth. The calendar and system of time use there is different - numbered days that recur for reasons only to refresh old man-power and labour into the town, and other such business needs. The idea of a weekend, year, month is unknown - the only reason a day exists is because it gets dark. This decreases the chance that anyone working there will attach themselves to a sense of life. People are turned into machines through torture and barbaric abuse through chemical attacks to the brain, the vision of a man so deprived of sensical being, he sits motionless and emotionless in front of a sewing machine as guards beat him with chains - his facial expression doesn't change as the weapons break his bones and slowly cause his death. His loss of emotion is a common occurence within the town. The story could develop in several ways. One could be that a reporter or dealer works his / her way up the supply chain and finds out the horrible truth, and either becomes a worker or helps to bring down the regieme. At this point, it could be revealed that there are in fact thousands of these towns - or it could end happily somehow. Another way could be a fun revolution from the inside, secret underground army, a cartel of presumed dead workers that have setup a network of tunnels and watch posts to help the resistance. The reporter could find this resistance... many ways to make this story exciting. Very American that last ending, I like that.
Quite dark perhaps, but whatever. I think the fundementals of the story can be certainly transposed to certain parts of the world at the moment.

So I hope to run at the Over the Air Wireless conference that the BBC are putting on over the weekend. Registration has run out, so busy it will be.
Also, Internet World 2008 is on at the end of April, 28th I think for 3 days. Lots of seminars and talks on mainly web2.0 markets, and some technical stuff.
Final note - spring is cool when the sun's out. It makes people happy. It makes me happy. Bring on spring.