Sitting back and letting the Web do the work

Of all the wacky things in an ever more crazy world, the news this week that an individual in the US has changed his named legally to dotcomguy and locked himself away in a house to prove that the Internet can indeed cater for all human needs beats most.

During the next 12 months, he will remain in the house and grounds and order in everything he needs on the Web, giving performance reviews and updates, together with video coverage of his experience on a special website.

Hardly sounds appealing, even less so when one hears he is being paid only $24 (€23.36) in the first month. That figure doubles each month as an incentive to encourage him to persevere and any sympathy I may have felt for "cyberman" disappeared when I worked out the figures. Over 12 months that paltry $24 will multiply into a monthly stipend of $49,152 and over the year, he will gross $98,280 - more than £75,000. All that and he gets free accommodation and subsistence too.

Dominic Coyle can be contacted at dcoyle@irish-times.ie