Tom Keating reports that a new company called Ether has found a way for bloggers and other people with something valuable to say to charge for their services. For example, accountants and lawyers. Ether will take 15% for providing this service, meaning the Internet will be a savior for knowledgeable people looking to make some extra money.

What is interesting to me is that after years of seeing call center agents being moved from fixed call centers to home agents, the trend has truly been democratized. I am aware of a call center that hires nurses to answer questions about the parent company’s medical products. Nurses now can decide they don’t want to work for a company at all and can freelance out their knowledge. This is a really good idea. I would characterize it as eBay for your free time.