Hello, friend. This is an episode of Note to Self, but from when we used to be called New Text City, same good content, just the old name. Enjoy.

Hi, it's Manou Samarote, the host of New Text City, and I think you have to agree there is something just so seductive about new technology.

Many of those startup ideas out there, they just sound amazing!

It's a fantastic example of how technology is creating a market for things that never had a marketplace before.

The entrepreneurs and coders have this infectious enthusiasm.

I'm really, really excited to be here today because I'm about to show you some stuff that's just ready to come out of the lab, literally.

And I really, really think this is going to change the way we interact with machines from this point on.

And sometimes when my natural skepticism kicks in, I try to cajole myself back into sharing that can do feeling of wonder.

But then I'll get a reality check.

It was less than $3 an hour, and they don't allow you to set an hourly wage that's lower than minimum wage.

But there are a lot of situations where you get into working for less than minimum wage.

I'll remember that if a new way of living sounds too good to be true, well then it might just be too good to be true.

This week, stories from the gig economy, trying to make it as a micro entrepreneur, taking one-off jobs, posted on websites like taskrabbit, fiver, and postmates.

If you don't know what these are, don't worry, we'll explain.

That wing of the economy is poised to boom, but it's unclear who the winners will be.

Fancy hands, you can employ somebody to be your personal assistant.

There's kitchen surfing, that's Sarah Kessler.

She's a writer for Fast Company, and she decided to test out the lifestyle that these platforms are pitching.

The idea is that you can have a better life and a better way of being employed by taking all these different odd jobs and working whenever you want.

And for how much you want, and doing the things that you love, rather than what your boss tells you to do, and you can be a little business, a micro entrepreneur.

Why not do the work you want when you want?

I thought it sounded great. I wrote a story where I found some of these people who were doing this successfully, and I went into it pretty optimistic.

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