Digital panhandling beats standing on a street corner

Homeless and others down on their luck turning to the Internet

Everything else is moving online, why not panhandling? The Boston Globe this morning has a story about the growing trend of the homeless and unemployed looking for hand-outs on the Internet instead of on the street.

From the article:

Some homeless people now have blogs where they seek donations. There are web forums where the homeless exchange ideas, sites where people can donate money, and bulletin boards where penniless artists and foreclosure victims ask for cash. There's even a Wikipedia entry for "Internet begging,'' which is one of more than 3 million websites listed by a Google search of the term.

Better than the alternative? I guess so. Still sad.