08/16/2010
More virtual work
You may have wondered why I don't write more regularly in my blog these last weeks. The reason is, that I was busy researching more into the domain of virtual working.
You may have read my articles on Amazon's mechanical turk and the virtual worker platform vWorker.com. From long years of experience, I already know that it's not enough to know the URL of a working platform. You also have to build up a workflow to be able to get the most attractive offers from each of them.
I have now extended my view into other virtual working platforms. One that I have revisited, because I have already used it some years ago as an employer, is eLance.com. It's very similar to vWorker.com but it has some restrictions for workers who are searching work on this platform. For a free eLance account you only have 10 so called "connections" per month. You must use these to post your proposals for a job. Each job will use up at least one of these connections (depending on how high the budget for the job is) and you can't apply for another job if you have used up your connections.
eLance also offers paid accounts where you can get more connections per month. I'm not sure if I really like the idea to pay upfront just for the option to apply for a job. Many employers just ignore the applications, so that your 10 connections will get used up very fast.
Another platform that I have newly found is oDesk.com. This one is a bit different because they don't guarantee that you will get paid when you apply for a job. I have to investigate further into their system but it seems that they don't use an escrow system like vWorker and eLance where the employer have to pay money beforehand into an escrow account. At least not for work that has a fixed price. But it seems that they offer to handle payments and arbitration for hourly jobs.
In the meantime I have acquired some useful knowledge on how to improve my workflow to find the best jobs on mechanical turk and vWorker, and I also have earned some money in the process. I'm thinking about writing an ebook about all these little tips and tricks that I have found in my research. This could help others to earn money on these virtual working platforms.
I'm a little reluctant to start writing, unless I know that there is a demand for it. So I have decided to write it only if I will get at least 50 requests from people who would like to read (maybe buy) such an ebook. It would be an ebook with valuable tricks on Amazon's mechanical turk, vWorker and other virtual working platforms.
If you are interested, please write to heddesheimer@gmail.com with subject "ebook virtual work" and tell me why you may be interested in such a book, what aspect would interest you most and if you would be willing to pay a small fee to download such a book.
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08/05/2010
Google Wave is Dead
This was just in my news feed today: Google Wave is Dead. The editors from readwriteweb.com reported that Google had announced, that they will discontinue development on Google Wave.
I think it's a bummer because Wave was really a remarkable product. But it seems that people did not use it as much as expected by Google. This seems to be another example that it's not enough to have a good product, you have to have a product that people like and use if you want to be successful in the internet business.
07/29/2010
Free Webinar with Jason Fried (today)
I just found this in my email inbox from the Brazen mailinglist:
FREE WEBINAR WITH JASON FRIED
Thursday, July 29, 11AM EST | 8AM PST
In this webinar you'll learn:
* Why you can't work at work.
* How to break a big idea in half.
* What drug dealers can teach the digital world.
07/23/2010
Mechanical Turk (again) - Why can it only be used by Americans?
I must say that a service like Amazon's Mechanical Turk really fascinates me. I already wrote a blog article some days ago where I explain how it works. I'm not sure how Amazon is making money out of this. I think that they will keep a commission on the paid rewards that a requester pays out for the workers.
=> Read more! (Mechanical Turk (again) - Why can it only be used by Americans?)
07/21/2010
Computer workers: relax your eyes
This is another article that I found today on livehacker (another website that I can recommend) where they write about a good method to avoid health problems if you are staring at your computer screen all day.
It's called the 20-20-20 rule and means that you should pause every 20 minutes, look at some object that is at least 20 feet away (I prefer a view out of the window) for 20 seconds.
Maybe it's not a high-tech news but I believe it's still important and I know I have to apply this rule to my working habits as well. The website also recommends software tools that can help you to find out when the next break is due (so you can even find some high-tech in this, can't you?)
07/20/2010
Stealing images now much harder, thanks to tineye
Did you ever experience this? One of your pictures, that you bought from an image agency or that you made by yourself will show up on other people's websites? If they just link directly to your image, you can find out by checking your web-server log-files. But what if somebody made a copy of it and maybe even changed it?
=> Read more! (Stealing images now much harder, thanks to tineye)
07/19/2010
Free Sound Effects
I found this link last week in my newsreader. It is a blog post from "Free Technology for Teachers" about a new site where you can download sound effects.
07/18/2010
Book Recommendations: Cory Doctorow
Today I want to recommend two books from one author: Cory Doctorow. Both are available as free download but you can get them as printed books on Amazon as well.
07/16/2010
Scut Work 2.0: Amazon Mechanical Turk
Do you think, wages can be lower than what you have experienced by outsourcing work to foreign countries? I already have written an article on outsourcing work on the internet for project work, but could you imagine that people are willing to work for just one US-cent per several minutes of their working time?
07/14/2010
Ten Inspiring TED Talks for Startups
This one was just in my Google Reader RSS Feed this morning. You may already know the great videos that are offered from TED Conferences. You can find them also on youTube. Their programme is highly recommendable to everybody. It's a series of conference speeches from famous people coming from business, technology or other domains of knowledge like Seth Godin or Malcolm Gladwell. The only problem that you may have here is to find the right videos that you are interested in.
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