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randulo
voip, wine, music, tech, growing young
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This is about how to screw up a deal without trying
- randulo
Facebook would fail every usability test ever devised. The list of shit wrong with Facebook's navigation is too long to even consider posting. Unless you already know where to go, it takes a strong will and a few minutes to get there. Then there's no good way to bookmark it.
Twitter has finally become the trailer trash spam resellers market that email already is. Thousands of cockroaches swarm to the call of easy money, people with already ugly blogs are showing the banners and no matter how much you unfollow, you'll get all the #followfriday with your name. When times get tough, the tough buy into Twitter spam plans.
Vocabulary is the Key to Good Expression - http://blog.randulo.com/2009...
joshua schachter @joshu (regarding #mturk) said "Some of the most intriguing uses yet will be to explore the edges of our own uniquely human behavior and self-understanding." http://joshua.schachter.org/2008... and that is exactly what I'm attempting to understand well enough to do.
Amazon Mechnical Turk may be the ultimate social network. Like others, there are sharks in the waters but I have recently met a number of amazing individuals on three continents who share a need to earn money doing tasks available on MT.
I'd heard of MT for months, but never checked it out. Then I needed to transcribe a tech conference so I decided to risk about $30 to do this. The going rate online is $90-$150 for an hour of audio. Six workers did 10 minutes each, mostly very good jobs.
- randulo
Too lazy to blog, so I continue to tell myself my story :)
- randulo
I assembled a few of workers (or Turkers, as they're called) and had a voice chat on Talkshoe: http://tr.im/amtchat is the result. If you go near the middle part and listen to the stories of these people from the USA and India, you can't help but see the potential
- randulo
With that potential is an ocean of possible abuses: ridiculously low wages, scams of all kinds preying on the needy, sharks out there making a little too much money on the backs of honest people, wacko schemes to get clickthoughs, etc.
- randulo
I see now that short articles we've commissioned on things like travel could be outsourced in this way and in fact have met and discussed this with a professional writer whose work I've looked at, so you aren't working totally blind.
- randulo
Another problem is that as a requester, you can reject work and not pay a penny. Some requesters do so and then USE the work anyway. This is unconscionable to me, but they're out there. There is no apparent recourse to Amazon.
- randulo
It's also extremely odd that thje web interface to AMT sucks, yet Amazon practically wrote the book on usability. They are probably waiting for thirdy party developers to do better ones with the API.
- randulo
If you are reading this, and I know few people do, please take a look at MT (http://www.mturk.com) or better yet, listen to what a woman who lost her job and learned she was pregnant the same day has to say: http://tr.im/amtchat
- randulo
June 12th, 2009, Tim O'Reilly: "Folks don't understand how impt mturk is." I'm feeling this now!
- randulo
Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon, Interview | Reign of Terroir - http://reignofterroir.com/2008...
Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard needs no introduction. I shall not attempt one here. I will, however, suggest interested readers take a look at a recent post at Appellation America...
- randulo
Doon north / Bonny Doon Vineyard founder Randall Grahm's midlife crisis prompts an investment in Washington state - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin...
no one expected that the Californian interloper would be the psychedelia-wielding proprietor of Bonny Doon Vineyard, known for his bizarre blends and through-the-looking-glass labels. Yet there it is: Randall Grahm has come to town.
- randulo
The Do Over - Bonny Doone Vineyard - Biodynamic Winemaker - http://www.inc.com/magazin...
Randall Grahm produced good wines and great, funny marketing campaigns. But along the way to success, he realized someone wasn't taking him seriously. That would be himself. Time to get back to the dream.
- randulo
Tuesday @ 12 Noon EDT: Randall Grahm - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
Armagnac and how it differs from Cognac - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
Croatian Wines - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
Turkish Delights - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
Ginger Vodka! - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
Video Vinexpo 2009 in Bordeaux, an entertaining look at this huge wine trade show: http://www.youtube.com/watch... - I didn't taste a drop, but I'll be going back tomorrow.
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Today: Zinfandel Madness in Bordeaux! - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
This is what Vinexpo is like - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
Vinexpo 2009: Spain, Emilio Miró Salvat (Reus) - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
Economic Crisis? I Got Yer Crisis Right Here - http://www.newwineconsumer.com/2009...
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