August 2009
47 posts
Tucked away for a rainy day
I got into this Amazon Mechanical Turk gig to make a little extra money. I first noticed, to my disappointment, that most of the hits pay just pennies. At first, I thought accepting a job would waste my time. But I calculated that doing a couple of jobs each night (say, 30-45 minutes I would normally spend randomly surfing the Web anyway) could eventually prove helpful with some smaller financial...
I do this while I'm drinking and smoking and in my...
I use mechanical turk to make some extra money because I make minimum wage at my regular job. Things are expensive and the money I earn online helps out a lot. I am from the United States of America and am 24 years old. I graduated from Penn State and live in State College, PA. I do the 1 - 5 cent jobs for hours at a time to make a lot less than minimum wage. But I do this while I’m drinking...
Why settle for a 3.5 GPA when I could get a 4.0
Ugh. The economy sucks these days, no? I can’t find a job anywhere. Not the local amusement park, not the nearby mall, not even the fast food joints down the street were willing to give me a job for the summer. I’m a good worker. Reliable and smart, cheerful and perky, always on time, and never grumpy when sufficiently caffeinated. But I’m small, at 5’0”, I frequently...
I like to ask questions about quantum physics
I’m fairly new to MTurk. I have a graduate research degree. I learned about MTurk from a student project server at a graduate art school where they post current student projects and I noticed this. It had a project status and completion screen on Amazon that a student was participating in, and I was intrigued. I read a little about it as an interesting form of entertainment, and I’ve found now...
The funny thing is I still cry on Palm Sunday
My husband and I were desperately trying to have a baby. We went to doctors, tried medical procedures and read all the information we could. I also cried a lot. My husband wanted a child very much also but he tried to tell me being the two of us was OK too. I was not convinced. On Palm Sunday morning we went to church as usual. In our church, it is tradition on Palm Sunday for the children’s...
The Birth of my Second Daughter
The Birth of my Second Daughter It is about one and a half years ago. I was appointed to work overseas for service intervention to one of our customers in Vietnam. The customer’s machine got a problem and I came to the site to repair it. The machine was under warranty. At the same time my wife was pregnant for second time. I estimated that the work would be done maximum one week. But...
We both ditched work the week of Mothers day
It was a slow Sunday morning at home,my wife and I were just hanging out when the talk turned to Mothers Day.The day in question was only about a week away and did I have any plans,twenty four years of marriage had trained me to pickup on hints like that.Twenty four years had yet to train me in quick insightful responses.Putting on what I hoped was a thoughtful face,I paused,paused some more and...
David ran onto the stage the arena filled with...
Well David Cassidy was plastered from top to bottom all over my bedroom walls, my record shelf was full of all his songs including cherish, how can i be sure etc, the partridge family i watched with awe glued to every scene, a member of his fan club i finally was able to get my hands on two tickets to his Wembley London concert. The day had arrived my dad drove me and a girlfriend to London for...
I find that I am able to weed out the information...
I am a Mechanical Turker. Admittedly, I was a little skeptical about making money on the Internet; one can be so easily scammed these days, but when a trusted friend told me about the site I decided to check it out. This is such a great way to make a little bit of extra money in one’s spare time. I have been able to make enough money to buy some of my textbooks already, and I am looking...
There were eight or so object images
I’m currently a college student. By the time I came back from college, all of the seasonal summer jobs were taken. I have noticed that it’s been pretty hard for my fellow classmates to find jobs as well. It did not help that I was not in the area to apply for jobs early on. I also had the disadvantage of no prior work experience and no connections that would refer me to job openings. Thus, I...
I find myself doing anything I can to make money
Not only are employees at companies around the world being affected by the current economic crisis, but so are graduate students! I’m a graduate student at a prestigious University, who lost his stipend money when the project he was working on was cut. I have to finish the project in order to get my degree, but I no longer have any sort of income! Thus, I find myself doing anything I can to...
I did this HIT even though it is late
Times are tough. Everyone I know is struggling. Those with good jobs are keeping their heads above water; those with jobs that are having their hours cut are sinking beneath the high costs of housing, energy and food. We are walking in a depression and don’t even know it. The American gloom is pervasive and my friends don’t know why they can’t get happy. There’s just not...
In a few months, I'll burn up again
I’ve a good job, good friends a decent car and I’ve been in debt for the past few years, every time I’ve been about to get out of debt, something happens and I stay in the same situation, so, usually, I’ve little to no money to spend on my hobbies, which is kind of sad. About six months ago, I was reading a blog about my hobby and read how the author was buying all this...
We all count and should stand together to...
I am a stay at home mom trying to keep a family together, contribute financially to them and the economy and stay sane in these tough times! I am not anything special, just a regular person trying to contribute, raise happy good children and have people remember me fondly. It’s been said that everyone brings joy, some when they enter a room and others when they leave, I want to be the one...
My wife and I are always on the lookout for...
My wife and I are always on the lookout for innovative ways to make money. We’ve just had a baby girl and coordinating someone to watch the baby while we’re at work is sometimes an impossible task. Even though our jobs are staggered shifts, there are time when I need to leave work to cover an unexpected shift change my wife has. I’ve been looking for ways to work at home so that...
Before MTurk, I spent my computer time playing...
My husband’s contracting company went belly-up in the housing crisis and health issues forced me to change jobs to one where I have no health insurance. I’ve always been a great reader, as well as a great packrat, so I decided to sell some of the 1000+ books I had accumulated over the years and would never read again on amazon. On amazon’s site, I saw a side listing for...
I love seeing new places and broadening my...
I currently plan to be a sucessful forensic scientist and I plan to be able to support myself especially with a little help from turking. Everyday I have the support of my family and my dog which is very comforting in these tough times. I still like to travel a lot, I love seeing new places and broadening my horizons. When I travel I try to be a bit more outgoing because I meet so many new people...
Writing a memoir, now there is an interesting task
Writing a memoir, now there is an interesting task. Now that I am sliding down the other side of fifty, I suppose I should have something to say. My life has been, if nothing else, interesting. I have spent a very large part of my life on one side of a hospital bed or another. My profession, till I became too disabled to work was bedside nursing. One might think that an odd choice for someone who...
I am a 70-year-old retired public relations...
I am a 70-year-old retired public relations executive, just looking for some fun things to do in my spare time. In addition to Mechanical Turk , I have begun to do stand up comedy in local Chicago-area clubs. I focus on the problems and tribulations of older people, including psychological, emotional, physical and sexual changes that come about with advancing age. I’ve been a Mechanical Turk for...
My husband can't complain that I am wasting my...
A few days ago I was watching a TV show that mentioned making money doing small tasks online. Intriguing, I thought. A quick google search later and here I am, a mechanical turk. I wasn’t expecting to make much as a mechanical turk so I wasn’t discouraged by the 5 cent jobs my husband scoffed at. For me, I’m enjoying the gratification that I can spend some time on the internet,...
I might be able to trade my effort for a Kindle in...
What you need to know about working for Mechanical Turk is that attracts foolish, insufferable idiots such as myself who are overeducated night owls suffering from the desire to make a pittance for our work efforts. Perhaps the word ‘pittance’ has to generous a sentiment for the truly abusive amount of money some of the hits offer turks, and I should find another word that’s more suitable. But I...
Self motivated people that want to enrich them...
OK HI I’m a anonymous turker ha,ha, anyhow I have a story now I’m going to tell, I was looking for a real home business opportunity and the whole ebay thing was just not doing it for me. So i happened upon a tv show talking about another website similar to this and I tried it however, this said website would not let me transfer any funds till I reached a minimum of 50.00 usd. Needless...
John was “over-the-top” nice
It had been days since I had seen him, but I could feel his eyes examining my worth. Yes, this does seem as if it is a sentence out of “Twilight,” unfortunately, this story has nothing to do with love, but a man I hate seeing every Friday. Working at Wal-Mart you get a variety of customers, but they day I met John I decided he was the only one of his type. John was quite strange, not only did he...
I began my senior year a wife
I grew up in a very small town where everyone knew your name. I was very shy and did not like to be in the spot light. I managed to suffer through most of school. I met a guy and ended up pregnant when I was 17. I was in the 11th grade. We got married the next summer. I began my senior year a wife, and by Christmas I was a mother. Of course this didn’t work out. I was divorced when I was 18....
Princess was my beautiful companionship
Princess was my beautiful companionship During several years I felt lonely and moody. It was then when I decided to find a companionship.It was then when Princess moved in. We were made for each other. We loved each other. We share many experiences together. Several years later, I decided to go work in another state. But she was not allowed to travel with me.That made me very sad because I loved...
I felt like a CIA spy
I decided to try this Mechanical Turk that I heard about on NPR. I had heard that you couldn’t earn a lot of money. However, my curiosity got the best of me. The stories were true. It is difficult to earn any real money on the site. But what I did find was far more interesting. Mechanical Turk is fun! I found myself on the site earning 10 cents for transcription, filling out forms, and...
20 dollar HIT in 15 minutes
Once I’ve had the luck to get my hands on a HIT where someone paid 20 dollars to convert a PDF document to a Microsoft Office spreadsheet. The document consisted on a long list of US army bases around the world that also contained the base’s address, phone and fax number along with the name and rank of some officer that was supposed to be in charge of the base. It was a whole lot of...
I am a 68 year old female who was born in the...
I am a 68 year old female who was born in the state of Georgia in the United States of America. I remember some things about World War II, such as going to the rationing board with my mother to get rationing stamps, the fact that chocolate was hard to get and that everyone seemed to work together for the war effort. Since my parents were children of the depression era, I learned from them that...
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A city that wants to eat them alive, chew them up,...
I am more than an online worker. I am a woman who loves to write. I paint pictures with words. Sometimes they are beautiful like a painting by Monet. Other times, my words slide off the page in a poor imitation of Salvador Dali. Before I turn 45, I will go to a bookstore, find my novel, and lovingly run my fingers along its spine. I know I will. I am more than a faceless worker. I am a mother...
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A successful Manager at a Fortune 500 Company
Once a successful Manager at a Fortune 500 Company, my position was eliminated, along with hundreds of others as part of a part of a corporate restructure. Oddly enough, the bulk of those who were affected were over forty five. Yet age discrimination is illegal in the United States. So know I have spent the last sixteen months pursuing another position. When not scouring the job boards, I pass the...
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Mission Impossible episodes captivate the young...
Now hear this! I don’t think I can overstate the positive influence that watching old TV shows on DVD’s has had — on me, my kids, my wife. Get Smart, I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, Superman. These stories were invented and written by a group of writers and directors that no longer exists - but they were great. You can get a DVD and watch them uninterupted. Mission Impossible...
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Full time boat living
I have been MTurking for quite a while now. I started because it sounded interesting to see what others were studying, wanting to know or wanting help with, and it quickly became addicting. I am using the money I earn completing MTurk projects to buy Christmas presents for the family (through Amazon.com of course). It is sometimes difficult to make time to do MTurk work, but I do not let a week go...
Starving student
I love how global life has become: I am currently living in a rather obscure part of America but will be attending a large university soon. I am deeply interested in Japanese and obtaining a job which involves the use of Japanese and technology. However, where I am living, there are hardly any minorities to begin with, let alone Japanese people, so the Internet is significant in my life....
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Your legs are fat and you need to do something...
My husband is on a bowling league and is a “way too serious bowler”. If I stay out of the gutters and score at least 100, I’ve already won. We used to be on the same league and team, but now I won’t even play with him for fun and here’s why. One particular league night I couldn’t throw a bad ball. I was picking up spares, splits and throwing stricks like crazy,...
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Life at Mturk
Life at mturk. I recently joined mturk so that I can make a few extra bucks. I’m not aiming for much. I just want to make enough to be able to buy a GPS system. I graduated from University two years ago and I have a well-paid job at an international company. However, my parents are nearing retirement. I am going to get married soon and I just bought a new house in preparation for my wedding. I...
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I’ve earned $31.22 in 2 weeks
So, I’ve been doing Amazon Mechanical Turk for about 2 weeks. I’ve earned $31.22 in 2 weeks. I’m not sure that’s a great amount. However, it is $31.22 more than I typically would make sitting around watching TV or twiddling my thumbs. Why am I doing Amazon Mechanical Turk? I’m not exactly sure. I work full time, I’m married, I go to school full time, and I have 2 kids. We’re comfortably...
I'm quite human
I’m a mechanical Turk and you probably don’t know what this is. No just because I am mechanical that it means I am a robot, infact I’m quite human. I do this website purely fun contrary to Wikipedia calling it a “sweat shop”. I found mTurk from a forum who was talking about another online money program and decided to try it. I treat Turking as a fun experience and...
Thousands of students tests
It’s been a great week on the Turk. The American Astronomical Society dumped thousands of students tests out here looking for us to transcribe student comments at nine cents a pop. I made my daily quota several times over on these. Then Amazon Requester put out a ton of five cents hits that only required searching for release dates for various musical releases. I did a bunch of these, to...
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What about a cat?
My husband and I currently live in a coop apartment which does not allow pets. We’ve liked here for over 2 years. It is both of our dreams to one day get a dog as a pet, but since we are not allowed any pets we considered other options. Finally my husband said “what about a cat?”. I thought about it for a minute and realized that other people in our building have cats; my next...
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I had all three children within the span of one...
Today I am 33 years old and have three children. I had all three children within the span of one year. My husband and I adopted our older two from Ethiopia. They are beautiful, kind, smart clever girls but I was young and thoroughly overwhelmed. I thought I was a horrible mother but really still wanted to have another baby. I can’t explain why. Maybe because our oldest two were not babies...
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Beer and a burger
I’m trying to dig my way out of credit card debt. I moved to a cheaper place to live, got a roommate to split all the expenses, I sold basically everything that was worth anything that isn’t absolutely vital, and I have cut out every expense I possibly could without doing serious damage to my health and well being. I read dozens of websites every day about saving money, making more...
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I was reading my brother in laws blog
I am a college graduate but need more education and training in order to achieve my professional goals. I work two jobs because I like the flexible hours but the pay is not very good. One day I was reading my brother in laws blog and in amongst stories about my nieces and random junk you can find on Ebay and Craigslist he had a posting about Human Intelligence Tasks. I thought it sounded...
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I still continue to do Mturk
I graduated in 1999 from a technological school earning my Associates Degree in Accounting Computer Administration. Going out in the workforce, I used all the Accounting I was taught and applied it to the accounting tasks at hand and gained a lot of experience and over 10yrs worth of experience. I was looking for something legit to do online to supplement my income and I found MTurk.com I love...
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I get paid to do something
Honestly, when I first hard of Mechanical Turk, I was a little skeptical. However, the source that suggested it, a financial blog, was credible, and Mechanical Turk being connected to Amazon also helped me out with my initial reservations. I signed up and went hunting for my first task. It was a $0.10 reward to list a favorite of mine (this happened to be a local restaurant). I completed the task...
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I am $90,000 in school loans
I am 20 years old. I am $90,000 in school loans. For the most part, my life is good and I try to stay optimistic, but in the back of my head, I am constantly thinking and worrying on how I am going to pay this off. I talk to kids at school and many of them have their parents helping them out with money and I become envious of them. I think that it’s not fair, and why can’t my parents...
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I am doing my part to prevent robots from taking...
I became a mechanical turk on a whim. I had heard of it a few weeks before, but brushed it off as silly because of the small amount it seemed to pay. “Suckers,” I said to myself. I went back to my stack of diet soda and job applications. So many, many job applications. I wrote cover letter after cover letter, expanding minutia of graduate school tasks to the status of world changing...
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I used to obsess over the highest score
I used to obsess over the highest score I could get on a facebook mahjong game. Then I discovered Mechanical Turk while reading a blog about saving money. Now, instead of wasting time playing mahjong, I look over the HITs available on Mturk and see if anything looks interesting. If something does look good, I sign up. It doesn’t take too much time for the money to start adding up. I also...