I’m a country girl, born in michigan. A child of the 80s a teen of the 90s and an adult in the next millenium. Growing up in the country, I was in a tight knit community where I knew almost everyone in my small class;if not personally than by face and name.Was a part of the local girl scouts and youth group at church. Also did volunteer work and grew to love the area I grew up in, so much so that I didn’t want to live anywhere else. During school I had several great moments and made friends that lasted a lifetime and I still talk to. A few I’ve known since elementary and I have been able to keep in touch with through online( which is truely the miracle invention). Without it I would have lost touch with classmates years ago and would not have reunited with them. I was involved with some sports in high school, never really scored but it was the team effort I liked and the exercise I got that made it worthwhile. I even got to attend my prom on a riverboat which was memorable. Also, was involved in several groups in school which helped to give me self confidence. After high school and attended two colleges, learning alot at each one and making more friends. each step helping create the adult I am now. I was involved with church and in my studies. Now I am living back in my hometown with my own business and ready for what life has to give me. Still waiting to find mr right and start a new part of my life with a husband and children.
I am an insomniac It’s tough not being able to sleep at night. I dont know if it’s a medical condition, or I have just cultivated this habit over the years. I used to enjoy staying up late and watching the late night shows. Then along came the WWW. My ISP provided unlimited free access from 12.00AM - 8.00AM. So then i started watching sitcoms online! And after a while, I discovered I cant sleep till morning comes. Boy, then the sandman really hits you between the eyes. Anyways, mTurk definitely puts some use to the time I lay waste at night. It’s good to have some motivation. So I put in a good hour or two of MTURK and then usually turn in and dream of moolah :-)
Say it with me: “Amazon Mechanical Turk”. Sounds kinda strange, right? Right. I honestly can’t figure out how I stumbled upon this interesting website; I could probably just say that I found it while going through all the fun stuff on amazon, but no…I didn’t. Maybe it was just meant to be. WE were meant to be! Oh Mechanical Turk, how I love you so! You give me extra money for doing some simple and amazingly fun…okay, sometimes boring, tasks. Computers just can’t do the work I do, and I’m so glad that in a way, I feel like I’m kind of contributing to the power of the interweb. On occasion, I feel a bit cheap and used, but guess what? I like you. Lots! You’re fun. I’ve set a goal for myself to make at least a dollar (!!!) a day on this site and so far, I’m doing pretty darn good. Yes, I admit…it can get pretty tedious on occasion but I really think it’s worth it. Why? Well, because I can send my earnings to my bank account, or I can turn it into a gift certificate from amazon. Pretty awesome if I say so myself. I AM a Mechanical Turk. I’m not a machine; I’m an intelligent human with a brain and a desire for easy money and the ability to perform tasks within a short amount of time. Yep. I’m good at what I do and I’m having fun while I do it. I’m totally loving this site!
A tough couple of days on the Turk, as the usual sources of easy HITS seem to have dried up. Yesterday I pushed through some image tagging and identification tasks, combined some sentences, and did a variety of other odds and ends to make my quota. The usual quick and easy hits, image moderation, quick polls, and categorization, seem to be scarce and rapidly snapped up when they do appear. You have to wonder - Are there just a bunch of unemployed and students out there grabbing everything, or are the good old days on the Turk coming to an end?
I first heard about Mechanical Turk from National Public Radio, my addiction at the time. I was skeptical at first; as a college student, I had tried the whole pyramid schemes, online paid surveys, and all of the other marketing ploys that people use that just end up as junk mail in my e-mail inbox. So, the idea of an online tool that had me investing time in order to make money from anonymous benefactors seemed too good to be true. However, since NPR has never let me down before, I thought that I would at least give it a try. It was incredibly intimidating at first. The jobs were unfamiliar, and I had no way of knowing that it would actually be worth my time. I remember the very first HIT I took up; it was just one simple sentence that they wanted rewritten. It took me twenty minutes; I was so scared of screwing up, even though it was only worth five cents! Since then, I’ve done over 500 HITs in about a month. This has only added up to about $30, but as I stated before, I am a college student, so every little bit helps. This money allows me to splurg a little, to pamper myself with something online I otherwise would not be able to indulge in. It’s a nice feeling to buy a DVD or a book that you would have just been staring at longingly otherwise. It’s been a great experience and I recommend it to all of my buddies.
