Ionathus's Random Banter #249 -- Directionless Rambling Is Now Mandatory

[Bartmanhomer]

I mostly write erotic friend fiction , the participants find it really annoying

The LaZodiac+DataNinja one is the worst, the characters realised how unrealistic it was in chapter 2 and have been complaining about it ever since.

I write all sorts of stories mostly Degrassi stories and a little bit of D&D stories. I write adult stories as well. I'm interested to read one of your stories someday.

[Anonymouswizard]

I write all sorts of stories mostly Degrassi stories and a little bit of D&D stories. I write adult stories as well. I'm interested to read one of your stories someday.

To be fair I was joking. Although I do want to write erotica.

[Bartmanhomer]

To be fair I was joking. Although I do want to write erotica.

Ok, fair enough. I can still see you writing erotica though.

[Rynjin]

I'd say that there's probably third-party tutorials, but the way things have been going the past decade or so those third-party tutorials are probably behind a paywall now too. Or exist only as an innavigable set of dozens of long-winded ad-supported youtube videos

Yeah, they're paywalled. People sell "certification courses" for D365 and WebFocus. It doesn't help that there is no "single user' license you can use to directly poke and prod either of those things. It's enterprise/business level or nothin'.

Yeah that's not a problem for me. Just gotta... find someone who wants me to work for them. So many are like, must be a proven experienced ghost writer and buddy how do I prove that?

It's rough; I have no real advice for you there since I never really tried to break into ghostwriting. I do know someone who does this so next time I get in touch with her I'll ask how she broke into the scene.

I could probably do that, though limiting myself to just legal writing would be... brain melting.

EDIT: "what about the one about "writing product reviews and listicles". A lot of listicles strike me as being halfway between truth and fiction; sometimes more than halfway. "

I mean yeah I'd take those. I just need to find anyone with an opening.

Gaming websites are ALWAYS hiring, and don't have very high quality requirements. To not talk **** about ONE thing about working for these sites, they DO always credit their authors and don't have someone "rewrite" your **** by changing a couple of words and then give them the credit after you're gone. At worst they'll have somebody update the evergreen and then add a second byline instead of erasing yours.

Try looking at Game Rant, Screen Rant, Gamepur, Dotesports, etc.; the low rent shovelware gaming sites that clog Google when you look up something about a game. Bigger publications like Kotaku and IGN actually pay a salary, but you have to go through an actual employment process and usually need to be available to work at their physical office for some unexplainable reason.

But the smaller sites that just regurgitate news from the bigger ones will take just about anyone at any time. You just have to fight everyone for articles because they get shoved in a Trello queue and it's first come, first served on who gets to claim and write them.

The majority of what you'll write will be short little 300 word pieces on whatever news that exists and the work is basically summarizing an article from one of the "real" sites in your own words and then writing "hat tip [real site]" at the bottom, or evergreen pieces like "Top 10 Minecraft skins" and so on, but you do get to pitch opinion pieces which usually pay a little better and are definitely more fun to write.

The opinion pieces go into your portfolio and everything else into the bank, basically.

[DataNinja]

I mostly write erotic friend fiction , the participants find it really annoying

The LaZodiac+DataNinja one is the worst, the characters realised how unrealistic it was in chapter 2 and have been complaining about it ever since.

I, ah... um... I don't really know what to say to this. Besides "it's kinda uncomfortable, conceptually, even as a joke."

[LaZodiac]

I, ah... um... I don't really know what to say to this. Besides "it's kinda uncomfortable, conceptually, even as a joke."

Yeah, agreed on this point.

Upwork

For freelancing, some Reddit communities are also sporadically helpful like r/HireaWriter or r/WritersforHire.

And once you're able to start looking for more permanent gigs, you want to specifically look for job titles like: (Freelance) Content Writer, Copywriter, SEO Specialist, Marketing (Content) Writer, Communications Specialist, Social Media Manager, Marketing Specialist, Media Manager, etc.

You neglected to mention that Upwork ****ing charges you to bid on job applications. This was a waste of my ****ing time.

I suppose I'll check reddit next, and some of the other places you recommended.

To be clear I'm not mad at you, just extremely ****ing pissed at how stupid this is, and how much time I wasted.

[Rynjin]

Yeah, agreed on this point.



You neglected to mention that Upwork ****ing charges you to bid on job applications. This was a waste of my ****ing time.

I suppose I'll check reddit next, and some of the other places you recommended.

To be clear I'm not mad at you, just extremely ****ing pissed at how stupid this is, and how much time I wasted.

You're supposed to get like 200 free connects a month or something like that? But I know they keep changing how the Connects system works, which sucks.

Edit: looks like it's down to 10 now, ugh. Site's really gone downhill since I last used it I guess. most jobs take like 4-6 Connects.

[Form]

You neglected to mention that Upwork ****ing charges you to bid on job applications. This was a waste of my ****ing time.

I suppose I'll check reddit next, and some of the other places you recommended.

To be clear I'm not mad at you, just extremely ****ing pissed at how stupid this is, and how much time I wasted.

Wow, that's some bull****. So Upwork expects people to pay them first for the privilege of applying to an opening and then maybe someone will pay you? I'm sensing some real exploitation going on there.

[Anonymouswizard]

Wow, that's some bull****. So Upwork expects people to pay them first for the privilege of applying to an opening and then maybe someone will pay you? I'm sensing some real exploitation going on there.

Honestly it just sounds to me like the logical end point of the gig economy. Which is a model that at least makes some sense for a job like writing (which can fairly easily be fitted around an existing job), even if the way it's implemented is often horrifically abusive.

[Bartmanhomer]

Today is job interview day for me. Wish me well everyone.

[Ionathus]

You're supposed to get like 200 free connects a month or something like that? But I know they keep changing how the Connects system works, which sucks.

Edit: looks like it's down to 10 now, ugh. Site's really gone downhill since I last used it I guess. most jobs take like 4-6 Connects.

"They keep changing how the service works and how many 'credits' you get" immediately makes me wonder if they're hemorrhaging money. MoviePass famously did a very similar thing once they stopped and went "wait a minute...how exactly are we going to make money on this service?"

Today is job interview day for me. Wish me well everyone.

Good luck!! Remember that it's okay to pause and take a second to think about a tricky question before answering!

[Bartmanhomer]

Good luck!! Remember that it's okay to pause and take a second to think about a tricky question before answering!

Thanks, friend for the wonderful advice.

[Bohandas]

Wow, that's some bull****. So Upwork expects people to pay them first for the privilege of applying to an opening and then maybe someone will pay you? I'm sensing some real exploitation going on there.

That sounds like one of the major components of a pyramid scheme

[Peelee]

That sounds like one of the major components of a pyramid scheme

The major hallmark of a pyramid scheme is that the customer is essentially the product. It's all based on recruitment, while the product being hocked is just a way to indebt the recruited.

This sounds more like a crappy lottery.

[Bartmanhomer]

Hey everyone. I aced my job interview today.

[Ionathus]

Services where you have to pay an upfront fee to then make money aren't automatically scams, though they're definitely vulnerable to it.

IME with most services like this (realtor, recruiting agency), they're paid on some form of commission: they get their money once you've got your job or house or whatever and their payment is baked into the price of the agreement.

It's not the only way to do it, but it helps avoid the sliminess feeling and it makes people more willing to work with them since there's no loss up front.

Hey everyone. I aced my job interview today.

Congratulations!

[Qwertystop]

I did some freelancing through Upwork in 2021; I didn't have to pay anything to be able to apply, they "just" took a cut of my wages. 20% at the start, which yes, is a lot; went down eventually to 10% on one job and 5% on the other. Beyond that, I believe there was some sort of points-system budget spent for applying to jobs, presumably in hopes of keeping people applying for the jobs they felt they had the best shot at, but I don't think it was low enough to be unusable without buying more attempts.

Of course, all of that is a couple of years old, and these things can change fast. Tried to log in and check, but apparently with how long my account's been inactive I need to re-verify to be able to get back into things.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Hey everyone. I aced my job interview today.

Do you mean that you got the job, or just think you did well?

In other news, my daughter has completed and passed her 6-week intensive training for emergency care assistant (or something of that ilk). We've just gotten back from the celebatory meal (hence the worse-than-usual typing). Next, she will be learning how to drive an ambulance. It adds a new terror to emergencies.

[Bartmanhomer]

Do you mean that you got the job, or just think you did well?

In other news, my daughter has completed and passed her 6-week intensive training for emergency care assistant (or something of that ilk). We've just gotten back from the celebatory meal (hence the worse-than-usual typing). Next, she will be learning how to drive an ambulance. It adds a new terror to emergencies.

I did very well.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I did very well.

In that case, well done, and good luck with the rest of the process.

[Bartmanhomer]

In that case, well done, and good luck with the rest of the process.

Thanks, friend.

[Anonymouswizard]

Something unimportant is bugging me: in Persona 4 Golden during the June's Concert event Insert Name is IIRC depicted as playing the bass. This would be fine, there's no evidence that he can't play it.

Except if you pick the Symphonic Band version of the Sun link then it's established that he knows how to play the trumpet. This annoys me because it would be a great callback, and isn't even brought up when it's shown most of the group can play their instruments. I'd have swapped Insert Name's and Chie's instruments, it just names more sense.

[LaZodiac]

Something unimportant is bugging me: in Persona 4 Golden during the June's Concert event Insert Name is IIRC depicted as playing the bass. This would be fine, there's no evidence that he can't play it.

Except if you pick the Symphonic Band version of the Sun link then it's established that he knows how to play the trumpet. This annoys me because it would be a great callback, and isn't even brought up when it's shown most of the group can play their instruments. I'd have swapped Insert Name's and Chie's instruments, it just names more sense.

While that makes sense, "Yu Narukami is a bass player" is one of those thoughts that just immediately clicks into place. Like, of course he is.

[Anonymouswizard]

While that makes sense, "Yu Narukami is a bass player" is one of those thoughts that just immediately clicks into place. Like, of course he is.

I mean, he's probably a multi-instrumentalist. But there's no hints to that until the concert where it's Yosuke who owns multiple instruments.

I'd probably find this less annoying if there'd been like a clarinet or CD rack placed in his room, he'd certainly fit as a music geek. Clearly what Yosuke actually found under his futon was the sheet music for Tom Lehrer songs.

[TaiLiu]

They absolutely do, it's how they stay in business. It's why Microsoft does not have, for example, a list of all the security roles and other fiddly bits that can be assigned in Dynamics 365. Consulting agencies have stopped them from doing so so they can charge $210 an hour to configure the service for people and pretend it's super complicated and in-depth work.

Information Builders/IBI is another company notorious for this in certain circles (not many have heard of them; everybody who has hates them lol). If you want technical support for WebFocus you need to cough up money for their support staff and service, and documentation is obfuscated for that reason.

What a racket! :O

It goes 'woof' and runs around a lot, so that's a likely designation.

Demon dog...

Hey everyone. I aced my job interview today.

Congrats! That's great news.

[Rater202]

Pop culture Trivia: In the IDW comics continuity for Transformers, cybertronians are "male" by default and only developed a concept of "female" when interacting with organic species which lead to some of them thinking over the concept and coming to the conclusion that "male" didn't feel right for them.

Essentially, in that continuity, all female presenting Transformers are trans fem.

[Lord Raziere]

So, my birthday is in two days, on the 19th, so to celebrate I'd thought I'd do something special: try out being a streamer at least once to see if I like doing it, specifically for Elden Ring preparing for the DLC, and I'd though I'd go around letting people know in the communities and friend groups I have about this stream, which I plan to stream on raziere23 on Twitch at June 19th, 12 PM Pacific Time. If you can make it, I'd appreciate you coming, and if you can't, thats fine and I understand that you probably have your reasons. Just letting you know in advance, and if all goes well I'll do more streams exploring Shadow of the Erdtree.

[enderlord99]

So, my birthday is in two days, on the 19th, so to celebrate I'd thought I'd do something special: try out being a streamer at least once to see if I like doing it, specifically for Elden Ring preparing for the DLC, and I'd though I'd go around letting people know in the communities and friend groups I have about this stream, which I plan to stream on raziere23 on Twitch at June 19th, 12 PM Pacific Time. If you can make it, I'd appreciate you coming, and if you can't, thats fine and I understand that you probably have your reasons. Just letting you know in advance, and if all goes well I'll do more streams exploring Shadow of the Erdtree.

Does rule 12 of Random Banter threads apply to statements about being first for things other than the thread it's being posted in?

[LaZodiac]

Pop culture Trivia: In the IDW comics continuity for Transformers, cybertronians are "male" by default and only developed a concept of "female" when interacting with organic species which lead to some of them thinking over the concept and coming to the conclusion that "male" didn't feel right for them.

Essentially, in that continuity, all female presenting Transformers are trans fem.

And! And and and and! Partly related to that, the Transformer society at large is homonormative- it is in fact weirder to be straight in their society.

I absolutely love the IDW Transformer comics. I need to actually like, read them at some point.

So, my birthday is in two days, on the 19th, so to celebrate I'd thought I'd do something special: try out being a streamer at least once to see if I like doing it, specifically for Elden Ring preparing for the DLC, and I'd though I'd go around letting people know in the communities and friend groups I have about this stream, which I plan to stream on raziere23 on Twitch at June 19th, 12 PM Pacific Time. If you can make it, I'd appreciate you coming, and if you can't, thats fine and I understand that you probably have your reasons. Just letting you know in advance, and if all goes well I'll do more streams exploring Shadow of the Erdtree.

Oooh, good luck Raziere! I'll be sending my support your way!

[Rater202]

There is an Indie Horror game called Indigo Park. It's released episodically, so far only the first episode is out, where you play an Urban Explorer who breaks into an abandoned Amusement park that he remembered enjoying as a kid, only to discover living, hostile versions of several of the mascots and a request from th ePark's AI assistant to help him fix up the place.

Pretty standard Mascot Horror stuff.

However, if you go digging through the game's files, you'll find a video file called "Lore" and if you play that file... You get a still frame of Mathew "Matpat" Patrick, former host of Game Theory.

So, my birthday is in two days, on the 19th, so to celebrate I'd thought I'd do something special: try out being a streamer at least once to see if I like doing it, specifically for Elden Ring preparing for the DLC, and I'd though I'd go around letting people know in the communities and friend groups I have about this stream, which I plan to stream on raziere23 on Twitch at June 19th, 12 PM Pacific Time. If you can make it, I'd appreciate you coming, and if you can't, thats fine and I understand that you probably have your reasons. Just letting you know in advance, and if all goes well I'll do more streams exploring Shadow of the Erdtree.

Luck, Raz!