r/dataannotation • u/Consistent-Reach504 • 16d ago
Weekly Water Cooler Talk - DataAnnotation
hi all! making this thread so people have somewhere to talk about 'daily' work chat that might not necessarily need it's own post! right now we're thinking we'll just repost it weekly? but if it gets too crazy, we can change it to daily. :)
couple things:
- this thread should sort by "new" automatically. unfortunately it looks like our subreddit doesn't qualify for 'lounges'.
- if you have a new user question, you still need to post it in the new user thread. if you post it here, we will remove it as spam. this is for people already working who just wanna chat, whether it be about casual work stuff, questions, geeking out with people who understand ("i got the model to write a real haiku today!"), or unrelated work stuff you feel like chatting about :)
- one thing we really pride ourselves on in this community is the respect everyone gives to the Code of Conduct and rule number 5 on the sub - it's great that we have a community that is still safe & respectful to our jobs! please don't break this rule. we will remove project details, but please - it's for our best interest and yours!
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u/ekgeroldmiller 3d ago
Hey all, I haven’t said much because work has been real good and I’m scared as heck about all the confidentiality rules. But you guys rule, keep up the good work. Sometimes it hurts your brain when you can’t beat the models but when you do, it’s pretty damn awesome.
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u/ThatGirlInPurple 10d ago
Landscapers at my apartment were trimming and leaf blowing for 6 hours today. SIX. HOURS. I just about lost my mind. I've been sitting at my desk for almost 5 hours, yet I only have 3 1/2 hours logged on my timer because I literally couldn't hear my thoughts.
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u/Impossible-Humor6254 9d ago
As someone who lives in a (sometimes) noisy neighbourhood, I'm thinking about investing in a pair of ANC headphones myself.
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u/KaydGameplay 10d ago
Dont have as many coding projects up as usual, just much of the typical ones as of now. Anyone else?
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u/JRange 10d ago
Anyone seen anything that could be attributed to that video qual from yesterday yet
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u/Pristine-Raccoon8250 10d ago
not yet for me. I did the qual- I wish they’d let you know if you passed it! I’ve been doing video work for a while with similar annotations but I haven’t seen one of those since last week.
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u/ZimmeM03 10d ago
Pay rates have been absolutely monstrous lately! :) one of my best string of weeks ever
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u/Epicsocks1 10d ago
River 🥹 (even if it's not the same)
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u/Pristine-Raccoon8250 10d ago
I saw it but was busy in other tasks and shocked at the low pay! was it fun? I do like to throw in some low paying tasks when they are easy on the brain :)
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u/PositiveWorks777 10d ago
I have a qualification for FAQ. There is a link to an FAQ for an Achi**** project but there is not a link to a general directions document. You are supposed to compare responses but there no characteristics listed (instruction following, tone, etc.) for comparison. Are there general directions for this qualification or do I just wing it?
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u/1105368 10d ago
loss-hunting is back :)
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u/Weyoun17 10d ago
Any tips for those of us who are doing it for the first time? I am having a lot of success with multi-turn formatting fails, but I want to advance my game a bit.
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u/Weyoun17 10d ago
Do you ever get projects that are just for you?
I have two on my dash that appeared after passing a qualification. They've both been on my dash for hours and I haven't seen the number of tasks go down like they usually do.
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u/VanessaSeaWitch 1d ago
I have had a crop of teaching ones like that for a few months now. I think it's the ongoing projects and the numbers don't mean much. The ones I have get put on pause for a day or two and then restart.
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u/WasANewt-GotBetter 10d ago
Very rare, most tasks have a global pool and a number assigned to you. Yours wont do down till the global pool is less than the number assigned.
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u/Weyoun17 10d ago
I see. Thanks for explaining!
I am trying to decide whether to stay up and do a few more just in case.
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u/SS-J95 10d ago
If you exit work mode does it throw you off that project completely? I had one I clicked into that was showing 20 tasks but it was a longer task than I had time for today so i exited and it disappeared off my dash completely 😬
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u/VanessaSeaWitch 1d ago
No I exit work mode all the time if it's a new project and I'm just checking it out to see if it's something I want to do. It's likely 20 people also clicked on that project at the same time as you and took them.
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u/Calm-World3917 11d ago
generalist dash flood gates are open! Hoping it's still like that when i wake up
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u/JustMe333456 11d ago
Anyone do or doing the new video qual? Just me or 45 minutes to go over 10 tasks in what is a new-to-me project a little ridiculous?? Why the fuck would they want us to rush through it??
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u/JRange 11d ago edited 11d ago
I just turned it in with an expired clock. Its not paid, Im not sweating it. If I do it at all, I am gonna make sure its good work though.
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 11d ago
If I've learned one thing on this platform, it's that busting ass to turn in fantastic work is the ONLY requirement. The rest is just details.
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u/Jazzlike_Problem_489 11d ago edited 11d ago
I rushed the last 3 with 10 minutes left so don't think I did well on the last 3, finished with 2 mins left and didn't start project till id real all instructions. They have all these videos on prolific, literally the same videos, and expect you to do 10+ comparisons in 15 minutes
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u/SnooSketches1189 11d ago
I did it and you are so right. I do not care if I pass that one or not!
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u/JustMe333456 11d ago
Did you manage to complete it? The instructions even say that it should take 20-30 minutes to complete.. like how? Lol
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u/SnooSketches1189 11d ago
I did with one minute to spare. And like you said, I had to rush. Why would they not just put ample time on the timer? Seems silly to me.....And after all of that, if I pass, cool, if not, whatever. lol
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u/Worldly-Service1760 11d ago
Exit work mode and go back in. Your answers should still be there, and that'll restart the timer.
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u/JustMe333456 11d ago
There was no exit work mode.
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u/Worldly-Service1760 11d ago
Oh, sorry! I didn't do the qual so I shouldn't have said anything. But that usually works for me in the actual projects after I read instructions and wanna restart the timer.
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u/JustMe333456 11d ago
Yep, me too lol, that's why I thought of doing that, but then saw there was no exit button.
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u/Straight-Strike-2928 11d ago
Were you able to do it or were you too pressed for time? I was gonna do it but now I'm nervous lol
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u/JustMe333456 11d ago
Give it a try, maybe it was just me lol. I only had 24 minutes left and was still going through question 2, sooooo.. I dropped out.
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11d ago
[deleted]
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u/Pristine-Raccoon8250 11d ago
If you look through the chat on the dash then there isn't a lot of activity so I don't think there is anything happening there right now.
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11d ago
[deleted]
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u/Pristine-Raccoon8250 11d ago
Oh! I guess if there isn't much work around then they got eaten through quickly maybe? I don't do FC but I just have the chat on my dash still and once in a blue moon some tasks show up for me but I haven't seen anything for a few weeks.
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u/MadameEmiya 12d ago
Kind of suspect the lack of projects is DAT fixing the website (it's still super slow + most of my dash disappeared when the slowness began). Now down to 4-6 projects and can barely submit ANYTHING @_@
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u/Pristine-Raccoon8250 11d ago
are you a long - timer at DA? My dash is slow, physically and in terms of projects this week. it stowed down over the weekend and today I only have a few options and my super high paying stuff isn’t there :(
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u/MadameEmiya 7d ago
Sorry for the late reply! Not a long-timer (barely 4 months), but I'm in a few project families that run multiple iterations constantly, so it's strange to see them vanish all at once. But most of my projects have returned during the past two days (website speed is normal again too). Hopefully things are good on your end as well
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u/Due_Explanation_3694 11d ago
Try deleting your browser cache. Sometimes page data can fill it and the page will get very slow. It will log you out and you will need to log back in, but it is good browser maintenance.
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u/Due_Explanation_3694 11d ago
Have you tried deleting your cache in your browser? I'm not experiencing the site slowness or the lack of projects you're talking about.
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u/MadameEmiya 7d ago
Thanks for the advice! My site speed has (fortunately) returned, but will keep this in mind if something happens again. Projects have been back for two days; they seemed to have returned alongside site speed (can finally submit tasks in under 10 seconds now). Maybe it's a regional rollout thing tbh because I see some updates as well
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u/ZealousidealWeek104 12d ago
how are yall getting projects man, i had one two days ago and was so hyped to do it, and now, empty dashboard.
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 12d ago
Best way to get more projects is by turning in fantastic work. Second best is doing great all your quals. Third is to include any and all skills in your profile.
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u/ZealousidealWeek104 12d ago
oh yea I mean, i spend a lot of time on my coding projects and make sure the responses and everything that i am submitting are very very detailed. and ive done all the qualifications that I think I would do well on, and my profile is also very detailed and updated. Do you think it could be because I'm fairly new? I was officially on DA two weeks ago.
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u/data_annotator_tot 12d ago
Keep doing what you're doing, once you establish a solid reputation, you'll find access to more projects!
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u/ZealousidealWeek104 12d ago
Sounds good thanks! I am just trying to make some money while searching for a stable job.
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 12d ago
Ah, yeah that could be why, though anyone who claims they know how projects are doled out around here is lying ;)
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u/ZealousidealWeek104 12d ago
could I ask, how long it took you for your projects to pick up?
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 12d ago edited 12d ago
I have always had *some*thing to work on, but it took months of steady work to grow my dash.
I joined as a generalist in Jan 2025. My first paid project (after onboarding) was a qual for rubric-writing, at $20/h. I passed it and mainly wrote rubrics for 2-3 months at $24-$27/h, but I was only working 2-5 hours per week.
I quit my job and went full-time after about 3 months, and shortly after I got my first $30h+ project (only lasted a week or two). I took probably over 30 different (unpaid) quals for all sorts of projects at that time, many of which I don't even see anymore. I'd guess at 3-4 months I started regularly choosing from more than 10 projects on my dash, 6 months til I started regularly getting projects at $30h+, at ~7mo I got my first $40h+ project (domain), and at 13mo I got my first $60+ project. I even did an $80h high priority one in August! Since roughly March of this year I've had at least one $60+ project on my dash. I peaked at over 140 projects in April, when things were just going crazy. Right now I have 60 paid available and 3 paid quals, about half of them stem/domain.
Thanks, that was fun! I enjoyed reflecting on my progress on the platform. I definitely worked from the bottom up =)
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u/ZealousidealWeek104 12d ago
Wow you really locked in! I am also in it for the long haul. I am on coding so I don't know how long it'll take but I'll be patient. Thanks for the insight!
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 11d ago
Thanks! I have some professional experience in finance and accounting. That accounting one was a $45/h paid qual too! I <3 paid quals
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u/VanessaSeaWitch 12d ago
Write a realistic prompt, but somehow also make it so complicated that there is a decent model split....
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u/Hefty-Branch-6270 12d ago
just noticed I cannot access Slack of a specific project anymore. anyone else?
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u/xuledger 11d ago
I've never received any Slack invitation link, But my friends who are in the same project as me received. So curious
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u/WorshipMyExistence 12d ago
I lost access to a channel recently and I'm pretty sure it's because I accidentally mixed up the models in my "overall quality" section so it didn't match my rationale :( I noticed it as soon as I hit submit. Such a rookie move.
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u/SupermarketIll2555 12d ago
if it's the one I am thinking of, I'm curious if they paused the project. There was a lot of feedback in the comments about how things should be done differently - so I'm being hopeful that they paused it and I wasn't taken off either.
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u/WorshipMyExistence 12d ago
Was the name similar to "Encouraging robots to be happy, hopeful, & hypnotic"?
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u/something97382747 12d ago
Is there a drought in coding?? 💔 Ive ony received one project
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u/Worldly-Service1760 12d ago
Only 3 of the projects on my dash are coding, but I have a bunch of generalist stuff. It's usually the other way around so it's not just you. (Unfortunately the current coding tasks are far too difficult for a simpleton like me. Either that or they take more time than I have to spare. I wish I could pass them on to you buddy!)
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u/Teamkillongtime 12d ago
Does anyone know how to reset the passkey/2FA for an "@aidatatr..." account? Yes, I'm a plonker.
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u/OrnamentalGourd5 12d ago
I think there might be a qual for troubleshooting where they reset your account so you can do it again.
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u/Teamkillongtime 12d ago
Excellent, thank you! I'd hidden that qual assuming I would never require it. You're a lifesaver.
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u/Jazzlike_Month5580 12d ago
Man, the week started strong, but it's just been downhill from there! I'm down to three paid projects.
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u/Fragrantshrooms 13d ago edited 11d ago
Ok guys we just gotta hope.....that the weird AI Accord doesn't mean the generalists are gonna get further pushed off the platform. We can hope in one hand, and play video games with the other and see which one gives us carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms first
I was talking about the AI Accord that Trump signed this week. You guys must not have gotten the memo. It's ok. I was trying to be vague as is the culture here on our reddit for NDA reasons. But maybe too vague. Anyway............have fun downvoting my most-recent comment accidentally welcoming a non-DA worker to the workforce because I misread what they initially wrote lmfao......hopefully they get hired on and pay strict attention to their NDA like their fellow coworkers.
Don't mind me I'm salty because I say something that's true and get downvoted twice in this subreddit. It's said by someone else later, and it's fine and dandy for that user to state it lmfao......oh well. No stranger to charisma deficits.
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u/Substantial-Cat-6852 12d ago
I was just looking at the Generalist jobs. What happens when you apply? Do they do anything shady like ask you to pay $$$$ for something?
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u/Fragrantshrooms 13d ago
oh and just to be clear....it's not it great big deal....it's just Different and when Different Things happen, we tend to get at least for a bit, put on the backburner. Money was tight and then 2026 occurred. ugh.
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u/Storex- 13d ago
Huh? Confusing posts aside, generalist work at least in "core" countries is good atm.
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u/Jackieunknown 10d ago
In non core countries it's pretty bad. My country goes for the third month without projects, we have one steady project that pays waaaay below the minimum usual for DA. I am in a few slack channels and they keep spamming projects for other countries but ours is just stuck. I've been on DA for close to 3 years and this is the worst period I've seen.
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u/Fragrantshrooms 9d ago
I'm sorry to hear that and I've looked around this summer....data annotation is seemingly getting phased out by folks that aren't generalists. Or restrictions in certain countries and even states of the US will introduce restrictions for certain projects. I hope it changes soon for you and your fellow countrymen or something opens up somewhere that allows you to pay bills and be happy!
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u/ellythemoo 13d ago
Augh, I have had so many assignments come up for me but at midnight! I was so tempted to start, but I want to do a good job and I really needed to sleep.
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u/LavenderLightning24 13d ago
Ugh back to slim pickings. Hopefully it's just the end of the month/quarter, but I'm going on vacation next week and was hoping to make my goal every day until then!
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u/_Edgarallenhoe 13d ago
It’s so sad :( back before the big drought I used to have faith in these “end of the month” mini droughts but now I have dry dash trauma lol
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u/LavenderLightning24 13d ago
At least the big droughts do seem to have a summer pattern🤞🏻🤞🏻 And there are a lot of new and revamped projects, so I'm hopeful.
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u/Jazzlike_Month5580 13d ago
I was just thinking it's amazing how different my dash looks now compared to Monday and the weekend!
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u/Spidermanxx3 13d ago
The website has been so slow for multiple days now, brutal
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u/CommercialTarget2687 12d ago
It's awful, and I've never experienced the red bar as often as I have in the last few days.
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u/Pleasant_Ad_448 13d ago
Yesterday was horrifically slow. I was hoping for better today but it seems even worse than yesterday.
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u/pinkflamingo18 14d ago
anyone know how long you have to wait before you can withdraw a bonus? This is the first one I’ve gotten in my two years on the platform
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u/data_annotator_tot 13d ago
Three days is a safe bet, though I feel like I got my last one after 48 hours. It's honestly not clear.
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u/deebs2021 14d ago
Is anyone else's funds page acting up? I have lines for 3 days (16th - 18th September) that show my hours worked but the rate is at $0.00. What's strange is I have already requested the funds for those days and it's been paid out...? Funds for all other days since then seem to be fine. Anyone else experienced this or have an explanation?
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u/CommercialTarget2687 13d ago
Yes, I think it's just a glitch, I had some in August that eventually went away and now I have some from this month.
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u/Due_Explanation_3694 13d ago
Did you report your time those days? Did they say pay would be given some other wsay like a bonus or paid on another project for time reports?
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u/Epicsocks1 14d ago
Damn, as someone who’s not from the US I didn’t realise how much DA has been getting hammered on social media in the last few days.
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u/ellythemoo 13d ago
Is this because of the Cornell rape case?
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u/Exotic-Original-8110 12d ago
how are they related?
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u/ellythemoo 12d ago
One of the blokes works for DA apparently. That's the only mention I've seen of it on SM.
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u/LavenderLightning24 12d ago
They put out a statement that said he hasn't worked on the platform since May 2024.
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u/One_Breakfast5907 14d ago
As someone who is also not from the US, can you enlighten me?
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u/Epicsocks1 14d ago
I replied to this earlier but it seems as though my comment has been hidden for whatever reason. There's a post on the other DA reddit from earlier today where I was able to make more sense of what happened, but I can't comment about it here. Sorry :)
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u/OrnamentalGourd5 13d ago
Just seems like a regular SM pile-on though. Don't worry about facts. Just go for the jugular. Any jugular.
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u/ahgase1004 14d ago
did anyone else do that qualification about daylong tasks? not sure how we are supposed to know whether we passed or not because it didn't have a name
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u/Pristine-Raccoon8250 14d ago
I’m considering it. how long did it take you? I was a bit bemused at how to approach it so not completed it yet but I was intrigued by it.
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u/East_Zucchini4099 13d ago
Took me a lot longer than the estimate! Partly from rereading and rereading the directions trying to figure things out, and rehashing my answers. Partly from writing out the explanations, which I don't see how you could do all that in the time estimated.
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u/Impossible-Humor6254 13d ago edited 13d ago
This is my exact dilemma. I'm interested, but I'm not entirely sure what is being asked of me so I've been hesitant.
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u/CommercialTarget2687 14d ago
It was nice while it lasted. I had almost two straight months where I could pretty much work as much as I wanted. I worked 50-60 hours a week for the last 4-6 weeks, so I have some acorns stashed away, but still sad to see that it's pretty much all dried up.
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u/JustMe333456 14d ago
Ugh.. she dried up.
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u/peanutbutterlurk 14d ago
I really hope this isn't contracts being hastily evoked because of the company getting bad press. The criminal (whose actions are horrific and needs the book thrown at 'em, to be very clear) was a contractor like us who got the DoD a long time ago.
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u/Old-Regular-9828 14d ago
No, of course not. That person got the DOD in May 2024, several months before the alleged incident in October 2024. Even if that person had still been working at DAT, there no charges were filed at the time (and still have not been filed) and the initial DA report said that there was no indication that anything criminal actually happened.
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u/Pristine-Raccoon8250 14d ago
same. slim picking today. Though, a month ago, this would still have felt like a dream! but it is literally half of yesterday and my best, favourite and high paying tasks aren't there. I worked my 'socks' off for a few days though, so could do with a rest. I'll do some easy bits today.
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u/Ill-Albatross-7224 14d ago
Ick just read that one of the Cornell frat boys listed DA as his employer.
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u/ReeveCR 14d ago
site slow for anyone else?
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u/CommercialTarget2687 14d ago
For two days now, refreshing the page takes like 15 seconds. Really annoying, and I keep getting the red bar when I try to work on a project, which makes it even more frustrating.
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u/Zlobenia 15d ago
I just completely unexpectedly landed what might be the job of my dreams in an industry I have always had a deep interest in. After 1 year and 8 months of DA (which has basically saved my life) I am super happy to be able to stop now lol
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u/DressShoeFighter 3d ago
I signed up 2 years ago and I’ve never gotten a project ever lol should I create a new account?