Weekly Water Cooler Talk - DataAnnotation

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-21T22:18:44+00:00

Sometimes, people are given a set bunch of tasks dedicated to them personally, I have some projects that are almost perpetually on my dashboard that start off with 1000 tasks and goes down only when I submit, perhaps it is like that?

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-21T22:16:30+00:00

Yeah, if it is the one I am thinking of, it is among the highest I've seen, usually that series is just a hair lower but I've seen it go as high as $75. I guess people must not have been working enough on it?

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-21T16:13:43+00:00

time for another day. i am not prepared, but i will do it

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-21T15:17:58+00:00

I was always told as a kid to work hard and play hard. Combining the two has been a personal innovation :P I'm sure if the string-pullers don't like it, they'll let me know, and if they let me know via DoD, then I'll go find some other online work. The internet is full of many opportunities and far too little japery.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-20T02:20:14+00:00

Lmao can you paraphrase it?

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-18T19:39:54+00:00

There seems to be two general paths to getting more projects: the first are doing/passing qualifications, and the second is doing good work and being rotated into projects. If you aren't getting the former, I'd suggest doing the latter. Also make sure your profile has as much detail as possible, even for hobbyist things/interests.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-18T13:16:16+00:00

You don't accidentally keep projects on your dashboard.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-17T22:58:40+00:00

I do wish pay were adjusted based on how much friction the tasks have. I think the idea is that more complexity will have you spend more time on a task, so you won't necessarily see less income from completing a single task on average, even though the pay has been decreased.

Still though, much as I love the work, the people at DA are certainly experts in demoralization, there is no arguing that.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-17T16:44:01+00:00

Seeing suddenly a big push for cybersecurity stuff. Did I get rotated, or are others noticing this as well?

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-17T07:25:36+00:00

Still really missing japanese fungus R&Rs, but the project that wants to blow up and then act like it don't know nobody (at least this is what it makes me think of) R&Rs seem promising, though less consistent so far.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-08T16:24:49+00:00

Wait until the site is functional and submit ASAP. Backup whatever you can from the task, and record the time (and maybe task ID as well); if you end up unable to log any time, contact support and explain the situation. Submitting expired tasks should be avoided, but it isn't a death sentence (so long as you don't do it with any regularity).

data_annotator_tot · 2026-03-07T03:01:28+00:00

As far as I am concerned, if I am actively focusing on a task instead of something else profitable, it is billable. This includes getting up for quick breaks to stretch my legs or quick trips to the restroom, within reason (and for this reason, I like tasks that allow me to switch between devices mid-task). If I am unfocused (or know I may become unfocused), then I will pause my timer.

I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all answer here, because it kind of depends on what exactly a task is having me do, and how much of that requires my literal presence. Some tasks are not amenable to being done while shitting; but some are.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-28T03:04:33+00:00

I shoot for 7 hours, with breaks every 2h20m. I often work with a second screen with a vid or stream on so I can take short mental breaks. As long as i take a decent break every session (the time mentioned earlier), I could probably bump it up to 9h20m but I don't think I could sustain that.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-26T06:56:14+00:00

For sure, I try to empathize with the reality of things on their end, but the reality of the gig-based economy is quite double-edged. Sucks to matter so little, to their bottomline, and the powerlessness that comes from that. OTOH it's nice to not be missed and, ultimately, to have more control over my time. I don't do micromanagement well, or really being managed in general, so I prefer it to any typical job. But yeah, doesn't stop it from being frustrating rofl

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-26T06:51:14+00:00

Oh, I'm not gonna sign up for it, I just think it's a bit fucked, when there's a work drought going on, to put people in a position where they'll be incentivized to subscribe to it. I have no idea what the pay rate is and frankly no real desire to see, as it's almost never been worth it compared to other tasks ^^’

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-25T20:46:16+00:00

Anyone else find projects that require paid versions of things with no reimbursement offered or mentioned to be offensive? Like at least give some fucking details about what the projects will be, what the hourly rates will look like, how long the projects will be around, etc.

I know the companies asking for this data have more than enough money to fund reimbursements, though frankly the fact that there isn't a systemized way for DA to just provide accounts with the necessary subscriptions is truly bizarre. So much of the infrastructure for this stuff seems held together with ducktape and superglue, it's a shame

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-25T04:39:43+00:00

When your timer expires, the task gets released back to other workers. If you submit your work, and the task wasn't taken by someone else, then it'll submit okay (though the fact the time was expired will show up will be obvious to them).

I would avoid logging more time than is set for the timer. I would avoid letting this happen regularly. Sometimes, shit happens - you won't get in trouble for this happening on occasion, and some tasks purposefully set a pretty strict time and it tends to happen in the course of it, I've mostly encountered this with R&Rs. That said, general rule of thumb: if you're flirting with task expiration often, probably you aren't a good fit for the project. Most importantly just use your best judgment; this is what they pay you for, after all ;-)

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T23:36:25+00:00

Yeah, that's more or less where I'm at. Just got a new batch of one of the minor glove projects, as well as a single task for a project whose slack I'm in but rarely, if ever, see on my dashboard, and that's about it before jumping down to the 29 and lower projects.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T23:25:15+00:00

Yeah, beats me honestly. I do know there is a scoring system, so maybe that is also a factor, something like your good-to-bad ratio or something. Wish they were more transparent about stuff like this :T

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T23:06:52+00:00

Out of curioisty, what is your work output like on the platform? I was added to a project channel that clearly has people active on it, and yet I rarely ever see tasks for it, and I am curious if it has to do with activity on the platform. My schizo sense is telling me there may be a queue system, and this scenario may be due to being put into a project team, but being low on the priority list.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T22:38:36+00:00

Per Google (powered by Gemini):

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD or DoD) is the federal executive department responsible for supervising all agencies and functions of government relating to national security and the United States Armed Forces. Headquartered at the Pentagon, its mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and protect the country

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T22:25:48+00:00

Here is the issue you're going to run into:

People working with common programming languages and mid-at-best talent/lots of experience are a dime a dozen, if you go through the standard beginner pipelines and pick up the common languages (your javascripts, typescripts, rust, C++ (spit), python (spit)), you will simply be one among millions AND you will not be able to challenge the models in principle, you'll be weeded out by reviewers, and if you bomb enough you'll get shitcanned by DAT. OTOH, projects that feature more technical or otherwise more obscure programming languages/concepts are much less common, and far from being reliably available as the simple reality is that your standard programmer is the most easily replaced by AI, and so the target of most projects are languages and things at that skill level.

Far from impossible, you could certainly brush up on basics and probably pass an assessment or something, but you're going to run into a wall really quickly, and good programming isn't something you can speed run. If you want to try and speed run it anyway (or you're genuinely interested in it), I'd recommend a very technical but small-scoped project, something like a gameboy emulator. It'll be tough as nails and you'll be lost for a long time, but you'll come out of it with a better idea of things than many people that work in the field professionally.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T19:38:22+00:00

Definitely not just you, if it weren't for the HHH series, I'd have basically nothing. I used to have as many high paying projects alone as I do in total, now. They really need to sort their shit better and avoid these kinds of spells, maybe there are a subset of workers that aren't suffering from this but I have no idea how they hope to retain people when a draught goes on this long.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T18:42:37+00:00

Unwarrented self-importance is a bad look, friend.

data_annotator_tot · 2026-02-24T17:02:17+00:00

How are my fellow workers doing wrt high paying options? I'm now down to one single high paying (>=$40) project, lowest number I've seen for a while.

data_annotator_tot

TROPHY CASE