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mattbgates

There are some huge scams going on for the unemployed right now. I got about 6 "interviews". They promise you about $30 to $40 for a data-entry job or clerk job or payroll, something that is a "dream come true job", but understand what an interviewer should ask for. Asking for your identifying information or bank account info is a huge red flag. All of them wanted to use an instant chat: Teams, Google Hangouts, Telegram, or Skype.

Literally, they asked the same exact questions, so they are obviously given a template:

1. Have you worked from home before?

2. What interests you about this role?

3. What motivates you?

4. What are your goals for the future?

5. What can you bring to the company?

6. What qualities make a good leader?

7. Have you been in the military before?

8. Are you currently employed?

9. Do you have a printer, copier and scanner?

10. Are you seeking employment in a company of a certain size?

1. How long do you intend working for this company ?

2. How many hours are you willing to Work per day? (4 hours Minimum per day or 45 hours Maximum per week)

3. What time range?

4. When would you be available to start if HIRED?

5. Payroll Interval? (Weekly or Bi-weekly)

6. Payroll Method (Direct deposit, Pay Check, Wire Transfer or Credit card transfer? )

7. What is the name of the Bank which you currently operate with so as to see if it tallies financially with the company's official salary payment account ?

8. Do you have a Credit card..?

9. What's your mobile network provider ?

10. Do you have Professional Reference? ( Give me two phone Contacts and name )

Advice is to check the company website and LinkedIn for the name interviewing you. Call the company and see if they are interviewing. And do not give any personal information out at all.

I even had the interviewer asking for my credit cards and promising they would pay them off. What company does that? None.

Ask HN: Do companies care if Google is on your resume?

Recently hired by Google... full-time temp contract position which is exciting for me, not really coding, but a technical position that required some training, and pay is a lot less than what I made at my last job, even after a negotation, but the experience of working for Google and being able to put the company on my resume is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, especially at my age.I applied...

( Read More... | 7 comments | 4 points | on HN )
Never ever mention "divorce" in your marriage. Should never even be part of either of your vocabulary. "Communication", "Compliance", "Compromise" are keys to making sure it works. You married her. She married you. Figure it out and make it work.

I didn't follow this advice and now I have a broken heart for the rest of my days.

Re:Ask HN: Show me your half baked project on Thursday October 12, 2023 @05:34PM (#37863456)
News Landing Pages

https://maedia.page/84b4dcec/4961380-rapper-tom-macdonald-ca...

https://maedia.page/84b4dcec/8023848-confessions-of-the-prof...

I'd say I'm about 80% done with the project, but is taking longer than expected for certain specifications I wanted to include.

i used to have it on my resume, but ultimately took it off because it wasn't technically a paid gig, though they paid for my housing and food every so often. i was sponsored through an organization to teach ESL in Israel to mostly Ethiopian Israelis and Israelis. Loved the job though it did make me realize how much I hated teaching. However, I accidentally got into web design while I was there and it ended up a valuable skill later on. I ended up living in Israel for about a year.
Re:Ask HN: What bulk email sender are you using? on Saturday September 23, 2023 @01:38PM (#37625448)
Twilio API or ElasticEmail API seems to work good.
Re:Ask HN: Shared Hosting with Email? on Saturday September 23, 2023 @01:46AM (#37620872)
namecheap.com runs for $1.25/month and currently running a promo at $1/month for the first year.
Re:Ask HN: Where do you post your blog post? on Friday September 22, 2023 @04:17PM (#37617207)
In the beginning, I used to post my blog posts anywhere I could or thought was relevant.

For the longest time, Twitter was where it was at til they banned my account a year ago after someone logged in and posted random crypto shit, and they won't unban me as of X.

Occasionally, I post on my Facebook or LinkedIn. And once in a while on Hacker News, if relevant, though rare.

Other than that... with 2 to 3 million visits a month from around the world, along with hundreds of contributing authors and marketing agencies, they tend to share everything.

With an existence of over 10 years, the website has its own reputation and fan base, attracting thousands of new visitors every month. Its focus is on jobs, careers, and the workplace. To date, I think 800 articles are my own, and the other 4,000 belong to other people.

https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com

Yes, please upload a few videos files in mp4 format!
Re:Ask HN: Where do you post your blogs apart from HN? on Monday September 11, 2023 @03:17AM (#37463985)
Thank you!
Oral tradition was past down from generation to generation, but then entertainers/performers would spread that knowledge. Children likely enjoyed those shows. They must've been as creative as a few props to bring about the imagination.
Re:Ask HN: Where do you post your blogs apart from HN? on Saturday September 09, 2023 @11:06PM (#37452554)
On my own site, https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com

I probably post there more than on HN.

If you're talking about where I share posts... a combo of Facebook and LinkedIn.

X banned my only account that I hadn't accessed in over a year and refused to unban it, as their unban process is only automated with no manual reviews, so I'm not interested in trying to rebuild my followers. Fortunately, Twitter aided in growing my audience to around 2 million visits a month, which has since grown to 3 million without it, so I rely on my visitors to keep sharing their articles to their own Twitter accounts.

Re:Ask HN: Did people on the middle ages re-enact ancient times? on Saturday September 09, 2023 @11:01PM (#37452521)
It is very likely that plays were performed by traveling minstrels who had knowledge based on Ancient Greek and Roman mythology, as those stories would've been known and passed down, such as portraying Alexander the Great, Odyssey, and the Trojan Wars.
Re:The Power of Food for People with Dementia on Saturday September 09, 2023 @04:51AM (#37443434)
It gets crazy for people in nursing homes and hospitals that have dementia at times. I used to work security and they'd all line up along the wall and mingle, while waiting to get their medicine. Then they'd take their meds around 4:30 to 5 PM, go have a seat at the table, and eat. Some were assisted.

For the ones who liked to wander, they'd go back to their rooms afterwards, and then not more than 30 minutes later, they'd be lined up again, and have to be told that they just ate and to go back to their rooms.

But breaking it down... food is life, it is what we do when we are around family or friends. It does bring back some memories of earlier times, when certain smells arise.

My grandfather, who had dementia... towards the end of his life, he remembered two very specific meals, which were always his favorite: meatloaf and mashed potatoes and veal parmesan. Fortunately for him, his very last meal was the meatloaf, although pureed, but he smiled as I fed him. He then closed his eyes and never opened them again, dying three days later.

The VA was good to him, but I applied for food stamps and some cash assistance a few months before my grandfather passed away. He took social security at 62 so he wasn't bringing in much more than $1,000 a month. They denied everything and up until the day he passed away, they kept telling me to appeal it. Why? To only be denied again? He was 86 when I applied. They said he was too old. I don't get it either. But seeing what I saw in how the government denied his benefits, I'm assuming they'll do the same to me.

Not eligible for food stamps. Make too much to afford Obamacare. Make too little and have too many bills to shell out $400 a month for health insurance. Just got to keep working and doing my best for myself. Trying to do all I can to ensure myself financial security in my future.

So to take care of her food bill, you can sign her up though you may have to take her to local churches who often have a food drive once a month and give plenty of free food.

I used to take all the food they gave my grandfather and mesh it: green beans, beans, corn, sweet potaots, etc., buy a box of stuffing, throw in an egg, and he loved it. Very basic food yet it worked and I even took advantage of having some myself.

You mentioned Oakland which I'm assuming is California. Try applying for California benefits.

https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/medi-cal/Pages/Medi-Cal_EHB...

You can also find some resources here:

https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/community-care/home-ca... https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com/link-library/#elderl...

You can also try applying for Section 8 housing for her here:

https://www.hud.gov/states/california/homeownership/seniors

It is crazy that our Elderly are treated the way they are in the United States, while our tax dollars seem to be able to pay for everything else.

I am an overthinker and overreactive, probably undiagnosed autism and ADHD.

If it works for you, keep doing what you're doing.

But don't forget to get in touch with nature: go for walks, go for swims, go for bike rides.

Being diagnosed with something doesn't change who you are, only confirms who you are, and that's part of who you are now, only legally diagnosed.

Re:Show HN: MSDOS Theme Inspired Image Enhancement Tools on Friday September 08, 2023 @02:00AM (#37429942)
I am a lover of CSS frame themes and that is really nice.

https://github.com/vinibiavatti1/TuiCss

It seems this is just your personal project as it is just on a subdomain of your domain, so might not be for the public, but keep the following in mind:

GDPR-compliance: you need to add how long images remain after being uploaded or give the option to delete the original file. This also includes the time you will also keep the generated file. You wouldn't need to store these for more than 10 minutes after the output has been generated.

Filename: out.png is like you just plopped in the sample code that you found on Github and called it a day. Consider keeping the filename and adding something to it. "filename-out.png" might be better.

Tested most of the options and its all functional.

Re:What it's Really Like to be an Alaskan Truck Driver on Friday September 08, 2023 @01:24AM (#37429692)
Truckers: the spine that connects the world and makes all our commerce possible.
Re:AOL Pretends to Be the Internet on Thursday September 07, 2023 @02:56AM (#37415598)
It was the Internet... until your mom picked up the phone.
Re:37signals Introduces Once – One time payment software on Wednesday September 06, 2023 @07:53PM (#37413000)
It's selling it at the one-time price that may have long-term consequences. So it sounds great in theory and gives investors a chance to feel like they own it, but subscriptions are better in the fact that they are continued support for the product. I guess it just means not every product can be sold for a one-time price, though there is software out there where it works just fine to do so.
Re:Show HN: Host a Website in the URL on Wednesday September 06, 2023 @03:58PM (#37410450)
got me har har
Re:Show HN: Host a Website in the URL on Wednesday September 06, 2023 @03:56PM (#37410405)
I created a website years ago that let anyone come and just "post" something online anonymously, quick notes or whatever, but have since had to add a registration process and record ip addresses, as the website was overrun by what looked like russian hackers and the dark web in general looking for a place for uh... post links to child... well anyways, took me almost a month to track down all my own website links, as everything was encrypted and growing faster than i could delete it. def sucks to know that even though i took down the means for a place for them to 'conduct business', they will continue to find other websites.
Re:37signals Introduces Once – One time payment software on Wednesday September 06, 2023 @03:36PM (#37410088)
While I love the idea for simple software services, it doesn't work to support the actual lifetime of the software, though it can work to an extent. Adobe would be a good example of offering a one-time payment. You get a lifetime for that version of the software. However, you'd have to upgrade/pay another fee to upgrade to the next version, perhaps for a reduced price, and this is likely to be many versions. The issue with this type of offering, is that Adobe would have to support those older versions -- for how long?

I had done some research on this topic... writing saas and thinking, "Wow, wouldn't it be a great cash grab to get that $1,000 for a lifetime for my product upfront? It saves money in my users' pockets and it gives me a large immediate sum." I mean, getting 100 people to sign up for a lifetime is $100,000 minus taxes upfront and sounds amazing. In fact, it would probably support the server hosting costs for quite some time. Until it runs out.

I even thought about offering a limited amount. It's especially a bonus for those who you consider investors of your platform. In other words, you are giving me so much money upfront to support this service. In exchange, I am giving you the rights to own whatever I do in the future, free of charge. However, most people "seeing" actual money hit their account every month is more motivation than that one-time payment.

So I had seen how StackCommerce handles this for their creators: you pay once for a limited supply of something. For example, an SEO platform that does scans of your website and suggests recommendations, you might pay $30 once and get 10 of those per month for a lifetime. Then what these companies would do is offer an upgrade or a trial period to try a subscription plan.

And this model can work. Again, the purpose of the one-time is really designed to at least get a user in and trying the service, feeling that they can "own" it. It makes the user feel good because they have something for a lifetime. It makes the creator feel good that someone actually paid for a "lifetime". However, this may be short-lived for several reasons.

You are taking a huge gamble.. for example, I might only need less than those 10 queries per month on my website, so they made their $30 and that's it. I use it but despite their "upgrade me" attempt, I don't care to upgrade. The other major issue is that if you get an interested buyer for your software, like someone who actually wants to own it, then you now have to disclose that you have one-time paying lifetime users, which is now cutting into their costs and may depreciate your software for the buyer because they still have to support those customers. Of course, they can always say, "new ownership, we'll grandfather you in at this price... pay another... " or whatever, but that may not always work, and piss your customers off, so it has its complications.

The issue with the "pay once" model is that over time, it prevents the creator from having any real means to continue supporting the software and may even kill the motivation. We all have to work. Software is a part of life. So rather than offering a lifetime of the product, I offer a lifetime of reduced early bird subscriptions. I'd come to the conclusion that I'd rather give $200 off my service yearly than give it away for a lifetime.

Re:Show HN: DJ Phonetic – Beatbox with historical speech on Wednesday September 06, 2023 @03:47AM (#37402379)
Love the voices... and then I accidentally started getting beats, lol... love it!
Re:Show HN: PayPal Mafia on Tuesday September 05, 2023 @04:53PM (#37397596)
Musk is also involved in X (Twitter).
Re:Ask HN: Software Engineer to Writer on Tuesday September 05, 2023 @04:54AM (#37389393)
Writing has always been my passion, as much as coding has been, and sometimes the two are intertwined. I began a blog over 10 years ago and it is still going strong. From that blog has spun some additional side projects that I wanted to see come to life.

My biggest project was one that was actually sponsored by my website, back when the ads were working good and I was bringing in a few hundred a year. It was during COVID-19 when everyone was home and I took my shot... I interviewed over 500 women from every country in the world.

The concept was simple: "What is your life like as a woman living in your country?" At first, it was meant to just go on my blog... but I ended up turning it into a book.

https://mylifeasawomanproject.com

My advice... just keep going, don't give up. It's not going to be your only project, so get it done while its fresh in your mind to do so before you lose interest or it becomes a monthly thing.

Also... the other thing I'll say, which if I could do it all over again, I would, though I've already published the book, and remember, it was meant for my blog, so I wasn't bothered with word count or number of pages, but at one point, it was coming out to over 1,000 pages... I cut it down to below 750 pages when it was converted over to a book. The book is not a single story, but over 500 stories, so it's not meant to be read in a few hours or overnight, and it can be a lot to absorb no matter how you read it.

So ... longer isn't necessarily better. Get your point across.

Also, it's not going to make you rich or anything, but have fun writing it. You'll have to do some marketing, but you'll have to do your research to find your niche of people who want to read it. I've sold about 250 copies or so in physical and audio. Not a best seller. Not a world changer. I'm fine with that. I did it. I wrote it. I'm an author. I've since moved on to other projects, which are now my focus.

And joining a few Facebook groups, I've learned that there are many aspiring authors who just never publish anything. So set your goals and get it done!

Amazon KDP for self-publishing unless you want to go the another route.

Good luck!

awesome, thank you for this... always looking for test files.
Not really diagnosed, but there are textbook definition signs there.

1. Coding.

2. I try to have my laptop with me all the time, Internet capabilities, and hopping on so I can code which helps me with my anxiety and autism.

Re:Ask HN: What are your favorite programming blogs? on Monday September 04, 2023 @01:38PM (#37382872)
When I was a kid learning programming, there was another kid named "PatorJK", maybe a few years older than me, and its crazy to see him still coming up with new app ideas, mostly just scripts that you can use on his website.

Back in the days of Visual Basic, he would include the code to do it, which was always useful for me to see how it was done, being the self-taught programmer I was.

Too many years ago, he posted on his blog about what his website was... http://patorjk.com/blog/2007/09/24/what-patorjkcom-is/

It's just a unique random mess of his life's work, but he's still somewhat active today.

Re:What has your personal website or blog deprived you from? on Monday September 04, 2023 @01:21PM (#37382629)
Nice saying on marriage.

Me: 10 years of writing many of my own articles on the site

You: It's spammy and useless.

Well, its useless to you, but some other people might be able to use the information or maybe relate to the content.

You and I must be looking at two completely different websites. I see some short articles. I see some long ones. I see some very summarized articles which are called "lead-ins" meaning to bring people back to their own website. I see some in-depth interesting content and I see some bland content that isn't very interesting, as some of the fields some of us work in are not.

I appreciate that you took a look, but just because you skimmed a few articles on the front page doesn't mean that the content isn't real. I do filter out the spam from the genuine articles and have tried to keep a very consistent over the years. But you saw what you saw.

As for the topic of this page, "what has your personal website or blog deprived you from?" I think I was able to answer it in the fact that at least 5 hours of my time every weekend are dedicated to answering emails and uploading/processing/scheduling articles to my website. I guess you're going to tell me those people are fake too though they seem pretty legit, even having their company names in their signatures.

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