Why iWriter is Great Place for Freelance Writers

My earnings as a freelance writer at iWriter.com crossed $100 today and I thought about sharing this excellent place with fellow writers.

Why iWriter is Special

At iWriter, you can write as many or as few articles as you like. Just log in to the site and you can see dozens of buyers requesting articles. You don't have any commitments to write any article. Just pick a topic that suits you. Read the special instructions and click the 'Write Article' button. Depending on word length, you get two to five hours.

If you can't complete the article within that time, it will go back to the homepage so that another writer can write it.

Article Approval

You will get payments only after the buyers approve your article. The FAQ says the maximum it takes is 48 hours. If the buyer doesn't approve your article within that time, your article will be auto approved. In most cases, the approval or rejection of the article happens in 10 minutes to 10 hours - never more than that.

Writer Ratings

The article buyers would rate your writing. It is a five-star rating systems. Worst articles get one star and best articles get 5 stars. If you get 20 ratings with many four and five stars, you will be promoted to 'top' writer. I got promoted immediately after I completed 20 articles. As of now, I have written 41 articles. Among them, 34 are approved, three rejected and four pending (will be approved or rejected in a few hours).

When promoted as a 'top' writer, you get access to high paying articles. I once saw an article writing project paying $20 for a 500-word article. Never saw it again. In most cases, you get $4.05 for a 500-word article. Occasionally, you can also get $10 for a 500-word article.

If the buyers don't like your writing, they can block you too. That is, you cannot see the assignments they post.

As of now, writers can't block the buyers.

I think it will be nice feature as there are snooty buyers who don't approve any articles and give horrible ratings to anyone who writes for them. I will never write for them and I never want to see their projects. I want to block them.

However, most of the buyers are pleasant to work with. Some buyers even tip you for good work. As of now, I have got three tips from two buyers (2 x $1 and 1 x $2) for $5 articles. I will write for them whenever I get a chance.

For Article Buyers

This is a place where you can order articles of desirable qualities and get them delivered in a matter of hours. There are several dozens of top writers competing for the available writing assignments.

Be specific about your requirement. Most of the fellow writers I see get ratings. If you are picky about quality, you can limit your projects to top writers only.

The following type of requests will receive zero response:

""High quality, well-researched, seo optimized articles. I am looking for long term association. I pay $1 for a 750-word article.""

If that is your requirement, sorry. You are not welcome. Beggars are not entertained in business places.

If you plan to give one and two stars to writers without adequate reasons, they will not touch your assignments with a 10-foot pole.

If you are willing to pay $5 per 500 words of well-written content, this is the place.

The place is: iWriter.com

I Forgot I Had this Blog

Funny. Quite Funny.

I have one of the oldest blogs in the internet. No blog posts for several years. Still, around 20 subscribers.

No, I am not going to post any more posts here. I wonder what I have been thinking about this blog. Sure, I have a few other blogspot blogs. I still can't believe I started blogging seven years ago.

Everything about blogging is changed. Nothing to talk about MY blogging though.

IPL Players are Cows & Donkeys

IPL is business. Team owners are merchants. And, players are cows and donkeys. I thought everyone understood this. But, no! This became especially true with the furure in India and steaming from the other side of the border.

The IPL is a 100% business venture. The teams are owned by businesspersons from India and abroad. The owners think they can milk the cows and use the donkeys to carry loads. The owners go to the market to buy cows and donkeys. They go to the market, browse over the stalls and would check out all the animals on display. However, they are not bound to buy every cow and donkey they check out.

The merchants buy animals when they find some value in it. If there is rumor that a particular staple has mad-cow virus, no one is going to buy a cow from that shed. Do you need more explanation?

In this backdrop, it is extremely unlucky that Indian media made too much noise. The hoopla was unwarranted and pathetic. What do the media have to do with a private business process? What is the point in calling IPL a 'mafia'? Why do people of Pakistan think they were snubbed?

Do cows and donkeys cry if they can't find any takers? There were as much as 66 cows and donkeys for sale. Only a dozen were sold. The rest have to go back to their homes. It is normal. If there aren't buyers, there is no point in crying 'I am not sold' – especially from the part of a horse, donkey or a cow.

It is also unfortunate that top level politics is involved. Even office bearers of responsible institutions raising furore and creating chaos. The least I understand is why people of a country are taking to the streets? Do sellers protest if they can't sell their animals?

Powermat Home & Office - Wireless Recharging No Longer a Joke

I first thought about it as a practical joke. Now, I see you can actually recharge your Blackberry, iPod and Nintendo – all at the same time. The Powermat PMM-HO100 Home & Office is here (to stay or not – I don't know).

Magnetic inductive charging of portable devices is the thought behind this product. Actual users of the product already have positive things to say. Less clutter, fewer wires and possibility of charging multiple devices at the same time are positives. You don't have to plug anything in.

The magnet also draws the devices to the right position. Hey, that is a cool feature. Isn't it?

The power shuts off when the device is not charging. It saves some energy and money for you. This also should attract the green customers out there.

The current price is $99.99, which I think would go down in the coming months or at least years. It also comes with optional accessories like Powermat Receiver Case for iPhone, Powermat Receiver Panel for Nintendo DSi, Powermat Receiver Universal Powercube and possibly more.

For more details and photos, go to PCMag.com review.

For shopping, find it on sale at Amazon.

Acer Recalling (Some) Aspire Notebooks

Acer has issued a voluntary recall notice for some Aspire notebooks, because the microphone cable overheats.

Acer has voluntarily instituted a safety recall program to proactively replace the microphone cable in the affected units to eliminate any risk of overheating.

I still wonder how a microphone cable can overheat. The Acer Aspire models in question are AS3410, AS3810T, AS3810TG, AS3810TZ and AS3810TZG. Check this if you have one.

At Kashiwa Cafe, You Don't Get What You Pay For

Found a cool story of a Kashiwa Mystery Cafe, where you won't get what you ordered or paid for. Instead, you get what the person before you has ordered.

I thought it was a cool idea to replicate outside Japan and around the world. I honestly think the idea behind this Japanese restaurant is cool and can be copied everywhere.

The official rules of the restaurant include:

For the record, here are the rules of the Ogori cafe:

1. Let's treat the next person. What to treat them with? It's your choice.
2. Even if it's a group of friends or a family, please form a single-file line. Also, you can't buy twice in a row.
3. Please enjoy what you get, even if you hate it. (If you really, really hate it, let's quietly give it to another while saying, "It's my treat…")
4. Let's say "Thank You! (Gochihosama)" if you find the person with your Ogori cafe card.
5. We can't issue a receipt.

And, for photos and a firsthand experience, check this out.

Thank You Danny Boyle

...for basing Slumdog Millionaire in India and not somewhere in Africa. Your film has given India a new brand image and Bollywood to the global central stage. Everyone knows it is not an Indian film, but you have touched so many Indian myths in a way no Indian ever could. And with just one film, Indian artists bagged more Oscar awards than they could manage in several decades. Lagaan came close, but as you said in your film, Everything is Written.

'India is now the centre of the world and I am now at the centre of the centre' – I don't know who put that dialogue in Salim's mouth. With the film, it really has happened.

I wonder if you really have a golden tongue, Midas touch or something extra ordinary. Why else should India be in the focus of the world because of an English film? Why else should A R Rehman's better creations don't make it to anywhere near the Oscars while a mediocre number win two of the most coveted awards of the world? How else could Rubina Ali fly to America?

Although some fools have assumed it is India's culture or something making it to the world's centre stage, no one can deny your one film has given brand India a new lease of life. Call centre operators pretending to be from somewhere in London or Los Angeles is no new news. The poverty, child abuse, and gangland are always there. The celebration of any victory is not new here. However, no one has ever seen a dream working out the way Slumdog Millionaire did.

I really wonder if the story within the film or the story of the film is more captivating. They two merge so seamlessly that it is really hard to separate the dream run of Jamal in the film and of the film in the world.

Sorry Mr Boyle, I originally intended to bash you for showing the most disgusting and disturbing sights. I also intended to bash you for selling dreams too good to be true. You have already proved the dreams of slums to world's centre stage can be true for Rubina, Azharuddin, and a few others. Everything is written – I take a bow!