Stuff to do with computers.

[JimC]

So I have decided to keep my passion out of work. I really enjoyed things like web design, programming, and the occasional hardware aspect of computers. But after working jobs that involve this, I find myself slowly losing interest and I don't really want to do it anymore.

So my plan is to work a job that doesn't involve technical skills. Something that is very easy. Pay isn't too important if the work is easy. For example, working retail in a clothing store would be ok if I wasn't so introverted.

So I have a few questions:

1. Ignoring pay, what are some really easy jobs for introverts? Aside from computers, I don't have much experience with anything.

2. Since I am tired of web development and starting to lose interest in programming, what are some technical hobbies that could make me money if I became really good with them?

I thought about designing floor plans because I always have really good ideas for homes and properties. But who would buy such things?

[maybe this would be better in the business forum - mods should move it there if they feel it's needed]

[Apollia]

Aww, I rather liked your http://www.l2internet.com/ site, but I can't reach it anymore.

1. Ignoring pay, what are some really easy jobs for introverts? Aside from computers, I don't have much experience with anything.

Neither do I, but, the one job I managed to stick with for a long period of time (a little more than a year) was a part-time (but still very wearisome) job as a copy editor/typist at a local newspaper.

This was good for me because I find it effortlessly easy to spell correctly and I can also type very fast, and I usually didn't have to talk to anyone. The hardest part about it was it bored me to death and I felt like it was a waste of my talents, even though my employer loved me (despite, or maybe because of, not paying me enough) and said I did the work of three people.

In retrospect I think I might've been better off spending all that time on learning to program - at that job, I didn't learn many new skills, and the money I made didn't do me much good, since I had to spend it mostly on bills, and in the end I still wound up drowning in debt anyhow.

Another thing I did for money years ago was selling on eBay. Various obstructions got in my way back then (like my lack of transportation to the post office and bank, lack of a good-quality digital camera, lack of valuable possessions to sell, etc.), but, in all I think I made around $400 in 8 months, which was almost sufficient for me back in those days. I think I could have done much better than that if not for all the limitations I had to deal with back then. I never had to actually talk to a single customer - all the transactions were done via email.

2. Since I am tired of web development and starting to lose interest in programming, what are some technical hobbies that could make me money if I became really good with them?

I still remember you mentioning to me about your friend who makes $20,000 a month in Second Life. Just thought I'd remind you of that idea. You might not be interested in scripting, but, creating neat-looking 3D objects/buildings/or whatever without scripts in them isn't too technical, and depending on what you build I suppose it could even be somewhat similar to designing floor plans.

This idea has become even more attractive to me lately because of the existence of OpenSim, which makes it so you can have your own Second Life server on your own hard drive, with total privacy, all the space you want, and all the prims you want, meaning it's finally possible for me to build grand, huge virtual architecture on a scale I never could within Second Life due to not having enough land, etc. - architecture which I will eventually be able to sell if it's nice enough. On the down side, I probably will end up having to do some scripting just because the architecture I hope to build will probably be gigantic, and I don't want my future customers to have to assemble the pieces of it manually.

Here's an excellent tutorial on how to install OpenSim: OpenSim - Install and Configuration Tutorial « OpenSim Easy User Guide

Using an OpenSim makes it possible to build stuff (though not script very much stuff, since OpenSim's LSL capabilities are incomplete) without even having to socialize with random people who are prone to approach you in Second Life if you try building at a sandbox.

There's a program (unfortunately closed source and commercial) called Second Inventory which lets you transfer some objects between Second Life and OpenSims. I guess maybe the libsecondlife site might have some open-source things which might do something similar - but, it's way too technical for me to understand. libsecondlife


I still wouldn't rule out just having a website, and leaving it up on the web whether or not you're interested in updating it frequently. It's useful to have an established presence on the web, with various incoming links, etc., so if you ever do get re-interested in web stuff, you won't have to start from scratch with an entirely new site with zero traffic.

Despite the fact that I have a website, my interest in maintaining it fluctuates, and I often go for months without a significant update. But, just leaving it up on the web provides value to people, and also provides me a potential income stream, since I never know when someone might send me a donation (it's rare but it has happened), and, if I ever find an ad program I like, that will be another potential source of revenue. I also could maybe try selling stuff directly from my website (haven't tried that yet, though), and there are probably plenty of other possibilities for making money with it that I haven't even thought of.

Just some ideas. Good luck.

Apollia

[JimC]

Originally Posted by Apollia

Aww, I rather liked your http://www.l2internet.com/ site, but I can't reach it anymore.

Yeah that's a long story. I had multiple problems with both visitors and my hosting provider, so I just canceled the account. I might do something like that in the future.

Originally Posted by Apollia

Neither do I, but, the one job I managed to stick with for a long period of time (a little more than a year) was a part-time (but still very wearisome) job as a copy editor/typist at a local newspaper.

I've been wanting to do this, but our local newspaper never has any openings... when they do, it's for journalism graduates and such.

Originally Posted by Apollia

In retrospect I think I might've been better off spending all that time on learning to program - at that job, I didn't learn many new skills, and the money I made didn't do me much good, since I had to spend it mostly on bills, and in the end I still wound up drowning in debt anyhow.

Sorry to hear this but trust me, you have to be an extremely gifted programmer to make much money, unless you get a lucky gig with Microsoft, Google, etc... I've been a programmer for a while now and the effort and time isn't worth the pay.

Originally Posted by Apollia

Another thing I did for money years ago was selling on eBay. Various obstructions got in my way back then (like my lack of transportation to the post office and bank, lack of a good-quality digital camera, lack of valuable possessions to sell, etc.), but, in all I think I made around $400 in 8 months, which was almost sufficient for me back in those days. I think I could have done much better than that if not for all the limitations I had to deal with back then. I never had to actually talk to a single customer - all the transactions were done via email.

I probably would be doing this right now if it wasn't for all of the scamming. It's so easy to get ripped off on sites like that.

Originally Posted by Apollia

I still remember you mentioning to me about your friend who makes $20,000 a month in Second Life. Just thought I'd remind you of that idea. You might not be interested in scripting, but, creating neat-looking 3D objects/buildings/or whatever without scripts in them isn't too technical, and depending on what you build I suppose it could even be somewhat similar to designing floor plans.

Yeah, this is floating around in my mind. I don't have much experience with 3D modeling, but I'm getting more and more interested in it. There is also a game like second life called Entropia Universe. The only problem is that people say it's a very risky business, both financially and personal health.

I'll have to check out OpenSim now too.

Originally Posted by Apollia

I still wouldn't rule out just having a website, and leaving it up on the web whether or not you're interested in updating it frequently. It's useful to have an established presence on the web, with various incoming links, etc., so if you ever do get re-interested in web stuff, you won't have to start from scratch with an entirely new site with zero traffic.

I agree, but I am having trouble finding a topic that is unique, valuable, and something that I care enough about to update it at least once in a while.
I will probably always be looking for website ideas though, I was born a web developer and will always have that motivation to put something online.

Originally Posted by Apollia

Despite the fact that I have a website, my interest in maintaining it fluctuates, and I often go for months without a significant update. But, just leaving it up on the web provides value to people, and also provides me a potential income stream, since I never know when someone might send me a donation (it's rare but it has happened), and, if I ever find an ad program I like, that will be another potential source of revenue. I also could maybe try selling stuff directly from my website (haven't tried that yet, though), and there are probably plenty of other possibilities for making money with it that I haven't even thought of.

Exactly. I have had smalltownbigshot.com for over a year (it just expired today) and I hadn't updated it in a few months, yet I was still getting some clicks on Google ads. If I didn't run out of things to talk about, I could probably be doing very well by now.



Thanks for the input!

[Apollia]

Sorry to hear this but trust me, you have to be an extremely gifted programmer to make much money, unless you get a lucky gig with Microsoft, Google, etc... I've been a programmer for a while now and the effort and time isn't worth the pay.

Interesting to know, thanks. I think I'm going to have to do something pretty unconventional in any case, just because I'm so extremely in favor of open source software that I probably wouldn't even want to work for Google or Microsoft, let alone the average job listing on a freelance site where the employer wants full rights to whatever software you write for them.

Oh, yeah, that reminds me. You probably have already thought of this, but maybe search freelance job sites? I haven't done any jobs with such sites myself yet, and am not very informed on this topic, but, I most often hear about Elance.com , which features non-technical as well as technical jobs. There are doubtless many similar sites out there too. I've sometimes been told to try Craigslist.org too.

I probably would be doing this right now if it wasn't for all of the scamming. It's so easy to get ripped off on sites like that.

Things might have changed since 2002 (which is when I was selling stuff), but, I think I only got ripped off on eBay once, maybe twice. (I can't remember whether or not with the second problem I had, the person's check finally arrived).

The time I (almost) definitely got scammed is when someone said they had sent their PayPal payment to a typo version of my email address, an address I found out for a fact didn't even exist, but supposedly the payment had been accepted. I decided for a $7 item it was more trouble than it was worth to dispute this and risk getting a negative feedback on my profile, and there also was a small chance that maybe the person wasn't lying, so I sent the item for free.

Fortunately, there are people out there who are definitely honest. I had mailed an item to someone, and then a few weeks later, the person emailed me saying they hadn't received it. Having no idea whether or not this was true or a scam, I issued them a refund - then, to my surprise, the person sent back the refund (about $15), apologized, and told me they had found the item.


I was more naive and trusting back then, but these days, I can think of a lot more reasons to be nervous about selling on sites like that. I would be wary of credit card chargebacks, having my PayPal account frozen for a dispute, and, something I forgot to mention before (since I haven't sold on there for years, and forgot this news I heard about several months ago) - if I'm not mistaken, sellers are no longer allowed to leave negative feedback for customers. I never gave anyone any negative feedback, but I can see how this could be bad.

So, actually, an alternative to eBay might likely be better, along with using payment methods (maybe even Second Life) that have no chance of being snatched back at an unscrupulous scammer's whim.

No idea what would be a good alternative. I tried selling on AuctionAddict.com (which has no listing or commission fees), but my items sat there for months with no bids, until one of them was bid on by someone who turned out to be someone who wanted me to send a large amount of money to someone in Nigeria. :/ At that point, I gave up on AuctionAddict.

Yeah, this is floating around in my mind. I don't have much experience with 3D modeling, but I'm getting more and more interested in it.

Me too.

There is also a game like second life called Entropia Universe.

I've looked into that but it doesn't seem to be as easy as Second Life to get into that as a developer of content.

I also have no patience for trying to figure out how to play the game itself (or any other similar game) for profit, even though that's supposedly possible. That would truly be a no-passion job for me - defeating virtual monsters, etc. would feel so empty and useless to me.

The only problem is that people say it's a very risky business, both financially

Might be true of Entropia Universe. But, I pay only $72 a year for a Second Life subscription (a lot of which comes back to me in the form of the weekly Premium user stipend), and if I decided not to own land, I wouldn't even have to pay that much, since free accounts are an option, and renting a small amount of land is pretty cheap.

I own so little land it costs nothing extra for me to hold onto it. I only have it so I have a private place to script and build, a place to sell and give away items, and so I don't have to rent space to hold the scripted boxes containing items I have listed for sale on the websites SLExchange (which takes a small commission out of every sale) and OnRez (which seemingly doesn't take commissions, I'm not sure what they do to make money).

and personal health.

Yes, it's probably particularly bad for anyone who is prone to getting addicted to computer games. Fortunately, after all the video games I played when I was younger, I think I've developed some immunity to that.

Other than that, I guess the risks are about the same as any computer-related job - lack of exercise, etc.

I agree, but I am having trouble finding a topic that is unique, valuable, and something that I care enough about to update it at least once in a while.

I partly get around this problem by featuring multiple topics on my website. There are those who discourage the idea of having a single website on a variety of themes, but, I think there's no problem with it as long as the site is well-organized enough that people can easily find the content that interests them and ignore the rest.

Exactly. I have had smalltownbigshot.com for over a year (it just expired today) and I hadn't updated it in a few months, yet I was still getting some clicks on Google ads.

Oh, yes, I remember that site. I liked that too. You are really an excellent, clear writer.

If I didn't run out of things to talk about, I could probably be doing very well by now.

Me too, possibly. I'm just not capable of churning out a ton of new, valuable content quickly or regularly, though, so I'm hoping just piling up a lot of interesting stuff gradually is a good approach. It might be working, my traffic tends to increase or stay at a stable level.

Thanks for the input!

You're welcome, thank you too.