Useless Conversation

[Rasix]

I suppose I could just pile all of it onto the scratched up leather chair I don't want anymore and leave it in front of one of the many nearby trailer parks.

[Merusk]

Put it on the street curb with a "free" sign and the scrappers will take ALL of it.  They get their scrap metal money and you don't feel bad for putting it in the dumpster.  I did this when I moved last to get rid of 4 computers and 4 boxes of various ancient parts, it was all gone within an hour of being put out.

Rednecks will pick up anything else too. Not just computer parts. Soiled chair? You bet. End table with two legs? Absolutely. Spool for electical cord? That's a table now.

Without a doubt.  I had an entire treelawn of old crap the wife and I tossed when we moved out of the house.  (the kind of things you find in the storage of your house and say, wtf why do we still have this?) An old dishwasher, broken exercise bike, one of those vaccum mops with the squeegee that didn't work, a broken dustbuster, lots of old playskool kids toys, a CRT monitor, an ancient HP desktop, a broken children's picnic table and other lots of old wood and dowels that I wasn't going to put in to storage.

One post on Craigslist later it was ALL gone in about 15 hours.

[Cyrrex]

Ooh, that sucks. Getting a mobile authenticator removed from a SWTOR account is a tremendous pain in the ass last I heard.

I had to get it removed after restoring my iphone (or something like that) and the authenticator no longer worked for some reason...ended up having to call some call center in the UK to get it removed, which in my book constitutes an unacceptable pain in the ass.  As such, I would rather have an unsecured account.

[Abagadro]

I hope all our resident Austinites are safe and weren't caught up in that horrible incident last night.

[Ironwood]

I am so bored today I've spent the afternoon just browsing the whole T&A thread.  Broken links make me sad.

[WayAbvPar]

I am so bored today I've spent the afternoon just browsing the whole T&A thread.  Broken links make me sad.

If it last more than 4 hours, see a doctor.

[Signe]

No.  If it's broken for more than 4 hours, take another.

[RhyssaFireheart]

I don't know what to do.  Someone on FB asked if I have a site where I'm selling my art.  No one's ever asked me that before. 

Seriously, how am I even supposed to figure out what to charge for something?

[Ironwood]

Well, worst case, time and materials.

Otherwise, arbitrary finger in the air.

[Yegolev]

Try $10 per hour.

[Sky]

I don't know what to do.  Someone on FB asked if I have a site where I'm selling my art.  No one's ever asked me that before. 

Seriously, how am I even supposed to figure out what to charge for something?

Look at what other people are charging. I've had a couple people approach me for commissions and I don't have a clue. I'm pricing mine to be worth having to put up with them and a deadline. First guy wants two human sized miniatures, I'm going to give him a deal at $120 for both (which is about $10/hr).

$10/hr is more or less minimum wage and no bennies, so really if I had to make a living at it a human sized mini would start around $120.

Here's the thing about art. Nobody wants to pay what it costs.

[RhyssaFireheart]

I don't know what to do.  Someone on FB asked if I have a site where I'm selling my art.  No one's ever asked me that before. 

Seriously, how am I even supposed to figure out what to charge for something?

Look at what other people are charging. I've had a couple people approach me for commissions and I don't have a clue. I'm pricing mine to be worth having to put up with them and a deadline. First guy wants two human sized miniatures, I'm going to give him a deal at $120 for both (which is about $10/hr).

$10/hr is more or less minimum wage and no bennies, so really if I had to make a living at it a human sized mini would start around $120.

Here's the thing about art. Nobody wants to pay what it costs.

There is that. The pieces in question aren't very big (err.. I use a CD case as my size guide) and they're on 7x9 watercolor paper, so I dunno.  Going by $10/hr that would make them about $25 then, which I guess isn't too shabby for an original.  And while in my mind I'm ripping the person off, I'm doing something they can't (or won't or don't want to) do so there's that.

Prints now... urgh. 

[Sky]

$25 for a 7x9 original is a steal.

[Salamok]

I don't know what to do.  Someone on FB asked if I have a site where I'm selling my art.  No one's ever asked me that before.  

Seriously, how am I even supposed to figure out what to charge for something?

Look at what other people are charging. I've had a couple people approach me for commissions and I don't have a clue. I'm pricing mine to be worth having to put up with them and a deadline. First guy wants two human sized miniatures, I'm going to give him a deal at $120 for both (which is about $10/hr).

$10/hr is more or less minimum wage and no bennies, so really if I had to make a living at it a human sized mini would start around $120.

Here's the thing about art. Nobody wants to pay what it costs.

There is that. The pieces in question aren't very big (err.. I use a CD case as my size guide) and they're on 7x9 watercolor paper, so I dunno.  Going by $10/hr that would make them about $25 then, which I guess isn't too shabby for an original.  And while in my mind I'm ripping the person off, I'm doing something they can't (or won't or don't want to) do so there's that.

Prints now... urgh.  

When I see original art being sold it usually conveys unlimited use with it, so the purchaser isn't just paying for the peice they are paying for the rights to reprint or use it as they see fit.

edit - To be honest though I only know one person who is doing this and that is how he sells/prices what he creates. 

[Merusk]

I don't know what to do.  Someone on FB asked if I have a site where I'm selling my art.  No one's ever asked me that before.  

Seriously, how am I even supposed to figure out what to charge for something?

What sort of art?  Don't devalue yourself just because you're 'not professional.'  You sell it, congrats, you're a professional.

You might want to start just searching for whatever art type it is online.  

I've been asked for a few photographs before, but I refuse to undercut people who do it for a living too much for it so people weren't willing to pay the price I quoted.  ($125 for a 16x20 print w/ frame & matting) I based my pricing off of here: http://fineartamerica.com/ and similar photos were $175 or better.

"I could do it myself for less!"
"Then do it, you asked."

ed: Note that I had this typed up before everyone else posted.  Salamok brings up a very salient point in the rights to the image, which is an even bigger issue these days.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Pretty sure I don't have to worry about this person selling the rights to it or reprinting or anything similar (she's from my EQ2 guild and one of the devs, actually).

It's watercolor and pen on paper.


I have a series of these little alien creature portraits that I've been doing.  So the actual image is only 4X5 or so?  However big a CD case is.  The paper is about 7x9.

[HaemishM]

I dig it. 

[Paelos]

Makes me feel happy.

[Salamok]

How are you going to feel if you sell it for$25 and then see it on a bunch of tee shirts in a few years.  The guy I know does amazing single color pen and ink and that is a very real risk when he sells something.  

[RhyssaFireheart]

That's a risk I think every artist has to deal with though.  Anytime you sell something to a "collector" or someone who wants to display something in their home, you run the risk of what they are going to do with it down the line.

[Salamok]

That's a risk I think every artist has to deal with though.  Anytime you sell something to a "collector" or someone who wants to display something in their home, you run the risk of what they are going to do with it down the line.

Yes but it is also a major reason why a print costs much less than an original.

edit - Sounds like this is something for a friend and you just want to charge whatever feels comfortable for that relationship.  Do what feels good for you and you can't really go wrong.

[Numtini]

Hmm. You should do book covers. Gonna need one sometime soon.

[Paelos]

If any of you have a Bank of America debit card, check your statement. I noticed something called "Weblearn" on my statement for $13.25 that I had no idea about, with an international fee attached. Quick search told me it's a scam. I called BofA and they knew exactly what it was. Apparently it's a big scam this week, and could be related to the Target breach. They cancelled my card and issued me the refund.

[Morat20]

So, I got back from my cruise this week (went on vacation with my wife and kid, and my parents who are big on cruises). Cozumel was basically the same as it always was, Roatan was ridiculously beautiful, and I didn't bother with Bezlize because I had no interest in a 40 minute ride just to get to shore.

Also, for the first time ever, I actually USED the patches I got for motion sickness. Second to last day, the waves were 4 foot plus, and at just the right angle to really keep the boat swaying. I didn't think a boat that big could move that much.

Enough to make me feel a little queasy, at least, and actually make my kid motion sick.

But no noavirus, no shipboard outbreaks, so pretty good all over. More expensive than I'd like, but that's always the case on every vacation I've ever been on.

[Viin]

I assume you didn't dive in Roatan, but if anyone reading this ever ends up in Roatan, make sure you do some scuba or scuba-like stuff! It's easily the most awesome diving I've done. (Granted, I haven't made it to the other side of the world for diving yet, but until then!)

[Morat20]

I assume you didn't dive in Roatan, but if anyone reading this ever ends up in Roatan, make sure you do some scuba or scuba-like stuff! It's easily the most awesome diving I've done. (Granted, I haven't made it to the other side of the world for diving yet, but until then!)

I did not. I sat on a beach and did nothing and it was glorious.

Still, if I had known how gorgeous the place was I might have done something more exercise-like. I think my parents did some snorkeling in Belize, which even my father (whose views on snorkling are "I don't want to") admitted had some great views of a reef and it's inhabitants.

I'm hoping to do Alaska next year or the year after, and I'm deeply envious of my parents -- they're doing some weird double cruise -- one to Australia, then another from Sydney to New Zealand. Might even be the same boat, not sure, but they're looking at several weeks on a cruise. Not even remotely in my budget.

[schild]

I'm typically not a totally cheap assbutt, but Google getting rid of the free option for hosting your own domain email there is kinda shitty. Even if it were just limited to a tiny nuimber of email addresses - say, 5 - it would get a lot of people going on the platform. Even if they had no access to the other google apps shit. Lame.

[Salamok]

I'm typically not a totally cheap assbutt, but Google getting rid of the free option for hosting your own domain email there is kinda shitty. Even if it were just limited to a tiny number of email addresses - say, 5 - it would get a lot of people going on the platform. Even if they had no access to the other google apps shit. Lame.

Source please. Are current free accounts grandfathered like they were last time when they changed free tier from 50 accounts to 10? I haven't seen any sort of notification on a change to my existing service.

[schild]

I'm typically not a totally cheap assbutt, but Google getting rid of the free option for hosting your own domain email there is kinda shitty. Even if it were just limited to a tiny number of email addresses - say, 5 - it would get a lot of people going on the platform. Even if they had no access to the other google apps shit. Lame.

Source please. Are current free accounts grandfathered like they were last time when they changed free tier from 50 accounts to 10? I haven't seen any sort of notification on a change to my existing service.

f13 uses it, as do a few other domains I have and they were all grandfathered in. NEW domains however, don't have access to the free thing. In turn, Microsoft is now offering all that free shit at outlook.com. Bleh.

[Salamok]

I'm typically not a totally cheap assbutt, but Google getting rid of the free option for hosting your own domain email there is kinda shitty. Even if it were just limited to a tiny number of email addresses - say, 5 - it would get a lot of people going on the platform. Even if they had no access to the other google apps shit. Lame.

Source please. Are current free accounts grandfathered like they were last time when they changed free tier from 50 accounts to 10? I haven't seen any sort of notification on a change to my existing service.

f13 uses it, as do a few other domains I have and they were all grandfathered in. NEW domains however, don't have access to the free thing. In turn, Microsoft is now offering all that free shit at outlook.com. Bleh.

From what I read you can add/associate a new domain to an existing legacy account that already has a domain associated with it. http://allthefreethings.com/free-google-apps/ :

How do I get it for free?

First Method:
If you have a domain that is already linked to Google Apps you can pair your new domain to the existing subscription, allowing it access to all the same tools and services.

edit - this information is a year old though

[schild]

OOOOOOH CAN I. Need to figure if that's still possible.

[HaemishM]

Win. 

[Morat20]

Love that map.

Whelp, remember me bitching about how my entire professional shit just fell apart right before a vacation? Yeah, that got noticed. As in my customer bitched to my management. Guess what's this week? Reviews -- one I was already looking at a crappy one, because I have learned over the last year that if you give me two weeks of work and a month to do it in, with NOTHING else left to do, I will goof off and take a month.

Starting, oh, TODAY that changes to "I'm done, I need more work" no matter how much you bitch about me not being pro-active. I can't set my own development goals -- I'm not allowed, the software I'm responsible for I have shuttered the obvious bugs and am left with the ones only hard use will show (hard use by very few people, as my modules are the neglected stepchild of the software and thus underused). So either I start horning in on other people's bugs or you give me more to do.

So, thankfully my supervisor thinks the situation is 'manageable' with a side of 'But you realize like, ANY fuckups are gonna get you canned" and since he knows me and my manager just knows my face and department and past reviews (all of which have been middle of the road, this job has not really inspired me to give 110% because they will still just pay me 100%. Or less, seeing as we got stiffed our raises last year)., I'm hoping that even with the customer nasty-gram I get the standard procedure for "You're doing your job poorly and goof off too much" which is a year to get back to "acceptable" with regular reviews by your supervisor.

I *like* the job, I like virtually all the people I work with. And, well, assuming I'm still employed -- fuck not looking "proactive" and being a "go-getter". I don't have enough to do? I'm whining to EVERYONE until I do.

As I pointed out to my supervisor, my most productive period over the last six months was the four months I had shit to do -- which I all got done well, fast, and didn't start goofing around until I was done with EVERYTHING I was given and what I was given next was, you know, a two week job with a deadline of more than a month.

[Soln]

OOOOOOH CAN I. Need to figure if that's still possible.

Nailed it.

[Viin]

As I pointed out to my supervisor, my most productive period over the last six months was the four months I had shit to do -- which I all got done well, fast, and didn't start goofing around until I was done with EVERYTHING I was given and what I was given next was, you know, a two week job with a deadline of more than a month.

There's nothing wrong with telling your manager/supervisor that you are bored and you want something more challenging to do. And this doesn't mean putting a bunch of sh!t work on you, but actually getting you involved in something interesting/different. I left my last two companies because I was bored.

Just make sure you are ready to put in 110% on that new thing they throw your way, show them you are up to more challenging work - otherwise they will just let you coast until you leave.