I apologize right away if this isn't something Mark and Tom want to see on this board, but I think it could be beneficial for a few of you and most of all, me and my family.

I'm looking for an extremely part-time researcher. Someone very keen on web searches, fact checking and learning new things about hardcore hardware and how things work. In depth, tech-head kinds of stuff.

I've been doing my own research for these types of articles for about a year now and, well, I'm getting tired of the search. It's time consuming, exhausting and it keeps me from my infant daughter....

Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for anyone to write hardware articles for me. Just someone who can do the legwork efficiently and provide links to up-to-date information. Present them to me in an organized fashion so I can fact check them myself (and editorial can double fact check them later) and I can write the article in a more reasonable amount of time. I still have to craft the article, I just need the facts in a more... er... Cliff Notes fashion I guess.

I can pay around $15 an hour for this service and promise 3-4 hours per week (under the table). I can also, maybe, pay in games. Not great, but not that bad if you compare it to the research depts. that major networks and newspapers enjoy (believe me, I know, I used to do it for a living).

Anyone interested has to know hardware, specifically laptop hardware, well enough to find current info and present it in an organized manner.

I figure some of you may even be able to do this from your own jobs.

Anyone interested please contact me at:
[email protected]

Thanks
-Andrew

Oh, let me amend one thing. 3-4 hours a week is an estimate. Also, it certainly wouldn't be every week. Probably one week a month, maybe every two months.
No big deal. Just looking for someone knowledgable who happens to maybe, I dunno, miss College Term Paper research? I know people like that exist...

-Andrew

I forget who it is, but I believe there is a frequent poster on the board who recently graduated with a degree in English. They probably have good research skills and need something to do until they find a real job - like waiting tables:-)

I'll do it. I only ask that you assist me in a pet project that I'm doing. Super-light stuff you'd have fun with.

www.gamepsychic.com

I've got to program the back end, and then it's live. Should be a couple of weeks, since I have to teach myself MySQL.

Anybody here know PHP and MySQL enough to set up a web-poll with it to my specifications?

Aszurom

Cool opportunity, Bub! And this is the right place to go.

I know PHP/MySQL/Apache but my time is really screwed up right now. I suggest going to one of the many PHP developer sites, though, and trying to find existing code that you can edit to fit. A good programmer never writes what he or she can steal.

Jim,
Thanks for your quid pro quo offer but I'm offering $15 an hour.

See... My goal is to *gain* free time. I'm not offering to trade work time for a different kind of work time.

And Jeff, judging by the thunderous response this maybe isn't the right place to go...
;>

-Andrew

If it's really just 3-4 hours once a month or even once every two months, why do you want someone else to do the research? Do you just hate doing the research?

Sort of.
I'm "researching" (playing games, interviewing people) and writing a good 40-50 hours a week lately. So, a better answer is probably: "I dislike doing that kind of research."

Remember, I'll still have to fact-check and verify whatever a researcher uncovers for me. I'm looking for someone to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Weed out the wrong info for me and the outdated stuff.

-Andrew
PS: Also, I've recently had three other professional writers call me foolish for being a full-time writer without a researcher "on staff."

and of those three writers, how many sit at a desk supplied by their employer? It ain't like hiring the neighborhood kid to cut your grass ya know. Or, for them maybe it is. They didn't detail WHO their researchers were did they?

Pitch me an email with your number. I'll talk to you about it.

Hrm... I had a thought. Lots of kids saying "I want to be a game reviewer, how do I get started?" Well, you join the Bub apprentice program. It's like becoming a blacksmith, except with less heat and more sweat. Hammer optional.

Hehe,
all are "at home" freelancers Jim.
But they mostly do the local political/sports beat for news syndicates. There's a lot of money in that.

-Andrew

You still looking for a researcher?

Have you checked with your local university's journalism department? Your requirements sound like a good school year internship for an aspiring journalist. $15 an hour for a few hours every couple of weeks might be good money for a college student.

Best of luck.

-DavidCPA

Good call David. I'd do that but, it being Fall and all... I'd hate to offer an internship and then lose this gig and have nothing for the poor student to do.

Well, there's always my Kramerica plans...

-Andrew

I wish I had my own professional researcher. =/

Andrew- Heh, I would totally do this for you, but I don't have regular or reliable internet access right now and I don't know when I will again. Wish I could help you out.

Brad Grenz

Thanks folks, I found a great candidate.
Brad, I may contact you in the future if I need more of that kind of help.

-Andrew