Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but how do you get them to do that? (Serious question. Not kidding.)
Have you tried asking yet?
Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
121–130 of 186 posts
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#122Skype for the sick, create a service that does scheduled calls (ideally video calls) to the elderly and infirm for a fee. I had this idea because my father suffers from Parkinsons disease and gets quite lonely in the house during the day. He lives in Florida and I life in California and I can't call him as much as I would like to given the time difference. I know he gets lonely and would love to just have a conversat…
You should check out TAGLab at the University of Toronto. They are working on a very similar problem. One of their projects involves a touch-sensitive picture album where the patient can request interaction with a loved one. The patient taps a picture and a notification goes to the recipient, and on the other end the recipient can take a photo or write a note or record a video to send back. http://taglab.utoronto.ca/
It's really a great idea to break elderly people isolation. My elderly relatives tend to use the phone, and I'm rarely available, so I really like the asynchronous nature of it. Make it as easy to use as a telephone and I could see me paying for such a service.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#123Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why does noone on HN have a sense of humor?
I think, like me, you're from the UK? Most HN readers are American and different cultures usually have different senses of humor and taboos. Doing sex phone work is a bit "ooh, naughty" here but as a topic for general conversation is far less offensive than in the US. We even get light hearted documentaries about sex phone operators on TV ( http://steverogerson.suite101.com/my-phone-sex-secrets-chann... ) featuring s…
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#125A younger, stupider me would have suggested writing for one of the freelancer sites. However, that seems to put her on a collision course with lots of not-so-savvy-but-they-don't-need-to-be folks who would be thrilled to make 1/4 of her reserve price. Ignoring credentials for a moment, does your wife have any skill which is commercially valuable? Can she develop one? Many knowledge-worker things can get delivered ove…
Doing that in person is probably most lucrative. I know a physics grad in the Bay Area who does it as a regular job, full-time income for after school/evening/weekend work. But also worth checking out the new wave of online tutoring sites, that connect real tutors to real students. Tutorspree is the only one I can recall, but pretty sure there are a few others:
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#126My partner spent the last couple of years travelling around a lot between countries and couldn't maintain a normal job. She ended up finding an academic essay editing/proofing service that would send her jobs to do. They gave her some training via skype to start with, and she's enjoyed the work. Look here: http://www.uni-edit.net/
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why does noone on HN have a sense of humor?
When it's pointed toward someone's real wife, in a sincere thread about something important - well, sex worker jokes aren't funny in that situation. Particularly given the guy isn't a friend of yours, nor is the wife. Suggestion: never try that anywhere but a web forum.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#128Skype for the sick, create a service that does scheduled calls (ideally video calls) to the elderly and infirm for a fee. I had this idea because my father suffers from Parkinsons disease and gets quite lonely in the house during the day. He lives in Florida and I life in California and I can't call him as much as I would like to given the time difference. I know he gets lonely and would love to just have a conversat…
You should check out TAGLab at the University of Toronto. They are working on a very similar problem. One of their projects involves a touch-sensitive picture album where the patient can request interaction with a loved one. The patient taps a picture and a notification goes to the recipient, and on the other end the recipient can take a photo or write a note or record a video to send back. http://taglab.utoronto.ca/
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#129Could she not use the time to improve her credentials?
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#130Skype for the sick, create a service that does scheduled calls (ideally video calls) to the elderly and infirm for a fee. I had this idea because my father suffers from Parkinsons disease and gets quite lonely in the house during the day. He lives in Florida and I life in California and I can't call him as much as I would like to given the time difference. I know he gets lonely and would love to just have a conversat…
Knowing how many older folk play crosswords, I think an async game you can play is far more meaningful.