10/24/2020

Pioneer On-Ear S3 Wireless Headphones Blue SES3BTL

I got this headset at a very discounted price thanks to a gift voucher. I choose the blue colour because it looked like a pretty metallic blue and it was the cheapest in the range.

GOOD THINGS.
> Large head band, perfect for both women and men. For females with small heads, the headset tends to slip off a bit when bending.
> The awesome pods rotating system, which allows them to move freely and easily in different angles and adjust to most ears. This also helps the pods to fold flat inside the band, and they can be easily stored and carried.
> The pods cushioning is very comfortable, and they do not press my ears at all.
> Battery life is great, almost two days of generous time with them on.
> Pairing is easily done.
> The quality of the sound is good overall. Decent range and bass.
> If on standby for a while, the headset auto-shuts off, and saves battery life.  
> Good value for money.
 
SO-SO.
> The headset looks and feels cheep and plasticky for a Pioneer.
> I know these aren't meant to be noise-cancelling headphones. However, the volume range is not strong enough to muffle the outside world noises when walking outdoors or while on public transport. 
> Quality of sound and bass is not bad, but I was expecting much more from a Pioneer.
> The charging cable is ridiculously short.
> The top is ridged and hollow as if the padding had to be stuck there but it was never done. Headband has no padding on the top, and it can be uncomfortable to wear if you have the headset on for a while.
 

BAD.

The colour on the packaging and promotional photos isn't the headset true colour.If the headset had been photographed properly I would have not chosen the blue colour heaset. Please, Pioneer masterminds, provide professional photos that reflect the true colour of your products. Otherwise, what's the point?

10/21/2020

LifeWorks by Morneau Shepell (Online Service)


My employer has a package of sessions available for each staff member due to the nature of the work we do, but the consultations can be used to sort out personal stuff from marital problems to grieving to finances or other personal issues. 
 
One can book the session in advance or use the after-hours service, on the spot, if necessary. Booking is hassle free and the phone "reception" staff are really helpful and efficient. 
 
I have had different counselors in my consultations and they range from really helpful and empathetic, so you can tackle the issue at hand from a new perspective, feel listened and helped to, to the really uninterested incompetent professional that is like talking to a wall, don't know what active listening is and are a waste of your time because you won't get anything good out of the session. These professionals are paid for their consultations, so I found the presence of latter type worrisome and annoying. 
 
I would recommend customers not to stick to any professional that is not really helpful, even if the professional pressures you, because the service does not demand that from you. You can swap professionals if you want or can choose one for all your consultations if you feel they are making a difference for good.
 
Quality of sound in all the calls has been deficient, perhaps because staff are working remotely from home during COVID.

8/29/2020

Rev (Online Platform, Paid Transcriptions)



 
 Rev is well-established legit online transcription, dictation, translation and subtitling company that offers jobs to freelance workers. This review is from a transcriptionist point of view, not from a customer point of view. If you want to work for them, read this review first, so you don't get any surprise. 
 
NOTE Sep 2023
I left Rev in 2020 and things have changed since.  I know, for example, that now they require an ID document (passport for ex.) to be able to work for them, something that wasn't necessary when I was working for them. What is written below was written short after I left. I enjoyed my time there, loved my peers and the jobs, but payment was exploitative and I couldn't make a living out of it. 
 
BEFORE GETTING ACCESS
You have to take a test to demonstrate your English language grammar skills. If you pass it, you'll be allowed to do a short transcription job.  Rev graders will review it and, about 2 weeks, they'll let you know the results. If you pass it, you're be allowed to register and start working. When you register you also sign a formal contract with Rev as freelancer.
 
GOOD THINGS
+ They tell you upfront how they work, how they mark, what and how they pay, and what they expect from you. If you don't fit the bill or perform according to what they want, your account will be terminated. Zap! in a micro-second.
+ They pay in a timely manner every Monday evening, via PayPal, for the week that ends on Saturday.
+  You can work when and wherever it suits you. You only need a computer, a good set of earphones and a comfortable chair. 
+ You don't need extra software or anything to work for them. Not even the usual transcriptionist pedals, if you don't want to. You can download some Chrome extensions to make your work easier, like Ears or a media speed controller.
+ Newcomers need to pass a period of assessment, still being paid for the transcriptions they do. They're called Rookies. Their jobs are graded/marked so that they can learn from their mistakes. It's a great training. They have a maximum of 100 minutes of transcription to achieve the required metrics/statistics to work for Rev after that. 
+ The variety of subject files you can work on: thesis interviews, celebrities interviews for fashion magazines or TV outlets, board meetings, focus group studies, police or investigator surveillance and interrogation sessions, court trials, TV programs, meetings, research interviews, webinars, customer service calls, and what's not. Files come both in just audio, or audio and video.
+ Some projects are really interesting and enjoyable to do.  I've learned so much stuff by just listening to some of the speakers. One feels privileged at having access to classified material that, many times, involves celebrities, politicians and well-known people. 
+ If you are an approved transcriptionist (called Revver) you will earn 25% more for doing the same job as a Rookie does, and will have access to thousands of jobs that Rookies cannot work on.  If you pass that level after 120 days (with very high metrics and a high volume of minutes transcribed) you will become a Revver+ and be in the best position to be, earning way more for the same jobs, having early access to files and some other perks. 
+ Customer service is really excellent. They are friendly, helpful and caring. They want to help you. They want you to do well. They encourage you.  
+ Forums like Lend an Ear and the chat Ask the Experts are really helpful. The people there, other transcriptionists, respond to your queries live, while you are still working on a project and you have doubts that need to be sorted out ASAP. Very supportive.
+ If you take a job that you cannot finish, because it's a pain in the butt, you don't have the time, or something comes up for you, you can unclaim it, and another transcriptionist can take it. Unless the project is just a couple of minutes long, they give you 60 minutes to work on it and unclaim it. You won't be paid for the time you worked on it, but your metrics won't be affected. However, that's better that not finishing the job by the deadline, spending hours on a file, not being pad and your metrics being affected. 
+ Metrics are important for a Revver because those are the ones that will keep you working space open. If your metrics fall bellow what is expected from you, your account will be closed down without any warning. 
+ Overall, the website is clean and easy to use.
+ Their online Line editor used to transcribe is very good. I have poor sight, so I love the customization of speaker labels and the dark grey background, as well as the slow-down audio tool. Line is way better than other online editors I've used in other online transcription companies.  

6/10/2020

Nutrition Station, Niddrie, Melbourne (permanently closed)

Fresh good quality food. The staff is helpful and customize meals without fuss. Friendly atmosphere. I had a veggie burger with sweet potato chips and it was quite lovely. However, the placed lacked ambience or character. Despite the place being semi-empty, the service was unacceptably slow and the staff had limited English. The meal was also a bit tasteless and poorly seasoned. Overall, not worth my money. 
 


 

2/23/2020

Amazon Mechanical Turk (Paid tasks Platform)

 
Nothing good about this program unless you live in countries where 1 or 3 American cents, or 1 dollar, if you are lucky, are a considerable amount of money in you local currency.

Amazon has opened a platform and made possible slavery salaries to be paid for tasks. Right, some of them are easy, but some of them take a lot of time, and paying 1 cent, or 3 or 5 in a developed country for something that requires more than five minutes is ILLEGAL. This would not be legal in the EU ever.

They have basically made possible for people who you want to work for them for almost nothing, to do so, so they pay you a misery, take your time, and can take up to 30 days to pay you. If you are lucky. Amazon just provide the house, so to speak, but get out of it and doesn't want to be that much either.

You won't be able to make considerable money unless you sleep on your computer and keep doing gazillion cent tests/tasks/surveys.

They ask you for your tax details and personal details even though they don't provide you with a contract or with any sort of decent anything.

How is that legal?

I love Amazon, the shop, but this 'work' rather slavery platform shouldn't exist.

2/22/2020

Userlytics (Online Platform, Paid Tests)



This is a review of my experience as tester.

Userlytics is a legit company offering UX tests to testers from around the world. In fact, this is the only site that got me a test on the same day I registered. 

 POSITIVE
Unlike most usability tests companies, they don't require an entry test. It is great for testers. If they perform well, no test was needed; if they don't perform well, they'll get low ratings and won't get many paid jobs. 

They don't ask for too many personal details when you join. That is, they don't profile you as hardly as other companies do. 

You can cancel your account any time on your own if you aren't happy with the opportunities they offer. 

They have a nice simple app recorder for Android. You don't even have to login, because, when you get an invitation, there is a unique code with your details that you can use instead; this makes the login into specific tests way faster.Their desktop recorder is easy to use, very intuitive, and also works by code.  

They do send you tests and pay you for them.

Customer support is existent and relatively fast. 

NOT SO GOOD
The fact that they don't make you do an entry test tells me that their panel of testers is way inferior to any other company's panel.

For the test to be considered payable, one has to produce a proper recording. That's totally fair. However, as they provide the recording programs, and they aren't very good, any malfunctioning due to their incompetence, will result in you spending your time in producing an unusable test that won't be paid.  
  
Both their Android and Desktop recorders are sub-par, full of bugs and a clear indication of the company's caliber. If an UX company does not have a reliable system to record their tests, why would anyone want to pay for their services? My experience is that their Android app is not reliable, so you might end wasting your time for no income, and in my case also conflicted with my phone, and that's never good. The desktop recorder is bulky and interferes with testing. In my case, it started uploading my video without me touching anything and while I still was recording the test. Fortunately, I found a way to stop it. Then, the file, about 15 minutes long, took a good amount of time to get uploaded.


Customer support is really idiotic and unnerving. They are unable to provide specific instructions to fix any issue you might have with the app. "Check your settings for accessibility" is not a reply to the question, "What exactly do you want me to check for this specific problem?" You know, testers have the basics under control, that's why they are testers. It is innate. You would not bother CS for basic stuff on your phone.

You cannot update your PayPal email yourself, you have to contact CS. However, since they are quite incompetent, you will find problems to do something as simple as that. In addition, sharing personal info via email is a no-no for security reasons.  I had to exchange a considerable amount of emails for them to do that would not do it because I was writing from another email, the one I wanted to link to my new Paypal. I was so unnerved that I decided to erase my account without being able to change anything. They could not find me in the system, even though I provided them with a valid email account.  

IN SHORT
The company line is "The most advanced user testing platform". Having been a tester for them, and having experienced many other UX testing companies and platforms, the tagline is just bragging not something that reflects what I have experienced. I do tests for many online companies and this is perhaps the less advanced, the buggiest. 

They are a legit company, so I don't think you have anything to fear, if you get a test and do it, and their recorder works, you will be paid. However, there are greener pastures out there. Just saying. 
 
REPLY FROM THE COMPANY ON 9/1/24
Thank you for sharing your comprehensive feedback about your experience as a tester with Userlytics. We appreciate your positive remarks regarding the ease of entry, app recorder functionality, and prompt customer support. However, we understand your concerns and frustrations with the number of available tests, the quality of recording programs, and the challenges with customer support.

Your insights are crucial for our continuous improvement, and we're actively addressing the issues you've highlighted. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and value your continued support as we work to enhance our platform.

Best regards,
Userlytics

2/11/2020