Phronesis2000

Following EU regulation, new Claude-generated text will contain a watermark identifying it as an AI creation. You can read more about it on the Claude website.

Now, anyone who has followed me on this sub over the year will know that I am no optimist about freelance writing in the wake of AI.

But for the first time it seems that AI is being reliably and provably detected. This is a regulatory matter — Claude can't just lie and add a disclaimer at the bottom like the third party 'AI detectors' do.

If these watermarks get released in some form, this seems like a very good sign for human writers. There will finally be a hard differentiator that humans can use to justify their premium.

I was making a comment and unable to post with the warning "AI content not allowed". When I deleted the m-dash, my comment was allowed.

C'mon guys, have we really got to the point where we are assuming the use of a single piece of English punctuation in a comment is an indicator of AI use?

Just a curious little geography question. We all know about disputed territories at a point of conflict (like Gaza or the Falkland Islands). What about disputed territories that have never been like that?

Here's one: The Ross Dependency. A claimed territory of New Zealand, but only recognized by the UK, Australia and Norway.

Through this, NZ excercises legal jurisdiction over the two most significant US bases in Antarctica (McMurdo and South Pole station). Though the US's refusal to recognise the claim has led to difficulties enforcing that.

Another potential that only half works: Pitcairn Island. Claimed overseas territory of the UK, and no other country officially disputes that. Howev

I'm having trouble with a transfer from a Chinese client to my Wise USD account. What do people put as the "Bank Name" (I am seeing multiple options from Google). Putting "Wise" doesn't work...

This was supposed to be the big game changer — if the AI snippets are useful then those of us who produce content for google search are in for a much tougher time.

So it's just been rolled out this past week in Europe. It's bloody terrible!

No, I'm not just being butthurt. In my opinion, it is hilariously bad. It seems at about the level of GPT 3.5 and just blurts out false, outdated and unhelpful information. Even on the simplest queries. E.g., I ask Google how to download my outlook emails and it spits out old and incorrect information.

Basically it is at the level of a standard SEO fodder piece, and yet it now has Google's imprimatur at the top of the page as if it is particularly me

1. Mary DeAngelis — Minister of Propaganda
2. Rusty Millio — Mayor of Munchkinland
3. Dr Russ Fegoli — Governor of Maryland

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I know, I know, not another AI post. I'm usually the first one to whinge about it...but anyway.

I had an interesting discovery on Bing AI today: For one longtail keyword in my niche, asking Bing "what is an x"

The answer listed four sources. Three out of the four were articles that I have written (one under my name, two ghostwritten for another site and Entrepreneur respectively). These were not just the top four results on Bing either — the chatbot is obviously sorting through based on its own concept of relevance. This isn't a brag — the content was nothing great, it was just a highly specific low-volume keyword.

This could just be a fluke, but it got me thinking: Just as some of

Hi all,

I have been in Germany for the past four years on a family reunion visa. As I am a freelancer, I have not been required to pay into the pension scheme, so haven't been.

But I want to explore the options for permanent residence. My understanding is I need to pay in to the pension scheme for 60 months to be eligible.

Is there any way I could voluntarily backpay contributions for the previous four years to reach this number quicker? Does anyone know if there are any exceptions to the 60 month requirement?

I thought this was a fairly interesting report. Will add link in comments.

Focused on North American freelancers, and obviously a self-selecting survey of this community, so not representative, but still, I was pleased to see how healthy reported incomes were.

Perhaps a nice rebuttal to a tired line from some copywriters that blog writers earn bupkes and the real money is in writing sales emails for supplements and ponzi schemes.

So, we're already in December.

Anyone care to share their goals/plans for 2023? My three top goals are more on the 'business' side, than the 'writing' side, but:

• Finally incorporate my writing business (I'm in one of those pesky European locales where all companies require 25,000 euros paid up capital to open, so it is not worth it until your income hits a certain level).
• Work fewer hours. This year has been too much. I have been working a solid 40 hours a week of writing. The extra money is not worth it at this point.
• Monetise my own site. I have been working on a lead gen site as a side gig for a while, in a few months, I hope to finally start making an income from it.

I have searched a bit to find the answer to these questions, but have gotten a bit bogged down in german radio bureaucratese. Could anyone help me out on the following:

• Is it necessary to take any of the DARC courses before sitting the licence test, or can one self-study and take the test?
• Any recommendations on entry-level handhelds available in Germany (given that the Chinese radios are banned, and with good reason it seems)?

Interesting study recently reported in Bloomberg on the gig economy in the US based on Upwork data. Two facts that leapt out at me:

A) The average hourly rate for US freelance writers on Upwork (who did more than 100 hours in the previous 6 months) is $50 per hour. The average hourly wage in the US, as of May, was $32 per hour.

So for all those who like to kvetch about how poorly paid Upwork are, at least for US freelancers, you are wrong. On average, it's quite lucrative.

B) Generally, women are earning much less than men: 48 percent less in the gig economy as a whole. But the good news is that in the freelance writing subcategory, there is only a small gender gap of

Just had an interesting situation. I have been working on Upwork and using the time tracker for years. But I have never needed to use the payment protection. So it's fair to say I got a little...lazy with my memos and watching my activity levels. As a writer who does quite a bit of reading, unless one is vigilantly using the mouse and keyboard, this will happen.

For the first time, a client's credit card bounced and the protection rules were applied.

I had run 10 hours at $110 per hour. All was refunded to the client, I got zero dollars of protection. The reason given? "Low activity".

Now fair enough, for my low activity segments. I had quit a few that were 2/3 out of 10. But they re

Here me out. I realise that the actor was arrested and canned from the show, and that's why we never saw any more of Albert after season 5. But in-universe, he is actually the best contender for boss of the family after Tony's death.

This applies whether Tony was taken out by New York, or someone else, and whether or not Paulie or Patsy were involved.

1. The Barese crew is the largest by number. This means anyone in the top job needs the approval of their capo. Albert and Paulie don't get along ("that fucking Parakeet!"), so I doubt Albert will accept Paulie as boss.

2. Albert is a top earner. 'Do you know what Albert kicked up last week?', and the crew has relatively legitimate busines