Hello all, I'm a relatively new Turker, just doing it for fun right now (it certainly isn't going to pay my bills). Some of the HITS are kind of interesting, but a lot of them seem to be totally insulting, based on what they expect for a few cents in return. Heck, they should pay me to read the instructions, since they're sometimes longer than the HITS themselves! Anyway, I find this to be an interesting way for folks to get work done. I think it would also be a fascinating sociology experiment -- how everyone works together to get these tasks accomplished. Anyway, I ramble too much. Looking forward to reading all of these messages and getting up to speed.
Welcome JCG! mTurk is a very interesting platform. We can only hope that the hits will become higher paying.