Using two computers at the same time?

Discussion in 'General' started by izzie12, Sep 17, 2012.

  1. izzie12

    izzie12 New Member

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    Sorry if this has been asked before, but I tried a search and nothing came up.

    I've been using turk for a few weeks now, and my GF has become interested in doing it as well. Now I've heard before that you cannot have two active Turk accounts used in the same house, but can you do work from the same account on two separate computers? (since you can work on multiple hits at the same time in one account.)

    So I could be doing hits on my laptop from my account, and my GF could be doing hits on our desktop from the same account (We live together so it will still all be coming from the same household)

    Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide :)
     
  2. HaikuGemini

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    I have done mturk at two separate computers at the same time from the same account and nothing bad came of it. My husband used my log in at work and did the same hit group as I was at home. That was back in 2009.

    I also have two computers at home that are constantly logged on to mturk. If my kids need the computer for something, I move to the other one. Sometimes this happens during a hit group.

    However, I don't know if it is actually alright to do this. You could always send an email to amazon and ask them.
     
  3. Patricia

    Patricia User

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    Izzie, I think is yes. But better read the TOS first!
     
    #3 Patricia, Sep 17, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 18, 2012
  4. davebindy

    davebindy Active Member

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    Gotta wonder how MT lets something like this slide, but suspends those who play by the rules...
     
  5. Patricia

    Patricia User

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    Why do you think there is a problem, and is not played by the rule?
    Who has something to lose from this? There are two different peoples, loving each other, working on same site and living under the same roof. If they stayed in different apartments would have been OK? What is the difference?
     
  6. conan_the_librarian

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    But what if they didn't love each other? Would that be wrong? lol

    The point is, using two computers at home with two different accounts, opens the door to the perception if not the fact of cheating. Who's to say that it's not just one person with multiple accounts?
     
  7. HaikuGemini

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    Sometimes I think that people come to the forums just to start a fight. I was sharing with someone what I know about THEIR inquiry. Notice I didn't condone or recommend it because I honestly don't know if it is against the rules. Take a chill pill Dave.
     
  8. davebindy

    davebindy Active Member

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    I'm not sure what loving each other has to do with it, but no, given the situation described, it wouldn't be okay if they were in different apartments.

    From the Amazon TOS:
    "You may not permit any other person to perform Services as Provider using your Amazon Account."

    (A "Provider" is a Turker in the TOS)

    2 people working 1 account = not kosher.

    I'm not naive enough to think that people don't share accounts, but I wouldn't have thought Amazon would let you log into the same account from different IP addresses simultaneously. But then it isn't something I'd try.
     
  9. conan_the_librarian

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    Good points, Dave.

    Here's a question though: so what about this forum, and people offering advice to others, including offering to cut and paste answers to help someone else complete a survey, for example? Is that cheating also, in your opinion? Is that a clear violation of the mTurk TOS, or is it in a somewhat grey area?




    (I'm not arguing, I'm just asking).
     
  10. Khalinov

    Khalinov User

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    Of course it is a violation. Why would any researcher want cut-and-paste survey responses?

    smh
     
  11. conan_the_librarian

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    Well, I was asking Dave, but your answer will do too, lol.

    Hmmm, so how many threads and posts lately have been about exactly this sort of thing? Anyone care to go count them up? It shouldn't be difficult. I can make a HIT and pay someone to do it, lol.


    I wonder if a bunch of scammers/cheaters have come over to this forum from elsewhere in the last few weeks? Or are some of the new mTurk workers that have recently joined this forum just not aware that these sort of things aren't allowed?
     
  12. davebindy

    davebindy Active Member

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    HaikuGemini - I wasn't really looking for a fight; my comment was aimed more at Amazon's haphazard (and arbitrary) enforcement of their rules.

    Unless I missed it, the TOS doesn't seem to contain any sort of "original content" clause. So that may not technically be a violation. And while I don't want to get into a discussion of morality particularly, doing a cut & paste on a survey seems like cheating to me. Your mileage may vary, though.
     
  13. Patricia

    Patricia User

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    What about, let's say an InternetCafe, with multiple computers sharing same IP. All customers at some point are turkers working from different computers with same IP. Is that wrong?
     
  14. davebindy

    davebindy Active Member

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    Not that I can see.

    But that isn't the situation that was described. Two people logged into the same account at different IP addresses, working the same HITs.

    If all the workers at the Internet cafe were logged into the same Mechanical Turk account, it would be though.
     
  15. davebindy

    davebindy Active Member

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    I'm still trying to puzzle out why someone would need that kind of help with a survey. I was a bit slow on the uptake - took me nearly three years of turking before I did my first survey - but the 75 or so I've done in the last few weeks all seem to want your opinion. There usually aren't any right or wrong answers, so I'm not sure where the cut & paste aspect comes in...
     
  16. Patricia

    Patricia User

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    It was discussed also the situation with dif. accounts, same IP.
    And I'm sure Izzie didn't know. As a matter of fact that is why asked.
    They will start another account, each one will have his own, and they will be included in the InternetCafe example! :)
     
  17. conan_the_librarian

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    Here's the thing though, and this isn't something that I would expect either of you to know, but there are clearly some fairly rigorous checks and balances in place behind the scenes to monitor traffic, log IPs, and in many other ways determine who is cheating or attempting to cheat. This sort of thing isn't just a violation of the Terms of Service for Amazon Mechanical Turk, in some cases it's a clear violation of certain laws. It goes both ways, for the requesters and the workers, and despite all the complaints on this forum and elsewhere, Amazon is concerned about making mTurk not just a financial success but a solid and reliable platform for "crowdsourcing" work now and into the future. Just remember, it's an experiment at the moment. Most of the obvious ways to cheat/scam are already known. Accounts are suspended on a regular basis, as this forum can evidence.

    My advice, not that any of you are asking, is to post links to HITs only, do not discuss the contents of various surveys that you have worked on with others (especially not in a public forum viewable by everyone, including people who work for Amazon Mechanical Turk) and generally try to use common sense when you are working on mTurk or discussing it with others. This isn't a team sport, and it's not collaborative employment.
     
  18. HaikuGemini

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