Forced to run Odesk?
As I understand it, hourly paying work HAS to be done while ODesk is running, and this tool somehow monitors if you are working or not (how)?
I've never heard of such a restrictive, untrusting system. Of course buyers want to to know they are getting what they pay for, and there are risks with remote working, but this seems crazy. Buyers should judge me based on the criteria "am I happy with what I get for my money?"
What if I need to think before writing code... good coding often involves quick design planning on a piece of paper? What if I need to research something... MSDN and sun's websites are going to be hit a lot?
As a professional I find it a little insulting that I have to be watched every second I work. I'm used to submitting detailed timesheets and discussing what I've been working on, and not being questioned "did you really spend 2 hours doing X".
Am I overreacting here? I can see it has its plus side but it does seem overly draconian.
Kind of overreacting.
As a professional, you should deal with it and the oDesk monitoring tool is necessary if your client is far away from your present location. It's also a protection for you since it would generate guaranteed hourly payment if your client doesn't dispute your logged hours.
The monitoring tool guarantees that you are doing your job if your client doesn't trust you yet. He/She can check the screenshots and dispute your pay if you are doing something that's not work related.
Once you have developed trust with your client, you can discuss with him/her in logging offline time if you find the oDesk tool too intrusive.
Interesting relies everyone,
Interesting relies everyone, thanks. I see the analogy with a micromanaging boss... but that's one reason I love working remotely in the first place, to avoid such people 
I suppose I automatically dislike having to install more software on my PC, especially something that is always running and logging what I do.
jdxsolutions wrote: Am I
Am I overreacting here? I can see it has its plus side but it does seem overly draconian.
Yes, you are.
It's no different than a normal job...especially one with a micromanaging boss. In fact, it's actually less restrictive than my last job because not only did I have my supervisor along with 3 other team leads sitting in the same room always checking over my shoulder or listing in on my calls, the IT department monitored every .exe app that ran on our computers and logged every website we visited throughout the day.
oDesk Team is nothing compared to that. All it does is takes a screenshot once, randomly, in 10-minute time slots.
I like it because it actually protects me because 1) it proves I did the work I said I was doing, and 2) my payments are guaranteed because 99.9% of my time is properly logged within their guaranteed payment guidelines.
- Danalyn
Before you complain about rates, read all 4 parts of the oDesk Insider Blog's Make More Money series.
Can't help but agree...
It's no different than a normal job...especially one with a micromanaging boss. In fact, it's actually less restrictive than my last job because not only did I have my supervisor along with 3 other team leads sitting in the same room always checking over my shoulder or listing in on my calls, the IT department monitored every .exe app that ran on our computers and logged every website we visited throughout the day.
oDesk Team is nothing compared to that. All it does is takes a screenshot once, randomly, in 10-minute time slots.
I like it because it actually protects me because 1) it proves I did the work I said I was doing, and 2) my payments are guaranteed because 99.9% of my time is properly logged within their guaranteed payment guidelines.
- Danalyn
Newbies tend to be overwhelmed by the policies in place, but, instead of lobbying outright that oDesk is restrictive and untrustworthy, why not tour the forum thoroughly, familiarized yoursleves with oDesk, ask questions rather than insinuations from veterans and at the same time find a way to make their profile stands out.
Finally the upside to that downside is Guaranteed Payment . Although, I myself don't consider it as a downside.
Any hourly job is this way
I've never heard of such a restrictive, untrusting system. Of course buyers want to to know they are getting what they pay for, and there are risks with remote working, but this seems crazy.
Good Luck.
I am a professional contractor... it is NOT normal this way
I work as a professional contractor, and I've NEVER seen a model where my hours are automatically logged. In a professional relationship, it's not needed. By using such a model, oDesk looks less professional... based on an attitude of mistrust - just like RentaCoder's 'expert guarantee' or whatever the stupid thing is, where the coder PAYS to do the project!
Fixed price model does not work for writing software in my experience for 2 main reasons:
1)Even if you have a 100% complete specification, you cannot guarantee how long it will take to implement. On a project that will take several weeks, you need to spend maybe a day or 2 to get a very reliable estimate and this isn't paid time since it's before you can make your bid.
2)Buyers do not know what they want. Often, there is no formal specification at all, even if there is then the buyer WILL change it as they see the application start to work... adding new feature or changing their mind on things you already wrote. Writing a spec is a special skill and most people do not have this skill... even programmers.
Time
If you are a professional and you are doing the work, I don't see why it would be such a hassle to clock in and do the job. You have to clock in at an office and the boss is probably looking over your shoulder and monitoring how much you stay online and what sites you are checking out. Let's not forget about reading all of your email before you get it, whether you know it or not. So, I don't see anything wrong with it. It doesn't bother me. Any which way it goes, I will still take the same amount of time to do the same job.
Fixed price
If you don't like being payed for the time you work then bid on fixed priced assignments. End of story...
The upside is guaranteed pay
The upside of this, is pay is guaranteed, which is, of course, the crux of the Odesk system. There would be no way to logically and morally guarantee hourly pay, if there wasn't a recording system to use to arbitrate disputes.
The point isn't that people are entirely untrustworthy, because most people are good and trustworthy. But, Odesk adds security, when on the internet, you are whoever you say you are. When outsourcing, people are not always in the same culture, which makes the communications medium that much more difficult. In this, and many other situations, Odesk acts as a broker to bring together people that would not otherwise have met, reducing the risk for those who cannot afford to go more than a week or so without pay, and increasing the security of those who hire someone that is far away and not easy to verify up-front.