DAT Files for Dummies

After our staffers trip over some bit of suspected freelance dumbassery codified in an online post, a couple of things take place. First, the staffer consults experts (people who know about the topic as opposed to freelance "journalists") to make certain their suspicion of dumbassery is correct and second, they check the writers' bios to see why they might have said something so dumb. That's what surprised us about "How to Edit a DAT File" at Chron.com: the author says he has a degree in computer science (one LinkedIn says Steve McDonnell hadn't used in 30 years)...

The Per Diem for Dummies

travel expense accounting

We see this situation every day here at the Antisocial Network: freelancers writing for one of the content farms who attempt to explain something they simply don't understand to begin with. The results are sometimes comic, sometimes puzzling, and sometimes dangerous; however the most common word describing them is "wrong." Take, for instance, Demand Media's Charlie Gaston, usually found misinforming people about travel-related topics at Trails.com. We found her this time, though, at Chron.com, explaining to the best of her limited abilities "How to Write Off a Per Diem."¹

Data Tables for Dummies

Sample of a data table

Spend enough time surfing the internet, and it's a safe bet you'll run across someone, somewhere, willing to say anything for a buck. Oh, sure, we've all heard of crack whores and other criminals so desperate for dollars that they'll do anything, but these people, for the most part, anyway; seem to be reasonably well-educated types who just wanted to pick up a little pin money. The problem, of course, is not that they said these things, the problem is that they didn't know jack shit when they said them. If you need an example, you need look no further than Serm Murmson, already a two-time winner of the DotD award (in Geography and Physics), who expanded his reach into mathematics when he pretended to answer a nonsensical question for Chron.com: "What is a Horizontal Axis in a Data Table?"