Water Rights for the Dummy Property Owner

There's more to water rights than watering your lawn...

There are many corners of the internet where our researchers rarely go: with the exception of celebrity and sports news, just about any search will turn up dozens of fake websites on page two of the results; all based in Asia and all trying to sell you some product only vaguely related to your search term. Yuck: those sites suck; big time. They also usually avoid WritEdge.com, mostly because it hurts their eyes to try to avoid all the popups, ads, popunders, and other annoyances the owners of Harlow-McGaw smear all over the page. But we digress... One researcher accidentally stopped by WritEdge.com not long ago, and brought "Water Rights – What You Might Want to Know,"¹ by Lori Palermo, to the nomination table. It won...

Vegetables for Dummies

Ummm, Puty? some of
those are fruits

We don't stop by WritEdge.com very often, probably because the pages of the site are so plastered with advertising, popups, and pop-unders that it might as well be a porn site (or so we're told...). When checking old posts not long ago, however, we ran across an admirably dumbass post by one putyliz that put us in mind of the WritEdgians. We checked on Liz (real name perhaps Purity Wamalwa), and found her worthy of another award. This time, it's for "Facts on Vegetables you need to Know."¹

Tractors for Dummy City Dwellers

Ford 8n tractor

If you aren't old enough to remember the show yourself, ask Mom and Dad (or Grandpa) about  the '60s sitcom "Green Acres": a city slicker decides he'd like to be a farmer, complete with a cast of tobacco-spittin' rustics and a Gabor sister. Apparently the Netflix version reached the home of WritEdge author Ellina James (real name Shreya Vishonoi; she also "wrote" at Seekyt), who shared with her readers something she claimed was "A Brief Introduction to Tractor Accessories for Better Farming."¹ Yeah, sure...

A Dummies Guide to Northern Arizona

Monument Valley Mittens

For our money (which ain't much, let us tell you!), some of the most... troubling? freelancers on the 'net are the armchair travelers. We're talking about the people who posted hundreds of reviews of hotels, restaurants, museums, and other destinations on sites like epinions.com and the many content farms out there. For some, it was obvious that the reams of information they posted were merely distilled from guidebooks and online sources. And then there were the "helpful" types, such as Helium travel channel manager Isabelle Esteves, who didn't actually claim to have been there – they just gave "suggestions"... suggestions like "Places to Visit in Northern Arizona," which Iz reposted to WritEdge.com¹ after Helium died.

Education and the Internet for Dummies

We didn't spend much time around WritEdge.com or its sister site, DailyTwoCents.com, mostly because the overwhelming amount of advertising made both sites almost impossible to read. We did get by every once in a while, though, and on one trip one of our researchers came across a marvelous example of dumbassery. It was written by someone who called herself LivelyAurora, and was entitled "Internet vs. School."¹ We'll be honest: it's pretty much the quality you'd expect from someone who brags, "Im [sic] just a random nomad writer. I can write an 700-word article in 15 minutes!"

Metal Roofing, the Dummy Approach

standing seam metal roof on cabin

As our researchers wander the back roads of the internet in search of ridiculous claims and mathematical foul-ups, they often run across "helpful" rubbish, This is especially true in the area of home improvements and home repair, although many of our posts are of the "Don't Do It Yourself" variety. Today's DotD falls within that rubric, as Trisha Faulkner Wright (writing under the pseudonym DLWright at WritEdge.com) attempts to sell her readers on metal roofing in "Is Metal Roofing Right For Your Home?"¹ Like most of the content she sprayed across the site in a two-month period before the owners quit paying pennies per hit, this appears to have been repurposed from a Squidoo lens. That doesn't mean, however, this particular post is worth jack...

Fuel Economy for Dummies

Fuel Economy Tips

Here at the Antisocial Network our research staffers have noticed that many freelancers like to claim a "connection" to their topic. Even if they can lay no logical claim to that connection – they didn't take high-energy physics classes while getting a BA in English Lit – they could be getting their information by osmosis because their significant other has the knowledge. Oddly, we don't find men claiming to know makeup tips; but female freelancers like to avow that their "hubby" or boyfriend is an accomplished scientist, carpenter, athlete, etc., as the basis for their posts. That's how Trisha Faulkner Wright, aka DLWright, claims to have become so knowledgeable when she posted "Tips for Saving Pennies on Gas Mileage"¹ at WritEdge.com.

Freelancer, Heal Thyself... Dummy!

A freelance writer?

Our staff at the Antisocial Network is mainly composed of scientists and do-it-yourselfers, which is certainly why we almost never call out anyone for bad relationship or beauty advice. Keeping that in mind, it's pretty likely that there are few if any books of the self-help variety on our personal bookshelves and eReaders. We're mostly of the opinion that the only "help" most self-help books create is help for the author's bank account. With that in mind, we decided to delve into a peculiar corner of the genre, freelancers telling other freelancers how to make money. That's where we ran into Trisha Wright (aka dlwright or Trisha Faulkner), a former squid who moved most of her content to WritEdge.com. That includes an article she called "Skills Every Freelancer Should Have."¹

Arizona Statehood, a Dummy Explanation

Map of Arizona

One of our founders used to write for a well-known but now-defunct site that published product reviews from "everyday people." After the site implemented member forums, it was common to find an ongoing discussion, often flame-filled, of the notion that everyone can write well. He was in the "That's bullshit!" camp, arguing that it's just as unlikely as everyone being able to sing well or everyone being a better-that-average golfer: the bell curve is just not in favor of the notion. That doesn't stop some folks from trying desperately to get better through practice -- and, they seem to think, "If you have to practice, you might as well get paid for it!" That's apparently the mantra of Isabelle Esteves, who flogs a keyboard for WritEdge.com (and a few other places); specializing in semifactual and poorly written travel advice, among other topics. Today, Iz is going to tell everyone "How Arizona Became a State."¹

Doing Your Own Tune-ups for Dummies

It's a pretty safe bet those aren't Lori's hands...

It's finally Saturday. We were already tired of looking at stupid car advice by Wednesday; but the show must go on. So far, we've found a wealth of automotive dumbassery over at eHow and yesterday managed to find something stupid HubPages hadn't hidden (yet), so today we went further afield. Although stupid and sometimes dangerous content has been the main focus of Cars Week, today we focus on a freelancer who apparently wanted to make money just by throwing random terms at the page. He's Lori Palermo (yes, Lori's profile refers to Lori as "he") from WritEdge.com, who gifted the universe of automotive DIYers with "Basic Car Tune Up -- Doing It Yourself."¹

Poisonous Plants for Dummies

Poinsettia plant

One of our staff distinctly remembers a decades-old cartoon showing a pair of dogs deep in conversation (face-to-face instead of nose-to-butt). The cartoon's punchline? "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog." Well, we're here to tell you that on the internet, nobody seems to know that you're a liar, misinformed, or simply throwing shade on topics about which you know nothing. Take Isabelle Esteves of Writedge.com (and numerous other sites), a freelancer who writes glowing travel reviews of places she's never seen, and gives readers useless advice about a wide array of topics. Today, we find Izzy at it again, spreading misinformation and old wive's tales in her "Guide to Poisonous Plants."¹

Greenhouses for Dummies

Garden greenhouse

Whether you're a house plant fan, a gardening guru, or someone who grows his own pot; chances are that at one time or another you've looked into buying a small greenhouse to build in your backyard. Once you recovered from the sticker shock, you probably googled the possibility of building one on your own. We know that for a fact – one of our researchers did just that. Luckily for him, he skipped over the freelance bull out there and looked for books and plans written by professionals. That's why he never accidentally encountered the article at WriteEdge.com written by someone calling herself Raradra (she's really Michelle Harlow, part owner of the site); an article cleverly titled "How to Build Your Own Greenhouse."¹ Sadly, the title was the only clever bit of this post...

Fuel Economy for Dummies

Checking your oil, Izzy?

The research team at the Antisocial Network absolutely loves to catch people repurposing the rubbish they published at long-dead content farms for their current freelancing gigs. The team's learned how to recognize the half-assed updating job that so often marks old content from places like Helium.com and AssociatedContent, both of which have gone to the web graveyard in the sky. Take, for instance, the scribblings of one Isabelle Esteves at WritEdge.com; most of which were originally published at the website Helium.com, where she was a "travel manager" or something like that. Izzy republished an article she called "How To Save Money At The Gas Pump"¹ not long ago, changing the first line to update something she'd originally published in a significantly different economic environment. 

Here's what she said in that first line...

Alaska for Armchair Traveling Dummies

Climbing a glacier on Mt. Rainier, Washington (not Alaska)

We've heard it said that travel research is one of the most common of web searches, which is probably why every content farm has had a travel section with a slew of self-appointed travel mavens. The biggest problem with the information these people provide seems to be that, at least for some of them, their only traveling is on the internet itself and through the contents of outdated guidebooks. These people are perfectly willing to write about the "best restaurants" in Tashkent or the "finest accommodations for families" in Katmandu even though they've never even been on the same continent. The 'net is the great travel agent, we guess. On WritEdge.com, we found an article penned by New Englander Isabel Esteves, a little piece she titled "Alaska Adventure Vacation Destination."¹ Izzy likes to republish her articles from the late, unlamented Helium.com, where she was the chief travel maven. Most are already bad enough, but when she doesn't even bother to update her "information"? Ugh...

Here: have a look at one of Esteves' more... inane statements about Alaska:

The New Toothpaste Method for Dummies

Small crack in drywall

One bit of advice well-known to college students everywhere (and, apparently, everywhen) is the "toothpaste solution": when you move out of the dorm at the end of the year, use plain white toothpaste to fill any nail holes you've left in the walls. By our conservative estimate, older dorm rooms at some of the large colleges (we're thinking of Foster and McNutt quads at IU Bloomington, for instance) probably have better "dental health" than some of the students living there! Nowadays, of course, one of the biggest problems with this solution is finding white toothpaste... but we digress. Whatever the case, Crystal Ray (real name Kim Dalessandro, we think) of DailyTwoCents.com has the "real" solution for the problem: you use baking soda! No kidding: in her post "An Easy Way to Hide a Ceiling Crack,"¹ Crystal / Kim informs us that, if you have a crack in a drywall ceiling, 

Owning a Car for Dummies

Honda Fit

Next to a house, a car (or some other vehicle) is typically the most expensive item anyone will ever buy. That's very likely the reason why there is so much bullshit written about automotive problems by freelancers. About half of what's been posted to content farms (or half of what isn't merely spun content) is utter bullshit. A lot of the rest is rubbish like the list that WritEdge.com's Sharon (Sharon Katzman) called "8 Ways to Save Money on your Vehicle."¹ We'll admit that some of them might save you a bit of cash, but we were pretty unimpressed by others. 

Useless Austin Info for? by? Dummies

The hallmark of freelance bullshit on the internet is half-assed information written by people who know jack about the topic. Would you ask your dentist about your bruised pinky toe? hire a plumber to replace your cracked iPhone screen? get advice on Austin, Texas, neighborhoods from someone who lives in Connecticut? Of course not; except if you're dumb enough to trust serial dummy Isabelle Esteves, caught writing about "Buying a New Home in Austin, Texas"¹ at Writedge.com.

Austin skyline

Sure, Austin is "hot"; especially among University of Texas students, many of whom would gladly donate a minor organ to remain in the town after graduation. In point of fact, our office was in Austin for almost a decade, so we have some familiarity with the place; and with the ex-students known as "LTs" because they'd give their Left Testicles to stay in Austin. Not so our Izzy, who clearly knows nothing about the town except for something she scraped off the internet more than a decade ago. The article smells like content she originally published at Helium.com and then resubmitted to Writedge without an update. Why do we say that? Well, because of this asinine statement:

OTC Medications for Dummies

We don't wander into medicine often here at the Antisocial Network, but that's because we're not particularly qualified to dispense advice. Band-Aids on your boo-boos, maybe, but not medical advice. Of course, lack of qualification never stopped any freelancer from blathering on about any topic, and serial dummy Isabelle Esteves (of Writedge.com) is no exception. Today, Iz (as she apparently likes to be called) put aside her faux travel reviews long enough to expound on the "Risk Of Too Much Acetaminophen."¹ Shouldn't that be "risks"? we wondered... never mind.

Windows 10 for Dummies

Windows 10

Got that free upgrade to Windows 10 yet? Pulled the trigger on the process? Here at the Antisocial Network, we registered for the upgrade, but didn't install the new OS. We had questions, mostly about performance: Is the 2.50GHz/3.50GHz Intel core duo in the office laptop fast enough? Is the on-board 6 GB of RAM sufficient? Would this be an improvement over the current 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Home? Well, asking Alexandria Ingham at WritEdge sure wasn't much help: her "Windows 10 Review: My First Thoughts After Upgrading"¹ just... didn't work for us. [As an aside, neither did the upgrade: we tried, and then deleted it.]

Ingham, who's everywhere telling you how to make money on the internet, kicks into stream-of-consciousness mode for her "review." We learn all about her computing habits, but don't get jack about the computer she upgraded; except that it's "a laptop." Oh, as is par for the course for people faking tech-savvy, there's plenty of suspect information, such as

Austin, Texas, for Dummies

Welcome to the Live Music Capital of the World

Come summer; it's vacation time. Once you've chosen a relaxing destination, you will of course – this being the information age – google things to do once you've arrived at your destination. People like Isabelle Esteves of WritEdge.com long ago figured that out. People like Izzy are happy to share their broad experience of the destination with you - the chief problem being that their experience consists of googling the destination and doing a copy-and-paste job. Take, for instance, Ms Esteves' recent advice about "Things to Do In Austin, Texas In the Summer"¹ [grammatical error in original].