I’ve been asked more than once what it takes to get on to the Daily Disturbance team.
As I’m always looking for material, I though I might as well make my response public.
Basically, you’ve got to be the right person for the job when a vacancy comes up … and there isn’t much more to it than that.
You can’t make yourself the right person for the job, but if you’ve got talents in this direction, you need to have demonstrated them – and there are a few ways to do that.


First off is the Member Reviews section: if you’ve got a new bit of kit, take some pics and submit a writeup. Now, you can just write a short piece about how great you new toy is without reference to anything else, but for real Browie points it needs to be more scientifically rigorous – and that means verification of claims, and comparisions to other similar products.

For instance, if you’ve got a new mousemat, you could use the “Monkey Spank” game to compare response speeds with your old mat, if you’ve got a new IDE cable, benchmarking your HD with both the new cable and a generic flat grey one will determine the effect the cable is having on performance.

If you’ve got a new fan, buying an environment meter to determine the sound pressure level is probably going a bit far, but you can make an aural comparison with other fans to ascertain the veracity of any claims, and measuring the rpm is easy enough.


Done a new mod & want to show it of to the world? An old one that hasn’t already been written up somewhere on the site? An old one that has been written up, but you’ve got an improved method?

Then the next option - submitting material to Glitterkill for release as a “how to” will be right up your street. There are strict guidelines as to the format of the text and the size & format of the images, and the closer you can get to these, the less work it is for GK, and the more likely your piece is to be published quickly.

If you’ve got a suitable article in mind, PM me & I’ll try & help out with the final format, subject to size issues (I’m on dialup & won’t tie up my one phone line for hours to download unnecessarily large files).

Bear in mind though that it’s down to Glitterkill to make the decision whether or not to publish your piece, so you might want to get a “yay” or “nay” from him on the idea before starting.


A further option is a guest post in the Daily Disturbance itself – people will always need the odd day off due to family or work commitments, and it would be good if such gaps could be filled with posts from the wider PR membership – both Anathema and ZENNZZO had posts in the section before becoming a member of staff.

If you’ve got an interesting story, essay, or had a life experience that you want to write up & share, feel free to bung it to me in a PM. There are no guarantees I’ll use it – just with the Member Reviews and tutorial routes, quality control is enforced – if it’s too short, has lousy spelling and/or grammar, or is just plain unsuitable, it will get rejected. Where an article is of sufficient merit, there will probably be a delay before it’s used – remember, patience is a virtue.


Last but not least of the methods of showcasing your talent is the Anything Goes forum. There’s no editorial control there - save for one of the moderators disapproving of your post & banning yo ass.


So, if you’ve done a couple of articles in the first three categories, and a few in the fourth, is there anything else? Yep - the things I can think of are:

* Length of membership: you’re not likely to get on the staff if your tenure has been less than a year;
* Post count: an average of 3 posts a day over a year would give you just over 1,000 posts … sounds about right to me;
* Reputation points: if you’re into the red, forget it;
* Sucking up: won’t help, you need to have quietly impressed the staff in general. When it comes to selecting new members of staff, ultimately it’s the admin level staff who make the decision, taking into account the recommendations of the existing DD writers … and everyone else on the staff is free to stick their oar in too


I think that about covers it … btw, there are no vacancies at present.

Good outline Jonny for those aspiring writers...
I think GK still has some of my unposted stuff....just submit all ya got and what posts, coool.
Don't get bummed if it doesn't show up, it's not the end of the world...

cool, now we have ourselves a light outline to become one of the big boys on the playground.

Quote: Originally Posted by MightyThor cool, now we have ourselves a light outline to become one of the big boys on the playground.

Wait? We have a play ground now?! Kewl, it'll go really well with the staff Strip Club, staff full bar, and the staff bunji jumpm and the staff mechanical bull.

you didn't know about the playground? that's where all the deals go down.

And the best surfing spot is just beyond the tree line, there is even a Dog Beach too.

Quote: Originally Posted by Iateronmly Wait? We have a play ground now?! Kewl, it'll go really well with the staff Strip Club, staff full bar, and the staff bunji jumpm and the staff mechanical bull.

D@mnit, you lied to me....you said there was a bowling alley too!

excellent post JE.

There is a bowling alley, you're just not looking hard enough. It's got a secret entrance and a monthly password that I'm not allowed to give out.

While not everyone aspires to be staff here at PimpRig Johnny-E, your outline is a good general guide to how one can be an outstanding contributing member as well. Hang out in the Anything Goes forum and it's easy to take on a smacktardian "in yo face!" attitude (as fun as that is), but what really brings the new members and ideas around is the professional-grade articles and guides. I also find it quite impressive that the staff also encourages user-reviews. Whether one desires the glamorous and decadent lifestyles of the legendary PR staff or no, a good long look at the blood, sweat and tears that go into each and every review and article posted should encourage any members and/or potential user-reviewers to step up to a new level in their own postings.I personally have learned much from user reviews, at times even more than more refined reviews as a good writer will give impressions and insights that numbers and charts just can't express.



To quote the respected Steven Martin, "Be courteous, kind and forgiving, be gentle and peaceful each day...put a live chicken in your underwear, and have a good thing to say".

Please, for the love of God, submit stuff to the Member Reviews Section. Us member review mods are gettin kinda tired of having nothing to do.

Quote: Originally Posted by DuplexEmotions Please, for the love of God, submit stuff to the Member Reviews Section. Us member review mods are gettin kinda tired of having nothing to do.

Funny, I approved 2 reviews this morning (not knowing I could before) because you and Jinx haven't been around much lately..... you missed the excitement.

sorry, My girlfriend was up here for the weekend.... Didn't make it from my bed to my computer very often.

I could do a review on Windows 98 on a 300GB SATA Hard Drive...pretty useless but we're doing labs with Windows 98 and next we do labs using Windows 2000 in my Microcomputer Maintence class.