Running search or requester watching scripts/extensions offline

[Autonomadic]

When running search or requester watching scripts or extensions, should one run offline? I would assume this would be a preferable option if it does not "cost" you a page request. What are the advantages and disadvantages of running these scripts offline? What scripts do you use or recommend for this?

Thank you

 

[TSolo315]

By offline I assume you mean logged out.

Advantages: You have a wider pool of page requests to play with if you run a scraper logged out. This is not unlimited as there is a request limit tied to your IP address.

Disadvantages: You can't use options like "HITs I am qualified for" when scraping with a logged out scraper, and you will not be able to see HITs that are posted by requesters who hide HITs from those who are not qualified. It might also be more difficult to accept HITs directly from the scraper -- although I think there are a few scripts available that help with this.

 

[Autonomadic]

By offline I assume you mean logged out.

Advantages: You have a wider pool of page requests to play with if you run a scraper logged out. This is not unlimited as there is a request limit tied to your IP address.

Disadvantages: You can't use options like "HITs I am qualified for" when scraping with a logged out scraper, and you will not be able to see HITs that are posted by requesters who hide HITs from those who are not qualified. It might also be more difficult to accept HITs directly from the scraper -- although I think there are a few scripts available that help with this.

So by running HS logged out you can save on page request, but not completely? If there's a request limit tied to my IP address, how does this increase my pool?




Is there any downside to running HM in another browser or incognito logged out?

 

[TSolo315]

So by running HS logged out you can save on page request, but not completely? If there's a request limit tied to my IP address, how does this increase my pool?




Is there any downside to running HM in another browser or incognito logged out?

The limit on your IP and account are not the same -- you can have more refreshes from your IP than from your account without running into errors.

HM won't be able to see HITs that requesters hide from those not qualified logged out. I'm not sure how many requesters use this so I'm not sure how big of a deal it is. You also won't be able to accept the HIT directly from the logged out HIT monitor.

Also, I'm not 100% sure because I haven't used a logged out HM in a long time, but I remember certain features stopped working after one of Amazon's updates. I think requester ID searches don't work anymore because they removed the requester links from the front page for those logged out?

 

[Autonomadic]

The limit on your IP and account are not the same -- you can have more refreshes from your IP than from your account without running into errors.

HM won't be able to see HITs that requesters hide from those not qualified logged out. I'm not sure how many requesters use this so I'm not sure how big of a deal it is. You also won't be able to accept the HIT directly from the logged out HIT monitor.

Also, I'm not 100% sure because I haven't used a logged out HM in a long time, but I remember certain features stopped working after one of Amazon's updates. I think requester ID searches don't work anymore because they removed the requester links from the front page for those logged out?

Well this is not a real problem for me since I always enter them by title.


Thanks, this is helpful. I guess it's up to me to weigh the benefit of the added page request to the effectiveness of the running script. I believe I can with some time and experience using both methods.