Join Google Usability, make $100s!

This is more of an earning opportunity than a free offer, although you could look at it as free money. I signed up for the Google Usability team (referral code: KR3), and after about a month, they contacted me with an offer. First, there was a 15-minute phone survey to talk about my Internet habits and what I do online; from there, I qualified for the 90-minute in-person usability study.

Basically, you're helping them develop new applications by performing tasks while narrating your thought processes and answering questions. Sometimes, however, they just want remote testing or online surveys. I thought it was pretty fun, and you don't need any technical expertise - they need people from all walks of life to do testing. Plus, from the moment you get in there, they shower you with free drinks, pens, T-shirts (okay, the T-shirts are pretty ugly) and $100 checks. What could be better?

The only downside is you need to be near a Google office to do the in-person testing, and they do it during business hours, so you might have to rearrange your schedule. But when else is your time going to be worth $65/hour? Unless you answer that phone-sex ad, I guess.