Degenernate

Thanks for the invitation! I tend to keep odd hours, but my Skype username is also: Degenernate

I offer zero guarantees, but if you're willing I would like to walk through your current manual process and evaluate the feasibility of automating portions of it. Even with APIs I doubt I have the skill to build software that would entirely replace your uploaders, but I do believe I can build software sufficient for me to replace several of them (at an increased pay scale, natch). My only expectation would be that if I can demonstrate a stable, scalable workflow we would find some arrangement to get me out to Portland and into one of those new CenturyLink gigabit fiber drops; if I don't get anywhere, I've mostly just wasted my time. If that sounds like a worthwhile gamble to you, let's talk.

I'm personally not at all surprised off-the-shelf automation solutions have been inadequate. "Pick an appropriately enticing thumbnail image" is one of those tasks (see XKCD 1425), something you can't easily have your computer do even if your computer is Watson. Also, if the tags and titles aren't being supplied by the content providers that's a small additional truckload of creative work that needs to happen manually (though I could see building a system that would enable an uploader to do this in batches rather than piecemeal). I'm sure there are more. Best case scenario here isn't eliminating the uploaders entirely, it's just streamlining the process to the point where one uploader can keep his connection saturated, and the other four become redundant.

Even without API access, I still think a large degree of automation is possible, the only caveat being that this would be super hacky and actually counterproductive without an extreme degree of monitoring and input constraint. Consider the problem I was facing a few months ago: Playing an MMORPG (FF14) with a horrifically grindy and boring crafting system, a scenario openly hostile to automation. A drinky bird wasn't going to cut it because each attempt at making an item required a mouse click to initiate the process, but from there just needed a few keyboard presses at predictable intervals. With a few fancy libraries involved, the Python code necessary to completely automate that process was trivial, no API needed - but if I wanted to package it up and have other people using it under arbitrary conditions, I'd still be writing code. If no one else ever has to see or interact with my filthy hacks, though, there's a lot I can accomplish.