Just saw that my QC rank has been frozen at 1 star. It was two stars last week.

I have had no rejections at all for many months, or years. My total and average CTRs are well above the average.

Why!

I was re-directed to the ESP site but cannot log in. New password email has never been received.

Getty created another ID for me for the Contributors Forum. Do I use the forum ID and password? Or do I use my regular iStock ID and password?

By the way, what does ESP stand for?

Thanks for your help!

A few new images were approved, but has Alamy implemented a new system?

In the past, when an image was approved, there was no comma to separate the keywords. This time, there are.

What happens? Do I delete the commas or leave them there?

According to Payoneer FAQ, it does not charge any transaction fees when a card holder makes a purchase.

However, the amount of a recent purchase is higher than the US$ amount I authorized.

Today, a Payoneer agent explained to me, if I make a purchase in US dollars, an extra fluctuating percentage will be added on top of the purchase amount. It is called "Cross Boarder Fee" because the bank is located in Berlize. If the transaction occurs in a different currency, Payoneer will charge "currency conversion fee".

No transaction fee is a deceit.

I experimented in converting night clips from original 15p to either 25p or 30p (cannot remember exactly).

SS accepted all and P5 rejected all.

Can anyone comment on why they were rejected or accepted?

Thanks!

I just got a notice that my earning was paid. But it was about $10 less than the earned amount. They did not provide any explanations. What can it be?

I need to order 2016 calendars in large quantity.

Does anyone know any reputable printer which can do quality job at prices cheaper than Vistaprint? Unfortuantely, Vistaprint does not offer better prices for large quantities.

Say, if your footage are for the coming Christmas season, when is the best time to upload them to the agencies?

If your footages are for summer pursuits, when will the buyers most likely to search for them?

Thanks for enlightening!

I tried to upload some video clips to SS but they have never shown up. It was also very slow to upload. The files were big and over 1G.

They are all in P5 so I assume it was not a problem with my connection or speed.

What could be the issues? Thanks!

I reached Alamy's payment amount in December, the website said it would be paid on January 1. As a long time Alamy contributor, it was normal.

Today I checked again, it said it would be paid on February 1, 2014. Does anyone know what's going on?

Does anyone know how many spare DSLR batteries (Canon LP-E6) I can carry on United Airlines? I intend to have 2 extra, plus one in camera.

Thanks.

Just read an interesting article about Blackberry's new CEO and how he led a near death company back to life many years ago: http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/story/1.2355704

Turnaround track record

Sybase was a classic California software start-up from the 1980s. A bunch of computer nerds operating out of someone's basement were suddenly doing deals with Microsoft.

Ten years later, the company had fallen on hard times. That's when Chen stepped in.

According to that 12-year-old interview, Chen's strategy was twofold: to look ahead to what the economy needed next, but also to forget about shareholders who want an instant return and instead work to satisfy employees and customers.

"If the employees are worrying about their jobs every other day," Chen told the Journal, "there's no point how brilliant your plan is, they aren't going to stick around." Whereas when you cater to stock speculators, "You do something, the stock moves up, they sell it."

There is a certain irony in the fact that just before John Chen's arrival, BlackBerry announced it was cutting 40 per cent of its staff.  And with new $1 billion in investment capital raised with the help of Fairfax's Prem Wasta, Chen will have time to try out his new strategies. Chen himself is investing his reputation.

How does SS sell video? Do they sell it as subscription only? How much does a videographer get per dl? Thanks.