Quote from: Yakystockero on April 06, 2025, 03:58

I'm going to be laughing at this joke all week: China is bankrupt, haha. My friend, this is the perfect excuse they've been waiting for in China. China has already surpassed the US in GDP by purchasing power parity; it's the world's largest economy, and it's done so without having to fire missiles or invade any country.

It's easy to be impressed by China's growth, but as historian Frank Dik�tter explains, much of what we see is state-driven projection. The CCP is incredibly powerful but also paranoid�obsessed with control and terrified of internal instability. Economic success has come with massive overproduction, unreliable data, and deep rural inequality. So yes, China looks strong, but beneath the surface, it�s fragile�more like a tanker with sailors desperately plugging holes than an unstoppable superpower�just something to think about.

I invite anyone interested in this perspective to watch the following insightful video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goEU7C1xmis&t=1305s

From a historical perspective, China has been the true global powerhouse for millennia. The United States had its moment, taking advantage of the reindustrialization process following World War II and the vast pool of intelligent, eager-to-work human capital that emigrated to the United States. In my city in Spain, for years now, it's become more common to see American families come to settle here, seeking security for their families and high-quality, universal healthcare systems. What once made the United States great�immigration�by rejecting it will make it small again.


GDP as % of Global GDP (Historical Estimates)
Year   China   India   USA   UK   France   Historical Context
1 AD   26.2%   32.9%   �   �   �   China and India dominate with advanced agricultural economies
1000   22.7%   28.9%   �   �   �   Still the two global economic superpowers
1500   25.0%   24.5%   �   1.0%   3.0%   Europe is growing but still secondary
1700   22.3%   24.4%   0.1%   2.9%   4.4%   China and India still dominant, Europe rising
1820   32.9%   16.0%   1.8%   5.2%   5.0%   China is the world�s largest economy before decline
1870   17.3%   12.2%   8.9%   9.1%   9.0%   Industrial Revolution: Europe and the U.S. overtake Asia
1900   8.6%   5.4%   13.8%   9.3%   5.6%   The U.S. begins to lead; China in decline
1950   4.5%   4.2%   27.3%   6.5%   5.3%   Post-WWII: The U.S. dominates the global economy
1978   4.9%   3.1%   25.0%   4.2%   4.0%   China at its economic low point before reforms
2000   7.4%   4.0%   24.5%   3.5%   3.1%   China and India begin to rise again
2010   13.6%   5.5%   22.3%   2.5%   2.3%   China�s growth accelerates dramatically
2020   17.4%   7.0%   24.7%   2.2%   2.0%   China consolidates its position as second-largest economy
2023    18.9%   7.3%   15.4%   2.2%   1.8%   In Purchasing Power Parity, China surpasses the U.S.
🗝️ Key Notes:

    PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) offers a more accurate picture of real economic size.

    The U.S. has dominated global output from ~1870 to the present in nominal terms.

    China has regained global leadership in PPP terms in the 21st century.

    India is also re-emerging as a major global player.

    Western Europe peaked in influence between the 18th and 20th centuries but has since declined relatively.

What is the point of having to choose categories, if the search is done by keywords? Better to keep things simple, fewer requests to the server equals faster response.

Well, $100 made sense years ago when DT worked well and could be reached in a few weeks/months, but this situation has changed. While it is true that they are within their rights since it is known and agreed information, it would be good if they knew how to adapt to their new situation and lower that limit, especially given that payment is an automatic and cost-free process.

And if they are not able to automate, it is because they are outdated and out of the market, and therefore they will die little by little, ergo it would make no sense to continue uploading content there.

Is it worth uploading AI to vecteezy?

"Dreamstime makes it extremely easy to upload." 
  extremely?? 

For me it is one of the most tedious to upload, so much so that I hardly upload anything there anymore.  2023 stopped selling me almost nothing, and in 2024 nothing. Port of almost 30k images.

yeah, it's been much slower these last few weeks. I continue uploading as I usually do, they just accumulate. I see that images uploaded two days ago are approved, but those uploaded a week ago are still in the queue.

I upload to fineartamerica and pictorem those photos that I think might look good in a canvas  in someone's living room or a mug, but I only make less than $50 a year.

Yeah, same here, 3 approved out of 100 sent this past week.

"0.66$ per image/video/graphic/template per year."

  I have 15k photos, x 0.66$= 9.900$ / per year, so.... nope.   

Quote from: Yakystockero on May 13, 2023, 14:44

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on May 13, 2023, 09:09

The programmers have appropriated copyright work to make their product, and as proved in the paper I referenced that work is still accessible using the right prompts (though this is not all that relevant as the issue is the appropriation of the work for commercial purposes without the copyright owner�s consent).

Although legally there may be loose details that programmers have infringed upon, the point of AI image creation, as a concept, is exactly the same one that we have all learned to read, write, draw or photograph. I have read dozens of books by cartier bresson, Avedon, Erwit, Leibovitz... and seeing their photos is how I have learned to photograph, and I have created my own photographs with theirs in my mind.
That's the same thing they do, and it can't be avoided, because the photos are published, open to anyone's eye.

Years ago you had to pay to enter the museums, now it's not even necessary.

tell that to the musicians who got sued after listening to others work and using it it as "inspiration". 

fascinating how many stock photographer seem to have an international law degree.

I think there is a difference between inspiring and plagiarizing, in many cases separated by a fine line. That is why there are thousands of music plagiarism accusation cases that are resolved in favor of the plaintiff and many thousands more in favor of the defendant.

I'm just saying that things are not absolute black or white. And personally I have not seen any cases of plagiarism by AIs yet. It is like saying that the first photographer who took a photo of an apple on a white background has the right to accuse the next 30,000 photos of apples on a white background that are in the SS catalog.

yeah, 22 days here.  If more photos come in than come out, the queue will increase little by little, until the wave passes. You have to start uploading the content for Christmas right now!

I am using backblaze for years: affiliate link:  https://secure.backblaze.com/r/01nw5k

Yeah:

"Hey,

Thank you so much for your patience around our payouts to you, our community.

As you may be aware Talenthouse AG has undergone a significant corporate process involving merging companies, which means we aren�t able to get payments processed as quickly as we�d hoped. We�re disappointed that we were unable to pay you on time, and are working tirelessly to ensure payment is received smoothly from now on.

Rest assured you absolutely will be paid. We�re preparing our next payment schedules so we�ll aim to get you paid within the next few weeks.

Thank you again for your patience and for bearing with us as we organise internally. We couldn�t do what we do without you."