MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - bunhill

Pages: 1 ... 26 27 28 29 30 [31] 32 33 34 35 36 ... 62
751
I get my money back from Visa, whats the problem? Its the same card protection.


No there is a clear and obvious advantage to not having your bank account suddenly drained as a result of debit card fraud: If your bank account is suddenly emptied you cannot use it until the problem is resolved. Where as with CC fraud you have until the due date to notice and address the issue.

Suppose you have a large sum of money in your account when it is emptied - e.g. the proceeds from a property sale. There is also the fact that different degrees of consumer protection typically apply.

Google it. Experts agree that using debit cards online is a bad idea.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pf_article_109125.html

Quote
"You don't use a debit card online," says Susan Tiffany, director of consumer periodicals for the Credit Union National Association. Since the debit card links directly to a checking account, "you have potential vulnerability there," she says.

Her reasoning: If you have problems with a purchase or the card number gets hijacked, a debit card is "vulnerable because it happens to be linked to an account," says Linda Foley, founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center. She also includes phone orders in this category.


http://money.msn.com/identity-theft/article.aspx?post=5271d234-5c44-4b88-bed6-d0f3597aa1a1

Quote
using a debit card online can work against you. If you have a problem with the purchase or your debit card number is stolen, it's a huge hassle to get the money restored to your account and make your card number safe and secure again. In the online world, credit cards are usually a better bet.


Why You Should Never Use Debit Cards: Forbes

http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/online-banking/safe-to-shop-online-with-debit-card.htm

Quote
As much as you might resist it, debit cards should not be used to pay for online transactions; a credit card is always safer for e-commerce. You're not as protected against fraud when you use a debit card, and disputes with those cards can be difficult to resolve. Plus, if someone steals your debit card number, your entire bank account is vulnerable.


http://lifehacker.com/when-should-i-use-credit-and-when-should-i-use-debit-wh-862086499

Quote
If you're shopping online. Credit cards are by far your safest option when shopping online, both because the credit card issuers watch for fraudulent charges. If you detect fraud yourself you can dispute a charge and get it reversed quickly, thanks to credit card issuers' "zero liability" policies. You're never liable for unauthorized charges, unlike debit transactions, which are the same as cash (and are protected in some cases, but that varies from bank to bank)

752
My bank account was emptied last week. 830 euros stolen in fraudulent payments. Probably because of the Adobe fiasco.

The lesson here is never use a debit card online or remotely. That's what can happen. You are much better protected using a credit card.

753
If everyone in the past had approached new ideas the way bunhill does we'd still sit starving in cold caves pondering the legal implications of starting a fire and hunting one of those tasty mammoths out there  ;D

Look at it like this: If the Symbiostock Network is not an organisation then what is it ?

IMO there are aspects of Symbiostock which make it potentially an entity in itself. Or else what is the Symbiostock Network ? If it is an entity then it has potential legal responsibilities. And it is being advertised as that. Symbiostock is an organisation without an organisation.

An organisation does not have to "ponder legal implications'. You pay a legal team to do that for you. They draw up the contracts and check the wording you use. Your accountants look at the financial side - both from your perspective and from the customers'. That's what you have to do in business.

754
If people want to run a business from their website, it is up to them to do so responsibly and follow the laws of their country.

For it to be safe for buyers to use they (the site owners) also need to ensure that the site conforms with the laws which exist where the buyer is based.

Every site which is not doing stuff right undermines  every other site when those sites are part of a network. When you all say that you are a part of a thing the reputation of the whole thing depends upon the reputation of each constituent part. I cannot think of another way of trying to express this.

The tax thing is just one example.

ETA: I think this is potentially a great project. I find it bizarre that some people seem to be so negative  about setting it up on a proper financial and legal footing.

755
Symbiostock is no different from running Smugmug or Zenfolio or Ktools when it comes down to legal issues.

That is not a legal opinion.

For example, do the users of those other platforms similarly advertise themselves as being part of single joint network ?

Don't get me wrong. I think Symbiostock has the potential to be amazing. In 2014 predictions thread, I thought it would be one of the big stories of 2014. But the way it is currently set up that story is going to be the story of how it fell apart because nobody could be bothered or understood the need to address the big issues. And the users ended up arguing with each other and never selling much.

The thing needs funding and professional management. Otherwise it is just a bit of free software. And any site or network is about much more than just the software.

756
Please explain which legal issues you mean? I write my own terms and conditions and my own rf contract. Do you mean that someone else should?

The legal side of the network in general (the sites typically explicitly state that they are part of a joint network) has not been worked out or explored. Symbiostock does not employ any sort of legal team to research these sorts of potential issues. It seems as if nobody legal or financial has gone over the whole thing to look for potential legal or fiscal mutual issues. Most Open Source projects employ at least some sort of legal and financical advice.

Symbiostock presents itself as a single thing. But all of the sites have different T&C. And some of the sites do not conform to international tax law. For example there are sites which do not collect TVA/VAT from EU buyers - or explain their policy. Or they do not issue proper tax receipts detailing whether or not TVA has been deducted. Legitimate buyers need those receipts at end of year.

Many of the sites are running on self written contracts. Nobody does that in business. Are you responsible if a search from your site links to content on another site which is not doing the tax right ? What if the site your search links to is selling stolen content ?

The whole thing is a great big legal question mark. Because nobody has bothered to put up any money to pay for it. OK the software is free. But there is always much more to any thing than one aspect of it being free.

It's a great project but it needs funding and it needs to be properly established otherwise potential buyers need to treat it with caution.

757
Everyone's experience with Symbiostock will be a little different

Given what I have read over the past couple of weeks I have completely changed my mind about Symbiostock. And I have been involved with previous Open Source projects.

I predict that it will end up orphaned. The reason being that it has too few users and too few potential users - and therefore many too few developers. Partly because there is no substantial business to be built around it the way it currently exists.

Sorry to say that. I know that this post will get voted down out of existence for me saying this. Hey - I hope I am wrong but Open Source projects need more than good will to survive and prosper.

The way to stop its inevitable decline would be to address the glaring issues. Particularly in terms of the way in which the software is developed, how it seems to users and the lack of legal safeguards.

758
What you actually get is a platform for YOU to build YOUR own business and for YOU to promote and grow it! If you have no customers, Im afraid that SymbioStock is not going to be much help in finding you any unless you are prepared to work hard and learn. Im finding that the people who have the most negative opinions are those that have contributed the least and have yet expected the most.

Surely the point of Symbiostock is that mutual traffic sharing ? That was what I thought.

If you are building a standalone site which has no customers so far and which does not share traffic then what would be the advantages of Symbiostock vs much better looking paid platforms such as SquareSpace which also include credit card processing and which automatically resize on iPhones, tablets etc. What are the advantages of Symbiostock apart from it being free software ? Given the low cost of offerings such as SquareSpace, does it make much difference whether the actual software is free ?

I still don't really get it. I thought I understood it as a thing which would look like a single platform. Surely the only point is if the customer sees it as a single thing. With one login, one search and one lot of payment details. If it is lots of independent sites then surely there are better and more mature platforms.

Another question. Does a Symbiostock user also have to be their own sys admin ? What about monitoring security and fixing vulnerabilities when you are on vacation or sleeping ?


759
Bigstock.com / Re: account hacked ???
« on: February 10, 2014, 03:10 »
Have you used one of those third party tools / apps which require you to effectively give them your login details ? Or logged in using public or open wifi ?

760
Software / Re: article on Adobe Creatice Cloud
« on: February 09, 2014, 17:42 »
Google bought Nik a while ago, I thought they might be planning to do something serious with that group, besides just more cr@p "filters" for phone photos.

Google is an advertising company. Anything else they do is incidental and collateral.  They have done a good job with Nik so far*. But I cannot work out why. I cannot see what it brings them. Perhaps they just wanted the team.

* although I do not like the automatic updating

761
Software / Re: article on Adobe Creatice Cloud
« on: February 09, 2014, 15:47 »
The problem is if you only had the CC version and didn't own an older copy then you couldn't open your own files.  In five or ten years this will be true for almost everyone (unless you hold onto an older copy of PS forever as I intend to do).

IMO Photoshop is old top heavy code which replicates much of the pixel level functionality which today is included more efficiently in OS X and therefore iOS. Adobe must know that they are only going to squeeze so much more useful life out of it before tablet operating systems completely replace the old file system model.

I believe that the next 5 - 10 years will see us mostly transition from traditional computers to Android and iOS devices. iOS is built on OS X and already includes the graphics frameworks necessary for pixel and video manipulation. (iOS also currently has very much better development tools than Android).

I think that OS X will gradually become more like iOS. And iOS will become somewhat more functional. Until they merge. They are basically the same OS underneath anyhow. Microsoft will be doing cloud services. Android will be for everyone else. IMO.

A decade after that, who knows ?

ETA: the point being that Photoshop does not have a 5-10 year future IMO - it will be replaced with something built from the ground up.

762
I'm still building my Symbiostock site (currently 1,610 images and growing) and am very proud of it.
How are sales ?
Not great for me. But others are doing quite well.

The last time I read through the forums on this I had the impression that the people getting sales tended to be illustrators with already established private sites who had switched to this platform. That was a while ago. Are photographers doing well with this now too ?

763
I'm still building my Symbiostock site (currently 1,610 images and growing) and am very proud of it.

How are sales ?

764
Computer Hardware / Re: Monitor on the way out?
« on: February 05, 2014, 15:01 »
I wouldn't know if the graphics card was seated properly, or even how to recognise it (I don't go inside the box). Is it likely it would be suddenly unseated without the tower having been touched?
Tx for the suggestions.

If the cable got pulled the graphics card could potentially become slightly unseated - but only if the screw was not holding it properly.

Before buying a new monitor test everything with another monitor if possible. Or else try your possibly faulty monitor attached to a different computer.

765
Computer Hardware / Re: Monitor on the way out?
« on: February 05, 2014, 14:48 »
Have you checked that the cables are properly plugged in ?

Also - if you are using a desktop style computer, check that the graphics card is properly seated.

766
Alamy.com / Re: Why encourage me to upload again?
« on: February 04, 2014, 16:44 »
Alamy and microstock are completely different models. Cheap subscription works for content which gets lots of sales. Editorial microstock makes sense for product pack-shots.

If all of Alamy was available at SS it would not sell more - but it would make much less money. It's the fact that it is not edited which results in it being possible to find very obscure editorial content at Alamy.

767
iStockPhoto.com / Re: best match
« on: February 04, 2014, 10:12 »
The location is pretty irrelevant

We all see different results. Your results may be completely different to mine. Without the location there is no way of knowing.

768
iStockPhoto.com / Re: best match
« on: February 04, 2014, 08:59 »
What is the location and what what would be your conclusion based on this tiny sample ?

769
Historically the SS search was based on the merit of individual content. Or in other words the buyers chose which images would be successful and which would sink to the bottom rankings.

If the search is not regularly given a stir and new content is not promoted then the front page will stay the same and very little else will ever sell. Because content which is on the front page of any search anywhere inevitably and obviously sells better than content further back in the search. Which does not necessarily mean that it is better.

Unless the search is hand picked.

770
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Poor start to 2014
« on: January 28, 2014, 11:30 »

771
General - Top Sites / Re: Moving from USA to France
« on: January 27, 2014, 07:00 »
So you lived in all 3 cities very recently?

What ?

772
General - Top Sites / Re: Moving from USA to France
« on: January 27, 2014, 06:26 »
Bunhill, How can you even say 900 EURO for a Studio is cheap? A studio outside the city centre in Dublin is 700 euro which is criminal already. I pay 850 euro for a two bedroom apartment, living room, kitchen, fully furnitured and parking space.

I said affordable. Price is a relative thing. London prices seem crazy to me. Dublin still feels like Sundays to me!

773
General - Top Sites / Re: Moving from USA to France
« on: January 27, 2014, 06:02 »
Thats the cheapest in the whole of Paris. You can eat sleep and relax on a couch.

No it is not. Paris Attitude is renting properties at the prices which US tourists pay.

774
General - Top Sites / Re: Moving from USA to France
« on: January 27, 2014, 06:00 »
lol they are $ 1150
$ 1150 for a studio is not that cheap

No. You can rent much cheaper than that even within the Priphrique.

(The minimum net salary is 1121.71, right?)

if you are living on minimum wage then presumably you would live in a shared rental.

775
General - Top Sites / Re: Moving from USA to France
« on: January 27, 2014, 05:50 »
How current is your information on Paris?

today.

ETA:

- RATP site will give you the Navigo weekly metro prices
- you can eat a good bowl of chicken noodles for 5 in Belleville
- airbnb will give you a clue to the rents (and airbnb is more expensive than prices on the ground)
- you will have to believe me about the price of food from the markets



Pages: 1 ... 26 27 28 29 30 [31] 32 33 34 35 36 ... 62

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors