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Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock just became iStock 2.0
« on: May 26, 2020, 12:55 »
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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. 852
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock just became iStock 2.0« on: May 26, 2020, 10:56 »
Resetting down to 15% every year is a very nasty move! 123RF is using a similar structure but they are keeping an yearly rolling average.
I am level 5 on photos, so until next year, I may see some increase from photos (pending clarification on how subs and ODDs will be impacted) On the other hand, I'm only level 3 on videos and I'll be losing here for a while, until next January disaster! Not happy! ![]() 853
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock Changes Contributor Rates« on: May 26, 2020, 10:55 »
(see the other thread)
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123RF / Re: Is it the end of 123rf« on: May 24, 2020, 13:29 »I can still Pickup $300/$400 a Month with 3 sites But, thats it and the way It's going .... I Here. There you have it. When someone from the "new generation" makes 5, 6, maybe 10 times more than you, with a smaller port, then that speaks volume about yours and about your understanding of this market. Yeah, while many veterans can can deal well with the competition and adapt, you just throw the towel and get comfort in excuses, soaking in your nostalgia over those long gone good ol' days. ![]() 855
Shutterstock.com / Re: $300 single video sale« on: May 11, 2020, 15:00 »
Congrats!
I got this one a few days ago: Nothing like yours, but still... very nice ![]() 856
General Stock Discussion / Re: Did 123RF send out 1099s this year?« on: May 04, 2020, 09:25 »I believe that if you made less than $600 and are in the USA you won't get one. My earnings for 2019 were in the four digits domain, yet I still don't see my 1099 on the site, and I haven't received it by regular mail either. Not that it matters too much now. I did my taxes long ago, based on PayPal totals and the IRS already took their hefty share from my account 857
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: April 06, 2020, 07:48 »The CDC has reversed its recommendations about using face masks as the coronavirus pandemic develops. You obviously didn't watch the real thing, did you? Instead, you prefer to watch what some random dude has to say about the reality. Here is the full transcript: Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, you know that right? Coronavirus, theyre politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, Hows President Trump doing? They go, Oh, not good, not good. They have no clue. They dont have any clue. They cant even count their votes in Iowa. They cant even count. No, they cant. They cant count their votes. One of my people came up to me and said, Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didnt work out too well. They couldnt do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried it over and over. Theyd been doing it since you got in. Its all turning. They lost. Its all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax. But we did something thats been pretty amazing. We have 15 people in this massive country and because of the fact that we went early. We went early, we could have had a lot more than that. Were doing great. Our country is doing so great. Our country is doing great, indeed! Right? Breaking News: it's a disaster, no matter how you spin it. Trump's denial (we only have 15 deaths, therefore we must be doing a fantastic job) and his failure to listen to people who warned him that this is is no joking matter (they politicize Corona, their new hoax) is massive leadership failure. A failure to come up with early testing that could have saved lives, a failure to secure enough protective equipment and medical supplies that could have saved lives. And there are countless other interviews and press conferences, where he is downplaying the seriousness of the matter. Look them up, look for official transcripts, not for some random dude spinning the reality. The reality will punch you hard, straight in your face, as it happened even to him: From "we are doing great because we only have 15 deaths", now he has the audacity to say: "So youre talking about 2.2 million deaths, 2.2 million people from this. And so if we could hold that down, as were saying, to 100,000. Its a horrible number, maybe even less but to 100,000. So we have between 100 and 200,000, and we altogether have done a very good job" Wake up, man! 858
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: April 05, 2020, 13:01 »The CDC has reversed its recommendations about using face masks as the coronavirus pandemic develops. Yeah right. When the media is reporting about de Blasio's failures, the media is real news. But when the same media is reporting about how Trump failed to get our country ready, it's "fake news". Look who's talking about cherry-picking only what fits one's agenda. ![]() Sorry, but you can't have it both ways. And if you would really love to see the whole statements, just look them up. All the interviews, press conferences and rallies when he downplayed and mocked the virus crisis, failing to act, failing to do what was needed to save lives, are widely available. Leaving the mocking aside, the failure to get people tested, the failure to secure enough protective equipment, etc, were all mistakes that led to a national disaster. The evidence is overwhelming. So I'm asking again: since you brought him up, are you ready to fire both de Blasio and Trump for their incompetence? ![]() 859
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: April 05, 2020, 10:19 »The CDC has reversed its recommendations about using face masks as the coronavirus pandemic develops. A classical case of whataboutism. Allow me to highlight that what the POTUS has to say is many, many times more important than what any other politician has to say. He is the most powerful voice in the country and he must be hold responsible for his early denial and mocking of the whole crisis, for his lack of leadership and for his appalling lack of action in getting the country ready to deal with it. Have a look here: https://youtu.be/NezEbDx4B9A Having said that, Blasio is also a failure. Let's fire them both, ASAP! Deal? 860
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: April 03, 2020, 17:23 »861
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 31, 2020, 10:51 »
Yes, I agree that our president is a moron, no debate here. What I find interesting to see how you justify the suspension of a law, instead of questioning the efficiency of that law, in the first place. What I also find interesting is that you think that somehow corporations will take over your life, instead of realizing that this crisis, like many other crises (think 9/11) are used by governments to take even more control of our lives. Bit by bit, pieces of your freedom are chipped away. Remember also that in a competitive economy, you have a choice. You can say no to a corporation and go with a competitor. There is no competition for your government. Refuse to comply and coercion will be used against you. Your physical freedom will be at risk. This is why you should fight for your freedom to choose, for competition, for your right to say no, not for the opposite of that. Moreover, on one hand, you admit that corporations will always be in cahoots with the government, but on the other hand, you believe that the government is here to protect you against corporations (!?). Don't you see the logical contradiction here? Yes, I understand that asking for more economic freedom, as a solution against corruption and crony-capitalism, might sound bizarre when analyzed superficially. But it is backed by strong logical arguments, not discovered by me, but by reputable economists. Try to follow their arguments and you might be surprised. Yes, I also agree that the solution is education. People must stop believing that politicians are messiahs destined to save them from evil corporations. Politicians will always try to save themselves first while trying to make you believe that they sacrifice themselves to save you. Remember that they are in bed with their sponsor. When voters will stop believing in fairy tales and stop asking for more of that, we will be one step closer to the real solution. This is why the power of the government to interfere with our economical freedom must be limited, the same way the constitution is limiting the power of the government to interfere with our civil liberties. We need an economical bill of rights. 862
Adobe Stock / Re: 2020 Adobe Stock Artist bonus program« on: March 30, 2020, 15:37 »Out of curiosity - does anyone mind sharing what their average yearly number of downloads are? Based on most of the comments, Is 5000 an easy goal for most? I had over 5k total downloads/year, for the past 4 years (2016 to 2019). 863
Adobe Stock / Re: 2020 Adobe Stock Artist bonus program« on: March 30, 2020, 12:44 »Mat, one more question: it's likely that I will hit 5,000+ DLs for 2020 around July-August. I only have the Photography plan. Will I be able to upgrade to the full package earlier?a Too bad. I like Davinci Resolve but I think that there was a chance to be hooked by Premiere Pro and After Effects, before I learn to love Davinci too much! ![]() Anyway, the initiative is really appreciated! Thanks again! 864
Adobe Stock / Re: 2020 Adobe Stock Artist bonus program« on: March 30, 2020, 12:19 »
Mat, one more question: it's likely that I will hit 5,000+ DLs for 2020 around July-August. I only have the Photography plan. Will I be able to upgrade to the full package earlier?
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Adobe Stock / Re: 2020 Adobe Stock Artist bonus program« on: March 30, 2020, 12:12 »By now, you should have received an email about the 2020 bonus program for Adobe Stock artists. We are switching the program up this year. Thanks, Mat! This is great news! Since 1 video DL counts as 8 DLs, maybe it's time to talk to the technical team and ask them to create a filter for video DLs and earnings. There is no way to segregate video DLs and earnings from the totals. 866
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 29, 2020, 11:53 »
Do you have a car? Is it a Tesla or some other electric car? If not, the oil companies are giving you exactly what YOU want. YOU are part of the problem. YOU are polluting the planet. YOU contribute to global warming. Even if you are rich enough to afford an electric car, or to pay extra for renewable energy only, you shouldn't impose your choice and your ability to pay more, on poor people who worry about what to eat tomorrow. When consumers will stop asking for oil, the oil companies will cease to be relevant. Until then, they are doing exactly what we, the consumers, are asking them to do. Imagine a brilliant scientist who finds a new life-saving drug. For many years, he will never be able to sell that drug to the public. No small lab startup will ever be able to wait years for FDA approval. This is when Big Pharma is buying out that smart idea or they can choose to wait for the small lab to go bankrupt if they are stubborn enough to attempt to compete. Nobody is counting how many lives are lost because of excessive regulations. Moreover, the same Big Pharma is, in most cases, the very author of that regulation, because they know that regulations are a killer weapon for small competitors, who could force their prices down if allowed to compete. 867
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 29, 2020, 10:47 »Btw if it's true that capitalists are taking most of the pie,it's even true that our lifestyle has improved much... In competitive capitalism, every transaction is a win-win. When you have choices, when the competition is allowed to flourish, you pay only as much as you think that product is worth. You decide how much of their pie to take and how much of your pie to give away in exchange. The problem you are describing is not deregulated capitalism, but the exact opposite: it is over-regulated capitalism. It is crony-capitalism. Capitalism where the consumer doesn't have choices. Capitalism where corporations are in cahoots with regulators. Consumers' choices are the healthy feedback loop in a healthy economy. The consumer sends back their message to companies, through their choices. Companies must adapt to consumers' will and choices or perish. We vote for politicians every 4 years or so. In 4 years, many things can go south with no way to change course. In healthy capitalism, we vote every day, we vote with every single purchase we make. Remember that in general, nobody is defending your own interest better than yourself; not the corporations and not the government. Both entities, the same as you, will defend their interest first and foremost. And there is nothing wrong with that. That's how the world works. Didn't you notice that politicians very seldom talk about consumers? They either want to protect a select group of workers or a select group of companies. They forget that consumers are a natural regulator and the oil that's harmoniously linking those two entities. I agree that the situation you are describing is bad. But you are choosing the wrong direction to address that problem. The direction should be towards less regulation and more competition, not the other way around (as most politicians want you to believe, when they ask for your vote, in an attempt to position themselves as your saviour). 868
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 29, 2020, 01:06 »competition rarely lowers prices -- yes, FDA rules handicapped us, Lol at your first statement (which is so easily dismissable, it's not even worth arguing about) -- and yes, I'm glad that you agree with me on the second one. We have here a very clear example of how regulations not just handicapped us, but led to preventable deaths. We are making progress! ![]() The next step is to understand how monopolies and the associated price gauging practices are flourishing under the protection of tough regulations (i.e. cronyism). 869
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 28, 2020, 18:54 »That's old thinking. Except that, as shown above, the opposite is true. ![]() Effective Covid-19 tests from Europe couldn't be imported in the US, exactly because of our very strict FDA regulations. The absence of testing in the US is certainly the reason for the extensive spread of the virus. Many deaths could have been avoided by early testing. Check that screenshot from NY Times, I posted above. Besides, our very strict FDA regulations are preventing drug imports, thus reducing the competition on the US market. This is also why, many drug companies currently enjoy a virtually monopolistic situation, being protected against foreign competition and smaller domestic competitors by our strict FDA regulations. Lower prices are not achieved through a government fiat, but through competition. 870
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 28, 2020, 13:55 »Only governments have the power to reign in massive corporations. Sorry, but that's one of the biggest fallacies of modern politics. No bureaucracy will put your interest ahead of its personal survival. Most bureaucrats will do whatever it takes to prove that they are indispensable and save their jobs. But that's normal, we can't blame them for being human. When things fail, they will never say that it's because of their incompetence or because their survival instinct trumped everything else. They will blame it on the lack of resources, they will ask for more taxes to finance more people in a new agency created to oversee that problem. The fact is that consumers are the most powerful force able to really keep the companies in check, when proper competition is permitted. The companies that can afford to disregard the power of the masses are those in a monopolistic situation. And history thought us that long term monopolies never flourished, except when backed by governments, usually through enhanced regulations designed to kill any potential competition coming from minor players. 871
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 28, 2020, 13:19 »It's funny how people from all over the world criticize their political leaders...if they were right all politicals are morons...the real truth is that the whole world system was unprepared...and i call it capitalism....capitalism system doesn't store resources but eat them all...that's why every states in the world is facing the same problem...lack of resources...medical in this case.. That's old thinking. In this time and age, in the social media age, when all brands are so very much concerned with their image, more than ever, no company can afford to go against what consumers want. Companies are very often ahead of regulations because they understood exactly those concerns coming from consumers. Moreover, even when bad things happen, regulators are very often oblivious to that. Independent consumer associations, the free press, etc., are most of the time ahead of those bloated bureaucratic governmental bodies. See the VW emission case. Even more, those regulators are often in bed with the industry, playing favorites with those who pay their bills and bankroll their elections. See the recent Boeing case. Back on topic, during the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis, too much governmental control prevented the Covid tests manufactured abroad to be imported in the US, because those tests, despite being proven superior, were not FDA approved. So... too much regulation might have led to deaths when preventable cases went untested and unnoticed (see attached). And the shortage of tests in the US continues even today, despite the daily lies from our Dear Leader and God-Sent Savior. 872
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 28, 2020, 11:12 »
Exactly. The real-world evidence shows that authoritarianism and its worst-case scenario, dictatorship, systematically ended up bad for constituents. That's the point I'm making when it comes to the vertical axis. When it comes to universal health care in particular (and the economical axis in general), I'm with you, even if it is not aligned with the pure free-market concept. In a civilized society, Life and Death should NOT become a market-driven trade-off. But even here, we have many nuances, when it comes to the best way to evolve towards that ideal. 873
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 28, 2020, 10:40 »I don't have any alternative,and i don't pretend to be the one who has the solution,i only stated how capitalism works..and i didn't say it's worst than comunism..btw we leave in this system and politics can act only inside this system and stocking resourcesIt's funny how people from all over the world criticize their political leaders...if they were right all politicals are morons...the real truth is that the whole world system was unprepared...and i call it capitalism....capitalism system doesn't store resources but eat them all...that's why every states in the world is facing the same problem...lack of resources...medical in this case.. Ok then, it sounded like you blamed capitalism for the crisis. I only want to add that one of the feature of capitalism is a constant adaptation to public demand, through a constant feedback loop. If people will learn something from this crisis, moving forward, we should first elect less morons in power. Secondly, many companies learned the hard way, what it means to play the game on the edge. Companies without reserves will disappear. The rest will learn to get better prepared for such events. And yes @justanotherphotographer, we are not talking about pure capitalism nor pure communism. Left and right are deprecated classifications. In the real world, there is a whole spectrum of nuances, first on the horizontal axis, ranging from a fully state controlled economy, to a pure free market, but also a full range of options on the vertical axis, ranging from the total absence of government (anarchy), to a single person absolute dictatorship. My point is addessing both axis: stay on the right side of the economical axis (not far right, mind you), and in the middle of the vertical axis. 874
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 27, 2020, 21:08 »It's funny how people from all over the world criticize their political leaders...if they were right all politicals are morons...the real truth is that the whole world system was unprepared...and i call it capitalism....capitalism system doesn't store resources but eat them all...that's why every states in the world is facing the same problem...lack of resources...medical in this case.. And what is your alternative? Communism? Communism where all resources are wasted, generating all sorts of shortages, even during regular times? Morons in power is our problem. Populist morons in power. Populist morons like dear Boris, who was shaking hands with infected people to prove how stupid he is. Or populist morons like dear Donald, who said, for a long time, that everything is a hoax, (instead of getting ready), to prove how stupid he is. 875
General Stock Discussion / Re: Coronavirus ?« on: March 24, 2020, 20:03 »Just what If....I know most of you hat Pres. Trump...But what if the Chinese created this virus in the lab to reduce their population of elders as the 70 year old plus people old do not produce for the Chinese government. They just use up sources/food. Something went wrong in the Chinese lab and they had a very bad accident and the virus was release/by accident.. Just what if... A pile of horseshit. This book explains with convincing arguments why viruses and pandemics (plague inclusive) have historically emerged from Eurasia and not from the Americas (nor Africa): https://books.google.com/books/about/Guns_Germs_and_Steel.html?id=kLKTa_OeoNIC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button What happened is Europeans decimating with their viruses (also helped by their acquired immunity) roughly 90% (tens of millions) of the native American population (and not only). |
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