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Messages - marquixHD
26
« on: July 14, 2015, 12:28 »
I've only submitted to 3 or 4 briefs, and had one sale. The sale equaled a few months worth of microstock money, so it was worth the effort.
My main annoyance there is the lack of a feedback or question system, as often the briefs I would attempt are vague. If I know I'm shooting the right subject, I'll do it, but I'm reluctant to make an effort to shoot something the buyer may or may not actually want.
as they are fairly new, they still could -- as in ought to! -- improve on that one and add that use case to IB in order to make it more worthwhile.
27
« on: May 16, 2015, 06:23 »
Let's examine an open source project without trademark protection:
1) Symbiostock 1.0 is released. As it is licensed under the GNU, anyone can use the code and even sell it.
2) A group of black-hatters take Symbiostock, add malicious code to it in order to collect passwords
3) They release Symbiostock 2.0, call it Symbiostock 2.0, and advertise on Google Adwords using the name Symbiostock 2.0.
4) Users, just like you, purchase Symbiostock 2.0, your passwords are extracted, your sites are hacked, and all your full resolution images show up on free sites.
5) The group of black-hatters stop advertising, close up shop, and disappear.
6) You come to the original developers and want to know why they let this happen.
7) They respond by saying that without trademark protection, they could not legally prevent the sale of Symbiostock 2.0.
And with a registred trademark in your protecting property the "black-hatters" will not do that? ;D
Do "black hatters" respect the copyright of a trademark?
What a nonsense Robin.
exactly, @r2d2. This on top ;) In order to defend legacy-Symbiostockers' rights and interests against any kind of unlawful limitation, they ought to focus on disputing and overall preventing the registration of what might turn out to be a stolen trademark.
28
« on: May 16, 2015, 06:00 »
Let's examine an open source project without trademark protection:
1) Symbiostock 1.0 is released. As it is licensed under the GNU, anyone can use the code and even sell it.
2) A group of black-hatters take Symbiostock, add malicious code to it in order to collect passwords
3) They release Symbiostock 2.0, call it Symbiostock 2.0, and advertise on Google Adwords using the name Symbiostock 2.0.
4) Users, just like you, purchase Symbiostock 2.0, your passwords are extracted, your sites are hacked, and all your full resolution images show up on free sites.
5) The group of black-hatters stop advertising, close up shop, and disappear.
6) You come to the original developers and want to know why they let this happen.
7) They respond by saying that without trademark protection, they could not legally prevent the sale of Symbiostock 2.0.
This is just one of the reasons why Symbiostock, and other open source organizations such as:
WordPress: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4ow9iu.2.9
CentOS: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4ow9iu.3.2
Linux: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4ow9iu.4.12
Debian: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4ow9iu.5.1
WooCommerce: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4ow9iu.11.1
MySQL: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4ow9iu.7.5
phpMyAdmin: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:4ow9iu.8.7
All have registered trademarks. It has very little to do with end users.
Robin.
let us also examine a bit further: on that nice list regurgitated up there, NO ONE is on record to have had THE AUDACITY OF FILING LIES about the "use in commerce" or any other portion... Quite familiar with WordPress, for example, I cannot seem to remember that they even laid claim to Slash.org (their very own grandfather application), let alone made any fraudulent and untruthful claims to others' software. So it should be noted that THAT is how Open Source is done (even when it comes to trademarking etc). The applicant for the Symbiostock trademark, on the other hand, makes false claims, and this should be investigated in the trademark dispute procedure! On another note and in order to clarify it "has little to do with end users", a provision to that effect and providing for legacy-Theme-Symbiostockers to continue what constitutes prior use of any trademark anyway needs to be included. But it isn't there. Please correct and amend this no later than 22 May 2015, Robin. Thank you.
29
« on: May 15, 2015, 06:02 »
https://trademarks.justia.com/866/21/symbiostock-86621725.html
Symbistock is now owned by a single person. Goodbye independence!
Even if it should be successful it is now easy for the big Agencies to buy Symbiostock and close it.
I think Symbiostock now is dead.
the trademark registration process has been opened, now there will be a period where everyone using Symbiostock on their sites can file a dispute and prove prior use of the trademark. Also note that ONLY the new Symbio-Plugin version and only this particular WP Plugin under that specific name (IF registration is successful at all) will be affected and/or vulnerable to agency buyout and similar! Anyone traveling in the overall direction of the Theme-based solution will be just fine.
30
« on: May 10, 2015, 17:37 »
Plenty of threads on this forum on alternatives, some from even the last couple of months. Look for self hosting threads.
Why dont you just name them instead of giving people the run around...
Alternative would be interesting.
Wordpress + Woocomerce + free Digital Media plugin + vat plugin.
If there is such a setup we just need a crowd founded searchengine that we can all promote. Somthing like a non profit foundation.
Everyone who wants conected to the searchengine pay a membership fee.
you're spot on -- I would be in on a crowd-funded search engine because that concept (of the super-search engine plus networking effect) is a promising one, especially in this day and age of latest Google flavours-or-the-day... BTW, the Symbiostock theme HAPPENS TO BE mobile-friendly: that's a plus for the (old) Symbiostock theme!
31
« on: May 10, 2015, 16:31 »
The SEO part of symbiostock is a big plus though
absolutely, @Semnickphoto -- so much so that I sometimes wish this would be made available for other uses beyond Microstock photography... So, aside from any hiccups there may be with the new Dev, the Symbiostock idea and general structure is a great thing. Still worth looking into, IMHO.
32
« on: April 29, 2015, 10:02 »
I thought somewhere Robin stated that announcements would be made here but all communication should be done on the Sy forum? (Or am I confused with the other plugin?)
he doesn't tell anything about himself on the Sy forum either... So -- still no way of "getting to know" anything about that anonymous genius we would have to deal with (even if we ultimately wanted to).
33
« on: April 28, 2015, 14:57 »
...
But the old Symbiostock lost a complete year with stagnation instability and blackouts. And i dont know why?
Symbistock.info/old Symbiostock does not bring buyers no wonder it is not at all appealing enough for buyers to be able to keep up with agencies.
For me, the developer of the old Symbiostock have demonstrated that they have no idea of marketing or how to address customer/buyers.
...
symbiostock has been stable for more than a year - most of the sites from a year ago are still active
symbiostock is a tool -- it was ever intended to compete with agencies by marketing itself - instead it is up to individual site owners, separately or collectively, to provide marketing for their sites
as an aside, symbiostock.info is owned & operated completely separately from the symbiostock wordpress theme/plugin, and as such is an example of working together that was intended in the original symbiostock. that will not be possible under the new product since robin has said he is not making available the info needed. robin does say he will (eventually) provide a new search but whether that will be free like the established global searches remains to be seen (and according to the new eula, even an initially free search can be changed to a costly one at any time without warning)
It is pretty clear at this point that the new guy (gal) has come in to make a profit, and it doesn't look like he (she, it...) will be overly considerate with existing users' matters. Looking at "terms & conditions" (or reading the small print) always is a good indication of whether or not a business is trustworthy: in that ballpark, we have Robin's EULA and that doesn't look so good. So, yeah, me too would like to have a statement of that Robin-thing out there -- and fast! Symbiostock (old-Dev!) is still a great thing, and I hope we can go forward with it "as usual" at some point. EDIT: After some downtime, the "symbiostock.org" URL is showing some content again. The quote below is part of it, I liked the "wonderful legacy user" part best... Anyone seen this puke yet: "If youre a wonderful legacy Symbiostock user and are eagerly awaiting the new release, dont jump the gun when you see an update available for your website. We no longer have control over the update feature connected to the legacy Symbiostock software which departed with a previous developer. To keep up to date with the new release, subscribe to our forums or keep track of everything through our blog." ...and where everything is shoved down your throats -- even if you'd rather go for that "departed developer" there  Ouch. That Robin-character out there must himself be *very seriously departed* (deranged) and appears even less trustworthy now!
34
« on: April 03, 2015, 08:43 »
no delete button on MSG -- strange.
35
« on: April 03, 2015, 07:52 »
Jeff Prescott, 51, is COO and co-founder of Dreamstine, a microstock photography agency.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/01/08/kate-gosselin-is-dating-millionaire/?intcmp=features
How appropriate!
Fox News can't even get the name "Dreamstime" spelled right. They made it into "Dreamstine".
For those not in the US, Fox News (aka Faux News, known for having the worst-informed audience in the country) is a big part of the conservative media echo chamber foisted on us by Aussie Rupert Murdoch.
One does not have to live in the US to be familiar with the sheer stupidity that is Fox News ;)
However, I have never heard of Kate Gosselin, but a quick glance at her wikipage shows me I don't really want to know.
Nor does one have to live in the U. S. to know that NPR, HuffPost, and New York Times audiences are even dumber! Note though, that that is not meant to say that F*cks News or what they call themselves ;) were not what you are saying above -- in so far, I mostly agree with you. ;) I just don't see the big difference between Murdoch-owned and Soros-controlled BS, the real news is quite different from both, seriously...
36
« on: April 03, 2015, 07:44 »
As usual, at our expense. They make millions we make peanuts. I guess I could just kill my account there and lose a whopping $125 a month.
so? He's a millionaire, yes -- that is called the power of multiplication: you make $125/month, he makes 100,000s of times that much because he built "a system" (business model of DT) that yielded this steady flow of income. And BTW, he's providing you a service (the chance to earn your monthly $125, that is). Everyone can do as he did ;) unless Obama starts his all-out attack on ANY KIND of small business beyond "operation chokepoint"... Anyway, no need for greed there.
37
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:44 »
Am I missing something or DT still doesn't have batch edit/submission??
They had it some years ago, but dumped it...
Now, you only can select which information you want to copy from the previous photo.
you might sail around that problem by simply using an ftp program for uploading (where you also can batch-submit or even write a script to do more fancy selections).
38
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:42 »
What do you guys think is the best photo submission software? :o
I am kind of old-fashioned -- or rather no-frills -- here: working purely with open source tools like GIMP (for processing ) and simply my ftp program for the actual submission part. And it's not even because of disliking Adobe=Fotolia and their policies etc... ;)
39
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:38 »
For me, DT is my second highest earner. Sales have been holding steady, but I've noticed that RPD has been steadily falling for the past two years.
I'd say FT is the one dying. They used to be my #2, and now they're #4. (#3 is 123RF, and we all know who #1 is.)
me too, and I certainly hope they're not dying cause I kinda love that outfit -- seriously!
40
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:35 »
It was funky like that for sure. Alamay was quick to assist. Cleared cookies, did a password reset, rebooted, got in, reset password again and I'm good. Now all I need are some sales!!!
"The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer."
Love it.
+1
41
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:31 »
too many red flags :
1 - not a single word is spent about salary, fees, benefits
2 - you're only hired as "freelance", not full time.
3 - no mention about career advancement, bonus packages
4 - no training provided, despite their laundry list of requirements including complex legal things like fraud detection, release, and copyright.
+1
42
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:20 »
In Utopia, $8/hour jobs are held by high school kids who are on their way to college and making a better living.
In America, the oligarchs buy government representation and lobby to pass laws that benefits themselves and their business interests, which has led to increasing disparity between rich and poor. The U.S. now has the largest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation. They also cut spending on education, making it more difficult for people to get ahead. This leads to adult heads of households struggling to feed their families on minimum wage salaries. It's more difficult to be upwardly mobile in the U.S. than in many other comparable economies.
Yes, business owners take risksbut one of the challenges of starting a business is being able to make that business profitable while paying a living wage to your employees. Insurance, equipment and other associated costs have not been kept artificially low while inflation marches on. The minimum wage has remained stagnant for decades while businesses are making record profits. Paying your employees is a business expense, and it should be an expense that keeps up with the cost of living. If you can't operate a successful business paying what you need for the assets required to run that business, employees included, you deserve to have to declare bankruptcy.
(...)
>And I'd hardly consider the owner of a pizza shop an "oligarch."
me neither
>Without people like him, willing to take risks and work hard to get their businesses off the ground, there'd be no jobs at all.
you're totally right -- but that's the part mass-media dumbed-down populations tend to forget these days...
43
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:16 »
FYI
Tens of thousands of workers in Seattle are getting a boost in their paychecks starting Wednesday as the city's new minimum wage kicks in, rising to $11 for most workers.
It's the first stage of a law that eventually will raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour. It's being phased in more quickly for big companies than small ones.
Seattle's previous minimum wage was $9.47, the same as the Washington state minimum wage.
Local companies have different strategies for dealing with the increased wage. Some are passing the buck on to customers, but others are not.
KOMO News spoke with managers at two Seattle restaurants who say they'll make the higher wage work - with some creativity.
At Ivar's Salmon House in Wallingford, menu prices will be 21 percent higher than before. But to balance, the restaurant will no longer encourage tipping - and is paying minimum wage workers a full $15 an hour - $4 more than required.
yet another move to more government and employer-controlled living (remember that, unlike tips, fixed salaries just so happen to be taxed)...
44
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:13 »
I love this job, I love the photography and the freedom to do what i love.
To me this is the best described in one Confucius quote: "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
P.S. This is the best MSG post 
+1
45
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:13 »
Five years ago on April Fools / Good Friday I was cut from my job. Even when stock drives me crazy I am blessed to have had so much time with my family! Here is to another five years 
Congrats and good to hear it!!
46
« on: April 03, 2015, 06:11 »
(iStock exclusive)
Another wonderful month on iStock, with credit sale revenues dropping 39% as compared to March 2014.
Sounds like a good time to be come indie 
this and the growing trend towards similar 'package deals' has me increasingly worried...
47
« on: April 03, 2015, 05:56 »
Work From Home Vector & Illustration Image Reviewer (Europe)
http://www.shutterstock.com/jobs/listings/2709-work-from-home-vector-illustration-image-reviewer-europe-
so, despite making billions of $ they can't even afford to provide you a cubicle in an office, you're also expected to use your own computer, work during weekend, and pay for your own fast 25Mb+ line ... no mention about salary but you can guess it's on par with grilling burgers at mcdonalds.
this is a new low for photography, skills like image reviewing or photo editing are basically considered worthless even by the top tier photo agencies like SS.
fully agree that this is yet another 'new low' -- though I would DEFINITELY NOT say SS is a 'top tier photo agency'?!? Firstly, they are only a MICROstock agency but secondly, and what's more, they are an absolute low-cost, no-frills, automated HiTech outfit (who happen to also not be very good at that 'HiTech' stuff, just look at their constant inability to implement proper Download counters, View counters, an FTP upload that's actually working without swallowing uploaded files, and the list goes on and on)... For that very reason (low cost), they have achieved the highest market share and are kind of 'successful' due to their dumping-price approach, free downloads for everyone in exchange for SEO-upping and free-advertising-providing Bylines left, right, and centre. So actually, SS is your average discount-only or, rather, dont-expect-anything penny-joint. (Probably, that's even the way they want it to be, as SS is in the process of 'separating' their increasingly garbage 'mainstream portion' from 'premium' sections that seem to be all the rage now?) This means, SS will increasingly suffer quality-wise as well (there is a ridiculous amount of idiotic photos and video footage up on SS already, so it isn't actually so great even as we speak)... Now also adding unqualified robots to review one's much-more-qualified submissions, SS performs another step in that series of obvious acts that confirm a general direction for SS and maybe the entire microstock sector -- or rather deals yet another blow on microstock artists! This can lead to either of two scenarios: (1) a continued decline of microstock into becoming fully obsolete or (2) an isolated crash of hitherto-dominating SS and clearing the playing field for better competitors (like DT or even small contenders like Pond5 and similar); there could also be room for truly innovative concepts to establish themselves like coinstock.info using Bitcoin and other Crypto coins and offering more than three times the payout of most other agencies to artists (namely 81%), for 500px allowing to set your own rates, or even for 'exotic' ones like ImageChina. Obvioulsy, I would hope that number (2) is how it's going to go down...
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