Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Microstock: A Significant Milestone

After 6 long years of working on microstock photography, the income has finally reached the most important milestone:  All my expenses on photography, including both hardware, such as cameras and lenses, and software, such as photography courses, have been recovered.

It is just like taking out a home loan, and now you have finally paid off your loan.  From next month onwards, any income from microstock photography will be return ON my investment.  The return is yet to be seen, but I am really happy that this day has finally come and I can enjoy the fruits of my hard work in the past 6 years.  In addition, the joy of photography is even more rewarding.  

Monday, December 5, 2011

Wisdoms of Life

Reading a book titled Wisdom of Life, by German author Arthur Schopenhauer.  Strictly speaking, it is not a book, but an excerpt from a book of Schopenhauer.

The author discussed about life and happiness.  Life for the poor is filled with daily struggle to get food on the table, all else to them is secondary.  Life for the rich is filled with boredom.  They have to constantly look for new things, new adventures to keep themselves interested and feel alive.  The author advocates happiness can only be found, for both the poor and rich, middle class included, by obtaining spiritual satisfaction.

In his book, he bluntly exposed the hypocrite's moral standards which are generally accepted in society.

The truth told by the author is plain, direct, frank, and dark.  It somehow paints a very dark picture of human life, a life without much hope.  No wonder he has been considered to be a pessimist in history.

It is a good read, but just don't get too carried away by his pessimism.


Saturday, December 3, 2011

Caning

Caning as one of the punishments or the criminal court is a legacy from times long ago, and it still remains relevant in the modern world of Singapore, Malaysia, and some other countries.

Below is a video recording how caning is like in Malaysia.   It may look a bit barbaric, but then it is effective in crime prevention.