I just discovered today that ShutterStock had added a new 'feature' called 'payout history'. In the payout history, it lists down all your past records of payout, the date and amount.
What is interesting is it also distinguishes the sources of downloads. It shows you how many of your images are downloaded by people or entities from the US, and how many are from non-US sources. The reason is for revenues from US sources, you are subject to 30% tax withholding.
In my case, I don't know whether I shall say it is lucky or unlucky that only ~10% of my revenues are actually from the US, while the remaining 90% are from non-US sources. As a result, the 30% tax withholding rule has a much smaller impact on me than previously thought. What a relief!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Earthquake.Tsunami and Tremors
Just watched a movie about earthquake and tsunami, then a real earthquake occurred, and tsunami warning issued. What a coincident!
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake occurred at 5.16pm local time in Indonesia (6.16pm Singapore time). I was sitting at WJ's place, and all of a sudden, the whole office was trembling, as if somebody was pushing the building. The walls and floors look like made of paper, and displayed no strength. Based on past experience, the tremor will subside very soon, which was true. But the tremors came in waves. People in the office started to evacuate. WJ was the fastest, he disappeared in a blink. I figured the trembling had stopped, and took my time to pack up, took my bag, and then walked down.
The open space in front of our office was full of people. As it was already after office hour, people started to leave. I tompang EY's car to Sembawang. Along Serangoon North Ave 5, we saw people along the way, all evacuated from their respective office buildings, but nobody from the HDB blocks. There was a small traffic jam too along Ang Mo Kio Ave 5.
It is a bit worrying that the earthquakes are getting stronger and stronger. Although Singapore is said to be in a 'safe' zone, but then you will never know. Our building is also shaking more and more violent.
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake occurred at 5.16pm local time in Indonesia (6.16pm Singapore time). I was sitting at WJ's place, and all of a sudden, the whole office was trembling, as if somebody was pushing the building. The walls and floors look like made of paper, and displayed no strength. Based on past experience, the tremor will subside very soon, which was true. But the tremors came in waves. People in the office started to evacuate. WJ was the fastest, he disappeared in a blink. I figured the trembling had stopped, and took my time to pack up, took my bag, and then walked down.
The open space in front of our office was full of people. As it was already after office hour, people started to leave. I tompang EY's car to Sembawang. Along Serangoon North Ave 5, we saw people along the way, all evacuated from their respective office buildings, but nobody from the HDB blocks. There was a small traffic jam too along Ang Mo Kio Ave 5.
It is a bit worrying that the earthquakes are getting stronger and stronger. Although Singapore is said to be in a 'safe' zone, but then you will never know. Our building is also shaking more and more violent.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Awards and Prizes
Reading somebody's blog today, and the blogger got an award in the blogsphere. Congratulations to him! Look at myself, it seems like I am not fated with any awards or prizes.
First, let's look at lucky draw prizes. I seldom got any lucky draw prizes. The one and only time was maybe at our department's 20th anniversary dinner, I got a small little oven from the lucky draw. That maybe is the one and only time I got a lucky draw. There is no repeat occurance of such good luck so far :)
Second, awards at any competitions. So far, I got nothing worth mentioning. In the first place, I was not 'qualified' to join any competition of any significance whether it was during school time or after I came out to work. For those competitions that don't need to get 'qualified', I don't get any awards anyway. I am always a member of the background, or in the audience, to show how important or grand the competition is and how great the winners are.
All these come back to my non-competitive mentality. I am afraid of competitions. Whenever I hear the word 'competition', my legs become numb, my palms start to sweat, my mind goes blank :P My colleague CT then will always say 'It is psychology, you need to have the right psychology.'
This is life :)
First, let's look at lucky draw prizes. I seldom got any lucky draw prizes. The one and only time was maybe at our department's 20th anniversary dinner, I got a small little oven from the lucky draw. That maybe is the one and only time I got a lucky draw. There is no repeat occurance of such good luck so far :)
Second, awards at any competitions. So far, I got nothing worth mentioning. In the first place, I was not 'qualified' to join any competition of any significance whether it was during school time or after I came out to work. For those competitions that don't need to get 'qualified', I don't get any awards anyway. I am always a member of the background, or in the audience, to show how important or grand the competition is and how great the winners are.
All these come back to my non-competitive mentality. I am afraid of competitions. Whenever I hear the word 'competition', my legs become numb, my palms start to sweat, my mind goes blank :P My colleague CT then will always say 'It is psychology, you need to have the right psychology.'
This is life :)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Minimum Payout Amount Changed at BigStockPhoto
More and more changes are happening these days. BigStockPhoto just changed its minimum payout sum.
Previously, the minimum amount to get a payout is USD$30 for paypal/money booker, and USD$50 for a check. Now, it seems like everything has been increased. For paypal/money booker, you need to reach USD$50 before you can request for a payout. This is in addition to the already troublesome wait of a minimum of 7 working days after any download to avoid internet fraud.
This change is not going to affect the big players, as they most probably will have commissions way above USD$50, but for the hobbists and amateurs, or people with a small portfolio, this change means harder, longer to get anything at all from BSP. For BSP, it is a good thing as it will improve their cash flow.
Previously, the minimum amount to get a payout is USD$30 for paypal/money booker, and USD$50 for a check. Now, it seems like everything has been increased. For paypal/money booker, you need to reach USD$50 before you can request for a payout. This is in addition to the already troublesome wait of a minimum of 7 working days after any download to avoid internet fraud.
This change is not going to affect the big players, as they most probably will have commissions way above USD$50, but for the hobbists and amateurs, or people with a small portfolio, this change means harder, longer to get anything at all from BSP. For BSP, it is a good thing as it will improve their cash flow.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Tsunami at Haeundae
Tsunami at Haeundae is the first Korean disaster film, and itself is a disaster, a flop.Hard to tell the good points, easier to pick the bad points.
1. Too much dialogue. The movie is shot in the same manner as the Korean soap operas. The conversations are long & dragging, although sometimes humourous. The dialogues between characters take up too much time.
2. Lots of tears & screaming. It seems like the only weapon the director has to move the audience is to make the actors & actress to scream, to cry, lots and lots, so hopefully the audience will cry and scream too.
3. The tsunami scenes take up only about 1/5 of the whole film. It does not give audience the tense sense. It is more like "oops, it comes, and it goes".
4. The special effects are not too bad, judging by Korean or Asian standard, but comparing with Hollywood standard, our Korean friends still have a lot of room for improvement.
My rating: 2.5/5
Friday, September 25, 2009
Queen Seondeok
Queen Seondeok is a popular Korean drama series being aired by MBC in South Korea. The story is obviously about Queen Seondeok, one of the few female monarchs in the Korean history.
I must praise the script-writer. The story is very interesting and draws my attention. The twists & turns are all so natural and full of surprises.
In terms of photography, this drama has the typical character of Korean dramas, which is attention to details, and beautiful scenes. Well, that's if you look at it the positive way; if you look at it the negative way, you may say the pace is way way too slow. It takes a long time to complete some small little things.
The drama is still being aired in South Korea. The latest episode is episode 36, which still has a long way to go to the end. Our Queen Seondeok is still only Princess Deokman at the moment.
Something interesting is that almost all Korean history-themed dramas inevitably have to mention China. Pleasing the Chinese envoys is always a big and important task & event in the Korean court, whether it was during the three kingdoms' period or under a unified Korea. Both Queen Seondeok and her successor King Muyeol spent quite a number of years living in China. And the senior officials in the Korean court had to master the Chinese language.
And in the drama, all the communications such as letter, notes, historic records, etc, are all in Chinese.
It is obvious that China and Korea had very close ties in the past. Koreans used to be proud to be able to read and write and speak Chinese. It is such a big contrast today that South Korea is trying to distance herself from China and severe all the past ties. One such incident the change of the Chinese name of the capital of South Korea, Seoul. All the time Seoul is referred to in Chinese as HanCheng (汉城). This name is inherited from Seoul's ancient name of HanYang (汉阳). But then the current president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, changed its Chinese name to Shou'er (首尔), the purpose is to get rid of all Chinese influence.
If he really wants to get rid of all Chinese influence, why doesn't he just burn down all the old palaces and temples all over South Korea? Look at any of the palaces and temples, Chinese characters are everywhere. Please, accept the fact that China and South Korea used to have close ties. If we don't have that close ties anymore, find out the reason and restore that tie. It is good for both countries, good for the whole world.
History should not become a weapon for the benefit of some mean politicians.
I must praise the script-writer. The story is very interesting and draws my attention. The twists & turns are all so natural and full of surprises.
In terms of photography, this drama has the typical character of Korean dramas, which is attention to details, and beautiful scenes. Well, that's if you look at it the positive way; if you look at it the negative way, you may say the pace is way way too slow. It takes a long time to complete some small little things.
The drama is still being aired in South Korea. The latest episode is episode 36, which still has a long way to go to the end. Our Queen Seondeok is still only Princess Deokman at the moment.
Something interesting is that almost all Korean history-themed dramas inevitably have to mention China. Pleasing the Chinese envoys is always a big and important task & event in the Korean court, whether it was during the three kingdoms' period or under a unified Korea. Both Queen Seondeok and her successor King Muyeol spent quite a number of years living in China. And the senior officials in the Korean court had to master the Chinese language.
And in the drama, all the communications such as letter, notes, historic records, etc, are all in Chinese.
It is obvious that China and Korea had very close ties in the past. Koreans used to be proud to be able to read and write and speak Chinese. It is such a big contrast today that South Korea is trying to distance herself from China and severe all the past ties. One such incident the change of the Chinese name of the capital of South Korea, Seoul. All the time Seoul is referred to in Chinese as HanCheng (汉城). This name is inherited from Seoul's ancient name of HanYang (汉阳). But then the current president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, changed its Chinese name to Shou'er (首尔), the purpose is to get rid of all Chinese influence.
If he really wants to get rid of all Chinese influence, why doesn't he just burn down all the old palaces and temples all over South Korea? Look at any of the palaces and temples, Chinese characters are everywhere. Please, accept the fact that China and South Korea used to have close ties. If we don't have that close ties anymore, find out the reason and restore that tie. It is good for both countries, good for the whole world.
History should not become a weapon for the benefit of some mean politicians.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A Merger: ShutterStock Acquires BigStockPhoto
Just got the news from facebook. ShutterStock has bought over BigStockPhoto to build up their strength in discreet downloading market.
This is the first merger & acquisition in the microstock industry with one microstock agency being bought over by another. The last time a merger happened was when iStockPhoto was aquired by Getty Images. In that case, it was more like a main-stream, traditional stock agency trying to break into the newer field of microstock.
With ShutterStock's acquisistion of BigStockPhoto(BSP), the biggest question in my mind is: Do I need to pay the 30% tax to the US too for my BSP revenue? If the answer is YES, then this is really bad news for me. If the answer is NO, then it doesn't affect me much.
I also wonder whether the photos submitted to BSP from now will be reviewed by ShutterStock's reviewers? Or they will have a different set of reviewers? What about the resolution requirements?
There are a lot of questions to be answered, and I hope everything will be more clear in the coming days. I don't want to see any changes other than higher sales & payout :)
This is the first merger & acquisition in the microstock industry with one microstock agency being bought over by another. The last time a merger happened was when iStockPhoto was aquired by Getty Images. In that case, it was more like a main-stream, traditional stock agency trying to break into the newer field of microstock.
With ShutterStock's acquisistion of BigStockPhoto(BSP), the biggest question in my mind is: Do I need to pay the 30% tax to the US too for my BSP revenue? If the answer is YES, then this is really bad news for me. If the answer is NO, then it doesn't affect me much.
I also wonder whether the photos submitted to BSP from now will be reviewed by ShutterStock's reviewers? Or they will have a different set of reviewers? What about the resolution requirements?
There are a lot of questions to be answered, and I hope everything will be more clear in the coming days. I don't want to see any changes other than higher sales & payout :)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Feng Bo Zhuang (风波庄）
FengBo Zhuang is a themed restaurant in Temple Street. It is Chinese franchise with the theme on Chinese sword-fighting novels (武侠小说) such as Jing Yong's series.
The tables are differentiated by different sects in the WuLing world, such as Dong Xie, Xi Du, Mt. Hua Sect & Mt. E-mei Sect, etc. The waitresses address the customers as Da Xia, the menu is referred to as the secrete scroll of kungfu. It is quite interesting for the sword-fighting novel fans.
Food-wise, they are offering An-hui cusine. I have never heard of An-hui cusine, but looking at their menu, it is quite a mix of Sichuan, Northern China (Dong-bei) style of dishes.
We ordered 3 dishes, sour fish, pig knuckles, and mix vegetable of egg plant, potato, & green pepper.
Sour fish is a Sichuan dish, and a bit on the spicy side, but not the Sichuan signiture style.
The pig knukle is quite ok, but it has not come to the perfect level that the fat will melt in my mouth.
The mix vegie is quite a flop. The potato is too hard to chew. 
All the 3 dishes are heavy in oil. The food is acceptable but not fantastically good. They should improve their service too.
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