June 24, 2008
Free stock photos on the net
FREE STOCK PHOTOS. I recently found out that you can get free stock photos on the net. I was really surprised to find out that you can get photos absolutely FREE, with few or no strings to it. And these are images of the level of quality that, when I worked in advertising, we had to pay lots to Stock Photo Agencies for.
The internet really has opened up the market for photography. Not such good news for professional photographers, of course. I can see why the sites would host the photos — they can earn from advertising.
But do you, like me, wonder why photographers would put their work up for free? From what I gather from some sites, some do it just for the love of sharing. And it’s a wonderful way for photography enthusiasts to get their work seen and appreciated. And, I gather some pros find it a useful marketing tool — people get to know their work, and are encouraged to buy their other work (which they charge for).
These articles provide some useful info on sites with free photos :
Free Stock Photography Sites And Reviews
Free Stock Photography for your Websites
MICRO-STOCK AGENCIES. I also learnt that if you want even better-quality pix, with resolution suitable for design work, there are online micro-stock agencies which sell stock photos, at prices as low as US$1 per picture ( the name micro-stock comes from the fact that photographers make very little per sale, but rely on being able to sell in high quantities). Some of the more well-known of these agencies are:
June 14, 2008
Discovered Google Trends yet?
Google Trends just introduced enhancements this week, providing numbers for comparisons of various search terms across different regions and time periods. And I’ve been having fun with it.
I found the search trend for David Cook and David Archuleta over the last 12 months particularly interesting; because it confirmed my own observations (hehe! it’s always nice to be right), and decided to write a page (hub) about it:
Interesting Google Trends for American Idol’s Davids (Links to FAQ and article on Google Trends also on the page)
June 6, 2008
inSingapore: Cheap-and-Good “Siew Mai” (chinese dumpling)
Seems like the hot topic in the news these days is the rising grocery and food costs, with newspapers here publishing articles on what costs how much where. So, I thought I’d contribute my two-cents worth to the whole discussion.
If you love Siew Mai, my family found a yummy version selling at the supermarket — Sin Mui Heng Fish & Shrimp Siew Mai. My family finds it at least as good as the siew mai you can get the food court, and it costs you 70-80% less.
And, actually, if you observe the dim sum stalls at food courts these days, most of them don’t make the dim sum items themselves anymore. They get their supplies from food factories.
Do the same — many food factories package their dim sum items and sell them in supermarkets — and you can save quite a bit on your food bill.
Hint: If you don’t have one already, get a steam tray for your rice cooker (or get a rice cooker with a steam tray – it’s extremely useful to have one). That’ll make steaming these dim sum items much easier.
June 1, 2008
Tried-and-Liked: I’m loving Squidoo
I discovered Squidoo earlier this week, and since then I’ve been focused (a kinder than ‘obsessed’, don’t you think?) on creating Squidoo pages or ‘lenses’ as they call them.
It’s great fun to play around with (well, at least someone as geeky as me would think so).
Never heard of Squidoo? Basically, it’s a site/community where you can create single webpages on any topic that you’re interested in.
The site makes it all very simple, with “modules” to help you add text, web links, pictures, videos, polls, etc. etc.
I was sooooo single-minded (notice I’m trying valiantly to describe myself as ‘obsessed’) that I started FIVE lenses in the last few days:
2) NEW RELEASE: Clay Aiken’s On My Way Here
3) Clay Aiken, Concert Livewire
4) Clay Aiken’s Learning To Sing
and, because I was bemused at how unreliable the media has become:
5) Anatomy of how GOSSIP makes it to the top of the NEWS
And now? All I can is, I’m TIRED!!!
Crooked Turret 