The poll on my previous non-Twitter entry came out as a 3-to-3 draw. Thanks for the advice, everybody!

Actually, it helped, because I got a better feel for the reasons I'd want or not want Flickr. And for what I want out of photo hosting, Flickr does it better than LiveJournal.

I don't just want a photo dump to hold pictures I can occasionally glue to LiveJournal entries or point to later. ScrapBook is great for that, and it will continue to be the repository of non-Flickr things; given my proclivity to make diagrams for just about everything (at least in my notes), I'll still be using the LiveJournal provided image hosting. I'll just be using Flickr for photos.

I want to become a better photographer. I like photography; it's a fascinating form of visual art. I am not a professional photographer, obviously, nor am I likely to be, nor am I likely to develop my skill to that level. But I believe I could become skilled at it, instead of average as I currently consider myself to be, and I wish to do so. This includes not just the basics of snapshots, but learning how I really should be setting all the settings in my camera for each shot ("Auto Shot" is fast and reasonable enough, and it's much smarter on this than on my previous cameras, but I still need to know how to tweak the settings ideally), and then to become skilled at touchup thereafter, courtesy of Serif PhotoPlus- both to improve the photo as a photo, and to do things to it as art. (Some things look interesting hypersaturated.) I already have marginally passable Photoshop skills to get votes in Fark contests; I now want to play with it for the task for which it was built.

I want feedback on my photos. I want to show them off somewhere prominent, rather than as purely an adjunct to something else- namely, this blog- and have the ability to get feedback from like-minded people on improving that skill. Flickr is ideal for this.

Finally, I really like the Photostream concept- the cross-gallery "latest pictures" list; it makes galleries much more browseable, and it matches how I like to navigate.

So I'll be getting Flickr Pro, eventually. It can wait until morning, at the very least.

Current Mood: sleepy

I like my job. It's great and all, but of course there's always gotta be something to bring it down. I busted my ass working tonight and I was in a really good mood because I was doing a good job. Instead of a pat on the back, I got lectured because I was accused of not doing my job. And I lost some tip money from it too. I worked on every area I was supposed to and, not only do I NOT get any credit for it, I get punished. I even did extra work for the bartenders too. And instead of backing me up, Keith just says to me that it's none of his business. Fuck that, he saw me working the back patio too because we talked.


Whatever. It's a horrible fucking day.

Current Mood: angry

• 11:06 I always look forward to the legal department's quarterly "Incredibly Stupid Shit People Did to Get Themselves Fired" newsletter. #
• 11:36 5:40 PM yesterday: Bug filed. 5:47 PM yesterday: Bug fixed. Sometimes, the developers are fast. It helps when it's a one-character bug. #
• 16:01 Hey, looks like we have our first psychopathic Otherkin making international news: tinyurl.com/5mvmbw . Go figure. #
• 16:25 ...That's the third time this week I've found myself with involuntarily loose-leaf green tea. #

My mate commissioned an artist for a picture back in June, and has had some major issues. He asked me to post this, while he's waiting to be approved as a member of this community. The artist was (formerly Stickdevil) SadFatDuck, and the art was for a gift to give me at our wedding. Nothing complex, two character with a simple background.

- June 6th, contacted him about doing the commission, couple of emails back and forth to plan it, and sent ref pics
- June 10th, paid via PayPal, $70
- June 27th, sent a few more reference pictures, recieved reply that ref pics were a big help
- July 24th, emailed to see if he had started work on the commission
- August 24th (7 days before our wedding) - emailed again to see if he had started work on the commission
- September 24th, emailed a third time to see if he had started work on the commission
- October 5th, contacted on DA concerning status
- October 11th, contacted on DA again concerning status, told him he wanted either the completed commission or a full refund, received reply on DA that all commissions would be mailed out the following weekend
- November 13th, contacted on DA, told him we still have not received the commission

At this point, we're ready to write off the $70, and just let everyone know that SadFatDuck apparently has problems finishing his commissions, even when they're prepaid and a tip included in the payment. And it's not like he's without his muse at the moment, given that he's posting new commissions on DA still. As in, TODAY. I, personally, am fed up with all this. He was the first artist to draw my mate and I together, and his work was awesome. But after this, he won't be getting our business again. It's not worth the hassle.

I wrote this up this morning and would like some peer review.  If you like it, feel free to use it, change what you need.  If you have suggestions for changes, I would love to see what you think.  I'm not too hip to legal-speak but I did get a few things from my friend's mom who worked at a law office. 

Tips or comments can also be sent to kyrawyvern@gmail.com


Art Commissions:

A refers to Artist, C to Client. In any and all situations if Client is unclear, A is not at fault!  If potential
clients wish to discuss any aspect of the contract, contact the artist.  It is implied that by commissioning A,
C agrees to this contract.

~Half payment is required to begin any commission:

Once partial or full payment has been sent, a sketch may be sent.  As a courtesy to a Client, A will send a sketch
of their piece.  Alterations may be made to this sketch completely free unless A feels the changes are so much
that they would require extra payment.  I have not yet had to charge more for this sort of thing, but A will not
take responsibilty if C did not properly describe the commission accurately to me in the first place.  Any more
alterations to the sketch AFTER the first round of changes may require additional payment, unless C can show that
A overlooked details in the description or sketch changes. 
This is why A suggests sending links to art that demonstrates the effect you, the Client are looking for. 

~Combat pay:

40% extra or up to $50 additional payment may be required if C is difficult/harassing or demands more than 2 sketch
revisions.  If you are worried about this clause please discuss this with Artist BEFORE starting payment or
discussion about a commission. 
The amount of work is what payment is for, as well as a finished piece.  If C requires A to answer multiple IMs,
PMs or Emails about  a given commission, this is extra work.  C is free to contact A if a information was
forgotten.  At most a weekly email can be helpful if C & A have a set deadline for the commission's completion.

~Revisions:

C will recieve a sketch and one round of revisions for every commission.  If A is willing to provide a 2nd round of
revisions for free, it may be an option.  This is always at A's discretion.  If C is being difficult even without
requiring extra changes, A may require extra cost to finish a piece (see Combat Pay). 

~Deadlines:

Deadlines MUST be agreed upon before starting a commission.  Otherwise standard deadline is six months up to a year
for most pieces.  Depending on complexity, more time may be required by A.  A is not obligated to inform client of
estimated completion.  C must ask for timeline, it will not be given.  A may delay a commission due to illness,
home & work issues, or an event that may not be anticipated.  A will inform client if possible about delays, but is
not required to. C is not required to inform A about delays in payment or contact, but if A does not recieve
contact from C within six months, A is not required to refund or finish any commissions for C that have already
been initiated.


~End All:

Artist may end any and all commissions w/refund minus material cost at ANY time for ANY reason.  Artist will and
must inform C through last form of communication.  A will not hunt C down to inform them of commission's end!
C must inform A of email problems or address changes.  A is not responsible for lost messages of any kind.  If C
has a spam filter be sure A's emails are on it, and please ask A to send my business emails if that helps you. 
If A ships an item, it will be sent to the address in paypal/email or to the address on C's envelope unless C
explains otherwise! A is not responsible for a shipping mistake if C gives the wrong information.

~Copyrights:

All art made by Artist belongs solely to the artist, C or any other person or organization may not use or
distribute withour prior arrangement.  All copyrights belong to A unless copyright is purchased.  A will display
art freely.  Requests to limit distribution of art will be honored unless A feels they are unreasonable.  C may
ask A to make names or aliases unavailble to general public.
Artist may require extra cost for private artwork.  Understand that A recieves advertising in the form of display
of previous works.  Clients may limit the amount of advertising, but if they wish to eliminate it completely, C
MUST inform artist before discussing a commission.
  If C does not wish to compensate adequately and/or does not make their wishes known clearly, A is not at fault
for misunderstanding or display of art that Client feels should be private.  A maximum period of six months is
allowed for requested private art, after this period, unless A has recieved payment to keep the work private, A
may display art in 2 personal gallieries, online or in real life.  Private art payment will vary per piece. 

~Online/Unpaid art:

Originals created on paper that C does not purchase can and will be sold at A's discretion.  Requests or Trades are
also subject.  If C wishes to own an original, shipping is usually available for most art.  Client is responsible
for cost of shipping.  Unpaid for art is free for A to use as A wishes.  No rights are retained by C if C does not
contact A about unpaid art.  Incomplete or non-payment nullifies any and all requests C has made.

~Use of Art:

Unless A is informed, do not use art copyrighted to A.  C may use finished art and sketches as C wishes without
violating Copyright laws if A feels art has been properly paid/traded for.  A may grant permission to C to
reproduce art, but is not required to.  A appreciates those who wish to use A's work in banners or personal
reference situations, but always inform the creator.  Some Clients do not wish for their characters' image to be
used by others.  This must be respected, A or C may report individuals or organizations violating this agreement.
If an individual creates work that may violate copyright laws, do not display without contacting A regarding the
work.  A will generally grant permission to display (but not sell) artwork that heavily references A's work.  Art
theft will be reported.

~Tips:

Tips are never required but are highly appreciated.  Payment over the artist's cost (not including shipment,
combat pay, multiple sketch payments) will not result in changes in the artwork. 

So I've heard different answers to this question. If you buy a commissioned piece, or an original can you resell it? Or give it away?
What if you purchase a print and sell that off? Should you be required to ask the original artists permission? I personally don't think so. It's like when you buy a computer from bestbuy, I don't ask bestbuy if it's ok for me to give the computer away or to sell it to someone else. I'd really like to get more insight into this though so all responses are appreciated!

NSFW

She hasn't scammed me, nor has she not delivered her work, no, she's making profit off of other artists ideas and works. She's primarily a porn artist and tends to do commissions of Naruto themed artwork. If you're into that stuff, please do NOT commission it from her.

She's been proven to trace from artists such as Jibii and Yanagoyo on Y!gallery, possibly others. Since she's been caught tracing at Y!gallery, she's moved most of her business to Deviantart and Hentai Foundry, where shown the traces, they have taken no action despite the fact she is making money off of other artists' works. So the only thing that can really be done is to warn people away from business with her.

I haven't seen much warning posts like this, so I hope this is ok. Just wanted to get the word out about this.

First time posting here but I wanted to give everyone a heads up on this guy who wanted to commission me at AC07

  I'm not really sure who this guy is so there is no name to go by but I have a character description on me that he gave me when asking me about a commission. I was doing AA [Artist Alley] at Anthrocon 2007 and a random guy with a shaved head and a blue tie-dye wolf shirt walked up to my table and "poked" me. I was in the middle of doing work and got shocked by it, thankfully I was only sketching and not inking so he didn't mess the commission I was working on. He just bluntly asked "Hey umm could you draw this guy and color him with colored pencils?" I was very polite and asked him if he had wanted a background etc. and began writing down what he wanted. I then asked him for a refrence sheet or something to go by and he begrudgingly handed me a black and white printed copy of a eagle/gryphon typr character in what looked like a super hero oufit, something like a Thundercat character would wear. He told me the colors of each item and I jotted down little notes beside each thing on what color they were.

 After all of that was done I wrote him a receipt and asked if he would pay the amount of $10.00 for a full color one character no background commission. He took it and left. I didn't see what direction he went to but as the day went on he never came back and said that he had paid for it. So when I went to collect my money that I had made that day Duncan da Husky, the man who operates AA, the AA cash registers and the Con store said he had found the receipt crumpled up on the ground. I honestly didn't care, I threw away the sheet the customer had given me and shrugged it off since if he didn't pay I wasn't going to worry about it since I wasn't going to draw!

 So the next day at AA I was watching and waiting for customers and had seen him. Everytime him and I made eye contact he would walk away and look at me cautiously and everytime I saw him that same day, he had a different shirt on every time! I guess he was just paranoid thinking I was mad. Really I could have given a crap less, if he didn't want to pay, he wasn't going to get art off me.

 So this is just a heads up for all the other artists out there. If you get this guy do not draw unless you get full payment from him.

Ok, so I woke up and this was the first thing this mornin to grace my browser. It made me drink a little water down the wrong tube from laughing. XD

I like this, so I'm porting it over from FA. :P

( LJ cut'd for your convenience )

Created by http://www.furaffinity.net/user/waccoon Thanks, Waccoon! It was fun! :)

Current Mood: sleepy

• 12:53 I am listening to an album by "Drums & Tuba". It is exactly what it says on the tin. #

I'm currently deciding whether I should stick with LiveJournal's on-site photo hosting solution (Scrapbook) or move over to Flickr. Flickr Free's limitations are too severe for my taste, especially the downsampling; I like my full-resolution photos to remain full-resolution in case someone with a large computer display wants to use it as a backdrop, or if someone would prefer to print something as some sort of personal decoration. Not all that likely, I know, but options I want to keep open.

I like Flickr's image comments, the site is much more pleasant to navigate than ScrapBook, and it's much better for just image viewing as people who want a larger size by 640x480 don't have to endure the eight-megapixel horror that is the full resolution of my new camera. Flickr also has usable upload clients, which Scrapbook still hasn't generated.

However, I'm years away from the 10GB limit of Scrapbook's hosting- the limit for those of us with Permanent accounts, anyway. Flickr would cost me an extra $25 (or $23.995, if I go alternate years; worthless savings, it's only $0.60 given the interest I'd collect on having the $25 in my bank account instead) per year, and I'm not sure if I should make the switch, since I already have a stable image dump.

I'm honestly leaning towards Flickr, especially as the resolution of my camera's gone up again, but I'd like more opinions.

Poll #1300646 Flickr?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Should I get a Pro Account with Flickr and use it for photo hosting, or should I keep using LiveJournal ScrapBook?

Current Mood: indecisive

Someone needs to make an OS named "TacOS".

IT MUST BE DONE.

Current Mood: bouncy

Hmm there has been stuff missing from my life as of late what is it why do I feel so hollow.

I am getting involved in the security community quite. a. bit. but I feel like I am completely abandoning my furry roots. Gosh gee golly whiz how can I fix this! Is there anyone out there that will pander to my unique interests?!

Oh why what do we have here?



Why, it's Furbuntu, for those of you who wish to be Linux nerds and furries at the same time. While currently in development, this distribution has such amazing features such as "fur pages" as opposed to "man pages" (it is seriously a fucking ln -s /usr/bin/man /usr/bin/fur), built-in system monitoring tools (!), and tools to allow you to DIRECTLY POST TO YOUR LIVEJOURNAL from Furbuntu.

Furbuntu, started January 2008, is coming soon, to a desktop near you!

• 10:35 Leaf hazard: wet leaves on bike path, dangerous to turn or stop on. Leaf trap: camouflaged leaf hazard. My skinned knee: due to the latter. #
• 13:59 The joy of scheduling: A half-hour meeting got started half an hour late. It did wind up running for the predicted amount of time, though. #
• 23:06 I haven't had spamaroni and cheese for years. There may be a reason for this. I really need to go grocery shopping, I think. #

Left 4 Dead is an amazing videogame, and I require 3 other people to be my bait partners. WHO HAS IT :D

And for those of you who DON'T have it.. Shame on you. We all know the zombie apocalypse is coming! so really, why not get some training in now?

...

I have a Twitter now.

THAT IS ALL. :|

I have no idea what to do on this thing. :(

http://twitter.com/Ryuuie D:

Current Mood: relaxed

I bought coffee ice cream instead of chocolate. This is an acceptable mistake.

I am drawing again. This is not a mistake.

I go on site tomorrow to fix mistakes.

That burger was amazing.