Norbert Wu's Product Recommendations

An Open Letter to the Marine Conservation Community

2009-07-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Note to readers: Norbert Wu was selected as a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation in 2001. He spent the next three years traveling the world, documenting marine conservation issues. At the end of his fellowship, he sent the following letter to many of the marine scientists that he had encountered at the Pew Fellows meetings.

I am writing this to a few of you who seem to have an interest in working with the popular media to get marine conservation messages out.

The overwhelming messages that I heard at the recent Pew Fellows meeting were:
1. Things are getting worse, not better.
2. Scientists need to get their message out.
3. Scientists are terrible about getting their messsage out. They need help.

If the Pew Fellows program is serious about solving marine conservation problems and recognizes that the popular media is an important part of the solution, then it needs to enlist the help of the popular media in a fundamental and integral way. It needs to marshal the expertise of the few Pew Fellows that have experience or interest in working with the popular media. It needs to enlist the participation of freelance filmmakers, photographers, writers, film producers, directors, and programming executives. It has to extend its effort well beyond the selection of scientists who are understandably absorbed in their culture and their areas of expertise and cannot direct their attention and energy to effective communication in the media.

The Pew program and its Fellows need to develop a mutual working respect for those in the popular media. Perhaps most importantly, it needs to recognize that getting stories in the popular media takes a professional, committed, time-consuming approach. Getting the message out will not be effective if delegated to "afternoons after I've finished my morning writing." The Pew program needs to fund and support those Fellows who can tell or present media stories, and the Pew Program should make "getting the message out" a top priority.

Here's an example. A recent article in Time magazine discusses how the hit CBS drama, CSI, has dramatized and popularized forensic science. Forensic scientists are rolling their eyes about the dramatic license taken in the series, but this show has increased awareness of forensic science. Forensic science schools report a dramatic increase in interest and enrollment. This is part of what we need: a new series about the oceans, with compelling characters. The series will certainly will hype and over-dramatize science.

Any scientist watching such a series will roll their eyes and cringe in embarassment, as DNA is analyzed in minutes rather than weeks, and the characters encounter adventure after adventure and make definitive statements like "the bluefin tuna fishery is crashing!" rather than "if we look at the attached reports and graphs, there is a 90% probability that tuna stocks are in serious decline. We recommend further study."

There needs to be a push to get marine science into all aspects of the popular media. There should a computer simulation game called "SIM Coral Reef," just as there is a "SIM City." There should be several television series on marine science, featuring buff women and men who would otherwise be on Baywatch, and having plots that are only a small cut above Baywatch (which was the world's most-watched series in its day). We need to continue to preach to the converted, continue to hook up scientists with the media, but we need to take a far more proactive approach to getting our stories out in far more outlets. We need to realize that we have compelling stories to tell and sell to the popular media. The Pew program is ideally situated to help marine conservationists do this. In my opinion, however, it has failed miserably and spectacularly so far in getting any kind of message out to the masses.

I could say a lot more, but this is sufficient for an initial communication. I am happy to discuss these issues and ideas with anyone.

Norb

Norbert Wu
----------------------------------------
Norbert Wu Productions
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
USA

Problems, problems with Paypal

2009-06-19T21:14:00.001-07:00

You have a point, but I am not sure how much Paypal stands behind its customers. Off the top of my head, here are things I've experienced with Paypal that I have found pretty negative:

1. As a buyer, I purchased a camera from a web storefront almost a year ago and paid using a credit card through Paypal. The web storefront proved to be fraudulent and never sent me the camera. Now, if I had paid using my credit card directly rather than through Paypal, I would have been completely protected without much of a hassle factor. All I would have to do is call my credit card company, enter a dispute, and the transaction would have been immediately voided and all money returned. I can attest to this as I know the law regarding credit cards (at least up to now). You as the consumer are always protected from credit card fraud by law for anything beyond $50. And just about all credit card companies will cover that last $50 also. (I was even refunded four months after I made an annual payment to Digital Railroad, a company that I leased software from for my website photo search engine, which got greedy and went bankrupt. The credit card company investigated the matter and refunded me the remaining eight or nine months out of the amount I had paid, which I thought was very cool).

Now, back to the above ripoff -- Paypal is just a middleman between the customer and the credit card. They took weeks to investigate the matter, kept asking me for more information, treated the matter in their usual incredibly impersonal (computer-phone tree) way that makes everyone but the most dedicated give up, and they finally refunded most of my money but kept something like $22 with no explanation.

I then called my credit card company, explained the situation, and boom -- all my money was credited back.

2. I have no idea what will happen if I, as a seller, am paid by someone who then lies to Paypal to get their money back; if their transfer of funds proves insufficient, etc. I have a strong feeling that in such cases, sellers will get hosed by Paypal. After all, Paypal is owned by Ebay, who seems hell-bent on favoring buyers rather than sellers. Sellers can't leave feedback for buyers. If a seller makes a mistake in listing a price in a buy-it-now auction and someone jumps on a too-good-to-be-true deal within 15 minutes of the listing, then the seller is forced to sell the item, or endure a negative feedback from the buyer as well as full forfeiture of the Ebay auction fee and commission. If I get stiffed by a buyer, however -- no problem. I can't do a dang thing.

I once sold an item to someone who had a problem with it. The item was fine, my return policy stated that I accept returns but the seller would have to pay shipping costs both ways unless the item was DOA. The buyer contacted Paypal, who disregarded my return policy and basically favored the buyer over the seller in all instances. Sellers don't have a chance if they get defrauded by buyers. Not a chance.

3. Paypal does all kinds of sneaky stuff to get you to withdraw funds directly from your bank account as opposed to using your credit card for transactions. I believe that this is because they make a bit more money if you use your bank account rather than a credit card. But you also get more protection if you are using your credit card. If you buy something on Ebay and use your Paypal account to pay, you are automatically paying by a direct withdrawal from your bank account. You have to be savvy enough and curious enough to hunt down the option to use your credit card. That option is often completely hidden, with no explanation, if you have any funds whatsoever in your Paypal account. You have to stop whatever you are doing in such a case, go to your Paypal account, withdraw any funds in your Paypal account, then go back to buying whatever it was on Ebay that you were using your Paypal account for. Only then will you even be able to see an option to pay for the item using your credit card.

4. I am not sure if anyone has seen ads where Blockbuster or Tiger Direct offers something like $20 or $25 back if you buy something from them using Paypal. I've been hooked by offers like this twice in the past year and have never been able to get Paypal to pay me back. It is a total scam because Paypal will never issue the rebate, and unless you have documented the offer with screen grabs, you have absolutely no proof and no recourse. Also, when you call Paypal, they tell you that the merchant is at fault. When you call the merchant, they tell you that Paypal is at fault.

Well, I actually did get some money from Paypal for the above instances. I called the Paypal phone number which I give below as a reward for reading so far into this diatribe. Feel free to pass this on.

If you have the above problem, here is a "secret" phone number to get to a supervisor.
Paypal: call this phone 402-935-7733, at some point just enter #47550 and that seems to be a magic number to get to an operator and supervisor. Both times, I talked to a supervisor about the above situations, and without asking for paperwork or anything else, the supervisors issued me the promised rebate to my account. Unbelievably, the credit to my account actually did come through. The above phone number and extension was given to me by a supervisor there. You have to ignore the constant phone tree runaround that this number gives you and keep entering the above extension. At some point, the phone tree robot will get overridden by the extension above, and you will get transferred to a supervisor.

Your consumer advocate.

renting a car in New Zealand

2008-12-20T21:02:00.001-08:00

I recently rented a car in Christchurch, New Zealand. I checked Pegasus, Hertz, Avis, and Thrifty. Hertz was the best deal and was only NZD$50 per day for a little Mazda 3 hatchback. The great thing about New Zealand car rentals is this -- the main insurance is included in the price. So you can decline all the insurance they may offer you -- the most you will pay in case of an accident is what they'd call the "deductible" here of $2500 (NZD), which they call something else there.

Be careful of the smaller car agencies. Pegasus charges by the km after you reach 150km per day. Hertz and Avis gave unlimited miles.

Lastly, if you stay in Christchurch the first night back and rent a car, Hertz and Avis have offices downtown. I saved the airport pickup fee for rental cars of $30 by picking the car up downtown and returning it to the airport.

One tip is that car rental agencies take your reservation on the web, but they will not charge you if you never show up. I don't abuse this, but I do sometimes make two reservations for different times with different car rental agencies if I am not sure of my times. I do try to cancel in advance but it is not a big deal if I do not. In the US at least -- and in New Zealand - I decline all the extra insurance that the car agencies ask for. In the US, my existing car insurance covers liability and all other stuff, and my credit card covers the deductible.

Surf housings

2008-08-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi folks:

I got interested in surf photography years ago but the technology was not quite there for someone who was a only a serious amateur. My first surf housing was for a Canon EOS-1N film camera. It was a nicely done Watershot housing made by a man named Steve Ogles, who has since moved on to doing housings for Hollywood. He is no longer bothering to make housings for us little folks.

The Watershot housing worked fine, but what a hassle! You would put the film in the camera, screw on 12 bolts with an allen wrench, swim out through the surf, take 36 shots, then have to come all the way back to the beach and reload your film! It was so exhausting that I shot about two rolls with this housing before giving up.

With the advent of digitial cameras and the ability to shoot 400 RAW images on one battery, surf photography became viable for me again. So I looked around to find a surf housing for my Nikon D200 cameras.

I do not wish to take my usual underwater housings into the surf because:

1. they sink, and the surf will often rip your housing away from you even if a lanyard is attached. Something that sinks in the surf is basically lost forever. Iâ€™ve lost two treasured ScubaPro frameless masks in the surf in the past year.

2. The sand in the surf will quickly ruin your underwater housing. Sand grains will embed themselves in your O-rings and glands, and this is probably the absolutely worst thing you can do to an underwater housing.

Surf housings have a minimum of controls, and they float. My present housing for my D200 camera is has shutter speed, and thatâ€™s about all I need. I preset focus to about 3 feet, aperture to f8, and the shutter speed is all I need to control. I also set the viewing options on my LCD screen so that it only shows overexposed highlights as blinking white. I donâ€™t want any more complexity than that when in the surf.

I was astounded by how hard it was to find a surf housing manufacturer. So I have been urging wetpixel and Eric Cheng to get a surf photography forum up and running.

Hereâ€™s a list of housing manufacturers I have found in my research, listed in alphabetical order.

AquaTech Water Imaging Technologies, USA
18685-A Main St, #359
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
phone number: Office: 714 968 6946
email: jesse.aquatech@mac.com

Erik Hjermstad
Delmar Housing Projects
4051 Riverton Place
San Diego, CA 92130
phone number: 858-259-5830
www.delmarhousings.com/

Chad Stickney
handcraftedvideowaterhousings
669 Bolsana Dr
Laguna Beach, Ca 92651
phone number: 949-200-7658
email: handcraftedvideowaterhousings@hotmail.com

SPL housings
8535 Arjons Dr. Ste N
San Diego, CA 92126
phone number: (858) 349-9037
email: info@splwaterhousings.com
These are very popular housings judging from what I have seen on the North Shore. Perhaps 8 of 10 photographers has an SPL housing.

Hope this helps. Thanks to Phil Colla for his help in my initial stages of research on surf housings. Please note that these manufacturers range from largish companies to one guy in a garage. The above is only a listing of sources; I cannot guarantee the accuracy nor the honesty of any of these operations. I have heard from more than one other photographer that at least one of the manufacturers on this list does not have a great reputation for timely delivery of housings and even returning borrowed cameras and loaned funds! Be careful before sending a camera for a housing. Hopefully the talk on this forum will help keep manufacturers honest!

Norbert Wu
www.norbertwu.com

Bad Commercials

2008-08-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

"...Of course, officials could call a Flex Alert at any time. If they do, start saving energy immediately."

Gives me the impression that all of us should stop whatever we are doing and take a nap immediately. Start saving energy immediately? How about, "turn off all unnecessary appliances" or something like that.

My least-favorite commercial these days, thankfully not seen any longer -- the Cadillac CTS commercial showing the nasty oldish female intoning "My favorite things: chocolate, high heels, showing up the boys at the boy's club." Then cut to a shot of her nasty feet as she hits the accelerator. She looks like a man and the entire thing gives me the creeps every time it airs. No Cadillac CTS for me!

Fair Play from Photo Researchers to Photographers

2008-06-15T10:10:00.001-07:00

My office received an email the other day. My heart sank as I read it. Here it is:

> Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 10:42:00 -0400
> To:
>
> Dear Mr. Wu;
>
> XXX Company is revising a chemistry textbook by XXX Authors.
> The authors would like to show students an example of a nudibranch
> which uses a chemical defense to keep predators away. The attached example
> of Tritoniella belli is one possibility, but could you suggest another
> nudibranch which would be a more colorful example of this defense mechanism?
>
> This will be a chapter opener sized 3/4 page in our student book. I would
> like to see a digital delivery of low resolution files to show the authors.
>
> Thank you,
>
> XXX Photo Researcher

Why was I disappointed to read this? There were a few clues that this photo researcher did not understand unwritten rules of the business. One of those unwritten rules is that if you take up a photographer or photo agent’s time, then you should try as much as possible to give business to that photographer or photo agent.

If you have found an image on a stock agent’s website, then you, as the photo researcher, should direct any questions to the agent – not the photographer; and vice versa. In this instance, the image in question clearly came from one of my stock agent’s websites. Yet the photo researcher came to my office, expecting my office to give her the benefit of our time and expertise, to help her.

In almost all such cases, where the photo researcher does such a thing, the time that the photographer spends will be wasted. What often happens is that a photo researcher finds out that the photographer’s office has a great knowledge of our subjects and starts asking lots of questions about our images. We are willing to do a certain amount of work to facilitate a sale and answer questions, but there is a limit beyond which we charge research fees.

Regardless of my bad feeling about this email and request, I had one of my staff respond:

> Hi Sharon:
>
> I've attached two images that illustrate this point and are more colorful.
> In both cases, the nudibranchs pictured are tropical species that are
> feeding on sponges or ascidians. Their prey contain poisonous compounds
> that the nudibranchs then store within their own bodies.
>
> I've attached the images. Hope this helps. IND0034 is a particularly good
> example as the nudibranch is actually in the process of feeding, with its
> mouth extended.
>
> Norbert Wu Productions

Guess what? The photo researcher did pretty much exactly what I expected her to do. She did not respect the fact that we sent two images that were exactly what she was looking for. Nope, she came back with another question. This time I gave up.

Here’s her reply:

> Thank you William for sending two examples.
>
> What about the attached nudibranch from Borneo by Norbert Wu/Minden?
> Beautiful colors, but would the caption be accurate if we say it's
> poisonous?
>
> XXX
> Photo Editor

We are willing to do a certain amount of work to facilitate a sale and answer questions, but there is a limit beyond which we charge research fees. We have to charge research fees, because otherwise, photo researchers like this person will take up so much of my and my staff's time that we will go bankrupt.

The below is from my FAQ page, and explains my thoughts on using my small photo agency at the beginning of your projects rather than a large one:

Many publishers are calling our office with requests for rare,
hard-to-photograph animals. I am discovering that these publishers are using
large stock agencies for the initial stages of their project, and are
calling me with requests for the photographs that these large stock agencies
cannot supply. The problem is that these publishers expect to pay the same
low price for my rare photographs as they have paid the agencies, who have
sold them hundreds of easily obtainable photographs.

As a photographer who specializes in marine life, I take great care with the
documentation and coverage of my stock library. I’ve
found that no agency can match the expertise that I have gained from my many
years in marine biology. For these reasons, I believe that the practice of
going to agencies in the initial stages of a photography project is
detrimental to the health and well-being of both of us. The publisher
doesn’t get the best material that it could get, and specialist
photographers such as myself are left filling those extremely hard-to-get
photographic requests, at prices which are not worthy of the time that it
takes to obtain them. This means that my bread-and-butter shots, those shots
which are easier to obtain, are not subsidizing the cost of my more
difficult photographs. In the long run, this will mean that specialist
photographers will not have the money to pursue more difficult subjects.
Inevitably the quality of photographs that publishers need to stay in
business will deteriorate.

Our office puts together submissions by going
exhaustively through our files and filling your photographic request. This
is in contrast to large stock agencies, which perform quick keyword searches
of their databases. We are able to provide a level of expertise on our
subjects which no stock agency can match. As an example, if you request a
subject like a “zebrafish,” we will ask you if you want one of the
Dendronotus species, sometimes called the zebrafish; or if you are instead
looking for a photograph of a lionfish or turkeyfish (also called zebrafish)
Pterois volitans, which is a common, popular,venomous, and beautiful fish of
the Indo-Pacific. If you ask for a submission of venomous marine animals, we
can provide you with photographs of stonefish (the most venomous fish in the
world), scorpionfish, jellies, cone snails, blue-spotted octopus, and more.
Few other stock agencies are able to provide such exhaustive and expert
submissions.

Fedex are great thieves

2008-02-20T13:31:00.002-08:00

I am forced to use Fedex in my business. They are great thieves.

Fedex charges for picking their nose or getting dirt on their shoes!

Go on their website to get a quote for a shipment. You get a quote, then ship the item. Later you get a bill with a myriad different surcharges which they should have included in the quote:

Examples:
fuel surcharge: Fedex: $1.90
Residential delivery: $4.
Rural delivery area surcharge: $4.60.
Oh, you wanted someone to sign for this? $6

I can only wish that I could pad my bills like this and get away with it.

note to nonprofits and researchers asking for free use of our images

2007-12-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

We receive many requests for the use of our photographs from nonprofits and researchers. I've explained, in exhaustive detail on the FAQ page of our website, the time and expense that it takes to supply images to any cause.

If we’ve been kind enough to donate photos in the past, please realize that it takes significant staff time and expense to track usage of any photos. If we’ve donated photos in the past, please do not assume that we will automatically donate the use of photos going forward.

One researcher asked us for photos of schooling fish. We donated the image, and we never heard back from her again. We even had to contact her office to get a copy of the use – the image was published in Science. When she asked to use the photo again, we refused. She asked “what have I done wrong to deserve such treatment?” Her question should have been, instead, “what can I do in the future to make you WANT to donate photos.” A note of thanks, a copy of the usage, etc. will go a long way to making us want to take the time and effort to allow continued use of our images.

spammed by Photo District News and IPNStock - Shame on You!

2007-12-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

IPNStock is a service that I used to subscribe to, whereby I leased their software to run my web-based image search engine. They morphed into a stock agency, then they were purchased by the publishers of Photo District News.

I got a spam about a photo contest from nielsencontests that told me to unsubscribe, send UNSUBSCRIBE to support@nielsencontests.com. I did so, and got the below failure notice. Seems that the people behind nielsencontests are IPNStock! Seems that the person at IPNStock is gone or has an invalid address.

I am upset that IPNStock is running a contest and disguising this fact. Along the same vein, I once purchased a subscription from Photo District News and stupidly gave them a valid email address a few years ago. They sold that email list EVERYWHERE. I am still getting blasted by photo-related spams from this one error. I've complained bitterly to PDN about this several times.

------ Forwarded Message
From:
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:10:08 -0600
To:
Subject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Delivery to the following recipients failed.

KCotlier@IPNstock.com

Reporting-MTA: dns;vnu001schmsx02.enterprisenet.org
Received-From-MTA: dns;nawinmsx013.enterprisenet.org
Arrival-Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:10:08 -0600

Final-Recipient: rfc822;KCotlier@IPNstock.com
Action: failed
Status: 5.2.2
X-Display-Name: Cotlier, Keith

From: Norbert Wu
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:09:52 -0800
To:
Conversation: UNSUBSCRIBE
Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE

UNSUBSCRIBE

------ End of Forwarded Message

United Airlines' discount coupons -- why bother?

2007-11-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Here's something that the airlines do that seems to have the sole purpose of angering the customer. I am a frequent flyer with United Airlines and try to fly them as much as possible. I've generally had good experiences with them, although every frequent traveler has horror stories. Mine might be the time on my way to Japan in November 2001 when a male flight attendant came by with a flashlight to make sure our seatbelts were fastened. I was watching a movie, it was late, and frankly I did not want to be bothered. He shined his light on me, and I did not hear him at first. When I finally understood what he wanted, I grumbled under my breath and put on the dang seatbelt. He leaned over and said in my ear "If you want to get arrested, just keep it up." Now, I admit that this was in the months after 9-11. It was interesting to watch the flight crews' reaction in those days. If you flew in the first few months after 9-11, the flight crews treated every passenger like a criminal. They threatened you with arrest if you did not listen to their every command immediately, and flying was more like being in prison than ever before.

After a few months of this, the airlines realized that this attitude and treatment of their passengers would probably drive the passengers away. So I saw the needle swing all the way to the other side. On a flight a few months after being threatened with arrest for not buckling my seatbelt immediately (and not having great hearing, and being a bit tired at 2AM) -- I was in the first class/business class cabin on a flight to New York. The captain came out, thanked all of us for flying United, and introduced himself by name to all of us and shook everyone's hand. That was a bit much. I didn't appreciate being threatened with arrest, but on the other hand, I have no need or desire to shake the captain's hand. I wonder why the airlines can't just do things with moderation and good common sense.

On to my present complaint: why does United send you these $25 paper discount certificates when these paper things cause nothing but trouble and wasted time? Here's the deal, and I've tried enough to use these that I am an expert. As a frequent flyer or a user of one of their airline's credit cards, you get a paper discount coupon for $25. However, you can only use this coupon if you call in and reserve your flight with an agent on the phone. And if you book a flight through an agent, then they charge you a $15 fee for using a live person rather than the web. On top of this, you have to either mail your certificate in, or hand the certificate over in person to a ticketing agent, which costs another $10. Voila! Your $25 certificate has just cost you a huge hassle and saved you absolutely nothing. If you mail the certificate in, you have to spend a great deal of time getting the instructions just right, and you run the risk of losing your seat and even your flight if the certificate is mishandled, late, or lost in the mail.

My advice -- tear these things up as soon as you get them. They will cause you nothing but aggravation. I have never, EVER been able to use one of these things without realizing that I was a fool to even try.

United seemed to have solved this problem. I forget how I got this (probably by getting hosed by the airline at some point), but I have an electronic certificate number good for $50 off now. Here are the instructions:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is your electronic certificate number.
To use your e-certificate, go to united.com and enter your origin and destination, along with your travel dates. Next, click on "More Search Options," enter your e-certificate number under the "Electronic certificate or Promotion code" box and then click on "Search." All flights selected must be designated with a green star to receive this discount. Select your flights and your discount will be calculated automatically. Ticketing and travel must be completed by 6/30/2008(mm/dd/yyyy).

Here's the problem. I've now booked two flights through United for the next three months. On a trip to Maui, the e-certificate could not be used. On a trip to Orlando, the only flights that had the green star were $200 to $500 more expensive than other flights. Another great example of how airlines these days are pleasing their customers.

miscellaneous product recommendations

2007-09-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Net10 and Tracfone phones rock, especially if you don't talk over 200 minutes per month on your cell phone -- and you won't pay all those extra taxes and surcharges that drive your cell phone bill from $60 per month to $66 per month. GrandCentral rocks and lets you answer and receive calls at any numbers you tell it to ring; so when someone calls, you can answer either your cell or home or office line, as they all ring. Skype rocks; pay $30 annually and make all the outgoing calls you want for free to the US and Canada.

Autopage 420 car alarms give two-way remote alarms so you know up to a mile away if your car is being broken into. That way you can run to your car and get shot by the thief.

Those nice-looking Apple Cinema displays that my friends were drooling over a couple of years ago proved to have lots of problems; the HP 24" LCD that I ended up buying instead of an Apple is just as good in my opinion (I used both over a period of six months) and was less expensive. I am up to my fourth Powerbook since they came out with the present Titanium/Aluminum design and they have been completely reliable.

If you are green or thrifty, then using anything other than rechargeable NiMh batteries is ridiculous. They hold a charge for a long time now and have more power than alkalines.

If you want to get email addresses for your small business, group, family, whatever, in the form "xxx@commandoes.com" -- such as norb@norbertwu.com, office@norbertwu.com -- it used to be a bit difficult, and now it is easy. Google Apps will do it for you. I moved my entire office's emails to Google Apps Mail, and it works just the same as when I had to pay a web hosting service to administer my emails. Far less problems so far; Google's spam blocking is better, and I have no instances where mail just disappears and I do not receive it (a huge problem with my other service, which just junked emails with invalid return address like "noreply@xxx.com"). I can access my emails using a standard email program like Outlook or Apple Mail, or use Google's web-baseed interface. I forward all emails to another Gmail account so have an archive of all past emails.

If you invest, then Bank of America is not a bad second place for an account. If you have $100K in assets in an investment account, you get a free American Express Accolades card, which supposedly lets you get into all kinds of airport lounges and has other benefits. If you have $25K in banking accounts (be sure these are not accounts that sweep funds into an investment account), then you are a Premier customer and get a Premier banking officer. This allows you to get 30 free stock trades per month. Also, BofA's investment arm has many mutual funds that are NTF (no transaction fee) such as SLASX and T. Rowe Price funds -- mutual funds that I was interested in, but had transaction charges through my main brokerage.

As a BofA Premier client, all banking fees are waived -- I never pay any account fees, monthly minimum fees, wire transfer fees, etc. But you do need to keep a $25K minimum in a CD, checking, and/or savings account.

Airlines love to anger their customers

2007-09-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

Extra charges at Hilton Hotels not appreciated

2007-08-23T11:21:00.001-07:00

Hilton Hotels are fine, offer a reliable place to stay, but they sure do tack on the extra charges. I guess most people don¹t care, but I do. I decided to go without paying the extra $5 or $10 for internet access at the Seattle Airport Hilton last night. When I got to my room, I was able to get the wifi signal from the Holiday Inn which looks like it is a good half-mile away!

Insuring Your Camera Gear

2007-07-14T17:42:00.001-07:00

Insuring Your Camera Gear
A Partial Guide
by Norbert Wu

I didn't use to like insurance companies. I didn't like the way that they could raise your rates whenever they felt like it, I don’t like the way they could cancel your policy whenever they felt like it, and I didn’t like the way that they seemed to be able to weasel their way out of claims by quoting fine print which no normal person has the time or expertise to read. So I must include a disclaimer with this article: use the information in this article only in a general sense. Insurance companies and policies change frequently. It is your responsibility to read and understand your specific policy. This article cannot possibly substitute for a careful reading of an insurance policy and the advice of a good insurance agent, lawyer, and accountant.
I like my insurance agents very much, however. I like my agents because they are honest, reliable, and professional. They are patient with my questions, give me honest answers in simple language rather than jargon, and have helped me find insurance for my film productions. Without a good insurance agent, I could never have gotten my first film production off the ground.

What to Look For:
If I am insuring my cameras, I want them to be protected against all risks, including any kind of theft and damage, worldwide. If I lose a camera, I want the insurance policy to replace the loss so I can buy another camera that is of equal or greater value. For instance, if I lose a Canon EOS-1 camera, I want my insurance policy to pay enough so I can buy another brand-new EOS-1 camera. This is called replacement value. The alternative, actual cash value, will only pay you the value of your EOS-1 camera minus the depreciation value. If you lose your five-year-old EOS-1 camera, the insurance company may well only pay you a cash value of $500 (what they say the depreciated value of your five-year-old camera is) minus the deductible. The deductible is simply an amount ($250 or $500 are common amounts) which is applied to a loss and deducted from the payment you are to receive. In our above example, with a $500 deductible and a loss valued at $500, you would receive nothing for your loss. The greater the deductible, the less your insurance should cost.
Perhaps the most important items to look for in an insurance policy are exclusions. Exclusions are situations in which your insurance does not cover your gear. For instance, one photographer recently had his gear stolen from a rental car. His insurance company refused to pay, stating that the policy excluded theft from a rental vehicle! The more exclusions in a policy, the less likely it is to cover you when you need it.
When you sign up for insurance, you will need to make a list of your gear which includes the serial numbers, the date purchased, the price paid, and the present-day value of the gear. In the event of a loss, you will have to provide a proof of purchase, such as a receipt or the page from the camera manual. At that point, the difference between a replacement or cash value policy becomes very important. Some companies actually call a stated-value policy a replacement policy, which is a misnomer. A stated-value policy will only pay you the value that you have listed and paid for. In fact, most “replacement” policies are actually stated-value policies, which seems fair to me. For instance, if you listed the value of your EOS-1 camera as $1500, and you have been charged an annual fee of 2.5% to insure that camera, it seems only fair that the insurance company will pay you $1500 for that camera if it is lost.
In summary, the main things that I look for in an insurance policy are all risk, worldwide, replacement or stated value, low deductible, and few exclusions. Any situations in which the gear is not covered lowers the value to you of the insurance policy.

Floaters:
If you are not a professional photographer and you do not use your cameras commercially, you can insure your personal camera gear on your homeowner’s policy under a “floater policy.” Some insurance companies have floater policies for renter’s insurance. A floater policy allows you to insure your gear by paying an additional amount per $100 worth of gear that you are insuring. It is a “listed” policy; that is, gear is not insured unless you have specifically listed it on the policy. You can also list jewelry, computers, and other gear on this policy as long as you do not use the gear for business or commercial purposes. Be careful that the floater policies cover use of your gear worldwide and against damage. Some policies only cover loss of the gear while in your home! For instance, if a camera is stolen out of your car, a homeowner’s floater policy may not cover it.

Commercial Policies:
If, however, you use your gear for business, you will need to look for another policy. Many companies offer an “Inland Marine Policy.” These policies are not popular with insurance agents, since they are so far-reaching. However, with persistence and the right agent, you will be able to find one of these policies. The Hartford Inland Marine Policy is a good one. It is an all-risk, worldwide, stated-value policy that can cover any type of camera gear. Hartford’s rates are very reasonable, but they do increase substantially if you make a claim. One photographer’s rates went from 1.41% to 2.5% of his stated value ($250 deductible) immediately after he made a claim for gear stolen from an airport.
If your insurance agent cannot, or is unwilling, to set you up with the Hartford Inland Marine Policy, try an insurance broker. I found my agent through the Yellow Pages; he handled policies for many different companies, and he eventually was able to set me up with a Hartford Inland Marine Policy after a bit of searching. He stated that Hartford was reluctant to issue these policies since they were so broad.
If you are a member of a photographer’s association, then you may be able to benefit from the association’s insurance package. For instance, American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) members have the option of purchasing commercial insurance from ASMP’s insurance partner, Taylor & Taylor. However, as a nature photographer, I have found the rates from most association companies to be more expensive than I need. The problem is that these companies may include other sorts of mandatory types of insurance for photographers who own or use studios--which I, as a nature photographer, have no need for. Such types of insurance include liability, office equipment, lost or damaged film, or employee liability. For whatever reason, I found Taylor & Taylor’s policy to cost nearly double what other companies offered. Taylor & Taylor’s representatives were also the rudest and least customer-service-oriented among the companies I called; I had to call them three times to get answers to my questions, and they never once called me back despite promising several times.
I was also sorely disappointed in the National Press Photographer Association’s insurance partner, Gilbert McGill Insurance, who offers an Inland-Marine professional camera equipment floater through St. Paul Fire & Marine. This policy only covers equipment losses in the US and Canada! The deductible is a high $1000 for theft and $500 for all losses other than theft; and the insurance premium is higher than other policies which offer far broader coverage and lower deductibles.
Kudos goes to the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and the Advertising Photographers of America (APA), who offer insurance policies which offer the lowest rates surveyed. PPA’s insurance partner is Alfred P. Wohlers Company. They offer a plan with a low $100 deductible and among the lowest rates among the companies surveyed. The downside is that you have to pay for PPA membership, which mean you must pay the annual $225 membership dues and have to put up with the magazines and junk mail directed to PPA’s members, who have traditionally been wedding photographers. APA’s insurance partner is Fireman’s Fund, which offers a $500 deductible, reasonable rates, and other insurance such as $1 million liability location, $100,000 fire and legal , $3000 portfolio, and $5000 property of others.
After reviewing many different companies, I’ve gone with the camera insurance offered through the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). Their insurance agency is Rand Insurance, and the policy is offered by Chubb Insurance. The contact information is below.

Questions to Ask:
After researching nearly ten different insurance companies and policies, I developed the following list of questions to ask.

1. All risk, underwater? Is the policy an all risk, all perils policy? I use the gear professionally as an underwater and wildlife photographer. Will my gear be covered if it is flooded, lost, or damaged underwater? Will it cover my camera if it is flooded underwater from my mistake? From causes other than my mistake?
Some answers that I received were enlightening. For instance, the representative at Taylor and Taylor mentioned that my gear would not be covered from flooding if the flooding was caused by lack of maintenance. In this case, she stated, I should just drop the camera in deep water and report it as a loss. The representative at Hoffberger Insurance stated that they simply do not cover underwater gear.

2. All types of gear? Will the policy cover my professional still camera, video, and motion picture gear? APA's policy would not cover my video and motion picture gear.

3. Worldwide? Will the policy cover my gear if used in my home, office, and all countries in the world to which I travel?

4. Replacement value? Will the policy cover my gear for replacement value, agreed value, stated value, or actual cash value (which takes depreciation into account)? There seem to be different definitions of replacement value. Will replacement value pay more for an item that it was listed for?

5. What is the deductible?

6. Covered while being transported? The gear will need to be covered under all circumstances and locations in which it is being used, carried, transported, or delivered. Are there any circumstances in which gear might not be covered if it is being transported by a courier service, while flying as checked baggage, or carried in a taxi, plane, or boat? Will the policy cover my gear if it is stolen out of a rental car, my car, or someone else’s car? Are there any exclusions, such as travel in non-commercial vehicles such as private planes and boats, aerial or watercraft photography, theft from unattended vehicles? What if I put my bag down at the airport and it is stolen?
APA’s insurance had a strange exception, apparently because it was an inland marine policy: gear being carried in a boat in the ocean would not be covered if you were simply traveling on the boat. If, however, you were working on the boat as a photographer, then your gear would be covered. Does this policy have any such exceptions?

7. In case of burglary from a car, will coverage require signs of forcible entry? It’s easy for a burglar to open a car with no sign of forcible entry. If your insurance company requires signs of forcible entry, then you are out of luck if a thief has opened your car with a door bar tool.
The representative of APA’s insurance, Jim Aquilina, first stated that their insurance would cover theft from a vehicle even if there was no sign of forcible entry. Later, however, he stated that the company has recently put an exclusion, requiring a sign of forcible entry.

8. Does the policy have a glass-breakage clause? My camera lenses are composed of glass, so I would want to strike any glass-breakage clause.
None of the companies surveyed had this clause.

9. Are loans of my equipment to friends covered? What if I rent my gear to other parties?
Most companies did not cover my gear if it was rented out to other parties. Hartford covered gear which was loaned to a friend, unless the friend stole the gear dishonestly. For instance, if I loaned my gear to a friend and the gear was damaged, it would be covered. If I loaned my gear to a friend and he steals it, this is considered fraud and is not covered. APA’s insurance does not cover loans of equipment to friends unless they are a legal partner or spouse.

10. Are loans of gear to me covered? What if I rent gear from a store, or borrow gear from a camera manufacturer?
Most companies require you to purchase a set amount of insurance to cover gear that you rent or borrow from other parties.

11. Please let me know of any situations in which the gear would NOT be covered.
Most companies send you a written policy in which all exclusions are listed.

No one likes insurance or paying insurance. However, it is a necessary evil. Hopefully this article will help you compare and find the insurance to fit your needs. Remember to read the fine print, to purchase only the coverage that you need, and to consult with your agent, attorney, and accountant before making a final decision. The right decision -- and the right agent -- will give you peace of mind that is hard to find.

Glossary:
Actual cash value: will not pay to replace the cameras completely, but will pay the cost of camera minus depreciation.
Agreed value: will pay only what is listed on my schedule. I need to submit a list of my gear and the replacement cost value each year. If this is not updated each year, then the insurance company will pay only what is listed on my sheet.
Replacement value: The best, and what you should try for, will replace your camera gear with like kind and quality. For instance, if I buy a Nikon N90s at $1000 and it later costs $1500 to replace the N90s or get an equivalent camera, then the insurance company will pay $1500 rather than $1000.
Stated-value basis: not as good as replacement cost. This seems to pay only up to what is listed on a schedule.

For more information:
APA/Fireman’s Fund:
Jim Aquilina
Tom Pickard Company
820 Pacific Coast Highway
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
phone 800-726-3701, fax 800-318-9840,
or phone 310-379-7788, fax 310-379-8946

NANPA:
www.nanpa.org

Rand Insurance
Rand Insurance
50 Locust Avenue
New Canaan, CT 06840
phone number: 203-966-2677
fax number: 203-966-7355
email: nanpa@randinsurance.com,

PPA Insurance:
Wohlers and Company
800-323-2106

Coolers for Traveling

2007-07-14T16:45:00.001-07:00

> Subject: Coolers for traveling
>
> Glad to hear that the airlines still accept coolers as
> check-in luggage. Any ball park idea how much the 100-
> gallon cooler weights whenloaded?

I, and many professionals, use the larger Coleman and Igloo coolers. I jokingly state that these coolers offer the highest volume to weight ratio of any container that offers the necessary stiffness and rigidity to protect your gear. I’ve been traveling with these for years. I have never been able to tie knots, so I traveled with two or three of these coolers in the early years by taping them up with duct tape. However, after 9/11, I had to devise a method by which TSA could easily and quickly open up the coolers. I stole an idea from my friends Howard Hall and Bob Cranston (something I do routinely) and have one eyebolt bolted into each end of the cooler. The eyebolt goes through the cooler, and there are washers on both sides of the eyebolt. I then bought long aluminum bars from Orchard Supply Hardware, had them bent 90 degrees so that I ended up with a “U” shaped bar that fits snugly over the top of the cooler. A hole in each end of the bar allows the bar to fit over the eyebolts. I then put locks in the eyebolts to keep the bar over the cooler, but now, I just use hitch pins so that TSA can get into the coolers easily.

These coolers weigh and cost very little compared to conventional camera cases, I use the coolers in 100 gallon sizes for checked baggage. I store my tripods, dive gear, underwater housings, some camera gear, and clothes in these. One advantage of coolers for diving gear and underwater cameras is that you can just fill them up with fresh water for rinsing, then drain from the bottom after your trip. I have traveled with these for 20 years now, and have never had a problem with an airline not accepting them. They just barely fit under ( or perhaps just barely exceed) the standard airline dimensions for checked baggage. Any cooler larger than 100 gallon (like the huge ones at Costco) might be too big for airlines.

My favorite Pelican case is the 1620 with padded dividers. This is a large, deep case that carries just about all my still camera gear for any shoot. The extra deep case has two tiers of modular padded dividers. I keep one of these cases by the door of my office, so that I am ready to travel at a moment’s notice. On an assignment with little notice, I just snap the case shut, roll it out the door into my van, and know that I have everything I need for a stills shoot.

I pack my coolers so that they weigh no more than 70 lb when traveling overseas. This is because airlines that fly to/from an international destination and to/from the US are required to allow two bags at 70 lb each at no additional charge.

When you fly within the US, however, the rules have changed. I know United Airlines’ policy the best. They used to allow the above. Now they allow two free bags at 50 lb each. Anything from 51 lb to 100 lb costs $25 per bag. I therefore bring a copy of United’s baggage rules (from their website) and try to pack my bags to 100 pounds. This is not difficult since I often bring copies of my books on my trips and talks to sell or give away, and the dang books weigh 8 lb each. I get charged $25 per bag. This is my personal revenge on the airlines for surreptitiously changing the domestic baggage allowance from two bags at 70 lbs, to two bags at 50 lb, and saying that they were doing this in order to save their passengers money! Don’t you get tired of companies lying like this?

Back when United announced this and several other changes, I wrote a bunch of colleagues asking them to write to United to protest this change. United had proposed several other changes, and had backed down after receiving barrages of protest from their customers. I asked my friends and fellow photographers to write United about their upcoming baggage policy. Almost all of them were too lazy to send a letter, and a few of them wrote me, saying “Forget it, Norb. United is hurting, and they won’t change their policies.” These guys would rather write me saying “forget it, give up” than write the airline saying “please don’t change your policy.” That’s when I realized that most people, at least photographers, would rather whine and complain among themselves than take the time and trouble to write a letter. I’d also say that most photographers would rather whine and complain about how hard it is to make a living licensing the use of photographs than will actually take a stand on the business of photography with a client.

How Skype works, Internet plans

2007-07-14T08:18:00.001-07:00

> What's the deal with Skype? How does it work? Does it work well?

Skype is great. Here is how I use it.

I have a Mac laptop. It has a microphone and headphone jack built in. I went onto Skype's website, downloaded the Mac software, and paid the $15-$30 for the unlimited calling to anywhere in the US plan. I was all set. I can call any number in the US, be it cell, Skype, or landline, and it is free. I can be sitting in Singapore at an airport lounge with a wireless Internet connection, fire up Skype, plug in my ipod earbuds, and talk into my MacBook Pro to anyone in the US for free. I don't have a Skype-in number or any of that stuff. Just the Skype software on my laptop and the annual "unlimited calls to anywhere in the US plan". When I am home, I have a Plantronics USB headset that I use for making calls. The headset has a mic. But you can get great quality by using any laptop that has a microphone for you to talk into, and a headphone jack so you can hear the conversation. You can use any headphones at all -- like those you would use in listening to an ipod or stereo. The laptop or computer just has to have Skype software installed along with an Internet connection.

Skype quality is generally excellent. In fact, I used a landline and MCI card to call Poland last week to yell at an editor who had not paid. She could not hear me, so I called her back using Skype and it was clear as a bell. She told me to stop yelling at her.

> > Is there a good cheap phone system (Skype?)
> > What's the best way to do this and still get quality?

So here's my phone system. I use a phone card that I bought from Costco for my international calls, which I can use to make calls from Indonesia to the US, or from the US to Indonesia, if I need to. I rarely use it these days, but it is there for the occasional call. I have a landline with AT&T, basic service at $11 per month. The long-distance on this landline is with a company called TTI, which used to be Costco's long-distance provider. It's about $.05 per minute in the US and gives good international rates also. With the advent of Skype and cell phones, our long-distance bill on our landlines (three of them!) is about $1.50 per month.

I have a cell phone, which I will soon change to a pay-as-you-go cell phone plan, either T-Mobile, Tracfone, or Net10. Did you know that most of these pay-as-you-go plans have rates as low as $0.10 per minute if you buy enough minutes at one time?

I signed up for a free service called GrandCentral. It gives me one phone number. Anyone calling that one phone number can reach my cell, home, office, whatever numbers I want. So it is going to be my "permanent" phone number and I only have to give the one phone out. Voicemails to my GrandCentral phone number are delivered to me by email and I can listen to them on my email or web browser.

One of the reasons I am keeping my landlines rather than discontinuing them is because I still send faxes once in a while and have a machine at both the home and the office. Lastly, if I keep my landlines, I can get DSL service through AT&T for very cheap. If I get DSL service through AT&T, I can sign up for their Freedomlink wifi service which costs only $2 per month, and lets me log into wifi hotspots in various places like Seattle and Denver airport, McDonalds, UPS Stores, etc.

> > Anyway, that's not why I'm writing. I'm writing because I want to cut my
> > phone/internet bill. Is there a good, cheap high-speed internet
> provider?

I am a frugal bastard and hate paying much. In the past, I was able to switch services every six months to a year and pay about $20 per month for internet access. I'd sign up for six months of cable internet access through Comcast at $20 per month for six months. They'd give me a free cable modem and a $75 rebate. When the rate went up to $42.95 at the end of six months, I'd cancel the service and switch to AT&T (SBC) DSL service for a year, ranging from $12.99 to $19.99 per month. They'd give me a free modem. After the rate went up after a year, I'd go back to Comcast. I think I may have gotten my internet service for basically free after selling all the modems on Ebay.

Oh, I kept basic Comcast TV service ($15 per month) at my house which allowed me to get that $20 intro rate. And all cable TV now have to put high-def signals on their services, so I am renting a Motorola box at $5 per month at home to get several stations in HD for free. This is truly awesome as I get ESPN and Discovery Channel in high-def for free.

AT&T has given up on making you commit to year-long contracts and special intro rates. I am just sticking with their $19.99 DSL plan and it works fine for me at the office. At home, I've gone with a slightly higher-speed plan at $25 per month.

And if you get a Google Mail address, you don't have to use email addresses from Comcast or SBC. Your email address remains free and the same no matter what your internet provider is.

Ridicule me for my frugality if you wish. I hate being screwed by the utilities and feel like I am winning in my small way

Skype is great, easy to use

2007-01-27T21:34:00.001-08:00

I like Skype so much, and found it so very easy to set up and use, that I am recommending it to lots of folks.

Basically, all you need is a headset with microphone and Skype software, and an internet connection.

There are tons of headsets out there. You can even use standard stereo headphones and the mike built into a MacBook Pro. I am using a Plantronics headset recommended by Eric Cheng which is great. $40 at Amazon.

Plantronics DSP-400 Digitally-Enhanced USB Foldable Stereo Headset and Software

You then download Skype software and follow the instructions. Easy. I signed up for the unlimited plan to call any numbers in the US and Canada for $15 per year. I can call out to anyone, any phone number, and no longer worry about long-distance charges. I believe that the rate was going to double very soon.

I did not sign up for any other stuff like the ability for people to call me, etc.

Since signing up, I've called home and other places in the US -- for free after the initial $15 annual charge -- from Singapore, England, and other places where I've had a wireless Internet connection. People think that I'm a bit strange talking into my laptop, but it works great!

First product recommendations

2007-01-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

I live in a property that has two houses -- one main house (basically a cottage), and one guest house that I use as an office. My wife has a small office in the main house, and for years now, she's had to put up with the wireless internet connection there. I've been using a Linksys wireless-B router (B because of its greater range), and she has had a variety of older Macs in her office. Right now she has an older iBook that does not have a wireless card installed. I've had her using a D-Link wireless Ethernet bridge for two years now, but that died. The main house and the guest house are about 100 feet apart.

I had squirreled away Walter Mossberg's excellent article from the Wall Street Journal that recommends the newish Powerline adapters to get an Internet signal around homes. He recommends Netgear XE104 Powerline adapters. I bought a couple of these from one of my favorite computer-supply online suppliers (newegg.com) and sure enough, these Netgear Powerline adapters solved the problem. My wife now has a fast, reliable Internet connection as opposed to the stunningly slow wireless connection that we used to have. This was a stunningly easy way to set up another Internet connection in a separate room. The only problem I had was that these were fairly expensive, at $60 per unit -- and you need at least two units.

A few weeks later, I noticed that Fry's in the Bay Area had some Airlink Powerline adapters for sale for $25 each. I bought two and installed them in my parents' house. My mother now has a consistent and reliable Internet connection, too. The Airlink Powerline adapters were just as easy to install as the Netgear ones, and they cost less than half the price!