iStockPhoto is a great resource for inexpensive but high quality photos, clip art and movies.

With prices starting as low as a dollar, it's hard to argue that the "microstock" movement hasn't transformed the landscape of stock media in the past five years. A few years ago, I paid Getty Images about a hundred bucks for a 640x480 image on my web site. To get a similar image on iStock, I would have literally paid a buck... at least at the same resolution. A print ready image would have cost me about ten bucks, still a steal.



These days, I find myself using stock images quite frequently, given that a web image can cost the same as a song on iTunes. If you find yourself in a pinch for a stock image, icon or illustration, you should definitely give iStock a looksie.

Tags: stock images, microstock, istockphoto, istock, getty

Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa and is one of the foremost thinkers on intellectual property law today.

If you have even a fleeting interest in how the law affects your digital life, you'll enjoy reading his blog. His musings are frequently mentioned on all the popular geek sites, including Digg and Slashdot.

Tags: michael geist, technology law

The Consumerist is one of the best examples of how the democratization of the web has changed the playing field in terms of how companies and their customers interact. There are no more isolated incidents of corporate bad behaviour. If a big-box store's rogue manager mistreats a customer badly enough,you can bet that tens of thousands of people will have heard about it on the Consumerist. Think of it as the "Fight Back with David Horowitz" of the 21st century.



The Consumerist isn't all bad news, however, they do post rare incidents where a company does go above and beyond in terms of treating their customers. They also post great tips on how to get the most from a company's customer service bureaucracy when you are wronged.

The RSS feed is definitely a worthwhile addition to your Google Reader subscriptions. With so many misdeeds going on, there are a lot of stories in any given day.

Tags: consumerist, advocacy

Sam Javanrouh's Daily Dose of Imagery is one of the best photography sites around. Focusing on images of his (and my) hometown of Toronto, Canada, his photographic eye is world class.

Tags: ddoi, photography