Microstock photography
Microstock photography, also known as micropayment photography, is a part of the stock photography industry. What defines a company as a microstock photography company is that they (1) source their images almost exclusively via the Internet, (2) do so from a wider range of photographers than the traditional stock agencies (including a willingness to accept images from "amateurs" and hobbyists), and (3) sell their images at a very low rate (from US$0.20 to $10 in the US) for a royalty-free (RF) image.
A number of microstock sites also sell vector art, and some sell Flash animations and video as well as images.
History
The pioneer of microstock photography was Bruce Livingstone, who created iStockphoto, originally a free stock photo site that quickly became an industry phenomenon. Livingstone sold iStockphoto to Getty Images in February 2006 for 50 million US dollars. Many other sites sprang up in the years after iStockphoto's inception. Some of the larger ones are Fotolia, Depositphotos, 123RF.com, Pond5. Can Stock Photo, Dreamstime and Shutterstock.
Microstock (racing)
Microstock (racing) is a form of full roll cage kart racing that originated in New Jersey.
They are powered by small 4-cycle engines (200 cc), generally starting out as 5 hp Briggs & Stratton engines originally referred to as "lawnmower" engines, since that is where the first engines were taken from. After being modified for racing, the engines can produce anywhere from 7 to 30+ hp, depending on the racing class. Microstocks were originally designed to hit speeds between 45-65 mph, however Modified racing has pushed them over 100 mph in some cases.
They generally race on asphalt oval tracks, but have also raced on street courses and dirt tracks as well. They are a rigid chassis design using no suspension. Considered one of the most inexpensive form of kart racing.
History
The first microstocks were built by Bob and Bill Wagner in the late 1970s, and were raced around a small dirt track in their backyard.
Design
Microstocks are small, single seat karts designed for oval track racing. They were originally separated into two classes: Sportsman and Modifieds. Both classes shared the majority of physical kart design, with distinctions primarily in engine modification.
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