In a forum posting Tuesday, iStockphoto head honcho Bruce Livingstone said the Getty Images subsidiary had 2007 revenue of $71.9 million, and it paid $20.9 million to those who contributed the imagery it licenses.

For the first time, iStockphoto has revealed how much money it pulled in by licensing large numbers of photos, videos, and other imagery for relatively small fees, and how much it paid out to the producers of that content.

“One thing we’ve always had to keep close to our chest is our financials. Maybe it’s our Canadian background, but we’ve always found it a bit cheeky and rude to discuss money,” Livingstone said. “With the recent announcement that Getty Images is going to be a private company owned by management, employees, and Hellman & Friedman, you’ll see lots of numbers floating around about iStock’s financials.”

Getty is in the process of going private in a $2.4 billion deal announced in February.

“We are now selling an image every 1.4 seconds through this industry-changing marketplace,” Livingstone said in the posting.

as we look to build on the progress we’ve been making, i want to make sure you all realize how essential you are to yahoo!’s success. as this process moves forward, we’re going to keep you informed. your hard work and strong commitment are more important now than ever before.

roy and I have communicated about the thorough review process our board is going through right now. the board is focused on maximizing the value of yahoo!’s tremendous assets for our shareholders. and it is going to take the time it needs to do it right.

yahoos —

Here’s the text of Yang’s Wednesday e-mail on Microsoft’s merger proposal, which undoubtedly won’t be his last.

first off, I want to thank you for the great job you’re doing staying focused on executing our priorities. there’s obviously been a lot of talk about yahoo! in recent days and we won’t let it distract us from pursuing our transformation strategy.

what’s become clear in the past few days is how much people care about this company. we’ve seen a strong show of support from our users, advertisers, and publishers, reminding us how much they love our products and services. and i’ve heard from many of you — and from other friends and colleagues from around silicon valley and across the globe — that we need to do what’s best for yahoo! and our shareholders. i promise you that the board is going to do that.

jerry

The company-wide e-mail was Yang’s second in three days. It includes not only encouragement to employees, but touts recent activities by the company that have been overshadowed by Microsoft’s unsolicited $44.6 billion buyout bid.

Subject: Building on our strengths

as we’ve said, no decisions have been made about microsoft’s proposal. our board is thoughtfully evaluating a wide range of potential strategic alternatives in what is a complex and evolving landscape. and we’ve hired top advisors to assist through the process.

we have a lot to be excited about and there’s more good news to come. yesterday we announced a digital music partnership with rhapsody and our acquisition of foxytunes, maker of the popular music toolbar plugin. today we launched zimbra 5.0, a next generation e-mail and collaboration suite that’s a great milestone in our open platform and starting point strategies. and stay tuned for exciting announcements next week at the mobile world congress.

the microsoft interest highlights the tremendous strength of the yahoo! brand and assets: our half billion users around the world, our leading products and services, our open ad network, our technology, and most of all, our amazingly talented people.

Closet Couture is a new shopping site meets virtual closet aimed at women. Its killer feature is that it’s got a network of stylists that can improve your look for a fee. They take a look at your picture and virtual wardrobe and tell you what to buy.

The virtual closet in Closet Couture lets you put together something to wear with a virtual you.

The virtual wardrobe actually looks like quite a bit of fun. You upload pictures of your clothes and the site lets you remove the background. You can then stretch the clothes out on a virtual model. This works with clothes you own and clothes you might want to purchase, so you can mix, match, then buy what you don’t have with the site getting a small cut.

Closet Couture previewed today at the TechCrunch50 conference and will be in private beta for the next few months.

This is not an easy task if you’ve got a big closet. Where it comes into play is for the stylists, who can take a look at what you’ve worn and get a look at your tastes. Or if you’re bored at work and want to start putting together something to wear.

The idea of virtual closets is far from new. Several other sites have tried to socialize fashion and the results have been mixed. One of my favorites out of the bunch was Closet Assistant, (coverage) which does kind of the same thing (minus the mannequin) but puts the responsibility of telling you what to wear on other users instead of paid professionals.

(Credit: Andrew Mager / ZDNet)

Icahn had tried to take over the entire board in July, but settled for a seat of his own and for two of his allies. In a regulatory filing Wednesday, Yahoo said Icahn is officially on the board, replacing Robert Kotick as planned.

Carl Icahn is Yahoo’s newest board member.

One of Icahn’s first roles on the board will be to help pick the two allies who will join him. The new appointments are set to be announced by August 15, increasing Yahoo’s board from nine to eleven members.

Icahn owns about 5 percent of Yahoo’s shares.

Yahoo’s board is no place for a someone in search of a sinecure. The board met thirty times in the six months between Microsoft’s announcement of its desire to acquire Yahoo and Friday’s shareholder meeting.

And there’s plenty of pressure still to come. After that meeting, the board might have been breathing a sigh of relief when vote results showed shareholder dissatisfaction had lessened from 2007. But a recount of the Yahoo vote actually showed strong dissatisfaction: 39.6 percent withheld votes to re-elect Chairman Roy Bostock and 33.7 percent withheld votes for Chief Executive Jerry Yang.

Those numbers could help bring some weight to whatever reforms Icahn has to suggest. The interpersonal dynamics of the board are sure to change, but it’s not yet clear how. For the time being, though, both Icahn and Yahoo are presenting an image of collegiality and civility.

Despite Icahn’s earlier request that Yang step down, Yang said he welcomes Icahn’s “fresh perspective,”, and at the board meeting, Bostock said the board looks forward to Icahn’s arrival. “Carl is a good guy, despite some of the things written about him. He’ll be a very productive member,” Bostock said.

Icahn, who skipped the shareholder meeting, last week called Yang and Bostock “gentlemen” and said he hoped working together “will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

OrganicInterfaces is a collective of artists, scientists, engineers, and musicians and their installation, Mocean was a truly enveloping sound experience. Their Web Site describes it this way, Mocean is a site-specific sculptural sound environment. It consists of a large water tank and a forest of antique organ pipes…digital technology translates the (water’s) ripple patterns into sounds played by the repurposed organ pipes, establishing a relationship between water and sound. For the DUMBO Art Festival, we used a 12-foot diameter swimming pool and some new technologies, expanding the range of possible interactions and sculptural interventions…”

Mocean's organ pipes at a different installation.

(Credit:
OrganicInterfaces)

At the DUMBO show, Mocean was located in a small warehouse garage, open to the street. Flat stones were placed in the pool to serve as a path for people to walk over. The organ pipes hanging from the ceiling were tuned to different pitches and their sounds were complex and surprisingly musical. I listened for quite a while and found the sound absolutely mesmerizing.

Actually, the best part was watching how different people reacted to the sound as they walked over the stones. Some realized their movements changed the sound, and they “played” the organ pipes by swaying their arms and moving about. Little children were the best; they were totally uninhibited about making weird sounds.

Then there was Ted Southern’s sidewalk sound show.

I’ll let Ted provide the details, “I was interested in placing sound in reference to the human body in an interesting way, and developed the idea of a series of speakers which a user could manipulate. The flat layout was a compromise, as the original intention was to have the piece in an elevator, so that the speakers could surround the user. The sound producing circuits, two theremin-like devices using photocells to manipulate pitch, were fortuitous and interesting ‘accidents.’ I was obviously interested in aesthetics, and tried to give the work a visual, horizontal feel…also, most of my work ends up being interactive, so a robust platform for user interaction was key.”

The Audiophiliac checks out the sounds.

(Credit:
Ted Southern)

I diddled the controls, and it really was fun to hear the sound change, but it was even better when I stood back and heard the speakers from five or six feet away. The sound had a very spatial, phasey quality, very interesting stuff.

Check Southern’s Web site to learn more about his art.

(Credit:
Dylan Kehde Roelofs )

OK, I admit Dylan Kehde Roelofs works of art have absolutely nothing to do with audio, but they remind me of vacuum tubes. They’re incandescent light bulb sculptures, but it turns out Roelofs is contemplating a move to also do audio related pieces, “I’m a bit of an audiophile myself - wait ’till you see the homemade triodes (tubes) I’ve been working on. Might make a nice amp someday, or just a horrible, distorted Theremin.”

His current works that combine glass blowing, electrical and lighting design are incredibly beautiful. They’re produced in limited editions and Roelofs’ prices seem very reasonable.

A good password-manager is absolutely essential, and most users of RoboForm would agree it’s one of the best. (CNET certainly does: Check out the five-star review.) The program remembers your passwords for various sites and automatically fills them in when you visit. It can also auto-fill Web forms for you, generate robust passwords, and even sync with your Palm or Windows Mobile phone.

Alas, the free version of RoboForm has some serious limitations, which is why most users spring for the $29.95 Pro version. Here’s your chance to save nine bucks: Deal-of-the-day site Yugster is offering RoboForm Pro for $20.95. But it’s today only (Friday, Sept. 12), so chop-chop.

This isn’t boxed software, but rather a download. When you place your order, Yugster will shoot you the necessary download link, license code, and activation instructions.

Like I said, a good password-manager is essential. I’ve used one for years to store all kinds of critical information–not just passwords, but also alarm codes, credit card numbers, software activation info, and so on. (RoboForm’s Safenotes feature handles stuff like that.) I know we’re only talking nine bucks here, but, hey, it’s a movie ticket.

Find more deals, coupon codes, and bargains on CNET’s Shopper.com.

A little more than a year after it was revealed that the media company would pull out of iTunes, shows like Heroes and The Office will return to the digital store, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced Tuesday at an Apple press event here.

Apple unveiled iTunes 8 at Apple’s press event on Tuesday.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET Networks)

In August 2007, The New York Times reported that NBC Universal was unhappy with the financial terms Apple offered and had decided not to renew its contract to download shows through iTunes.

At Tuesday’s event, Jobs did not provide details on what led to the truce. Who cried uncle is still unclear.

James McQuivey, a prominent media analyst with Forrester Research, suspects Apple likely offered some concessions to lure NBC back.

“NBC can’t have been overwhelmed by the success of the iTunes video store,” McQuivey said. “I assume Apple had to give on something. Maybe they threw some sweetener in on the movie side, since Universal is interested there as well.”

Jobs said that NBC Universal shows, as well as those from other content providers, will now be available in high definition for $2.99. That’s a buck more than the $1.99 price Apple asks for standard-definition downloads of TV shows.

McQuivey applauded Apple’s offering of HD shows.

“TV shows in HD,” said McQuivey, “doesn’t drive new sales of devices for Apple, but it does increase the chance that existing device owners will buy or rent video on iTunes. Since the iTunes video store needs some growth, it makes sense for Apple to focus here.”

Apple also announced that iTunes customers can buy a “Season Pass” which enables viewers to buy a season’s worth of programming at a discount. And for the next two weeks, NBC Universal is giving away one free episode from each of the company’s top series, available in either SD or HD.

Click here for full coverage of Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event.

To make your own creation you can upload any old photo from your computer. There are just a few options to add the captions or bubbles to your photo, including small knobs to control the borders, shape and size. Each button pops with a little animation that’s very fluid and organic, making it an experience on it own just to click on something. Kids will love it.

One nice thing about the tool is that it lets you go well outside of the photo if you’ve got a caption or bubble that needs to stick out. It will automatically add more space around the photo and save it with the additional border.

SuperLame is completely free to use, however it adds a small watermark to the bottom right hand corner of your images with a link back. There’s no way to get it off without using additional photo editing soft or Webware, so if you’re not keen on watermarking an image then use a similar tool like Fotoflexer, Picnik or Picbite (review).

SuperLame's image editor does only one thing (comicbook like speech bubbles), but does it well.

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

Ask the Editors is a live text show. You ask, and I answer (or fake it). Tune in to connect with me and talk about the topic I spend my days covering. Or anything else, if you want: In the course of my too-long technology journalism career, I have reviewed and used more products than I can count. I have interviewed more than 1,000 start-up CEOs and evaluated their business prospects. I have perspective.

And as I’ve said before, I believe that Web-based applications are the future of software. So drop in today at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time and let’s talk about it.