An impulse purchase

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
renesm1
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Re: An impulse purchase

Post by renesm1 »

Photobucket is basically holding their users to ransom and are now blocking access to pictures until its users upgrade their subscription (or take one out). The upshot is none of the rest of us can see these images!
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Caultron
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Re: An impulse purchase

Post by Caultron »

This is a constant problem. The fact is that not everyone on the board knows how to use a photo editor. So isn't there some way to just automatically reduce the size of uploaded photos if necessary?

I know that the photos that appear in posts are sometimes smaller than the ones uploaded, and that you have to click them to get a full-size uploaded version. So there must be some resizing mechanism for that.

Alternatively, with 3TB drives now available for less than $100, could the maximum size limit just be increased?
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

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crfriend
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Re: An impulse purchase

Post by crfriend »

Caultron wrote:The fact is that not everyone on the board knows how to use a photo editor. So isn't there some way to just automatically reduce the size of uploaded photos if necessary?
I'll add that to the queue of things I already have in it -- and it'll probably take some sort of custom modification to the software that drives the forum.
I know that the photos that appear in posts are sometimes smaller than the ones uploaded, and that you have to click them to get a full-size uploaded version. So there must be some resizing mechanism for that.
It does that to produce a "thumbnail" photo, but as far as I am aware (without a detailed code-review) there is no way to command an automatic rescale of an image when it's uploaded.
Alternatively, with 3TB drives now available for less than $100, could the maximum size limit just be increased?
If I was running the forum out of my kitchen, which I am perfectly capable of doing, I'd contemplate that notion. It would also open up the option for automatic rescaling of images on a batch basis. However, the forum is currently hosted on a virtual server someplace near the West Coast of the USA and I do not have the sorts of access to it that I enjoy on the physical systems in my kitchen.
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Caultron
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Re: An impulse purchase

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crfriend wrote:...the forum is currently hosted on a virtual server someplace near the West Coast of the USA and I do not have the sorts of access to it that I enjoy on the physical systems in my kitchen.
I understand but (constructively, I hope) do we currently have a disk space quota, and how much is left after what we're using now, and what's involved in bumping that up if necessary?

I mean, we're living in a world where you can get gigabytes of online (cloud) storage at no cost. And in fact, various players such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google are competing to give that free storage away. I understand that's different than a hosted Web server but it does illustrate the low cost of disk space.

Cuz it sure would be nice if board members could upload pictures from their cell phones without having to use a photo editor...
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

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hoborob
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Re: An impulse purchase

Post by hoborob »

Personally I would not even post to Photobucket, simply because almost 100% of the advertisers on the site are porno sites and they push them hard. Not for me and have no desire whatsoever to look at anything on photobucket anymore.
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crfriend
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Re: An impulse purchase

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Caultron wrote:I mean, we're living in a world where you can get gigabytes of online (cloud) storage at no cost.
TANSTAAFL. [0] Trust me, there will be a "cost" involved with that, and it may be in intangibles like surrender of copyright or an inability to expunge one's images if the need arises. The inalienable right for a member to purge his own imagery is guaranteed by the Rules of Engagement sticky-post in the imagery section (and if one needs a moderator or admin to do so, how to contact same). Copyright is always assigned to the creator of the image (and all other matter). I'm not willing to compromise on those positions. [1] Sadly, few seem to read said "Rules". [2]
[...I]t sure would be nice if board members could upload pictures from their cell phones without having to use a photo editor...
This is going to come across as elitist, but it's not intended that way. In my opinion, if one is going to be publishing imagery on-line -- and publishing is precisely what it is -- then one should really have some knowledge in the use of image publishing and image manipulation tools. This includes things like knowing the difference between inches, pixels, pixels-per-inch, and the difference between landscape and portrait orientation. None of those are difficult concepts to grasp; they are all within the mental grasp of the common man. So, I quite honestly don't have much sympathy -- if any -- for someone who snaps a multi-megapixel image of something and then finds it won't upload. The answer is to learn about image publishing, know how to manipulate images properly, how to use very basic tools like cropping and rotation to improve the inevitable composition mistakes that happen with faux cameras (cell' 'phones), and generally clean things up so they're presentable. Knowing this stuff makes a huge difference when images are presented on the 'Web and improves the overall experience for everybody. The compactness of images is only one small benefit of knowledge and judicious use of the tools above.

[0] Acronym for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch", usually attributed to Heinlein, but which actually precedes the work that made it famous (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress). The grammar in the thing stinks, but it is what it is, and indeed there is no such thing as a free lunch -- in physics, economics, computing, or anywhere else.

[1] I've actually used that once when I purged all of my imagery when I needed to light up a job-search following a debacle in 2013. Also, at least to other members have requested that I do the same for them which requests were granted and acted upon.

[2] A blatant gripe, that.
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Caultron
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Re: An impulse purchase

Post by Caultron »

crfriend wrote:TANSTAAFL. [0] Trust me, there will be a "cost" involved with that, and it may be in intangibles...
I suspected as much. Going silent...
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

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