Warning - Don't use Photobucket for hosting forum images

[grepper]

My apologies. 

I had recommended to members of this forum to use Photobucket for third party hosting of images in forum posts.  I retract that recommendation.

For years Photobucket used to be free and millions of users worldwide hosted images on Photobucket and linked to those images for forum and blog posts and displaying images in web sites.  Now Photobucket has changed their policies and are demanding a ransom payment of $399.00 per year.  If you don't pay up, all previously linked to images in forum posts are blocked.

I have many posts in forums that are now ruined.

Photobucket's excuse?  From their website:

"Moving forward, new and legacy free account users will NOT have third party hosting available."

Additionally, it appears that even if you were a paying member but let your account lapse and don't continue paying indefinitely, your linked to images will be blocked:

"If you were a Plus Account subscriber in good standing as of June 1, 2017,
you will continue to have all the privileges you have enjoyed including 3rd
Party Hosting until December 31, 2018 as long as you maintain your
subscription."

Here is an example of what Photobucket has done.  I remember making that post and it took a considerable amount of time and effort.  Now ruined by Photobucket.  I posted this more than two years ago.  Now Photobucket is demanding a ransom payment???  Ironically it is a post I made attempting to assist fellow members on how to post images:

https://www.tormek.com/forum/index.php?t...2#msg11402

And check this out:

https://www.dpreview.com/news/6875746538...s-of-users

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q...as_rights=

[Ken S]

Grepper,

Your recommendation was sound and pure of heart at the time. 

I don't know the economics of the photobucket decision. I suspect "corporate greed" may be an oversimplification and perhaps unfair. The decision certainly does not improve public relations. We may not be the target market. The target may be high volume business customers. Who knows?

Given the present situation, I will be trying to maximize my skill with using our exchange photo attachment option. I have done some informal testing. The exchange program of up to ten photos with up to 250kb each seems very adequate for my needs. I have zoomed in on my photos. The enlarged view seems to have enough detail for online use.

Fortunately, this is a very new exchange. No one has "hundreds or thousands" of photos. If each member replaces his own photos, our photobucket problem will soon be over.

Let's march on with our exchange attachment program. Grepper, You are probably our local digital photo expert. I will continue to look to you for guidance.

Ken

[Komitadjie]

I use imgur right now, it seems to be the current easiest and best to use.

[grepper]

I’ve never tried Imgur, but I know it’s well reviewed and said to be easy to use. I had recommended Photobucket, so personally after their debacle of ruining websites and destroying the work and data of millions of users by holding it for ransom I’m reticent to make an actual recommendation.

[Ken S]

I just deleted the seventeen images in my photobucket library. I had emailed them a while back, before the flap, that I wanted to cancel my subscription. They took me off of automatic renewal, but left my library open. I am finished with photobucket.

On the positive side, I am taking a very good series of classes on Adobe Lightroom. At the class last night, I learned that the standard 72 pixel setting for online photos is for older VGA screens. The retina screens, like I use, should have a setting of 132 pixels. I will continue my testing of how to get the most of my 250kb exchange photos, loaded at 132 pixels in the future. I will post results. I will also post results using apple's photos app, which is native to my gear.

Perhaps some of you mught post the same with the editing programs you use.

Ken

[EOU]

Two cents here - Isn't this Photo Bucket thing about the craziest thing you ever heard of? It's just so far over the top that I can barely get my arms around it.

[Ken S]

Agreed. Add my two cents to yours.

Ken

[grepper]

Nice to see you posting Mr. EOU.
 
I have to agree.  I wouldn’t have a problem with Photobucket if they wanted to change their terms of service going forward.  What I find inexcusable and opprobrious and what has created general vitriol towards Pb worldwide is to hold existing historical data created by its users hostage, with the attempted extortion of a huge fee to get the data back.  This ruined websites and personal data on other systems which is not that different in execution than infecting systems with criminal ransomware that has recently become so pervasive.
 
Even if Pb were to reverse their hideous action, I suspect it would be too little too late.  I doubt anyone would trust them going forward.  It is one thing to be somewhat bothersome, but what they have done is truly offensive and blatantly abusive to its users and the world web community in general.  Pb is dead as far as I'm concerned.
 
Apparently what Pb has done is not technically illegal, but it surely doesn’t pass the smell test.

[grepper]

I despise Photobucket for what they have done.
 
I’m an aficionado of modern flashlights.  They are definitely not the lights of yesteryear and have become very cool indeed.  The latest generations utilizing the Cree XHP50 emitter fires 2,000+ lumens from the palm of you hand.
 
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/show...Flashlight
 
But there is one older light, the Niteye Eye15 that I always wished I had purchased but did not.   It is a very compact light producing 500 lm and not much bigger than the 18650 battery that powers it.  Great for EDC.  It has infinitely adjustable +/- brightness utilizing a magnetic control ring.  For me that is the best flashlight interface.  Because it uses an 18650 battery it has exceptional runtime for such a compact light.
 
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/show...teye-EYE15
 
It’s bothered me continuously over the years that I did not get one so I decided to see if I could still get one.  They no longer seem to be available in the U.S., but can still be ordered from China.
 
Anyway I wanted to check out the runtime graphs.  Here is a great review of the light that used to be full of beamshots and graphs, now a victim of the dastardly Photobucket.  The charts and graphs are now simply missing, but it is obvious at the end of the review that the author was using Photobucket.  At least the video was hosted on Youtube.
 
I keep seeing this willful destruction of historical data all over the web.  What a shameful loss.  Photobucket’s utter distain for its users, the worldwide web community in general and history is truly remarkable.

[Mark Reich]

Testing photobucket.

So it seems like this image got here from photobucket. I can see it, but what happens if I try to post it?