Disappearing Images

I know that this has been mentioned many times, but I'd like to add another voice to the choir. We are losing our heritage with disappearing images. Seems like much of the stuff I search for has images that are no longer hosted, severely limiting the usefulness of the remaining content. Take this thread: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=27150 ...and many, many more.

Ideally, I think the existing/remaining images on VAF should all be scraped and archived somewhere, and I'd be happy to help with that effort if it all possible, it's the sort of thing I spend my days doing.

It may be that inclusion of a photo in a VAF post doesn't grant a perpetual license for the site to use that image. That could be problematic for saving heritage images. If that's the case, perhaps a change to the sites' TOS going forward could at least allow images from 2016 and newer to be archived, or perhaps even retroactively for site members.

I understand the bandwidth concerns, but it is not an insurmountable problem. Stuff to think about. The memory hole is killing me.

-jon

You can probably save a web page for your personal use, including photos, if you do it while the photo is still there.

I use Firefox and right-click on a blank spot on the page, and select "Save Page As..." It saves it wherever you put downloaded things. For me that's on the desktop for convenience.

This isn't a general solution but it might help in some instances.

Dave

That will work ok if you read it now (before you need the info) and know now that you will need it in the future.

But if you're searching archives for a problem you have now, and the images went away last year.....

Sometimes the Wayback Machine at archive.org can retrieve a picture - rt clicking the missing pic will give the non-working url.

Unfortunately many personal web blogs are set up for no archiving.

ImageShack

Changes in ImageShack's access policy to force paid hosting of photos is the cause of many of the missing pictures (mine included). The policy posted on their website reads in part:

"Any free accounts (non-premium) will no longer deliver images to any sites, blogs or forums. This change will be implemented by November 1st, 2015."

Even worse, it goes on to say:

"If you chose not to upgrade, your account access will be discontinued by the end of January 31st, 2016, and your ImageShack account will be considered abandoned."

I have gone back through my old posts and replaced many of the ImageShack pictures that I could find...a time consuming task.

If you plan to document your build and you want to save a bunch of pictures, it's worth it to pay a couple of bucks a year for a web-hosting service. Even if you don't build your own domain name web site, you can post your pictures there, use it to backup your PC, and even build up your own email services to block out all the spam. It's really not that hard to do and most hosting services will walk you through the process of getting it all set up.

It appears that images from image shack that are 4 years old are gone forever no matter what.

There is a lot of ways you can save photos but I don't think that is the point the OP is making. Over the course of time people simply don't keep up with their photo hosting or whatever. It truly is a shame that there is years of knowledge in here that would be so much more useful without the red X's.

Facebook

Another option is to create a Facebook page of your build project and post as many pics as your heart desires for free. My page is my N number.
Cj

f1rocket said:

If you plan to document your build and you want to save a bunch of pictures, it's worth it to pay a couple of bucks a year for a web-hosting service. Even if you don't build your own domain name web site, you can post your pictures there, use it to backup your PC, and even build up your own email services to block out all the spam. It's really not that hard to do and most hosting services will walk you through the process of getting it all set up.

Click to expand...

AndyRV7 said:

There is a lot of ways you can save photos but I don't think that is the point the OP is making. Over the course of time people simply don't keep up with their photo hosting or whatever. It truly is a shame that there is years of knowledge in here that would be so much more useful without the red X's.

Click to expand...

Correct. Steps could be taken to automatically collect these images by scouring the forum's database for images and archiving them somewhere, but there might be TOS issues there. It's the sort of problem I spend my days solving, and not insurmountable, but obviously only if there is a will.

-jon

At least two other VAF members are also members of BeechTalk, which has over 30,000 registered users.

As great as VAF is, BeechTalk is the way these things ought to be. On-site hosting; You can post photos from your computer or phone directly to the site, which means there are MANY more photos. Participants use their real names, which are not discoverable by non-members. You can choose to ignore or follow individual threads or individual posters. Threads you contribute to are available to you with a single click. Posts can be flagged as Like, Dislike, or Flag Abuse.

Of all these, two are the most important:
1) Real names. BeechTalk is the most polite, honest, and active site I've ever been involved with. When they have fly-ins, everyone already knows everyone else's name. Introductions don't go, "Meet Dave. You probably know him as LateForDinner." And it becomes natural to pause before posting, knowing that your actual name is attached to what you say. Obviously, it doesn't stop real jerks from being jerks.

2) Photo hosting and easy posting. It's really too bad that years of VAF'ers experience is no longer available to us newbies because of vanishing photos. I can't count the number of times in my brief membership where I've searched for information and found something potentially helpful, only to discover that the photos are gone. "I made this device to solve a big problem. As you can see, it works great," isn't very helpful without the original photo.

But admitting there are frustrations doesn't mean VAF is less than wonderful. No doubt there are many RVs flying today that would've been Trade-A-Place Tail Kits without VAF.