Request to repost Frank's mini-tutorials & drawings that disappeared

[StevenWWinters]

I think the point that ... others are trying to make is even where people have created an image/tutorial and have chosen to host it on their own webspace, and then link to or embed that content into their post, that their messages have then been edited by a moderator so as to copy the image to the Talkgraphics server.

I don't know for certain, but suspect that the forum software has been configured to do this automatically without moderator intervention. Furthermore, this may have been a decision by the moderators, not Xara, per se, as the company seems to have be have been rather hands off in the policy setting and general day-to-day running of the forum. Just my speculation.

At any rate, if this prevents talented contributors like James (JokeArtist) and Big Frank from participating, I'd prefer to see this "feature" turned off. Perhaps it could even be a user-by-user choice as to whether to allow the images they upload to be hosted at TG as many may not mind.

[handrawn]

just turrned off for 'artwork' Galleries even would be something

that way, although it would be missed if removed, it would not impinge a great deal on the 'usefulness' of the forum...

[Egg Bramhill]

Is this forum owned by Xara? No, Xara only pays a very small price to host the site. The forum is owned by the members, it is their input that creates the society that's TG. Xara's day to day input is zilch. TG is what Xara support ought to be but is a very pale imitation of.

As for linking to external sites/images then fine..... Apart from the fact that if you allow any member to access and delete their content then thread after thread can become meaningless. But far worse beyond that who monitors the content of an external link?

I can add an external link to

www.my_site.com/tranquil_river.jpg Not a real url link ;-)

which contains a drawing of a tranquil river scene. As that's my web space I can replace that image in a month or so's time but still named "tranquil_river.jpg" once it's dropped under the radar of moderation to one that contains pornography / bigotry / racialism / malware / viruses / etc, etc, etc, the list is endless.

That's why hot-linking is discouraged. Bad or good moderation?

Are you aware of how many members TG has that have zero posts? I can't inform you of the actual number now either as I'm no longer a moderator but it's HUGE! I'd say for every new, genuine member who registers daily there are 20 to 30 new members daily who register to bump up their google link count. Steve in particular has taken this issue aboard and implemented a simple question in the registration process. The questions can be answered by a 5 year old! Good moderation? Oh no, the flack comes thick and fast from members and Xara in particular saying this is difficult & heavy handed.

There are certain individuals with an axe to grind, usually because they have been on the end of a moderation decision they can't accept. Fine. However in my opinion the moderation of TG has been very light weight, bans have been few and far apart and a lot of disputable moderator decisions are down to the fact that members are unaware of the potential onslaught to forums nor the reasoning behind them.

I have been a moderator on TG (or it's predecessor I/US (?)) for 10 to 15 years now, I genuinely can't recall. I have been a lover and enthusiastic user of Xara products dating back to the Acorn Archimedes and Artworks.

Xara has bought this situation on itself by believing that moderators on TG are the same as employees. I am not an employee of Xara. I will not accept dictates / instructions / new rules laid down by Xara. My and other moderators input to TG are there for members to judge. We do get it wrong sometimes but we have to maintain our independence.

I would also take this opportunity to thank all those members who have offered support over the past two weeks. It is greatly appreciated.

[handrawn]

Hi Egg

Sounds to me like your argument is similar in principle [though not the same] as the ones we [at work] have about editorial independence

Whilst I have much sympathy with this, I cannot see anything in Charles' post to argue against myself

All proprietors/landlords/hosting_facillitators call them what you will, have house_rules/policy/conditions, and these may change just like any other rules

and on the other issue:

I'm not a fan of hot-linking - just being able to remove art posted on the art gallery forums - you know, being treated as a responsible grown-up

I'm sorry to see you step down as moderator, glad you are still here

[covoxer]

Steve, you are registered and active for about 3 years here, right?
The possibility of removing any attachments by user was blocked only about a year ago or so after BF demonstrated that not everyone can be "treated as a responsible grown-up".
Still you hadn't posted much serious art in the previous 2 years, when you had full control over your attachments.

[handrawn]

Hi John

My recollection is that the ability to delete art that ended 'after-BF' had not been in place that long - I remember being pleasantly supprised to see it [re?]appear

[angelize]

There is one thing I don't understand. Whether your image is on the TG servers or on your own site or anywhere on the internet anyone who knows how to take a screenshot can access your image. There are also programs now that using fractals can make it possible to increase the resolution of a screenshot quite a bit. I admit those programs are expensive but still it is possible. So what is really the harm in contributing something back to those who have helped you?

TG is what it is because most of us try to give back to the community we learn so much from. I always feel good when someone is able to learn something from what I've posted, because perhaps that person will eventually give back to TG too and our community continues to grow.

[handrawn]

Frances

I agree that you cannot prevent copying
I agree that helping others is one reason why many of us [me included] are here

The issue for me is copyright

I am a busy man - I do not have the time to post up art that is drawn specially for TG
I can post up work that is not done specially for TG, under certain circumstances, one of which is I retain full control of its official distribution

Unoffical distribution is a fact of life we all have to live with

[angelize]

What I was trying to ask was even if you could remove your attachments you still can't protect your image so how does being able to remove them protect your copyright? Is there something I'm missing?

[covoxer]

You are wrong Steve, it was always there.
Your concerns about possible copyright infringement by Talk Graphics are nothing more than an empty sound.
There are plenty of talented artists who had posted on TG for about 10 years. There is a huge amount of users content on this forum. Yet for all these years there was not a single case of the copyright dispute or any problems here.
You had not posted anything but you are already complaining about copyright issues... Please continue, I'm sure everyone here is quite entertained.