Well here I go again discovering something about myself I just was not prepared to know. I was happy in my blissful state of ignorance, unknowing that from the inception of this blog I have been skulking around cyberspace with an orange industrial extension cord behaving like a unconscionable bandit! I have been looting bandwidth *JUST DAMN*
I know… I know I should be shot down on the spot and flogged repeatedly with a hot USB cord. I am so ashamed of myself. So, this post will serve as a official cyber apology and pledge.
I, Ingrid Moore, being of not so sound mind and/or body do hereby and henceforth promise that as of January 8, 2008, I will no longer steal bandwidth or hotlink to other websites or blogs. In addition, I will have my blog hotlinked free by January 31, 2008. I am truly sorry for my ignorance and I promise never to do it again. (One solitary tear falls slowly down my cheek. *SNIFF SNIFF*)
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On a serious note I am guilty, just like many of us, of googling an image and right clicking and rather than saving the file and uploading it to a site like Flickr or Photobucket we just link directly to the site we found the pic. This is a very bad way to upload photos. Not necessarily because of copyright infringement (that is a problem) but rather due to what happens when we hotlink a photo.
Imagine that your blog is actually parked in its own domain name. You pay for the domain name but you also pay for the size of the space your domain uses on the main server that hosts your site. Stay with me. In addition, they also charge you for the bandwidth your site puts out. The more Flash, fireworks, and toys you use on your site the more bandwidth you use.
Now most places give you a certain amount of bandwidth with your package (think cell phone minutes) You can use all of that bandwidth with no extra charge; however, much like cell phone minutes when you go over your “free” bandwidth allotment there is a charge for the extra bandwidth. Well, you all have done it at least once. You have 1000 anytime minutes, some emergency occurs, you accumulate 1100 anytime minutes, and your bill doubles (or triples if you have T Mobile). That hits your pocket.
Now most web hosts have a budget for their sites and usually it is linked to either a credit card, a paypal account, or for the unlucky ones a debit card linked to their checking account. This means when the monthly bill comes due what is normally a $30.00 charge has now become a $60.00 charge. Imagine the havoc that wrecks on a person’s budget. All because I was too lazy to take the extra steps to save a picture and upload to a free server.
It is akin to my taking an extension cord, plugging it into your outlet, hooking my TV up and leaving it on all night long. I get all the benefits but you foot the bill. You see every time a person reads a post that has a hotlinked picture the computer reroutes some of the source site’s bandwidth to my site in order to host the picture here also. That is why if you click on a hotlinked picture it takes you to a website file page (picture on a white background).
As a web master for several sites other than this blog, I understand the amount of “stuff” you store for future use or reference while you are building a site. You need all your bandwidth.
Therefore, it is my sincere hope that we all stop stealing bandwidth. If you find a good picture that is free for your use make sure you save it first then upload it to a photo host site and link to it from there. I know those are extra steps but keep in mind the TV and Cell Phone analogies. You know you’d be pissed too if it was your money people were inevitably stealing.
** Note: As I work to free my blog of hotlinks I still want to give credit where credit is due to the Graphic Artist’ whose work I use to enhance my page. If you would like to support any of these artists by purchasing their work, you can click on the new Avisca link on my right-hand sidebar (directly under the copyright statement).
