Linking to Graphics on Someone Else's Server
I am of the opinion that it is much better to copy graphics onto your own server than to link to a particular page for the graphics.
The following admonition (or similar) is posted on many websites:
Note: It is NOT an acceptable practice to load images onto your own Web pages or load images into a Web Chat environment directly from someone else's server. Many people on the Web are charged for file transfer from their site if they go over their alotted amount. I was one of those people and really got burned (try a $500 bill, guys...)
There are other reasons for not doing this as well. For more info, check out the following Web page:
http://www.widowsweb.com/widows/plea.html
-- Morgan Smith
The issue, for me at least, is that (if you do link to some else's server) it may encourage some people to believe that it is an acceptable practice everywhere. I don't believe it is and I am far from alone. You could check out web prestige or look more generically at:
http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/Policy/Abuse/
Bandwidth_Thieves/
I think somebody else mentioned that it slows down loading and site access.
Incidentally, I like to be arbiter of what appears on my page and the prospect of somebody changing a graphic on my page at their whim really doesn't thrill me too much, still diff'rent strokes....
-- Chesil
As a WebTV user, I am very familiar with the "linking to graphics" problem.
This issue of "remote linking" to files has been a heated one. There is a major issue with what is called "Bandwidth Theft".
It has caused many problems for PC users' ISP's, often causing complete shut down of some sites.
In the beginning, when WebTV was relatively new, we had no way to upload files to our site directories. (We still don't, but there is a fabulous new Web-based tool that helps us with that: located at
http://transload.starblvd.net/
When the word got out that WebTVers were notorious for stealing bandwidth, our reputation sank.
It became my personal mission to educate WebTVers whenever, and however I could about this problem. I now teach New WebTV users how to use the Transloader. I also wrote a page about the problem:
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/1394/
Anyway... if you, as a RingMaster, are allowing your ringmembers to link to your graphics... ~~~ AND they do not "reside" on the same server you are using ~~~, then you are causing problems for your server! And you might face shut-down if it gets to be a serious load problem!
I'm not here to tell you what to do. As I mentioned, it is my mission only to educate folks. As PC users, I thought most of you would already know about this... but I'm okay with telling you about it, too. If you choose to do nothing about it, that's up to you. I just wanted to let you know what I've learned as a WebTV Internet Surfer.
-- Brigit ne Ravenhollow