Motorcycle pictures

imported post

The pics aren't loading for me using FireFox, even after I log in.

imported post

I was having too many bandwidth problems. There are hundreds of sites out there that consist of almost zero content, some ads, and links to resources hosted on other web sites. These sites would pick a few pictures or a bit of text out of a couple of the PDF files I host, and stick this "content" on their main page along with a bunch of advertisements, to attract the search engines. Then instead of actually offering real content, they would just link directly to the files on my site - so they were essentially using my bandwidth and content to profit off their own ad sales.

At first it was an annoyance. However as the number of "web sites" (and I use the term loosely) doing this started growing into the hundreds, the bandwidth they were consuming from my server became excessive - I'm talking tens and hundreds of gigabytes a day.

I decided I had to do something about it, so I made some changes. You now need to register (quick and free) on the web site in order to download the files - if you're not registered, you can still see the files, but you can't download them. I haven't had any complaints, and almost a thousand people have registered in the past week, so I think it's worked out alright.

The pictures are something new. It allows you to upload pictures that you can also use in the message board if you like. But similarly, to avoid having these sites "deep link" into my site for content, the pictures will only show up if they are being used from within my site. Attempting to view the pictures from outside of the site ends up with an error message (which is why you see that message when you click on the link above). Put that link in a message on my web site however, and it will work just fine.

I'd love to be able to say just "link all you like, I'll share with everyone" - but bandwidth is not free, and when it gets into large, large amounts of bandwidth like I was serving up for these web sites, it starts getting costly.