According to the Canadians, "anger is a healthy and valid emotion"
Sure, and the day I post this— the day I fucking write this post— this asshole comes along and hotlinks one of my photos in question. In fact, he actually had the nerve to hotlink a photo I renamed "fuckyounohotlinking.jpg"! But the worst part about it is that he hotlinks it in a comment on someone else's shitty ass MySpace site so I can't very well replace the image with something fitting of my deep rooted, hate festering anger.
Has he no soul? Has he no decency? What are the chances? What are the chances?
Don't mind me; I'm just stressed and depressed. I'll get over it once Spring comes along and I actually graduate fucking college. Perhaps I'll even get over it sooner- assuming I find some time to pick up some jasmine-lemon bubble tea.
Though, most likely, I merely need to scream "fuck" at the top of my voice over and over again until the anal-retentive neighbor upstairs who likes to exercise at 12 fucking O'clock at night comes down to bitch me out for screaming so much. 'Cause god knows, I'll feel better when I yell "fuck you, asshole neighbor who is fucking louder than I ever will be" to his weasel ass. I mean really, only anal-retentive pricks name their wireless network "JamesandSarah" so I know their fucking names and can slander them on the internet. Only asshole anal-retentive pricks who think it's funny to move their fucking furniture above my bedroom at 2 in the fucking morning so they can vacuum their carpet at 2:30 in the fucking morning are put on this planet so I can cuss them out and feel better about my life.
I dare you to come down here and yell at me "JamesandSarah", you anal-retentive bitch of a man-slut. Oh, I dare you.
P.S. This time I'm not drunk, just angry.
Weather Forcast: Goatse With a Touch of Vodka and Peach Schnapps Skies
Every week, I can count on having at least one (often more) of my images hotlinked. I hate hotlinking. Can I stress how much I hate hotlinking? I hate hotlinkers.
Anyway, there are three images on my site that have the "privilege" of being the most hotlinked. Two of those images were taken with my camera and all copyrights belong to me. One image was lifted from a spam email sent to Tyler.
(By the way, did I mention how much I hate hotlinkers? I hate hotlinkers.)
So, I guess the point of this post is that I get a lot of hotlinks to my images. It's been a really big problem lately thanks to Myspace and Xanga- two places that seem equally adept at harboring bandwidth thieves. I've even included warnings at the end of each post containing the popular hotlink pictures that I will punish hotlinkers. However, this has not stopped the rash of hotlinking I get each week.
And I highly doubt this message will do anything to stop the hotlinking, but I'm posting it because:
- I'm currently drunk.
- I'm currently alone with a dog that happens to fart and abandon ship, thus leaving me to suffer with her coma-inducing stench.
- And, I really feel like ranting about how much I hate hotlinkers.
(I forgot; did I mention how much I hate hotlinkers yet? I really, really hate hotlinkers.)
So, anyway. If you decide to hotlink any of my images, please don't underestimate me. I'm really quite vindictive and creative when it comes to replacing my images. Eventually, I will post a tutorial of sorts that shows just how far I go when it comes to hotlinking. I'm serious. I actually have a folder on my precious little iBook titled "Hotlink Death". You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. It contains all documentary evidence of hotlinkings and the consequences therein. Oh, and also- whatever you do- do not understimate my ability to look at my dear friend Goatse, especially while intoxicated.
Ladro Della Foto
It has either happened or will happen to everyone who puts their photos on the web. Someone, somewhere decides that they either want to "borrow" your photo and steal it without your knowing, hotlink it without your permission, or- if they are a really good person- ask for your permission to borrow your photo for whatever reason.
I can't speak for everyone who has experienced this, but whenever I find that someone hotlinked to a photo of mine- especially without permission- a red haze consumes my sight and my stomach knots up. I then spend the next hour or so changing the file name of my image, tweaking various lines of coding, and hunting for a suitable image to replace the stolen one with. I have yet to find any of my images actually stolen rather than hotlinked, but I'm sure my reaction would be even stronger if I were to discover someone took credit for an image of mine. "What's the big deal?" hotlink perpetrators have asked me. Well, you're fuckin' stealing my photos, you assholes. That's the big deal. And in most cases, you are stealing someone's bandwidth and costing them more money. Really, at least link back to my website so that I can get a little more traffic.
It angers me to no end that people think it's okay to just link your photo to their site and not even give you proper credit or spend the energy to click their mouse a couple of times and type out a quick e-mail asking for permission. It angers me even more when I find a hotlinked photo and read comments from others about how beautiful the photo in question is. I imagine the photo-thief basking in the congratulatory glow of their monitor while I quiver in the dank shadows of my apartment with a cloud of rage chilling the room. Is their need for attention so immediate that they can't find a camera and take some of their own photos? One of the bastards was even a student at my school- the University of Washington- where there so happen to be numerous scanners available for free. Something about the internet gives people a false sense of "take now for free, suffer no consequences later". It's the same thing as pirating music, but different. When pirating music, it's easy to brush it off by saying, "CDs cost too much. The music industry is ripping consumers off." Even though we're told piracy is a bad thing, it's true- CDs do cost too much and the music industry is ripping consumers off and not giving artists a fair share of the profits. However, when stealing an image from a personal website, that justification doesn't work. It may not damage the creator's revenue since they aren't a corporation, but the damage is far worse; it's an insult on a personal level.
I've had at least one person hotlink one of my photos, and I've had many more ask for permission. I make it a point to grant permission to all those who ask- especially since every person who's asked so far has wanted to use a photo for noncommercial reasons. For the hotlinkers, the first time I posted a HUGE nude picture that consumed a mass amount of screen space on the bulletin board where my picture had been hotlinked. The second time, I created this nifty little image. Thank whatever deity is listening to me right now that I didn't use a porno or other offensive image, because the second perpetrator was a person who had asked for permission. Through a lack of information and really confusing circumstances (i.e. using a blog site rather than UW webspace, no name on their site, etc.), he had appeared to be yet another hotlinker.
I think I'll make it into a poster- the image, that is. I seem to get pissed off at such stupid things so easily and then rant about them on this website that it only seems fitting to have a poster of this hanging next to my desk.
Dear Thief
Dear "Rattanack":
I hope you enjoyed the embarrassment that ensued once members of your bulletin board saw the naughty picture courtesy of my boyfriend's porno collection. Because you either lack any ethical convictions or are too dumb to realize the consequence of your actions, let me explain something to you:
I have made a selection of my photographs and words available on the internet for the enjoyment of others. However, this does not mean that said "others" can steal what I've made available. I take it personally when someone takes my photos or words and does not credit me as the author since this is a direct violation of my rights as the sole creator of those works. In the future, when you decide to directly link images (or steal them) make sure you note the origin of what you linked/stole out of common decency toward your fellow human being(s).
Furthermore, I'd like to remind you that I am also a student on at the University of Washington. Do you really desire to make enemies with someone who may share your classes and could potentially make you're life a living hell quite easily? I didn't think so. I don't give a rat's ass what your excuses and validations are for what you did, but I do want you to know that it was wrong and you offended me.
