Author Topic: avatar offer to GX1_MAN (Read 14511 times)

soybean · « **on:** July 06, 2006, 07:44:10 AM »

This is my let's-save-some-bandwidth, optimize-computerhope-forum-speed, have-mercy-on-dial-up-users, help-the-sage-set-an-example, have-a-beer-on-me, avatar offer to GX1_MAN:

This image is 2,830 bytes, compared to 46,369 bytes for you current avatar. Why so much difference in file size? Because I downsized your image to the actual size (65x49) of your avatar, whereas you took a much larger (640x480) and apparently set HTML height and width attributes in your forum Profile to force the image to appear as a 65x48 pixel avatar.

Ross is next.

Rob Pomeroy · « **Reply #1 on:** July 07, 2006, 04:07:09 AM »

Before you start on me, I like mine the way it is!

soybean · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2006, 05:08:26 AM »

:-? Your avatar is just fine in terms of the issue I'm raising. I think you already knew that.

Rob Pomeroy · « **Reply #3 on:** July 07, 2006, 05:52:18 AM »

I did.

soybean · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2006, 10:11:57 AM »

GX1_MAN, the have-a-beer-on-me offer is a limited time offer, so hurry.

Dead_reckon · « **Reply #5 on:** July 07, 2006, 10:14:22 AM »

lmao, why is it that whenever you take advantage of a limited time offer its always gone?

Zylstra · « **Reply #6 on:** July 07, 2006, 01:12:19 PM »

Soybean,
Do you plan on keeping ALL of these in your photo bucket? I still have yours...
(or do we have a hidden expiration)

Oh, wait. Mine is on some other site...
dderolph?
You have Earthlink, Soybean?

chriscool9 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 07, 2006, 01:20:09 PM »

This is nothing personal at all, but dont you ahve better things to do?!?!? Lol

Chris

tucker42 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 07, 2006, 06:07:28 PM »

Quote

lmao, why is it that whenever you take advantage of a limited time offer its always gone?

ummmmm because it IS a limited time offer? Just a thought. Cheers

homer · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2006, 07:11:31 PM »

how bout one with a SMIRNOFF symbol on it. in fact im drinking 1 right now. dont be surprised about the spelling mistakes, the monitors floating right now......... [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif]

soybean · « **Reply #10 on:** July 07, 2006, 10:12:11 PM »

Quote

Soybean,
Do you plan on keeping ALL of these in your photo bucket? I still have yours...
(or do we have a hidden expiration)

Oh, wait. Mine is on some other site...
dderolph?
You have Earthlink, Soybean?

Yes, Earthlink is my ISP. They offer some free web space to all accountholders, so I occasionally upload something to my Earthlink web space instead of using photobucket.com. I just deleted your image.

Zylstra · « **Reply #11 on:** July 07, 2006, 10:14:07 PM »

Quote

Quote
Soybean,
Do you plan on keeping ALL of these in your photo bucket? I still have yours...
(or do we have a hidden expiration)

Oh, wait. Mine is on some other site...
dderolph?
You have Earthlink, Soybean?
Yes, Earthlink is my ISP. They offer some free web space to all accountholders, so I occasionally upload something to my Earthlink web space instead of using photobucket.com. I just deleted your image.

And I just saved it to my computer. I will put it on my site

EDIT: Its on my own site now, Soybean. You can delete it from yours now.

soybean · « **Reply #12 on:** July 07, 2006, 10:46:31 PM »

I had already deleted it before you posted. I figured you had it on your hard drive. If not, you can always right click on it here in the forum and use Save Picture As to save it to your hard drive.

soybean · « **Reply #13 on:** July 07, 2006, 10:51:08 PM »

Quote

This is nothing personal at all, but dont you ahve better things to do?!?!? Lol

Chris

Nope, nothing better to do.

Just trying to do something good for ComputerHope.com. Actually, web graphics is an interest of mine. Seven years or so ago, I became interested in web design. Keep in mind a greater percentage of Internet users then did not have DSL/cable; they used a dial-up connection. I obtained some references on web design, including web graphics. One of the guiding principles behind developing web pages was to strive to keep the web page file at 50K or smaller. Why? Because site visitors will not hang around and wait for the page to load in their browser if it takes too long. Heavy use of graphics can quickly make a web page file larger than 50K. An image like GX1_MAN's avatar, alone, would take the page close to 50K, and wouldn't leave room for much else except some text in order to stay close to the 50K rule-of-thumb.

With a greater percentage of Internet users now accessing the Internet via high speed DSL or cable, I believe many web developers have become lackadaisical about optimizing image file size. I think's unfortunate. There are still a significant percentage of Internet users who use dial-up. And, if you read my comments in http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1152193853, you can see how wasted bandwidth can impact the cost of hosting a website.

By the way, that image in your signature is another gross case of bloat. Nice looking image, but the file size could be 1/4 what it is, and look the same. Let me know if interested. I'll tell you how.

soybean · « **Reply #14 on:** July 07, 2006, 11:05:26 PM »

Quote

how bout one with a SMIRNOFF symbol on it. in fact im drinking 1 right now. dont be surprised about the spelling mistakes, the monitors floating right now......... [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif]

Can I trust you with this? :-/

homer · « **Reply #15 on:** July 07, 2006, 11:37:32 PM »

sweet deal go for it!!!

chriscool9 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 08, 2006, 05:33:54 AM »

Well i happen to think it is very good of you helping CH out. When you were talking about the sigiture, im asumming you were talking to me. Go ahead buddy if you want and do what you do to it!

Chris

soybean · « **Reply #17 on:** July 08, 2006, 08:45:37 AM »

I bet some people wish they could lose weight this easy. Here ya go:

This image is only 12,453 bytes, compared to 90,635 for your current image.

Although I have an old version of NetGraphics Optimizer, I used Paint for this, to illustrate that special software is not needed for this. Besides, in some cases, Paint, which all Windows users have, does the job just as well as NetGraphics Optimizer. I simply copied your image into Paint, set the heigth and width attributes to 120 and 320, the actual dimensions, and saved it as a JPEG image.

soybean · « **Reply #18 on:** July 08, 2006, 09:12:51 AM »

I'm a little embarassed to say that my comments about saving ComputerHope some workload on their web host server were invalid. I forgot that adding an avatar in this forum can only be done by pointing to a URL independent of ComputerHope.com. So, the data traffic consumed with poorly optimized graphics is a matter of concern only the individual forum member using that image.

However, I still think ComputerHope would want forum members to avoid bloated image files because they could still have an impact on website/forum performance from the visitor's perspective, especially for anyone using a dial-up connection. All the images on screen, regardless of where they are hosted, must be loaded into the visitor's web browser.

My confusion may have come from the fact that I am an adminstrator for a new forum I helped install for a local organization. When a user installs an avatar, they can choose among three ways to do that. Here's a screen capture of what a user of that forum sees when electing to insert an avatar:

As you can see, the first two options actually upload the avatar to the server hosting the website and forum. The third option shown there works the same as ComputerHope's forum; the avatar resides on a server specified by the user, not on ComputerHope's server.

Note the 6KB limit on file size.

Dilbert · « **Reply #19 on:** July 08, 2006, 04:22:54 PM »

That is pretty large for an image limit; one forum I'm a part if says 70 x 70 pixels and no more than 4 KB. However, a very large forum, which has fora that are 20 times ours in size (divided into 20 parts there, so basically it's 20 different fora the size of ours) and they allow 120 x 120 and 40 KB, and they allow sig pics (unlike the first one, which does not and I think also has a code to eliminate img tags in sigs).

Weird, huh?

GX1_Man · « **Reply #20 on:** July 08, 2006, 07:54:01 PM »

LOL for the Smirnoff bottle

Dead_reckon · « **Reply #21 on:** July 08, 2006, 08:00:36 PM »

whiskey bottle computer: http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/whiskypc/index_eng

more weird mods: http://www.neatorama.com/case-mod/index.php

gotta love these people

homer · « **Reply #22 on:** July 08, 2006, 10:30:48 PM »

^ lol, i would probably pull all the cords out by trying to take a swig.

[smiley=beer.gif]

Dead_reckon · « **Reply #23 on:** July 09, 2006, 10:43:32 AM »

its funny how that bottle was the perfect size...

homer · « **Reply #24 on:** July 09, 2006, 11:51:37 AM »

Quote

its funny how that bottle was the perfect size...

u thinkin its fake?

Dead_reckon · « **Reply #25 on:** July 10, 2006, 08:29:45 AM »

nah, its real, they used a micro, or mini ITX board like this one:

and sadly, alot of those boards are more powerfull than your GX1, GX1 man...

soybean · « **Reply #26 on:** July 10, 2006, 08:57:00 PM »

Quote

That is pretty large for an image limit; one forum I'm a part if says 70 x 70 pixels and no more than 4 KB. However, a very large forum, which has fora that are 20 times ours in size (divided into 20 parts there, so basically it's 20 different fora the size of ours) and they allow 120 x 120 and 40 KB, and they allow sig pics (unlike the first one, which does not and I think also has a code to eliminate img tags in sigs).

Weird, huh?

Yeah, 4KB should really be enough for still images, especially with 70 x 70 pixel limit on display area. And, it would preclude animated images (always larger files), which is fine with me.

But, actually, my point was that even a 6KB limit is actually rather small compared to some of the large file sizes for avatars being used here in the forum for avatars, including ... uh .... GX1_MAN. He still hasn't accepted my offer.

GX1_Man · « **Reply #27 on:** July 11, 2006, 04:11:46 AM »

Will get around to it, and thanks.

GX1_Man · « **Reply #28 on:** July 11, 2006, 04:13:26 AM »

Quote

and sadly, alot of those boards are more powerfull than your GX1, GX1 man...

What processor specifically is in those boards? A Samuel or Nehemiah VIA chip?

And where did you get the idea that power is everything?

panboy · « **Reply #29 on:** July 11, 2006, 05:20:40 AM »

You don't Still Use a GX1 Do you ? all tho i suppose if you use it only for work and Internet there more than good enough

Rob Pomeroy · « **Reply #30 on:** July 11, 2006, 06:25:42 AM »

I bet you'll find that it's running Linux, and is more than adequate...

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #31 on:** July 11, 2006, 09:13:13 AM »

hey soybean is my avater thingy to big??

if so if ill make me a small one with photoshop

soybean · « **Reply #32 on:** July 11, 2006, 09:26:06 AM »

Yours is 4,810 bytes. That's not bad; I'd leave it as is.

soybean · « **Reply #33 on:** July 11, 2006, 10:06:23 AM »

unlovedwarrior, I went ahead and took a closer look, and I have something that's not only a little smaller file but looks better. Here it is:

GX1_Man · « **Reply #34 on:** July 11, 2006, 12:58:40 PM »

Quote

You don't Still Use a GX1 Do you ?

<----- That's it!

I have faster machines, but my trusty workhorse is in fact a GX1 with a PIII-500 512 RAM a 60 gig hard drive and an onboard 8 meg AGP video chip. I can do everything I might need to, except run the latest games (which I don't need to). Movies, video, internet, e-mail, everything else...it's more than fine. It is quiet, runs cool (doesn't even need a CPU fan, just a heatsink) is compatible with everything, and has a 200 watt PSU, which is more than adequate!

I tried a P4 3+ gig machine and I couldn't type any faster. (I'll bet you couldn't either.

)

panboy · « **Reply #35 on:** July 12, 2006, 03:20:21 AM »

Well i do have a slightly more power full PC , but no it cant type any quicker nor can it make websites load faster or can do my work for me... but it Runs BF2 Pretty Sweet ^.^

Also i just Turned around , and there is a large pile of Beige Boxes ... with words like dell and opti on them ... i think there may be some or your Trusty GX's in there , just waiting to be disposed of... its sad they couldn't keep up with the bad office employees spyware habits..

soybean · « **Reply #36 on:** July 12, 2006, 09:21:37 AM »

Quote

hey soybean is my avater thingy to big??

if so if ill make me a small one with photoshop

Ummm ..., unlovedwarrior, you asked for it and I gave it, but you're not using it. Wondering why. If you really can't see a difference, then your eyes must be older than mine, and mine are probably older than most here in the forum. And, I can definitely see a difference.

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #37 on:** July 12, 2006, 09:31:28 AM »

i cant put in

soybean · « **Reply #38 on:** July 12, 2006, 09:49:00 AM »

What's the problem? Do you remember how you set up your original avatar? To get to the profile edit screen for that, you click on Profile, then Modify, then Options.

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #39 on:** July 12, 2006, 09:55:43 AM »

how do i put it in i have own pic part :-?

soybean · « **Reply #40 on:** July 12, 2006, 10:04:50 AM »

Not sure what you mean by "pic part". I know this is a huge challenge for some people, but can you try writing sentences with full words?

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #41 on:** July 12, 2006, 10:33:44 AM »

the part that says:

i have my own pic:

then it asks for the url

soybean · « **Reply #42 on:** July 12, 2006, 10:46:01 AM »

Hmmm, you just changed your avatar to a completely different image. Obviously, you know the procedure. Just save the image I posted to wherever you keep your avatar image, then access your Profile and put the proper URL in the box.

GX1_Man · « **Reply #43 on:** July 12, 2006, 12:07:26 PM »

Quote

Not sure what you mean by "pic part". I know this is a huge challenge for some people, but can you try writing sentences with full words?

You amuse me, Soybean!

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #44 on:** July 12, 2006, 12:08:22 PM »

it still wont let me

soybean · « **Reply #45 on:** July 12, 2006, 01:10:59 PM »

unlovedwarrior, if it's complicated for you, then don't worry about. It's OK, really. Just stick with what you have.

By the way, have you ever thought about why you are unloved?

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #46 on:** July 12, 2006, 01:15:27 PM »

for many a reason....

plus ive always used this name for everything,, if it was to long i use ivan

Dilbert · « **Reply #47 on:** July 12, 2006, 01:32:20 PM »

No need to touch my avvy. It's only 8.44 KB, not too bad a stress on PC's.

soybean · « **Reply #48 on:** July 12, 2006, 01:34:38 PM »

So, the avatar procedure is too complicated for you, right?

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #49 on:** July 12, 2006, 01:36:12 PM »

it seems that way... but i found a better one.. that goes with my name

soybean · « **Reply #50 on:** July 12, 2006, 01:41:02 PM »

Quote

No need to touch my avvy. It's only 8.44 KB, not too bad a stress on PC's.

That's true. And, you downsized the file to the actual dimensions of your avatar before inserting it in the forum. That's the best technique.

Anyway, I grabbed your avatar and ran it through my sofware to see whether resulting file size would be significantly different. It is significantly smaller, at only 2,556 bytes. Here it is if you want it:

Dead_reckon · « **Reply #51 on:** July 12, 2006, 03:00:48 PM »

i belive we have a conservationist on our hands...

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #52 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:13:06 PM »

rofl.. ummmm... it that true???

GX1_Man · « **Reply #53 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:19:55 PM »

OK, Soybean I did it. I feel lighter already.

What can you do about Sam?

soybean · « **Reply #54 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:38:58 PM »

Quote

OK, Soybean I did it. I feel lighter already.

This calls for a celebration.

Quote

What can you do about Sam?

Quick, somebody call the nearest animal control/dog pound!

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #55 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:47:14 PM »

that a scary looking dog you have they lol

Zylstra · « **Reply #56 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:48:55 PM »

Quote

that a scary looking dog you have they lol

I'm so glad its dead!

That thing is going to cause nightmares.

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #57 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:50:11 PM »

im going to put it on my brothers background lol

Zylstra · « **Reply #58 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:51:24 PM »

Quote

im going to put it on my brothers background lol

I was thinking about doing that with this computer, but I would be grounded. Instead, I emailed it to my cousin.

(My cousin, the one, who according to every survey he fills out, lives at 123 fake ST )

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #59 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:54:01 PM »

Quote

Quote
that a scary looking dog you have they lol
I'm so glad its dead!
That thing is going to cause nightmares.

how do u know its dead have u checked your backyard lately??

Zylstra · « **Reply #60 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:55:09 PM »

Quote

Quote
Quote
that a scary looking dog you have they lol
I'm so glad its dead!
That thing is going to cause nightmares.

how do u know its dead have u checked your backyard lately??

GROSS! (BUT INCREDIBLY HILARIOUS)
I wonder how old that dog was before it was freeze dried. (or at least it looks freeze dried)

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #61 on:** July 12, 2006, 04:57:02 PM »

lol it might be in your freezer right now waiting on you to come let it out...

dont be scared itll be to weak to kill u but it might hurt and/or scare the heck out of you

GX1_Man · « **Reply #62 on:** July 12, 2006, 05:30:49 PM »

Who said it was dead?

Zylstra · « **Reply #63 on:** July 12, 2006, 05:37:07 PM »

Quote

Who said it was dead?

Its eyes....

GX1_Man · « **Reply #64 on:** July 12, 2006, 05:38:54 PM »

It could be cataracts.

http://www.stlukeseye.com/Conditions/Cataracts.asp

homer · « **Reply #65 on:** July 12, 2006, 05:50:10 PM »

im pretty sure its cataracts. how else do u explain the way its leaning over?

Dilbert · « **Reply #66 on:** July 12, 2006, 08:36:45 PM »

Quote

Quote
No need to touch my avvy. It's only 8.44 KB, not too bad a stress on PC's.
That's true. And, you downsized the file to the actual dimensions of your avatar before inserting it in the forum. That's the best technique.

Anyway, I grabbed your avatar and ran it through my sofware to see whether resulting file size would be significantly different. It is significantly smaller, at only 2,556 bytes. Here it is if you want it:

Well, the reason I downsized it was for two reasons. One, like you said, it's good to shrink it to actual size. The other was the fact that when I first used my colored avatar, it was just a tad over the limit, and Dilbert's glasses got "squished" in the process of the YaBB code making it look a uniform size. (It's still just a tiny bit squished, but it looks fine in my profile. Go figure.)

I've downloaded the avatar and re-uploaded it to Imageshack. You can remove the Photobucket one if you want.

Funny thing happened. I tried to save it as a PNG (because, after all, my PNGs tend to be much smaller than JPGs -- exponentially, in fact) to reduce the file size further, but that made it go back to almost 9 KB. Weird. So I'll keep the JPG as my avatar.

Dead_reckon · « **Reply #67 on:** July 13, 2006, 11:25:12 AM »

speaking of frozen dogs; when our dog died in 96 i think it was, it was the middle of winter, we couldnt bury him, so, my dad got a couple large clear trash bags, and stuck him in the freezer, that spring, we buried him... we have quite a pet cemetary forming at my house... a dog (blacky), 3 gold fish, a parikeet (ozzy), a lizard, a cat (dutchess), one of dutchess's kittens... i think thats all, not sure though...

unlovedwarrior · « **Reply #68 on:** July 13, 2006, 11:34:36 AM »

did u bury them in an old haunted indain burial ground?? :-?

i hope not cuz ull be sorry..... boo

soybean · « **Reply #69 on:** July 13, 2006, 12:29:43 PM »

Quote

Well, the reason I downsized it was for two reasons. One, like you said, it's good to shrink it to actual size. The other was the fact that when I first used my colored avatar, it was just a tad over the limit, and Dilbert's glasses got "squished" in the process of the YaBB code making it look a uniform size. (It's still just a tiny bit squished, but it looks fine in my profile. Go figure.)

I've downloaded the avatar and re-uploaded it to Imageshack. You can remove the Photobucket one if you want.

Funny thing happened. I tried to save it as a PNG (because, after all, my PNGs tend to be much smaller than JPGs -- exponentially, in fact) to reduce the file size further, but that made it go back to almost 9 KB. Weird. So I'll keep the JPG as my avatar.

Based on some experimenting, I find PNG files to be much larger than JPG. Perhaps it depends on the file you start with. My NetGraphics Optimizer software only saves files in either GIF or JPG format. If I copy a JPG file into Paint and start to save it as GIF, Paint usually shows a warning that "Saving in this format may cause loss of color informatiion" and, indeed, it usually does. So, JPG seems to be the best format in most cases.

Rob Pomeroy · « **Reply #70 on:** July 14, 2006, 04:07:36 AM »

Quote

(because, after all, my PNGs tend to be much smaller than JPGs -- exponentially, in fact)

There might be a slight misconception here. The PNG format uses a lossless compression method called "DEFLATE". JPEGs use a lossy compression method which, particularly with large complex images such as photos, can produce much better compression ratios (but with a loss of data that is not always detectable by the human eye). JPEG compression is variable - that is you have a trade-off between quality of results and file size. If you are finding that your JPEGs tend to come out larger than your PNGs, then there are two possibilities - either you're working on an image that doesn't really lend itself to JPEG compression (such as simple cartoons...) or your JPEG compression settings are turned up too high. Aim for a setting of around 15, using standard rather than progressive encoding.

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Author Topic: avatar offer to GX1_MAN (Read 14511 times)

soybean

Rob Pomeroy

soybean

Rob Pomeroy

soybean

Dead_reckon

Zylstra

chriscool9

tucker42

homer

soybean

Zylstra

soybean

soybean

soybean

homer

chriscool9

soybean

soybean

Dilbert

GX1_Man

Dead_reckon

homer

Dead_reckon

homer

Dead_reckon

soybean

GX1_Man

GX1_Man

panboy

Rob Pomeroy

unlovedwarrior

soybean

soybean

GX1_Man

panboy

soybean

unlovedwarrior

soybean

unlovedwarrior

soybean

unlovedwarrior

soybean

GX1_Man

unlovedwarrior

soybean

unlovedwarrior

Dilbert

soybean

unlovedwarrior

soybean

Dead_reckon

unlovedwarrior

GX1_Man

soybean

unlovedwarrior

Zylstra

unlovedwarrior

Zylstra

unlovedwarrior

Zylstra

unlovedwarrior

GX1_Man

Zylstra

GX1_Man

homer

Dilbert

Dead_reckon

unlovedwarrior

soybean

Rob Pomeroy