photobucket restrictions due to 3rd party hosting

[48Dodger]

Ok.....so now Photobucket shows 3 different plans......I only saw one before.

Plus 50..........59.00 bucks/year     50 GB

Plus 100........99.00 buck/year     100 GB

Plus 500........399.00 buck/year   500 GB

Probably do the 59.00, shouldn't break the bank and it'll reduce the frigg'n ads...lol

48D 

[Young Ed]

Be careful guys last time I checked those cheaper plans didn't get you the third party hosting you need to be able to share photos on this site.

[48Dodger]

OK.....I'll give it a go and report my findings.

48Dum Dee Dum Dum......

[JBNeal]

Late this afternoon I received an email from photobucket about a reduced pricing offer for a limited time...this seems interesting but I'm gonna stew on it some more...

[Don Coatney]

I paid $99.00 in October of last year. I see the limitations on what you posted are about 400 photos. I have over 7,000 photos in my bucket.

[JBNeal]

I'm kinda wondering if this is gonna be another bait and switch deal for beginners:  for a low fee, get started with 3rd party hosting and then a year from now BAM!! a significantly increased rate ...kinda like last year

[P15-D24]

13 hours ago, JBNeal said:

Late this afternoon I received an email from photobucket about a reduced pricing offer for a limited time...this seems interesting but I'm gonna stew on it some more...

 

If their is interest I could offer a similar Beginner package for use here.

The Intermediate package is actually a decent deal and I can't get close based on my ISP storage costs. 

No editor or Https however. 

Let me know. 

 

[JBNeal]

follow-up email this morning has removed the "limited time" verbiage... 

http://photobucket.com/plans/?utm_source=ga&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:11554922&utm_campaign=2018-06-02 141000 Free User Rollout (6 months active)

[JBNeal]

it looks like photobucket has dropped their prices a little bit, which are starting to look a little more reasonable...in the meantime, I've noticed that several of my pics that I have linked on this site are being shown by photobucket as deleted or moved, but when I access my account, they are still right where I left them...but pics I posted before their new pricing structure are still visible...considering the trouble I've seen on this and other websites, I'm thinking that each account still has pics & videos that are still visible until that account reaches photobucket's maximum free bandwidth limit, then everything in excess of that goes haywire, either getting fuzzed out or outright disappearing...bless their hearts 

[JBNeal]

photobucket recent issues are apparently much worse than they are letting on...many subscribers are complaining about lost files but still getting billed for services (not rendered) a month after their massive outage...some are grumbling about a class-action lawsuit...I was just about to pull the trigger on one of their hosting packages when this massive outage occurred, kinda glad to dodge a bullet for a change...

 

https://downdetector.com/status/photobucket/

[Dodgeb4ya]

Photobucket...

Is now where all past and future photo's end up....

In the trash gone forever

They screwed themselves and everyone else in a big way.

Bye Bye Photosucket???

[JBNeal]

I received this email Sep.10:

 

 

Logging into my PB account for the first time in months, I see that I have only used 315 MB of the 2.5 GB that I am allowed on the free plan, but I have used 381 images of the 250 that I am allowed on the free plan.  My account interface on my laptop is not as user-friendly as I would like, as the top third of the screen seems to be locked with some kind of blank banner that doesn't change size no matter how much I zoom down on the screen.  When I try to access my account on my tablet, this seems to be exacerbated by ads at the bottom of the screen that greatly reduce accessibility, and trying to view my account on my phone is useless as the top and bottom of the page are similarly blocked, leaving only a large postage stamp window to view folders and pictures.  On top of that, it appears that a noticeable amount of content is still outright missing from several of my folders, presumably a result of that big outage they had recently.

 

So apparently, photobucket is following through on their bait-and-switch strategy to increase their revenue streams by making files unavailable to even the account holders, which seems suspiciously like ransomware.  I do not feel like rewarding their bad behavior by paying their ransom, and it looks like I am not the only one, as I have seen the pb missing images on a wide range of websites and forums while doing research on multiple projects this summer. 

 

To make things worse, Microsoft has been sending me emails about upgrading software as my 11 yr old laptop still uses Windows 7, which I bought and paid for and subsequently had to debug when I found out (from online forums) that MS had sent a malicious patch during a software update in 2016 that was like putting a boat anchor on a tricycle...some of those emails seem to suggest that they will be making a similar move to force Windows users to upgrade to their subscription plans or face the consequences of denial of service of obsolete software.  And recently Google Play Music announced that this free service that was standard on Android OS will be deactivated soon, and be replaced by YouTube Music...when I tried fiddling with that last night, it too looks like it will be another bait-and-switch as there was a message that I would be using a free trial for Premium Music, but there were still 5 second ads that would play randomly while playing music that I paid for years ago from Amazon.  So I'm guessing YouTube Music will be just like YouTube videos in that ads will run prior to playing a file that I want to access.   I had looked at mp3 player apps awhile back, but the biggest drawbacks to many of those was that they would not work if their licenses could not be verified, which is a problem because I spend a lot of time in the boonies where there are annoyingly intermittent and lengthy signal interruptions.

 

And the list goes on and on with all of these companies wanting to improve revenue, even with the economy not doing so great and the future very uncertain in many ways.  The sheer volume of services available that require payment information upfront is unsettling considering the amount of electronic fraud that is occurring nowadays.  This year alone, I have had problems with 5 of my credit cards being accessed without my permission, and one card has been shut down twice for fraudulent purchases made thousands of miles away.  The irony is that I am not doing a great deal of internet shopping, but the cards I use locally are going into some database and that's where the problems are occurring.

 

This is just another big hassle that eats up a lot of time trying to deal with it all...reminds me of why I got out of computer programming in the first place, spending so much time in front of a monitor, supplying information and moving information around and double-checking information, meanwhile I'm not getting much of anything tangible done in the real world...I would very much like to play ball with pb but the disruption of the service that I signed up for just a few years ago followed by the loss of files that were never ever supposed to have been lost still has not motivated me to want to be a paying customer when there is more than one game in town.

[Plymouthy Adams]

nothing for free folks.....regain your life and all that's yours by bring it home to roost.....you getting no gains and the company is making ad money hand over fist on your backbone accounts....delete all the accounts....see what they are left with then. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

with the negative input on the photobucket I decided it would be best to just delete my account....I only had two pictures as space holder as I long ago burned down the account when they first started limits on third part hosting.....the only real reason for the account to begin with.  Today I sign in, I am not allowed access to my two pictures for edit unless I upgrade.....so I went to accounts and setting and I am NOT ALLOWED to delete my own account....so in my opinion....photobucket is guilty of ransomware acts....keep the two pictures...I am so pleased with my decision long ago to burn my hosted images down to just two placeholders.    Before this is over I see a wave of mass exodus in degree of a tsunami wave as folks exit this media...

 

anyone else here tried to delete pictures or account?

 

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Plymouthy Adams

[Plymouthy Adams]

update....deleted....after having signed in and out on the third sign in I got a confirmation of delete request and drop dead date...this site long outlived it usefulness to most folks....watch for that upgrade slam fee in 6 months time......lol

[P15-D24]

First, unless you have absolutely nothing of value on your laptop, including any financial info, personal info, or doing financial transactions (I.E. BillPay) you need to upgrade to this century. Using WIn7 on the internet is a big security risk. 
 

Second, disk space and server space cost money. That said most  home ISP accounts provide a free web server space as part of their internet package. You can use that, up to the limits of storage they provide, to host pictures, post the URL and they will display in the threads. 

 

Third, I can increase the storage available to members, but I have to buy additional disk space from my site ISP. I have talked about doing this in the past but when it came time for people to pay no one stepped up. And it is not cost effective for me to do for just couple members.  That said I more than happy to revisit the topic.

 

Last, another possibility is get your own web site hosting account. Pair.com, the host I use, has an account with 15GB of storage, 75GB of monthly transfers for $72.00 a year. You have full control, no popup ads or any of the other BS you typically run across.  If this sounds interesting PM me as I think they have a referral program which may bring the price down.

 

As PA says nothing is free (except the free storage you get here for posting pics ?) Lots of alternatives PB, but the catch is usually those organizations don't want to host images that get posted to other sites. 

[Los_Control]

Years ago I posted a photo from photobucket on a forum. Some troll was able to use the link from that photo and post the whole album. The goal was to embarrass me, by posting this photo of me ... I just laughed at that. They also posted photos of my family and saying untrue things about them, that pissed me off.

So I removed my photos and closed the account. ... Technically what Hotrod tractor is trying to do, because you can do it is why I left .... before photobucket went to pay accounts.

 

This photo I was actually very annoyed. I was installing exterior lighting on a customers home after new stucco, Their daughters were in 4H and raising a chicken, the dog was chasing it and found me as a safe space.

I really want the homeowner to put the chicken back in the cage, Oh just wait til I get my camera I got to have a photo  ?

[Plymouthy Adams]

well in the 70's stationed in Europe and on the radio network for armed forces....we had a radio superhero named "chickenman" he's everywhere he's everywhere.....well....this is not what I pictured chickenman looking like I assure you....cape maybe, no overalls....applaud you for correct wearing of hat...

[JBNeal]

I bought my laptop on closeout in 2009 and tolerated Vista until Windows 7 was on closeout in 2012...this older hardware / software combo is bolstered by a Norton security account, and suits my personal needs...I've used Windows 10 for awhile at several jobs and it doesn't do much more than the previous software it's based upon, just a different interface...I've helped family, friends and coworkers remotely work through performance issues on their ends, which has been kinda amusing at times cuz these same ppl will turn around and basically hire me to shovel out their barn after quickly solving technical PC issues they couldn't wrap their brains around for hours 

 

PB was free in a sense that there was no annual or monthly fee, just had to deal with ads...very much like watching TV and sitting through commercials, I can handle that time tradeoff.  I am more irritated that I didn't even get 2 solid years of use out of their service before they changed their business model.  On top of that is the time consumption to fix the mess that they have caused by their shifting requirements.  I am well below their storage limitations, but now I've got too many links?  That bandwidth restriction is a little dubious considering my content...it makes the whole pricing system seem arbitrary and that ain't right.  Considering how much time and energy it will take to upload photos on a new hosting service with more agreeable terms and storage stability, this whole thing reminds me of a small town speed trap, where it's just easier to pay the cash fine and roll on rather than sacrifice the time needed to be exonerated in an inconvenient municipal court...except in the case of pb, the cash fine is monthly to offset any time lost in pursuing a long-term better deal...

[Los_Control]

This thread is perfect for those that are satisfied with PB and to step up and say which selection they chose.

 

Crickets ....

[Young Ed]

39 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

This thread is perfect for those that are satisfied with PB and to step up and say which selection they chose.

 

Crickets ....

I still have a paying account which I've had for many years. If someone had a similar service is likely switch as their site has been very troublesome for about the last year

[Plymouthy Adams]

I personally think the window 7 was the best user friendly interface going bar none.....I would have loved to see the attention directed at security issues and kept 7 but the money is in the ads and app that free win10 is all about...and you thought they just gave you this software.....?

[Eneto-55]

On 9/19/2020 at 6:25 PM, Plymouthy Adams said:

I personally think the window 7 was the best user friendly interface going bar none.....I would have loved to see the attention directed at security issues and kept 7 but the money is in the ads and app that free win10 is all about...and you thought they just gave you this software.....?

I agree that Win 7 is probably the best OS Microsoft has ever built.  I have used MS DOS 3.3, 6.1, Windows 3.1, 95, 98SE, XP, 7, and now (on work systems only) OS 10.  I cannot bear to call Windows 10 'Win 10', because to me it's more of a loser.  

Regarding security on Windows 7:  Some other IT guys tell me I'm deceived or lying, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say.  Using Windows 7 on-line is not a security risk.  Back in 2008 or so I was invited to a workshop at the Microsoft building in Columbus (have no idea where they got my contact info, or why I was invited - I'm just a one-man operation building custom locked-down systems for Amish-owned businesses), and the speaker explained that if you NEVER get on the internet while logged in as the Windows Admin, you cannot get hacked.  That was while I was still building XP machines, and he was talking about Vista.  After I switched to Win 7 I implemented on my own computer according to what he had described.  I have not used any "virus protection" software since, and nor have I had any viruses on my system.  You DO have to be careful not to ever enter the Admin password when asked for it, unless you are sure that the process that wants to run is one you have requested.  I do also do program testing on a shop system that I can just turn around & wipe if I want, so there is that precaution I have adopted as well.

 

But I am skeptical about Microsoft's long-range plans for OS 10 as well, thinking that they are aiming for 'computing as a service', where each user just has a 'dumb terminal' (thin client), and everything else is on their servers, and you pay (through the proboscis, probably) to use these 'services'.  

 

In regards to PB, I have never used it, but when reading through old threads or tech articles, the needed photos are very often missing.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Eneto-55

[HotRodTractor]

I think a lot of the issues you guys have with Windows 10 is simply the home version. I run Win10 Pro and it is just a slightly updated Windows 7 from my perspective. Almost everything looks and feels the same. I have turned off Cortana, I'm not logged into a Microsoft account, it just runs and is happy. 

[Eneto-55]

10 hours ago, HotRodTractor said:

I think a lot of the issues you guys have with Windows 10 is simply the home version. I run Win10 Pro and it is just a slightly updated Windows 7 from my perspective. Almost everything looks and feels the same. I have turned off Cortana, I'm not logged into a Microsoft account, it just runs and is happy. 

In my case, it isn't.  I have never had a home version, always Pro.  But my main complaints primarily have to do with the way the major updates (going to a new 'build' roll-out) trash a lot of technical configurations and what I call 'clean-up', like removing unwanted clutter in the Start Menu, links to stuff like Edge & XBox, etc.  I do not use OS 10 on my personal computer, but as a system builder I have been forced to switch to OS 10 systems.  My case is somewhat unique, however, because I need to build in a type of security & lock-down that is not generally necessary in other environments.  When I update my system images to a new Build (currently Build 2004), it takes several hours of work to recreate the level of security and clean interface expected for my customers.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Eneto-55