# A browser addon that embeds SDMB user portraits into threads? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 22, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618 "2010-09-22T07:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/61 "2010-09-23T19:02:00Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > If this is implemented with an opt-in, opt-out policy, I have no problem with it, but I don’t think there will be many takers. Probably a lot of cute puppy and kitten avatars, which would be reason enough not to do it. > > Opt-out would be fine if people are ok with it. I agree that opt-in would be pointless… I imagine too few people would bother to sign up. > > Under no circumstances will there be avatars that aren’t people’s real photos (or at least sketches of their real faces). Opt-out is absolutely not ok. These pics were posted for one purpose, and shouldn’t be used for another without explicit consent of the provider. Ya know, I don’t want to follow this thread for the next 3 months to learn what people are gonna decide on, so I’m just gonna request Arnold remove my pic right now. Decide whatever you want. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/62 "2010-09-23T19:40:02Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Opt-out is absolutely not ok. These pics were posted for one purpose, and shouldn’t be used for another without explicit consent of the provider. I’m masturbating to your photo \*right now \*and there’s not a damned thing you can do to stop me. Okay, not really. I’m at work, after all. Maybe I’ll print it off and take it on the plane with me, though. Seriously, \*what is up \*with all of the people who are \*shocked \*that people want to actually _look at_ the photos they sent in to be displayed on the internet? 😕:rolleyes: “Oh lawks, I \*never \*would have submitted that photo if I’d realized it wasn’t just going to be printed out and put in a binder to be kept in a safe deposit box in the Cayman Islands with the original file deleted, then overwritten repeatedly, then the HDD it was on physically destroyed!” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/63 "2010-09-23T19:41:33Z")
Oh, and the “one purpose” those photos were posted for was to allow anyone with an internet connection to see what the people who post at this board look like. The proposed addon will… allow people who download the addon to see what the people who post at this board look like. My god, it’s the fucking apocalypse! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/64 "2010-09-23T19:51:59Z")
I can’t rationally justify it. I won’t debate it. I have already asked that my pic be removed, and I am unsubscribing from this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/65 "2010-09-23T20:14:15Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > > > I’m with you. If this goes ahead, I will ask to have mine removed. > > Me too. Hey! That’s my line! 😛 In all seriousness, I really don’t care – if I didn’t want my picture to be seen, I wouldn’t have sent it in in the first place. In fact, I can be lazy then – if someone wants to know what I look like, I don’t even have to bother to post a link. 😉 Go for it. The rest of you? Get over yourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/66 "2010-09-23T20:14:55Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Seriously, \*what is up \*with all of the people who are \*shocked \*that people want to actually _look at_ the photos they sent in to be displayed on the internet? 😕:rolleyes: I’ve been reading this thread for a couple of days and wondering the same thing. It’s baffling, and I think it raises a lot of hard questions. But it does answer one question - I was wondering what the “member-manufactured outrage o’ the week at the SDMB” was going to be. I must admit I didn’t see this one coming, so I lost the pool (AGAIN). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/67 "2010-09-23T20:27:40Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > > [@Asimovian](#): > > > > I understand that it wasn’t the stated use. That isn’t my question. My question is, what is your objection to this potential new use? > > > > ETA: Phrase another way, let’s say that _before_ you had sent in your picture, you were told that it would go up on Arnold’s site AND that it would show up as an avatar next to your posts for SDMB users who decided to use that functionality. Presumably, you would choose not to upload your picture under those circumstances. I’m just asking you why that is. > > Well it was probably a bad idea to post the picture in the first place. > > Now, thanks to my complaining about the new proposed use of the picture those assholes in The Snackpit have linked to my picture, along with **bucketybuck, needscoffee** , and \*\*Dung Beetle \*\*'s because we dared to complain. > > Is that reason enough? My picture is coming OFF Arnolds site! Oh no, the SNACKPIT LINKED TO YOUR PICTURE!!! Somebody call the National Guard!!! (Dude, they link to everyone’s picture, if they’re gossipping about them. Jesus, what IS it about the snarkpit? Why is everyone so obsessed with it?) ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/68 "2010-09-23T20:44:23Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’m masturbating to your photo \*right now \*and there’s not a damned thing you can do to stop me. I get that a lot. > [@](#): > > Seriously, \*what is up \*with all of the people who are \*shocked \*that people want to actually _look at_ the photos they sent in to be displayed on the internet? 😕:rolleyes: I think you should ask that question again, three times just isnt enough. Perhaps after five or six times somebody will come along and justify themselves to you. Perhaps. Hey, worth a shot anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/69 "2010-09-23T21:10:55Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I think you should ask that question again, three times just isnt enough. Perhaps after five or six times somebody will come along and justify themselves to you. Perhaps. Hey, worth a shot anyway. The more times I ask the question without it getting answered, the more silly and irrational they look. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/70 "2010-09-23T21:21:30Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@bucketybuck](#): > > > > I think you should ask that question again, three times just isnt enough. Perhaps after five or six times somebody will come along and justify themselves to you. Perhaps. Hey, worth a shot anyway. > > The more times I ask the question without it getting answered, the more silly and irrational they look. On the other hand, do you recall the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting to get a different result. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/71 "2010-09-23T21:32:48Z")
In this case, I consider it to be giving the objectors the benefit of the doubt that they actually have some logical objection instead of a knee-jerk reaction based on ignorance and confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/72 "2010-09-23T21:39:15Z")
In the interests of board harmony, I am going to hereby rescind my agreement for anyone to use the pictures at the SDMB gallery pages ([http://www.nouilles.info](http://www.nouilles.info)) for a board plug-in as discussed in the OP. I want to thank Reply for taking the time and trouble to code something that could have been an interesting board add-on, but I didn’t realize how strongly some posters felt about it and in retrospect I should have asked the gallery participants before I gave my tentative agreement to it. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/73 "2010-09-23T21:46:28Z")
Now part of me hopes that someone creates an addon that lets me assign my own avatar to any poster I like. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/74 "2010-09-23T21:49:48Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > In this case, I consider it to be giving the objectors the benefit of the doubt that they actually have some logical objection instead of a knee-jerk reaction based on ignorance and confusion. Speaking for myself, its knee-jerk all the way. I can live with that. I do actually know why I wanted the picture taken down, and it isnt really to do with any scripts or add-ons or whatnot. I could explain the reason, but, you know how it is…(yeah, I couldnt be arsed) Knock yourselves out with the add-on, hope it works out. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/75 "2010-09-23T22:49:03Z")
As **Arnold** stated, **the project is now officially canceled**. I hope folks will relax a bit now 🙂 From the beginning, Arnold was only willing to do this if people were ok with it. Now it’s obvious at least some of you weren’t. I agree with his decision. This was never meant to antagonize anyone. I just want to say, though, that I’m surprised and disappointed by the quality of the responses here. I would’ve expected more out of the SDMB, not knee-jerk emotional freak-outs and especially not the “You don’t need to understand”-type comments. What’s up with that? A logical, rational response would’ve only _helped_ your case. ETA: Speaking for myself, I thought **bucketybuck** ’s second response was one of the more rational ones. At least he _tried_ to explain and pointed out the whole expectations vs changes thing. Thanks for that. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/76 "2010-09-24T00:26:20Z")
By what possible circumstance is the inclusion of somebody’s picture in the Portrait Gallery _not_ voluntary? And, given that it is voluntary, it was done on the assumption that anybody who wants to see it would have to go to Arnold’s website and look it up. To be frank, I don’t mind the idea of my picture accompanying my posts, but I’m sure there are many who do, even if they did allow their pictures to go up in the Gallery. Having a picture of yourself off in a different corner of cyberspace is very different from having every post you make accompanied by it ---
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/77 "2010-09-24T02:26:49Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Now part of me hopes that someone creates an addon that lets me assign my own avatar to any poster I like. There’s a greasemonkey script called [Reiconizer](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/62618) that does that. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/78 "2010-09-24T02:35:37Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I just want to say, though, that I’m surprised and disappointed by the quality of the responses here. I would’ve expected more out of the SDMB, not knee-jerk emotional freak-outs and especially not the “You don’t need to understand”-type comments. What’s up with that? A logical, rational response would’ve only _helped_ your case. > > ETA: Speaking for myself, I thought **bucketybuck** ’s second response was one of the more rational ones. At least he _tried_ to explain and pointed out the whole expectations vs changes thing. Thanks for that. Yet people continued to jump all over him and others each time they repeated that they were uncomfortable with it, demanding that they come up with a better reason. The “You don’t need to understand” was in direct response to BigT who doesn’t even have a photo up, yet was insisting that others must agree to go along with it. Did you not see the quote? The quality of the responses here that I’m disappointed by are the snarky superior ones of the people who believe they’re owed an explanation. Every time someone stated that they were uncomfortable with it, acknowledging that it might not sound rational but so be it, others continued to challenge and insult (“no snark, but do you understand how the internet works?”) and it’s frankly not up to the posters who want to opt out to convince the others to let them. They don’t \*need \*to have a logical rational response to “help their case”. Nobody owes anyone else justification. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/79 "2010-09-24T02:38:24Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > As **Arnold** stated, **the project is now officially canceled**. I hope folks will relax a bit now 🙂 > > From the beginning, Arnold was only willing to do this if people were ok with it. Now it’s obvious at least some of you weren’t. I agree with his decision. This was never meant to antagonize anyone. > > I just want to say, though, that I’m surprised and disappointed by the quality of the responses here. I would’ve expected more out of the SDMB, not knee-jerk emotional freak-outs and especially not the “You don’t need to understand”-type comments. What’s up with that? A logical, rational response would’ve only _helped_ your case. > > ETA: Speaking for myself, I thought **bucketybuck** ’s second response was one of the more rational ones. At least he _tried_ to explain and pointed out the whole expectations vs changes thing. Thanks for that. I didn’t ask for or even suggest the idea be scrapped, I just said I would pull my picture if it happened. Then I read in here that people were discussing opt-in or opt-out. Frankly I don’t care enough to track this discussion for God knows how long, because y’all might decide to use my pic on this manner without my explicit permission, and I might have to take some action at some indefinite future time. So I decided to pull my pic now. My real mistake was providing my picture in the first place. I don’t object to adding pics to posts, but only if posters give explicit permission to do it. I find the idea of an opt-out system totally unacceptable for those who already provided pics. I do not object if new submissions to the Gallery are made with the clear understanding that the pics would be used for embedding in posts. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618/80 "2010-09-24T02:40:25Z")
If this is something that people still want, why don’t you start fresh? Ask people who want to participate to submit a photo suitable for avatars and let people join up as they wish. Maybe take a poll first to see how many people would like to participate to see whether it would be worth it. Then use newly submitted photos, not gallery ones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-browser-addon-that-embeds-sdmb-user-portraits-into-threads/554618.md?page=5)