# Avatar not specified, but I get one in the grease monkey script **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 26, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155 "2012-11-26T14:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/121 "2012-11-28T18:37:37Z")
**Crazyhorse** , on a practical level, how did you get [this profile pic](http://nouilles.info/illustrations/sdmb_portraits/1872_idx.jpg) from [this SDMB portrait](http://nouilles.info/sdpix/1872.html), for all the users that you have done so? Was this done manually by whoever runs nouilles.info and you’re just using the resulting profile pics, or did you request the website owner to create these profile pics be made from the SDMB portrait gallery? Speaking as a user of the script, in your various categorizations of users/non-users of the script I think you left out one category, namely the one I belong to: I want to see avatars people chose for themselves. I don’t want to see how people look like from the portrait gallery if they have not specifically chosen to make those portraits as avatars. I can describe several reasons for this, but mainly because when I see an avatar next to a comment I want to see the “image” the poster is trying to project on this board, and seeing how they look in real life does nothing towards that goal, and in some cases distracts from the comments, e.g. if I see “Oh, here’s the old dude again” or “Here’s the teenager”. I understand that not all users of the script feel this way, but wanted to give you a heads up about one category of user that I haven’t seen you address. It would be nice if the script had the option to turn off automatically picking avatars (from the portrait gallery or from the internet at large) for people who have not specified one. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/122 "2012-11-28T18:43:45Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Well, rail if you must but I don’t think anyone here fits the description of against avatars and for an offboard user script. Anyone against avatars would have been just as happy, if not happier if no script had even been contemplated. Of course they would. The parents of the tiny town in Footloose would have been just as happy, if not happier, if Kevin Bacon had decided not to dance all over the place. The teetotalers during Prohibition would have been just as happy, if not happier, if everyone had simply stopped drinking instead of buying bootleg whiskey from the mob and hanging out in speakeasies. Life is full of unintended consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/123 "2012-11-28T18:49:27Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Life is full of unintended consequences. And when the unintended consequences are avoidable, it’s polite to make the efforts to do so, not shrug and say sucks to be you. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/124 "2012-11-28T18:58:08Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > **Crazyhorse** , on a practical level, how did you get [this profile pic](http://nouilles.info/illustrations/sdmb_portraits/1872_idx.jpg) from [this SDMB portrait](http://nouilles.info/sdpix/1872.html), for all the users that you have done so? > > Was this done manually by whoever runs nouilles.info and you’re just using the resulting profile pics, or did you request the website owner to create these profile pics be made from the SDMB portrait gallery? Yes the gallery includes small thumbnails for each user that has a big picture posted there and those are the logical ones to display for avatars because they are small in size and bandwidth use and don’t get scrunched up when displayed at a normal avatar size. I wrote to Arnold (the admin of the gallery website) a couple of months ago via PM and then later by direct email, asking if he would prefer me not to link to them, or a different set, or use google’s or other web archive’s cached images instead. He hasn’t responded, and last time I looked hasn’'t been active here in almost a month. So without additional guidance I selected the smallest, lowest bandwidth versions of the portraits. > [@Polerius](#): > > Speaking as a user of the script, in your various categorizations of users/non-users of the script I think you left out one category, namely the one I belong to: I want to see avatars people chose for themselves. I don’t want to see how people look like from the portrait gallery if they have not specifically chosen to make those portraits as avatars. > > I can describe several reasons for this, but mainly because when I see an avatar next to a comment I want to see the “image” the poster is trying to project on this board, and seeing how they look in real life does nothing towards that goal, and in some cases distracts from the comments, e.g. if I see “Oh, here’s the old dude again” or “Here’s the teenager”. > > I understand that not all users of the script feel this way, but wanted to give you a heads up about one category of user that I haven’t seen you address. It would be nice if the script had the option to turn off automatically picking avatars (from the portrait gallery or from the internet at large) for people who have not specified one. I appreciate this point of view. It does put you in the minority of script users from what feedback I’ve heard so far, and all the requests and arguments I’ve read in all the past threads here about avatars. As you know as the original author of one of the first custom-assigned avatar scripts here, you can always block or assign a different image to anyone. But I agree that too could, and maybe should be an optional feature. I think almost everything should be an optional feature - the problem comes up with limited time and coding ability on my part, and not wanting the nice, neat, simple script we have today to become a tangle of options and preferences that one needs to set up in order to get started. But that option probably will wind up part of the bigger option to use custom-assigned default avatars at all (if and when it happens). ---
**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:** [November 28, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/125 "2012-11-28T20:55:21Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The option that is now disabled added additional default avatars for some posters not already in the portrait gallery by selecting image links they posted to SDMB Picture threads, Dopefest photo galleries etc. Question – does that mean the rest of us have to update the new version? > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > At the very least, I strongly encourage anyone not using the script to run it just for a bit to make sure if it’s grabbed a photo for you, it’s a photo you’re ok with. Better yet, if it’s not something you’re okay with people seeing: _don’t post it on the Internet_. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/126 "2012-11-28T21:00:33Z")
I think anyone who complains about this script should be assigned the image that would be most offensive to them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/127 "2012-11-28T21:11:15Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Question – does that mean the rest of us have to update the new version? No the update to the avatar script that was posted a few days ago is totally unrelated to the default-avatar thingee. If you use Firefox and Greasemonkey for the script you should get that update to ensure future compatibility with Greasemonkey but it won’t influence whether or not there are default avatars chosen for posters who don’t have any specified. if you use Chrome or otherwise it is totally optional - and probably won’t have any effect at all. The default-avatar selection was handled by the avatar CGI that the usercript talks to, and was available to everyone whether they updated to the new version of the userscript or not and is now unavailable to everyone pending future modifications to make it an optional feature. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/128 "2012-11-28T21:12:28Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I think anyone who complains about this script should be assigned the image that would be most offensive to them. 😃 No no, \*please \*don’t give spinky any ideas! He has almost gnawed through the rope I use to keep him from doing that as it is. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/129 "2012-11-28T21:36:50Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > … Question posted for you in the proper thread, at [this post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15743087&postcount=185) [sub]Avoiding hijacks, one question at a time![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/130 "2012-11-28T21:45:05Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > You are actually one of the few whose avatar is exactly the way I already pictured you from your username. I own that toy and took that picture and it is exactly why I changed my username from the old one to this one. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/131 "2012-11-28T22:34:01Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > In this case had that option been on it would actually find the very same image for your avatar. This[google search](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sdmb+kayT%27s+photo&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=38897761&biw=1248&bih=853&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=STS2UITBNJPm9gTwvYHoDQ) is representative of what the now-disabled feature might have searched for. Then your algorithm sucks. This is what I got for me… : [http://hightimes.com/userdata/277/images/277\_ogstonerjesus.jpg](http://hightimes.com/userdata/277/images/277_ogstonerjesus.jpg) [http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/images/pinksub.jpg](http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/images/pinksub.jpg) [![](http://img53.exs.cx/img53/1141/grammar-nazi.jpg) ](http://img53.exs.cx/img53/1141/grammar-nazi.jpg) [![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XBs08ubYcaM/Tc_PO4W8C7I/AAAAAAAAABw/prK-ZBCC51g/s1600/idiot.jpeg) ](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XBs08ubYcaM/Tc_PO4W8C7I/AAAAAAAAABw/prK-ZBCC51g/s1600/idiot.jpeg) [http://forgetomori.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/projectgrey-io9123.jpg](http://forgetomori.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/projectgrey-io9123.jpg) [http://bumpshack.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/allison\_stoke\_1.jpg](http://bumpshack.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/allison_stoke_1.jpg) That’s on searching Google Image Search on ‘sdmb cheshire human’s photo’. Your search criteria sucks, and you also suck. I’m not surprised at all that people are upset at what it turns up, given what it turns up for me. The only reason I’m not calling for your head on a platter is that I don’t give a shit. You ain’t going to see me calling for the mob to restrain themselves. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/132 "2012-11-28T22:49:06Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > That’s on searching Google Image Search on ‘sdmb cheshire human’s photo’. > > Your search criteria sucks, and you also suck. Settle down, dude. I don’t think Crazyhorse’s script just blindly used whatever results it found. I think he was doing a bit of curating of the results and was only using ones he thought were legit. Or perhaps he employed advanced Colonel Klink detection algorithms, I don’t know. Whatever the case, he did not in fact produce all those terrible avatars for your name, so what are you getting all pissy about? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/133 "2012-11-28T23:00:19Z")
> [@spinky](#): > > Settle down, dude. I don’t think Crazyhorse’s script just blindly used whatever results it found. I think he was doing a bit of curating of the results and was only using ones he thought were legit. Or perhaps he employed advanced Colonel Klink detection algorithms, I don’t know. Whatever the case, he did not in fact produce all those terrible avatars for your name, so what are you getting all pissy about? You might also note that I said: “The only reason I’m not calling for your head on a platter is that I don’t give a shit.” I don’t give a shit, but searching on what he called a typical example (substituting my user name) gave that list of results, I can see why the people who _do_ give a shit, would _really_ give a shit. And he’s arguing that his script is innocuous. No, no it’s not. Demonstrably. The people bitching about it have a _real_ reason to bitch. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/134 "2012-11-28T23:25:24Z")
Please tell us more how little you care. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/135 "2012-11-28T23:26:03Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > You might also note that I said: “The only reason I’m not calling for your head on a platter is that I don’t give a shit.” > > I don’t give a shit, but searching on what he called a typical example (substituting my user name) gave that list of results, I can see why the people who _do_ give a shit, would _really_ give a shit. And he’s arguing that his script is innocuous. No, no it’s not. Demonstrably. The people bitching about it have a _real_ reason to bitch. The only posters that had images default-selected had results that didn’t suck. As I’ve mentioned there are like 140,000 registered users here. The script selected about 500 for posters who clearly wanted to share an image with the SDMB. You didn’t ever have one assigned as far as I remember. The script is innocuous. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/136 "2012-11-28T23:31:52Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The script is innocuous. How are we to know? We are to take your word on it? It’s a legitimate question. As I said earlier. I don’t give much of a shit. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/137 "2012-11-28T23:33:14Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > You might also note that I said: “The only reason I’m not calling for your head on a platter is that I don’t give a shit.” Somehow you’ve managed to both “not give a shit” and be pissy at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/138 "2012-11-28T23:36:57Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > How are we to know? We are to take your word on it? It’s a legitimate question. > > As I said earlier. I don’t give much of a shit. I would answer but I don’t give much of a shit if you have lingering questions, so I guess we are all good. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/139 "2012-11-28T23:37:54Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > As I said earlier. I don’t give much of a shit. Yes, do go on. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155/140 "2012-11-28T23:43:48Z")
> [@spinky](#): > > Somehow you’ve managed to both “not give a shit” and be pissy at the same time. Yes, I try my best. My goal is to be a **pissant**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-not-specified-but-i-get-one-in-the-grease-monkey-script/642155.md?page=8)