# Paint, videos and a little embedding **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 14, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934 "2010-02-14T05:50:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/21 "2010-02-14T21:17:23Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I happen to disagree with the whole “Allowing images will turn this board into just-another-imagespam-message-board” mindset. It is a mindset that discredits the mentality of the board’s members. In other words it implies that being able to include images will turn a board of intelligent sensible thoughtful people into a bunch of blithering idiots overnight. > > I can understand other reasons for not allowing them, but this one just irritates me. Can’t we be the first internet message board that acquires a reputation for going about the image-posting thing in an intelligent way? How many people does it take to destroy that reputation? No more than a handful. Do we have that handful? Yes, we do. QED. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/22 "2010-02-15T00:22:47Z")
> [@The\_Falling\_Reverend](#): > > We fear change. Why do you hate the hamster? Seriously, I don’t fear change, I just think it looks ugly and imho it’s not needed. But the biggest reason I can think of not to allow those things is board performance. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/23 "2010-02-15T00:43:31Z")
> [@](#): > > What does everyone think? That would be a big negatory. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Armageddon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Mister\_Armageddon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Armageddon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/24 "2010-02-15T00:58:22Z")
It’s kind of ridiculous how dated this board looks in comparison to, well, pick any other one on the Internet at random. And just because something can be abused doesn’t mean that it will be. Avatars wouldn’t hurt. Personally I’d start with that and if the universe didn’t spontaneously combust, maybe test a few other features and see how they work out. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/25 "2010-02-15T01:54:39Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Can’t we be the first internet message board that acquires a reputation for going about the image-posting thing in an intelligent way? [Obviously not.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12117411&postcount=15) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/26 "2010-02-15T02:03:39Z")
There was a poll a couple of months ago just about avatars; over 52% said “_No way - no avatars now or ever._” Of course, not everyone votes in polls; but in that case, the majority were against it. I doubt the general sentiment has changed very much since then. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/27 "2010-02-15T02:19:01Z")
I’ve just never seen the problem you guys keep talking about. I’m not sure what you mean by abuse. Using them to be a jerk? Using them too often? I have no problem with just setting things up where everything is handled client-side. Heck, I already hacked together a script that shows avatars in Firefox. I’ve just been afraid to let other people use it and affect board performance. (I thought about hosting the avatars offsite, but I’m so sick that I’m not sure I could reliably handle that. And even if someone else offered to do it for me, we’d still want to check with the mods first.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/28 "2010-02-15T02:26:08Z")
We’ve had smiley and ASCII misuse in the past. Just for fun, but got tiring very quickly, and a limitation on smiley numbers was enforced. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/29 "2010-02-15T02:38:19Z")
> [@The\_Falling\_Reverend](#): > > We fear change. Pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/30 "2010-02-15T04:55:14Z")
> [@Mister\_Armageddon](#): > > And just because something can be abused doesn’t mean that it will be. This is not borne out by any experience in the entire history of the human species. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/31 "2010-02-15T07:05:59Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I use a nifty little firefox plugin (text-to-image) that automatically replaces a link to an image with the image itself. The only downside is that this only works with directly linked images, so if someone just links to the picture embedded in something like flickr’s flash frame, I still have to follow the link, but it does make the doper picture threads etc. at least a little more readable. I have the same thing. I also use a Greasemonkey script called Video Embed that embeds linked YouTube videos within the Dope itself, instead of opening YouTube in another tab. The nice thing about these features is, people who like the neat uncluttered look of the boards the way they presently are can keep it that way. It isn’t necessary to change the boards to allow these features, all a person who wants them has to do is install the scripts onto his machine and other people who don’t want them aren’t required to do anything. Win-win all around. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/32 "2010-02-15T08:37:03Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I happen to disagree with the whole “Allowing images will turn this board into just-another-imagespam-message-board” mindset. It is a mindset that discredits the mentality of the board’s members. In other words it implies that being able to include images will turn a board of intelligent sensible thoughtful people into a bunch of blithering idiots overnight. > > I can understand other reasons for not allowing them, but this one just irritates me. Can’t we be the first internet message board that acquires a reputation for going about the image-posting thing in an intelligent way? I’m with you. This place is different from other places for reasons other than the format. Look at Yahoo Answers, or the comment streams on YouTube - also text-only with no animated avatars or embedded images, yet they’re both a contemptible torrent of lunacy. If images will make the SDMB like stupid places on the net that have images, why has not plain text already made the SDMB like Yahoo Answers? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/33 "2010-02-15T22:25:40Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I use a nifty little firefox plugin (text-to-image) that automatically replaces a link to an image with the image itself. The only downside is that this only works with directly linked images, so if someone just links to the picture embedded in something like flickr’s flash frame, I still have to follow the link, but it does make the doper picture threads etc. at least a little more readable. > > I’ve asked this before, but how about an optional picture embedding feature? Done in some way so as to allow you to choose, in your User CP, whether or not you want to view pictures directly, or only as links… I’m sure there ought to be some vBulletin add on allowing the implementation of something like this, and anybody fearing the vulgarisation brought on by pictures and the like can keep things just like they are now. If you want embedded videos and instant thumbnails, check out **wierdaaron** ’s awesome awesome [Greasemonkey script](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=531870) exclusively for the SDMB. I installed it when he first made it, and every time I access the Dope on some other computer, I’m amazed at how much the board sucks without it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/34 "2010-02-15T23:45:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Look at Yahoo Answers, or the comment streams on YouTube - also text-only with no animated avatars or embedded images, yet they’re both a contemptible torrent of lunacy. > If images will make the SDMB like stupid places on the net that have images, why has not plain text already made the SDMB like Yahoo Answers? One theory is that the ratings system draws out the jerks. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/35 "2010-02-16T00:50:00Z")
Why not limit image embedding to one forum? Surely it’d be more popular than the barn house. Or is the argument than allowing images at all will attract the hoi polloi and clutter up our pristine ivory tower? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/36 "2010-02-16T14:45:12Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > One theory is that the ratings system draws out the jerks. Maybe, although it never seems that big a deal on either YouTube or Yahoo Answers - but maybe I’m just not seeing it. I think this place is different enough - and significantly, contained/controlled enough - that it would survive the introduction of embedded images without turning into a lunatic asylum. It might give the mods more to do, but I don’t think it’s an impossible thing. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/37 "2010-02-16T14:47:49Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It might give the mods more to do, but I don’t think it’s an impossible thing. Gee, thanks-love you too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934/38 "2010-02-16T16:13:29Z")
Heh. What I meant is that I think it’s concievable to have a message board that has images, but is not a pit of total insanite, albeit at the cost of probably increasing the volume of necessary moderation - that increased volume could be countered by recruiting more mods, of course - it’s not as if there are salary budget limitations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paint-videos-and-a-little-embedding/528934.md?page=1)