[R-390] FYI group - Easily adding pictures to posts and a quick tour of Skycraft

[John KA1XC]

With the popularity of digital photography there are now quite a number of
on-line photo storage sites, and some of these allow "hot-linking" which
means that you can access the picture from outside their site and use it for
anything you want such as message boards, auction sites, emails, etc.

A number of these sites are free, and all you need is your web browser and a
pic on your hard drive to click on and that is it!
It doesn't require having a web page, web space, or using an FTP program to
upload. And even if you have a web page it's a good way to post some quick
pics of interest and not have your site crash because 600+ people have
flocked to it as soon as you've posted the URL and are surfing all over it.
There really isn't a catch, the free hosting is simply a lure to attract you
to higher levels of (pay) service which provide for file management, better
hosting etc. On some sites there might be a pop-up ad for viewers but in
general I've found there are not.

A google search will provide many sites to check out, but one I'm familiar
with is ImageShack at http://imageshack.us/
To use it, go to the site and click the browse button to browse for the pic
on your hard drive that you want, click it, and then click the "host it"
button.

It then uploads your pic and provides you with a list of  links to use
depending on the kind of forum you are posting to.
For the purposes of this reflector, choose the "Direct link to image" link
at the bottom of the page and just copy and paste that link into the message
you are sending to the list. All done!  This is now a direct link to the
picture, full size.
(Or you can also use the link in the "Show picture to friends" box which
will frame the pic in a web page and resize the pic to fit in the viewers
browser window if necessary.)

If you want to test the link simply copy and paste it into your web browser
and it should come right up. Don't loose the link to the picture before you
use it as you will not be able to retrieve it without the URL and you'll
have to start over. Once uploaded it will remain on their server forever
unless you sign up for one of the higher level services which will allow you
to delete it, but this isn't necessary.

Here's some example pics, they are related to the previous thread about the
MB connectors and Skycraft in Orlando, FL taken in Jan 2004. I'm a photo bug
and snap lots of pics on vacation (jpg files are free!). My camera is a 4 mp
Nikon Coolpix 4500, and the pics have been reduced to 45% of original size
and also recompressed to make for much smaller file size. Some of the inside
pics are a little off-color, I think I was so amazed at the place when I
walked in that I took a bunch of pics before remembering to adjust the white
balance for fluorescent lighting. Sure would be nice to be down there again,
yet another snow storm is on its way to metro-Boston with 6-12" expected
:^(

Here we go.......

The Skycraft parking lot views...
Lots of racks. Inside one of the big boxes were some surplus tank seats!
http://img198.exs.cx/img198/9017/skycraft018qv.jpg

here is the same pic but using the alternative link I mentioned to frame and
resize it in a page,
clicking that image will make it go full size.......
http://img198.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img198&image=skycraft018qv.jpg


the road sign.......
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/5443/skycraft027jd.jpg

and the rooftop UFO...
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/2967/skycraft032yr.jpg


Inside....
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/930/skycraft044cx.jpg

big-ass variacs...
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/7334/skycraft058ug.jpg

springs and things....
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/5484/skycraft067hv.jpg

parts, parts, and mo' parts...
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/848/skycraft075fo.jpg
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/881/skycraft089nz.jpg

the infamous box of  MB connectors....
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/941/skycraft099pw.jpg

gold plated copper sheet!.........
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/6272/skycraft102qz.jpg

the coax section.....
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/3223/skycraft114rd.jpg

the metal section........
http://img184.exs.cx/img184/6572/skycraft121tt.jpg

Seeing these pics again reminds me how bad it feels to have a great place
like this NOT within easy driving range.

Hope you enjoyed the tour and that this info is of use; it'd be cool to see
some images here. Let's see that 390 in progress, those leaky caps, your
handsome or not so handsome mug, or a schematic of something!

73,
John