Do Not Post Images From Rotten.com and Foo.ca

[I Am Not A Mod]

Hello everyone.

Occasionally we have had to point this out to people on threads, but I don't think the word is getting around because it keeps happening.

Some Freepers like posting images on Free Republic, which is fine by me. Some are absolutely hilarious.

And some Freepers like to go to Rotten.com to look at the graphics there, and then decide to post them to threads here.

The problem is that Rotten.com hates us, and hates conservatives. Whoever it is over there likens us to nazis.

When one posts an image from rotten.com on a thread, it may look normal on that user's computer, if the image is in the user's cache. However, for all the other users, the image won't be what the poster intended. The rotten.com server sees that the img request came from Free Republic, and swaps it out with something else. Sometimes it is porn (of the more vile sort, to be honest). Sometimes it is a picture of a rotting corpse with some text calling us gun-freak nazis who love female corpses.

So please do us a favor, and yourself a favor too since others might think that you intended to post whatever graphic ends up being displayed, and avoid rotten.com when posting to Free Republic.

And if you want to still give them your traffic by visiting their site despite the fact that they hate your guts, that is your own business and I really couldn't care less.

Thanks!

Update: While Rotten.com does indeed do this to us, and while rotten.com was the source of the picture that was involved, the site that did the switch this time was foo.ca.

Here is the image they swapped:

Click to see it- warning, it is gross.

Given the name of the URL, I am guessing it was the pic of the lady golfer kissing the trophy she won.

---

Got a freepmail that has a good tip in it:

"When one posts an image from rotten.com on a thread, it may look normal on that user's computer, if the image is in the user's cache."

A slick and foolproof way to avoid this problem with any site is to search for images with a different browser than the browser in which one is posting.

I search in Explorer and post in Safari. Nothing from Explorer goes into my Safari cache, so whatever image I preview in Safari will be exactly as the rest of the forum will see it. Works for all browsers and all websites. Also provides protection against the Red X, "hosted by tripod," etc.

I thought of posting this on the thread, but it's already 100 replies, and would probably get lost. Perhaps a re-edit wit this tip might be useful.

Thanks to the always helpful Sabertooth for that handy tip!

[I Am Not A Mod]

PS: Let's get this fundraiser over with! Make a donation, please!

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
32	Indiana	50.00	1	50.00	275	0.18	80.00	6

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[I Am Not A Mod]

Not singling you out for any reason other than you were the latest that they messed with.

[Glenn]

Thanks for the lecture. I'd have never been able to decide a matter as significant as this on my own.

[I Am Not A Mod]

It has nothing to do with making a decision. We don't want porn and decaying bodies on the forum. And most people don't want to accidentally post such things, and with the way caches work, they wouldn't even realize that they are doing so.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I did not realize that. Sigh....some are hilarious, but now must add rotten.com to my no-go list.

[hellinahandcart]

We don't want porn and decaying bodies on the forum.

I'm still reeling from "Tub Girl" a couple months back. Some things should never be seen by mortal man.

[ErnBatavia]

I, as a frequent poster of images (but not from there), had absolutely no idea someone like rotten.com could actually substitute; the more I learn about this business, the more I realize how little I know....just damn!

[G.Mason]

Like this?

Oh so sorry. That is ghastly.

[Glenn]

We don't want porn and decaying bodies on the forum. And most people don't want to accidentally post such things, and with the way caches work, they wouldn't even realize that they are doing so.

Oh. Now I see. Caches post images. I'm such an idiot. Thanks again. How did I ever get along in life without your wisdom and instruction?

By the way, who in the hell is "We"?

[hellinahandcart]

You could SAVE a picture from rotten.com to your own photo-hoster, couldn't you? Then they couldn't switch it on you.

But I suppose it would only encourage others to go there and link to images, thereby perpetuating the problem.

[Lead Moderator]

Watch what happens if we leave it up.

[gracex7]

Thanks for the info. I had no idea that could be done. And my, what a charming a group they must be over at R.com

[the_Watchman]

He didn't say "caches post images". That is YOUR incorrect conclusion. His statement explains why the poster would not even be aware that a gross image had been posted on Free Republic.

BTW: "We" is most of us!!

[Neets]

Smart alec eh??????????

[hellinahandcart]

absolutely no idea someone like rotten.com could actually substitute

Oh, it happened to me once. I googled up some pics of Joe Scarborough and posted one without carefully looking at the site that was hosting the image. Next thing I knew, my post was showing a picture of George Bush wearing a Hitler mustache and standing in front of a Nazi flag.

[Glenn]

His statement explains why the poster would not even be aware that a gross image had been posted on Free Republic.

Hogwash. It's bull. Show me one time where a "cache" had a single thing to do with an inappropriate post of an image on FR.

As to your "we" group -- Is it four legs good, two legs bad or the other way around?

[hellinahandcart]

Put a nice big shot of something or other in your next cup, won't you? Otherwise I'm going to have to call you Grumpy Glenn.

[William Terrell]

I keep refreshing the thread to see it change. How long does it take?

[I Am Not A Mod]

Thank you for clarifying the attitude with which you are posting. I had not caught on to it the first time.

Let me explain in more detail.

If a user goes to Rotten.com and browses from their web pages, each time an IMG tag is accessed and the image is loaded, the rotten.com server can tell that the tag was on a page served from its own server, and will present the image.

When a rotten.com image is posted to a thread here, when the rotten.com server gets the request for the IMG, it can tell from the http headers that the requesting page was not a rotten.com page. It can also tell that the requesting page was a Free Republic thread.

Many sites use this ability to tell what page generated the request for an image in order to substitute another image, so that people don't post their images and use their bandwidth. Angelfire is an example of this.

Rotten.com has this habit of changing images posted to FR to be something particularly nasty. You don't have to believe me, plenty of others have seen it before.

A user's cache comes in to play because it can make it so that a user does not notice that the image has been swapped on him. If the user had viewed the correct image at rotten.com, and then goes to post it here, when the user gets the preview page it can (depending on browser settings) just show him the cached image for that URL, rather than going to the server to get the image served again. Everyone else would get whatever the server delivers- which has been "Tub Girl", it has been some gay porn, it has been some decaying bodies.

I hope you have a great New Year, Glenn.