LocostUSA.com

When will my posts be approved and/or be allowed to post in the forum?

Hi J1000...may I call you J?

I think I've found an issue -- your first post had over 50 megabytes of attached data, 15 photos, each 4032 pixels wide, which drug the whole page to 4032 pixels wide, which forced people who wanted to read it to scroll side to side more than a page's worth to read a single line. It also used 40+ meg of LocostUSA's limited resources for storage, and while I don't know what's typical for users here, I've been posting and submitting photos for more than a decade and I don't think I've hit 40meg in total yet.

Here's one of your photos shrunk down to 1/6 original dimensions, and JPGed down to 59KB (jpg medium on my antique version of Photoshop); roughly 1/60 the resource requirements of your original 3,482KB photo:Scaled down like this, it still shows all the necessary details (a pair of barn-find mags, lightly sprinkled with feathers and other bird refuse).

The original does show a lot more detail......but it is literally nine times the area of my laptop screen (1280 x 800) and I can't even see a single one of the wheels in its entirety without scrolling my screen from side to side and up and down. It seems to me that it drowns the viewer in detail, without adding anything useful to the message -- a picture is worth a thousand words, but a picture that's nine times too big to fit on a monitor isn't worth 9000 words.

I've sent you a detailed email, and am approving enough of your posts to get you over the hump (where you can post without adult supervision). I hope you'll edit and resubmit that post, it's an interesting project and I'd like to see more of it.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and owner/operator of http://www.kineticvehicles.com

It's 2022.

Yeah, we're pretty old school around here. But at least I've got wifi, finally, and could toss my dial-up modem.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and owner/operator of http://www.kineticvehicles.com

Came for the old fashioned driving experience, not for an old fashioned internet experience. You are lecturing me about the native resolution of the camera in my phone that's 5 years old. Every other site on the internet automatically resizes it.

J1000,
Yes it is inconvenient to have to resize our pictures but as one who has had to scroll right to read comments I think it is a minor inconvenience that I am willing to put up with.

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John - Slow and Steady. . . Well slow anyway
Build Loghttp://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=6245

Signing up for a forum and immediately demanding that it conform to personal preferences isn't a great way to start things off.

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

Interesting comments here. And while I'm not in complete agreement with the OP, we should consider the positive aspects of his critique.He sent me a personal email that was considerably less subtle (adjectives included "old" and "outdated" and "dying") about this web site (and "ridiculous" about my advice). Do y'all think we're missing out by having such a DIY internet interface, to go along with our DIY cars?That wasn't my intent, it was more about how to make one's posts presentable, so more people will read them. I've been shrinking my own photos for LocostUSA since back in the Bush administration, but it may have been a more common need back then, and technology may be passing us by.I don't think the OP is going to repost here, but he has an interesting project and has reasonable questions. You can help him out at:
https://usa7s.net/ips/topic/13973-what- ... ent-129918

He has a valid point -- the usa7s.net has a more modern web site (and a $20 annual membership fee, at least some of which is apparently invested in upgrading the site's software), and one of its features is autoscaling to fit the page. Quoting from the same photo I tracked in my response, the Get Info reads...

4,032px × 2,268px (scaled to 1,000px × 563px)

...and ours just says 4,032px × 2,268px, which is about sixteen times the screen real estate required for 1,000px × 563px. I'm sure locostusa could get the same autoscaling for similar money. But should we?

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Locost builder and adventurer, and owner/operator of http://www.kineticvehicles.com

I suspect your willingness to help out the viewer is part of why your build log has over 150,000 views and his had two. The point is, unless we choose to modernize this web site, the annoyance to the poster of resizing images is probably greater than the annoyance of any single viewer having to scroll back and forth to read it, but by the time you get to 100 views (heck, by the time you get to 10 views) the cumulative hassle is greater for the viewers.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and owner/operator of http://www.kineticvehicles.com

This site is runs on good will, lots of it. The folks that have been posting here for a while have lived through numerous site meltdowns, photo purges and long blackouts, but like all DIY'ers perseverance and patience is a prerequisite here. I have no issues clipping and compressing all the images I post to benefit the site and its users.

It's a problem on two counts: One: The OP comes across as very demanding. Two: in the past, we've tried multiple times to offer our "forum father" funds to improve things, and it's either ignored or turned down. So while other sites may be better, it is what it is.

A MUCH better approach would have been something like "This site apparently doesn't auto-scale pics. Is there someone I can talk to so that maybe I can contribute to a solution."

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

I think we may have found our volunteer for updating the website.

Wait till the site crashes and he has to reload his pictures.

Seriously J1000, This site has been here for many, many years. It was created for Locost builders to share their ideas and progress and has spread to other build types. It does not require a paid membership. It is currently managed and paid for by one person with a few other volunteers helping to monitor the daily posts. Jack is one of those volunteers. For the most part, unlike other car boards I have visited, there is little hostility here. For the most part members here respect others. You too can become a valued member here if you choose to. I hope you do.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

True, and in defense of usa7s.net, they do not REQUIRE a paid membership either. They OFFER a paid membership, with a few exclusive-to-paid-members benefits (like you can proffer your car for sale if you're a member), but you can read and post and comment to your heart's content by just registering, same as locostusa.

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Locost builder and adventurer, and owner/operator of http://www.kineticvehicles.com

Yes sorry I have a bad attitude. Waited almost a month with just silence from the moderation team until I made this thread.

Then I was lectured about how I should make a post. No, my post was perfectly fine. Concise, detailed, and had good photos. This website doesn't display it correctly.

It's not my fault it the websites.

So instead of lecturing me about what I did wrong, you can say with humility "sorry but you'll have to do some extra steps due to the limitations of this website." Instead of "what the hell are you thinking uploading 4k images?!? Are you nuts?!?"

Yes this website is dying this thread has the most interaction by far!

I'll never understand people who complain about something given for free. Constructive criticism sure, but outright poor attitude - that's a nope. He's welcome to find his utopia elsewhere. I'm perfectly pleased with the people and software on this forum. I'll even donate to keep it what it is if that's ever offered.

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Peace, Ron