Is Blogger STILL fucking up your blog images?

Keith, from KeithKats at: http://keithkatsiv.blogspot.com  
had the following post on September 12th in response to Blogger's inability to correct the image problems which have been going on for about a month:

No, Your Eyes Don't Deceive You

And it's not a problem with your browser. I've deleted everything in this blog posted during the month of September. I realized that I could no longer guarantee the image quality--specifically, that images would not degenerate to ugly black boxes even after they'd been posted and had seemed to be all right for days afterposting. Since I have no intention of inflicting eyesores either on myself or on my readers, I've deleted everything that seemed at all vulnerable to deterioration, which means everything posted in September. (I hope the problems with Goggle and Picasa won't retroactively hurt posts made before the end of August. If they do, out those posts will go, too.)

So I'm currently re-thinking the blog. Most likely, I'll continue it somewhere else, but I don't know where yet.

Here is a man who values the look and the content of his blog so much he deleted everything he has done rather than put up with those ugly black boxes Google/Blogger is substituting for some images.  He may even change his blog host if this keeps up.  Visit his great site at http://keithkatsiv.blogspot.com  and drop Keith a note of encouragement.  

Jeff & Brent  

We received the following email from Sozo, the owner of SOZO'Sblog:

Hey There!

I don’t mind adding you guys to my list at all. It’s for those very reason you mentioned and the fact that Google limits what we can do in just about every way that I will be hosting my own blog and switching to wordpress very soon. That way, I’m the only one who can tell me what I can and can’t do.

Thanks!

Sozo

SOZO'Sblog has moved his own domain to WordPress in order to get away from the Google/Blogger problems which are hanging over the heads of all who use Blogger as the platform for their blog.  

Check out this very hot blog:  http://www.sozosblog.com/

Sozo, good luck on the transition and thanks for letting us know.  Keep up the good work!

Your blogging buddies, Jeff & Brent

Thanks from Xavier at UOM0

Brent and I received this e-mail from the owner of UOM0.  You should check out his very hot blog before Google/Blogger closes it down.

Daddy Jeff and Brent
Thanks friends for your guidance on blogs in google.
all friends UOM0
my blog: http://uom0.blogspot.com/

Excuse my English, I hardly speak.
regards,
Xavier

 Xavier, we are happy to help and thank you for your e-mail.  We never shy away from a compliment.

Your blogging buddies, Jeff & Brent

Another blogger makes note of Google closings

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Bloggers want to hear from you!

Hug a Blogger...Leave a Comment

We recently heard from a blogger who left Google/Blogger because of the technical problems he was experiencing, but he was also afraid his blog was going to be deleted like so many of the other blogs we have been reporting.


This blogger brought up a great point which we have heard from others, and sometimes experience ourselves:  a lack of comments from viewers.


I know there are many reasons viewers do not leave comments, however, if a blog allows for comments, the blogger wants to hear from you!  If you visit a blog regularly, it is not necessary to leave a comment every time you drop in, but think of saying "HI" once in a while.  We bloggers appreciate hearing from you.  A blogger buddy of mine calls himself a "comment whore".  He just loves comments.  Actually most of us are comment whores, but he is the only one to admit it!


So, dear blog viewers, when the mood is right, give bloggers a hug every once in a while, leave a comment.  It's sure to bring a big smile to all our faces.


Jeff & Brent

Wayne's Nude Musicians has been shuttered!

Five Years on Blogger and Wayne's blog is removed!  Here is part of his story:

hey jeff!
i have decided i am not gonna pursue getting my blog back or even my old e-mail address. i talked to someone else about this and have found out that the process of getting your blog back can sometimes take weeks. even though i put ten years into this project and really had nothing backed up.
please change the status of my site to "removed" which is what it officially is. my mirror site is pretty much a ghost site as i of course lost my Picasa account, too and that's where the pics were mirrored from. (wish i had downloaded more of the albums from there. but what's done is done.)
i don't have the time or energy left for this anymore.
i am looking at it this way: Wayne's Nude Musicians had a ten year run - 5 years on MSN groups before they dumped all their adult sites and then 5 years on blogger. and a ten year run on the internet is sort of like "the mary tyler moore show" of blogs. i just wish i had figured a way to take a snapshot of the whole blog on a little disc i could've kept as a souvenir to remember the time i was a blogger.

i hope my decision does not make you think me "ball-less"... for me the last straw was in nightcruzzr's messsages. when he kept referencing "pornography". if adult content and pornography are not synonymous... obviously blogger and i cannot be on the same page.
again, thanks for your help!
w


Wayne continues the nude musicians in his blog, blue guitar, on Tumblr.  Visit his site at:

http://blueguitar.tumblr.com/

Keep on bloggin'
Jeff

The Bitchboy Blog and Jim's story

Jim is the owner of The Bitchboy Blog, a blog what was closed due to possible violation of Terms Of Service (TOS).  Incidentally, this was not the first time his blog was closed by Blogger.  He received the following automated response after requesting a review:  
We received your unlock request on February 28, 2011. On behalf of the robots, we apologize for locking your non-spam blog. Please be patient while we take a look at your blog and verify that it is not spam.


On March 28th, March 28th!!, his blog was re-opened.  In this instance, it took one month for Blogger's current review process to work.


The volunteer Top Contributers (TCs) in the Blogger Help Forums insist that this is the best that can be done, and if not the best, well, all you bloggers just have to "deal with it".  (An exact quote).  


Jim has decided NOT to deal with it.  Here is his March 28th response on his blog:


hello guys, nice to see you back Seems that the blog has been re-opened by Blogger I received a mail saying "we apologize your blog was removed BY ERROR" (they say hum...) but on the blogger help forum a lady called Mary from Dublin said to me "no your blog won't be re-opened cause you VIOLATED the TOS" 
hu! I didn't violated no one It's Google blogger who fucked me three times As it will surely happen again cause Google blogger is so messy
(they deleted all my pics from the november 2010 till march 2011)
I moved on Nibblebit So you can go there

http://bitchboyblog.nibblebit.com/

Keep on bloggin'

Jeff

Tips from Brent

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This is Raulito's response to Colt Studios' demand that his blog, Male Power delete all image posts under threat of copyright infringement.

I am grateful that you published that incident with Colt. I am now in the process of deleting all the pictures I have ever published from Colt and Buckshot. However, it is my opinion that when I have done a post on any of the photos from them not only do I give them credit by leaving the watermark but I often make it a whole plug or promotion including their url, etc. So, in view of the fact they don't want free advertising and that they are behaving so pissy and arrogant, as far as I am concerned Colt is dead and I urge everyone to boycott them. They want to act this way after posting photos that would be by any account in the public domain and then harass those who pick them up. They must know that they can't have their cake and eat it too.
saludos
raulito

From the owner of Baring My Sole & Captured Heroes:

I've been following your blog for a while, and when I saw the first rash of closures, I was sure mine would bite the dust. But to my surprise, it stayed around. I even took down the flagger heading as you suggested.

But this morning, I discovered both of my blogs (tiedfeetguy.blogspot.com and capturedheroes.blogspot.com) had been shut down. As with a recent experience you posted, I was fortunately able to get them both up and running quickly with a quick text verification. But no specific reason was given, nor had I been given any notice or complaints of any kind.

I do think one interesting aspect is that both of my blogs were closed at the same time, inferring that they (whoever "they" may be) are targeting authors, not specific blogs.

I'm glad your blogs are back up, Mike. I have no idea what is going on with all the Blogger blogs which get deleted and then turned back on again. I am glad that your two blogs are among those turned back on.

Jeff

Guyz Naked In Public was shut down by Blogger and is now reopened.

Here is a post from the blog:

The anti-gays at Blogger closed this blog earlier today (April 10, 2010) for no given reason. Made us jump through hoops to reopen it.

Just another example of Google/Blogger deleting a blog for no stated reason.

Jeff

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From the owner of Over Our Head blog:

Sometime between 9:00am and 5:00pm on Monday, viewers who visited my blog saw an error message informing them that the blog had been deleted. Fortunately, tonight I managed to reactivate my Blogger account and the blog is back online. I pray it does not disappear again.

Homens Negros is back up.

The blog owner posted this note in Portuguese and my translation follows:

BLOG FORA DO AR

Pessoal, parece que rolou algo estranho com o Blog e ele ficou "fora do ar" por algum tempo hoje. De qualquer forma, tomei as medidas enviadas pelo Google e estamos aqui novamente.

Abracos e bom fim de semana.

BLOG OFF AIR

Everyone, it seems something strange happened with the blog and it was "down" for some time now. Anyway, I took the measures sent by Google and we are here again.

Hugs and good weekend.

Jeff

From the owners of Guys Naked in Public

FYI. Our blog was closed on April 11 by Blogger. nakedpublicguyz.blogspot.com. Blogger sent us a text msg to our mobile phone with a confirmation number. Once we sent them the number, they reopened the blog. It was down for maybe 3 hours. In the help forum, all we can be told is that maybe a spam bot closed us for some reason. No trouble since then. We did lose momentum with visitors that took a few weeks to regain, so there were consequences.

THE SLAB

IS BACK!

Jeff,

 

Twenty-six minutes ago, when I just happened by chance to be checking, Google/Blogger suddenly restored everything, including all my Picasa albums and all my active blogs.  Everything.

 

No explanation whatsoever from Google/Blogger.  Not a peep.  Not even a "Fuck you for your trouble and the disruption."

 

Those guys are just plain incompetent, not to mention cruel and arbitrary.

 

 

Jeff, thank you for your concern and your kindness,

 

http://slabberredux.blogspot.com/

 

The Slabber

The end of the experiment

Naked Boy Chronicles

to close by owners

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2010

The end of the experiment

We have decided to end this blog after so many years because time has run it's course and at present there is a perverted old dude who has been hounding us. He has turned "naked boy" into something it is not -- a child porn blog. He took the name "naked boy" and made it dirty.

Many of you who have been reading us since the beginning know that it is not about naked boys and the "naked boy" refers to being "naked to the world" and exposing ones thoughts and feelings.The name is "Naked Boy" and not "Naked Man" because we didn't want to confuse it with the Burning Man Projectwhen we first started.

Now for the big secret: I say "we" because there were sometimes up to 12 of us blogging here and the blog was not all one person. Women were even part of the blogging staff. It was all meant to look as one person.

Mike liked to call it "the experiment," his thoughts being that reality shows on tv, are not really reality since they are manipulated, just like Naked Boy Chronicles would be. People would assume it was one person's life, but it was many people playing one person. It's a shame it had to end, but it was time and like we said, one guy is trying to turn it into something it is not. Anyone can simply read the entries here and see they are about life. But many lives combined to be one. 12 people combined as one. Many of the entries about love and boyfriends were actually a couple of the girls writing as "naked boy."

It is weird that this old man is claiming it to be a child porno blog because he found one story about a young boy having a crush on an older person. It was actually a woman the boy had the crush on and the story was just explaining how young children have crushes on older people, not the other way around, but this sick old man changed it to be something it wasn't.

Why is this old gnarly guy looking for children and "naked boys" online anyway? As a parent myself I am am very concerned about that. Look what happened to Pete Townsend when he used the excuse, "doing research." Again, we bid you farewell. It is the end of the experiment. The time has come to end it.

We are all meeting in Key West this weekend to have one last party in the name of Naked Boy, the blog that brought us all together. Surfing to forget all weekend.

- Katie, Vincent and Mike, the three remaining keepers of the fire, the three remaining naked boys.

SLABBER REPLIES

Jeff,

To answer your question:

I checked my blogs on Saturday morning, February 20, but they had disappeared. All of them had suddenly and arbitrarily been deleted.  Not only that, my entire account -- my ENTIRE account for those blogs -- had been shut down and eliminated.  In other words, suddenly and without warning, I had absolutely no access to my blogs, to my Gmail account, or to my paid Picase account.  Everything was totally wiped out.  (One note:  the Gmail account for my blogs was private and entirely separate from the email account I'm using for this message).  The damage is the following:

• The Slab (successor to "The Daily Slab/TDS," which Google shut down in August 2009) -- Gone.
• guycandi -- Gone.
• Special Content -- Gone.
• The J.O. - Josh Ohl -- Gone.

Of course, no specific reason was given by Google/Blogger for these stormtrooper tactics. The Nazis of Mountain View continue to hide, silently, behind the vague generalization of "Terms of Service," and that terminology will undoubtedly be a convenient excuse for the bigotry, intolerance and regressive persecution that the brownshirts at Google choose to pursue.

I have received a handful of very gracious emails from followers of "The Slab," and I am grateful to those individuals for their kind comments.

I do not know what the future holds for any work I may continue to do online. Certainly, I will have no further association with Google (in ANY fashion) or its gaspipe-swinging goons at Blogger. As a side note, I had stayed with Blogger (even after their lethal sabotage of "The Daily Slab" in August 2009) for one reason alone:  the superior functionality of Picasa for managing and posting images -- and let's face it, images are what it is all about in this conversation. Alas, I am not aware of any decent competitor to Picasa, but I certainly wish there were. If anyone wants to recommend a better (or comparable) photo-uploading program for blogs, I am all ears.

My experience with Google now stands as a vivid, highly detailed case study of the blatant abuse of power by a thoroughly monopolistic American company.  Google cooly asserts that "You can make money without doing evil," but that statement is a lie designed to grease the speeding wheels of the company's unending greed. The smirking boys who rule the Googleplex are, indeed, street thugs and bigoted engineers who have absolutely no respect for anything but advertising revenues. The assassination of multiple gay-oriented blogs is living proof of that. In short, Google now makes the blockheads at Microsoft look like saints.

And yet Google continues to get away with it, scot-free. Their monopoly thrives in today's Amerika. Eric Schmidt publicly licks the President's rear-end. More to the point -- Google's targeted wipeout of gay-oriented blogs is as real and present as any modern-day Nazi "pogrom" can possibly be. Achtung! It's Kristallnacht every night in Mountain View!

Anyone who continues to believe the simplistic Google mantra, "Don't be evil," needs to have their head examined. In my humble opinion, to which I am entitled, Google executives and managers are dishonorable (as we continue to see in China), and they are worse than disrespectful (as we continue to see in minority communities). And yet they go unchallenged. 

I'm sure there are all kinds of ways of disagreeing with what I'm saying. Fine.  Knock yourselves out. But the fact is, what I'm saying is true. And while we are told that the truth will set you free, I firmly believe that the truth will get you mugged and brutalized online.

Thank you,

The Slabber

Is Google closing "smut" blogs in order to break into the Chinese internet scene?

From an anonymous viewer:

This story preceded the great gay purge.

You guys should know where this is all coming from. 

Check the story out...I think he's on to something, big-time!

Jeff

Here is one man's opinion about the Wisdom of Crowds:

"I admit that I don't really care to read the whole policy thing on google, which I probably should do, but just from the bit you posted on the blog makes it sound like a situation that is ripe for anyone with an agenda - whether it's a right-wing group or a commercial porn business trying to eliminate the competition - to organize a campaign to have bunch of people flag blogs repeatedly until they get killed."

I responded: "You bet it is.  That was one option in my very first post!

http://googlebloggerclosesgayblogs.blogspot.com/ 

If it works, it can work both ways!

Jeff"

John continued, and gave me permission to post this:

"Jeff... what can I say?  I got finished masturbating sooner than I had planned - these things happen -  and decided to go read the explanation at that google link you posted.  I have two points to make now...

1) Their reference to The Wisdom of Crowds is bogus because there is no countervailing action the members of OUR crowd can take to offset the ones who flag.  The reason wikipedia works, at least in theory, is that if someone posts incorrect information, someone else will come along and fix it.  The fact that a whole bunch of us DON'T flag isn't enough.  After all, at least in my case, I'm a fag who jerks off to porn, so that's already two strikes against my opinion in some people's eyes.  In this case it DOES NOT work both ways, so it DOES NOT work.

2) They state explicitly that flagging doesn't cause blog to be shut down, only to have it set as unlisted, but still available.  So apparently this is a side issue that doesn't really apply to the situation you are addressing.

Thanks for your earlier reply, and keep up the good work.  I really do appreciate it.

John"