• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Damn............

Southern Wolf said:
Stephanie... as a photographer I understand where your coming from... all I had planned on doing was try and convert your graphic to a webpage with live links on the graphic for use to promote the site. If you would rather I didnt... thats fine too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, like Kevin mentioned...this would just be a webpage version of a flyer and would not be edited to become an actual website. Rather what you would see is the same exact flyer (and nothing else) and the only difference would be the text would be clickable and would link to the related portions of the website. Nothing would be added to make it into anything else. However, if you or the other photographer don't wish for that to be done, I too understand where you're coming from. Just thought I'd help clarify that a little bit.
 
The BoidSmith said:
Rich,

This is not like you. You use to dismiss lawsuit threats and consider them laughable at best. Has something happened that we don't know?

Take care

Dan
Click to expand...

I thought I plainly stated the issue here. Right now, yes, I can well afford to fight a lawsuit. But ONLY because SerpenCo earns me enough money that I would be able to pay for the legal expenses AND be able to afford to put food on my table. When I have to retire the SerpenCo business, that just will not be the case any longer. The BOI then becomes a liability that I will just not be able to afford to keep hanging over my head. And as for people saying they would pony up if it came to that, I'm sorry, but I'm just not that trusting any longer. It would take a LOT of $25 contributions to pay a $50K legal bill.

Actually no one right now is threatening to sue me, although I do get such threats pretty regularly. Yes, I know I would win them in court, but having to potentially fork out $50K in order to do so is not something I could take lightly when I go on a reduced income. Of course I could file a countersuit, but then again, I would have to dig even deeper into my pocket to do that. Yeah, I may win that one as well, but that would be a LOT of money tied up for a very long time. Quite honestly, I may very well be justifiably considered as insane to even consider spending that kind of money NOW simply to protect someone's ability to post on this site without the fear that a threatened lawsuit could have it removed. What exactly would I gain from such an expenditure, now that I think about it.... :confused: If so many people have abandoned paid memberships to this site, what am I to make of that situation?

As for this not being like me, well perhaps things might look differently to you when you get to the stage of your life that I am in right now. :shrug01:
 
Mooing Tricycle said:
I wonder too. Hopefully not though!

Wouldnt a statement that is visible when viewing the BOI saying something like.... " the statements made by the users of this forum, may not necessarily be the views of the owners or other members of this forum. Because of this, the owners of the BOI, and members not involved are not responsible for the words posted or actions taken because of posted information"
Click to expand...

I believe I have something like that in the registration screen. At least I did before the system upgrade.

But all that would do is help insure I would win the case. It would not PREVENT a lawsuit hoping I would choose to settle (meaning delete the offending thread) rather than spend the money to fight it in court.
 
I wasn't sure what Kevin was talking about, that's why I wanted to make it clear that the reptile photos (the background is stock photography) can't be pulled and used for something else (we all know how that goes online now a days :ack2:).

As far as I know of, you aren't going to be able to make a true web page from a PDF. It's a flattened image and the text is "stuck" where it's at. Maybe there's software out there that you can make it HTML text, but I've never come across any such product. The best you can do is what I already mentioned (linking the image to Fauna). You could also use Image Mapping I guess, but that's not exactly cross browser compatible or a good way to do it in general (not that all websites are programmed correctly - but they should be ;) ).



Rich, about the lawsuit thing...If you win, can't you recover court costs?
 
Stephanie.... If you could send me a link to a JPG version of the approved flyer... then I will work my magic and send it directly to you for approval. Im 90% sure I can make this work with just a JPG. And you wont have to worry about different browsers not working... cause what I have in mind will work on ALL browsers... and I wont change the image in any way.

You have my word on it... and its out here for all to see.
 
Southern Wolf said:
Stephanie.... If you could send me a link to a JPG version of the approved flyer... then I will work my magic and send it directly to you for approval. Im 90% sure I can make this work with just a JPG. And you wont have to worry about different browsers not working... cause what I have in mind will work on ALL browsers... and I wont change the image in any way.
Click to expand...

PMed you. I'm curious what you plan on doing (being that I've been in graphic & web design for four years and never heard of a way to convert a flattened image into actual HTML), but figure that conversation is better left off here since it's incredibly off topic. :D
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
PMed you. I'm curious what you plan on doing (being that I've been in graphic & web design for four years and never heard of a way to convert a flattened image into actual HTML), but figure that conversation is better left off here since it's incredibly off topic. :D
Click to expand...

Answered your PM...
 
Southern Wolf said:
Answered your PM...
Click to expand...

Another simple way to go about it...

Break up the image into several images and then piece them back together creating links out the ones you want linking to specific places...can be a bit confusing at first, but using tables, it can be done fairly easily. Just thought I'd toss that out there.
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
Tables are a big no-no for layout. ;)
Pssssst...Let's stop off topic-ing Rich's thread...
:D
Click to expand...

They may not be modern but they work...lol. I originally felt bad for taking this a bit off-topic, but really it is related as it's discussion relating to helping attract more members to the site...so perhaps it's not such a bad thing?
 
GB2000 said:
They may not be modern but they work...lol.
Click to expand...

For now, in some instances. Modern browsers will be doing away with table layout capabilities with the next few years. :)

GB2000 said:
I originally felt bad for taking this a bit off-topic, but really it is related as it's discussion relating to helping attract more members to the site...so perhaps it's not such a bad thing?
Click to expand...

I was just concerned with the fact that it basically turned into a convo between the three of us...Completely ignoring Rich's initial post of low subscription rates. :D

Anyway, I posted code that anyone can use (and edit to suit them) to post a web appropriate "flyer" on their website.
 
Rich, I love and respect what you have created here. Maybe it's time to pass on the torch.
 
WebSlave said:
Thank you for helping out. You have NO idea how much it pains me to think I may have to shut down the BOI after all these years. But I just have to be realistic about things....... If there were no financial "sword of Damoclese" associated with it, it would be no problem. But the day is certainly coming where the expense of a lawsuit (even one I would certainly win) would be a very real concern for me.
Click to expand...

How long are you going to give it before you make the decision to shut it down? If people that have enjoyed this place the most and calling it home aren't able to step up to the plate because of the economy and you are tired of carrying the load yourself...have you given yourself a "time frame" in which to see an improvement?

Me, I believe in the BOI..but apparently people are still gong to buy without researching first and the crap will continue....so, should you go broke for them? Decisions Decisions...I am glad I am not in your shoes.:(
 
deborahbroadus said:
How long are you going to give it before you make the decision to shut it down? If people that have enjoyed this place the most and calling it home aren't able to step up to the plate because of the economy and you are tired of carrying the load yourself...have you given yourself a "time frame" in which to see an improvement?

Me, I believe in the BOI..but apparently people are still gong to buy without researching first and the crap will continue....so, should you go broke for them? Decisions Decisions...I am glad I am not in your shoes.:(
Click to expand...

If I remember what I wrote about this, the "drop dead" date would be when I have to give up my reptile breeding business because of the physical inability to keep on doing that business. Sorry, but there is no way to predict when that might happen. I don't intend to give up something I love to do until FORCED to do so. I could have a survivable heart attack tomorrow, or be able to handle the pace for another 10 years, when I fall off a ladder trying to fix something and break a hip. I just don't know what tomorrow will bring each day.
 
WebSlave said:
If I remember what I wrote about this, the "drop dead" date would be when I have to give up my reptile breeding business because of the physical inability to keep on doing that business. Sorry, but there is no way to predict when that might happen. I don't intend to give up something I love to do until FORCED to do so. I could have a survivable heart attack tomorrow, or be able to handle the pace for another 10 years, when I fall off a ladder trying to fix something and break a hip. I just don't know what tomorrow will bring each day.
Click to expand...

I say we all chip in and buy Rich a giant protective bubble:thumbsup:

But yeah...I understand your point there. Selling your site will be mighty difficult as well...not many people are willing to risk facing lawsuits like you and in this hobby, there aren't a lot of people willing to pay big money for something that may never give them a return. I think this may be something that you'll just have to keep until you can no longer run it...and then once the site is shut down, somebody else may try to start their own to replace it, but I really don't see anybody trying to buy it. Nobody wants to pay for anything anymore...
 
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