What shall we do?

[TIbrO]

Stinky, d4n13l and I want to redo all of the images on the site. So make your guide with whatever screenshots you want, then send the guide to either d4n13l or me, so that I can optimize your images, and then I will send it to Baldrick for his revision and eventual upload... that is, unless Baldrick trusts d4n13l and I enough to let us have access to the webserver, then we could just do massive optimizations without bothering him.

[Baldrick]

tibro: yes, the webserver sends the compressed file and the browser uncompresses it...very good for big text html pages, for example the entire dvdplayers list here https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.html is uncompresssed 1,8 MB and compressed 60 kbyte. All browser support this but it doesnt seem to work for some anyway.

wookie: I will not use the .gz links, they are just for testing.

[pinoy2201]

daer Stinky,

When i gave my guide in it was in MS Word format(.doc)...
i suggest u give it to bladrick as html becuase he has to much things to do to bring back this site to normal

[d4n13l]

Baldrick, I saved the DVD player guide and ran it through an optimiser. The original was 2.7MB or something - The optimised version came out at 1.7MB. The files look identical. I can zip the optimised file down to 51KB. I can send it to you so you can look at it if you want to check. I could post it to some free webspace and give you a link to it. I think the unoptimised version zipped down to 81Kb.
Even though it is only 30K smaller it is worth using considering that it is one of the most accessed items.
The optimised version is like 60% of the size of the original.

If you want the optimised file, just ask and I will email the link so you can d/load it and replace it with the one on the server.

[TIbrO]

Baldrick, d4n13l and I seriously want to help out. Would you mind if we redid all of the images in the guides, and probably any graphics on the site? Both of us are graphic nerds and stuff, and we're thinking of each taking a guide at a time and redoing all of the images. We would save them as small as we possibly can, and post them at some free webspace server for you to connect to and download yourself, and then upload them to your own webserver, since access to the vcdhelp webserver is a bit much, as d4n13l pointed out to me.
So... what do you say?

[martymizah]

all i know is that this forum kicked ass, there was so much to learn!!!

everyone helped everyone because this is new to us all. Even if this site never has a full fledged forum again, i am still very greatful for just the guides and the program links.

I think there were random forum topics that were kind of useless (i know i didnt use them). I think things like DVD ripping is very easy, and can be explained in "how to's". I personally dont see how there can be any problems with things like that.

on the other hand things like conversion and authoring can be more complicated, those should remain open.


if we can prioritize, maybe limit the amount of posts per person, per day/week, we can save space

i know i was posting a lot to help other people (about 7 a day), if we all cut back, AND LEARN TO USE THE SEARCH OPTION, cuz god knows that all of these questions were answered a hundred times over anyway, then we can cut alot of the garbage out

well thats about all i have
i hope that everything gets back in order
ill try to work on my guides a little so that all the questions i was commonly asked are cleared up

hope to see this up and going some time soon

my 2 pennies

[Vorlon]

This is just a thought, but maybe another site might be willing to mirror this site. Or just part of it. If one site mirrored, then theoretically it would cut the traffic to this site by one half (I know in reality most would still go to the main site.) If more than one mirror site, then a lot of traffic could be redirected.

I don't know much about mirroring, so it might not be practical.

Also, if images are a big drain on the resources, then make them only available as a compressed download. (Or the whole page if it is something like a comparison could be compressed in gzip/Pkzipped format, etc.)

That way nearly 50-90% of the download could be saved (I am only talking about things like JPEG, GIFS, BMPS, etc. MPEG clips,etc won't compress well.

I don't mind paying for something this useful. I just don't consider the web a very secure place for credit cards, direct access to bank accounts, etc. I have had my identity stolen before and it is a nightmare to recover from.

Paying by check, bank draft, or money order through snail mail, etc is definitely an option. Telephone ordering with CC is also okay if I know the site does not keep my account information on the internet.

Thanks for this site and hope things go well.
Also, thanks to all the participants to these forums. Everyone is willing to help, it seems, even if the question appears to be unintelligent to the more experienced users. I appreciate the answers than have been given.

[blips]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-10-30 16:08:07, major wrote:
garbage on Explorer 5 Macintosh
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Ditto. Explorer 5 Mac OS 9.1

[z68h]

i tried the links on two machines:

WinNT SP6 with IE 5.5 and it worked great
Win98 SE with IE 5.5 and it worked.

my two cents.

-mark

[Bullworth]

Hey Baldrick, in regards to the email I sent you I think part of the problem might be that some people have DSL or cable and use a proxy server. After I enabled Use HTTP 1.1 with proxy server and rebooted your pages displayed OK. My question is though did you set up the pages to be d/l'ed or are they actual web page links? Whenever I tried to IE's d/l manager kick in. The pages display fine though. The only one that didn't work was the www.vcdhelp.com/dvdmoviefactory.htm link which kept coming up as garbage. Hope this helps some.

[d4n13l]

Baldrick I think that the problem is proxies in general. I tried to view the pages via anonymous proxy and they came through garbaged.

[loki2099]

why doesn't someone take a cue from Stile over at

http://www.STILEPROJECT.COM

this kid runs more bandwidth than this site per month.
he also managed to quit his job and buy a dedicated server to run his site. he never spends a dime or charges for membership.

perhaps someone should ask him how he does it.
loki2099

[d4n13l]

Baldrick, Bullworth is right, it seems to be proxies that are the cause of the problem. For IE to be able to see the pages using proxies you have to go to:
Tools>Internet Options>Advanced> Then tick the
"Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections"
box.
For people to be able to see it after changing this they may need to delete thier "temporary files" so the browser wont reload the page that is in the cache.

[valzuniga]

fugg it sites' dead, move on...

[CoCoNiPs]

Ohh man ooh man I love this site!
BUT! Knowledge should be shared freely
Thats partly whats made this site so great
Lets not start a new digital divide of the info haves and info have nots
A huge thanx to the people at the top Baldrick et al and to everyone who ever posted a msg erm except idiots u know who u r hehehe
Ciao
CoCoNiPs

[d4n13l]

Ok, I goofed up in some of my posts about the amount of monthly bandwidth using smaller images could save. I didnt mean MONTHLY bandwidth, rather DAILY bandwidth. It doesnt make any difference to my calculations though as I worked it out as a percentage. In fact, the amount that would be saved over a MONTH would be incredible! By using the last image I used would roughly save 703MB x 31 = 21731MB a month in bandwidth. The actual figure would probably be between 19GB and 21GB, saved in bandwidth per month. I am sorry about the hic-up, I am sure that when I first looked at Baldricks stats it was for a month - LOL.
It makes optimisation look even better now - 20GB a month saved because of 1 image.

BTW, Baldrick, if extra bandwidth costs you between $2 and $6 a month: That means that using my image would save you between $40 and $120 a month... on your last host anyway. Do you want to buy it off me? LOL, only kidding, hehe.
I made a little comparison for you:
sucka.4t.com
I showed how small I could make the images compared to the current ones. I also notice that you reduced the size of "tmpenc1.png"... still not as small as mine though .
If you go to the "new page" link at the bottom, you can see what they will look like when used in the guide. You will need to change the height and width attributes in your <IMG SRC> tags if you want to actually use them on the site, I think one or two are a very slightly different size to yours. I could redo the tmpgenc1.png if you want, so it has a video showing in the middle, I dont think it is worth the extra KB's though.

[d4n13l]

Someone has sent me a private message... Thanks... but I cant open it . You can Email me at d4n13l8urn3tt@hotmail.com
if you want.
I am presuming that it is you Baldrick, as I cant seem to send anyone a private message and it has only just showed up on my screen.

[Bullworth]

Good call d4n13l about deleting the temporary internet files.Now everything loads up properly. Seems like it is a combination of proxies and temp files. Baldrick should make a note of this if he decides to use CHTML and post it in the home page so existing and new users won't think thier broser or the site is wacko.

[bvcproductions]

Hi, did you know that lots of sites are having this problem? This week I've been to 2 other sites that are temporarly closed due to bandwith problem. This site is one, a SWAT3 website called 10-David, and another site I can't remember what it was called.

If people are having these problems, why don't the servers upgrade their computers?

[Chris X]

In other words, The More compression, the more data that can b transfered using less or the same amount of bandwith that is in use now.

Baldrick,

First let me say that this site has exceptional value to the video community and we need to save it!

I just noticed that ULead is directing its customers to this site from this page (http://www.ulead.com/dmf/compatibility.htm) for the DVD player compatibility list. I think you should approach ULead and ask them to help fund you. Perhaps you could approach other software manufacturers as well and provide the service to them. I'm sure they'll see the value in it. Just a thought.

[Baldrick]

Can all test this page and report here or email what it says on that page or if it work at all?

http://www.vcdhelp.com/test.htm

[Smudge249]

It says
This page is Uncompressed

[adam]

For me it says, This page is Compressed. All of the previous links you posted also worked fine for me, no garabage.

[psycaz]

It says
This page is compressed

[JHebert]

For me it says
This page is Compressed

[HillJack]

I'm still running with "Use HTTP 1.1" checked and the other unchecked, and I have yet to get any errors or garbage... And your testpage says, "This page is Compressed"

[Baldrick]

Okey then I think I have solved the compression problems....if your browser settings support compressed html(as almost most does) the webserver sends the compressed page if not it sends the uncompressed one.

using compressed pages I can save kinda much bandwitdth, for example is the tools page 125 kbyte and it generates 1,5 GB daily....if I compresses it becomes 12 kbyte = 0,15 GB/day.

now I just wanna test compressed dynamic php....it would be perfect for the forum

[neomaine]

baldrick,

you da man...

I can't wait until tomorrow. Thanks for everything.

neomaine

[TheInformer]

Baldrick,

First of all, my two cents: This site is a tremendous resource. We all appreciate the work that you put into it!

Part of the solution to the bandwidth problem is compression, both image and HTML.

Another potential part of the solution is sponsorships with software and hardware manufacturers. If ULead (for example) is going to use this site as a resource for DVD comparisons, why not see if they will help pay the bandwidth bills (+ pizza in exchange for a small banner or other form of advertising. This is called targeted advertising. The people that come here would be, for the most part, interested in ULead's products. Apply this concept to other companies, such as Adobe (Premiere), Hauppauge (TV tuners), ATI (All-in-Wonder series), and so forth. I'm sure that several of them would be interested in helping you out.