First of all, they're not blocking SPAM by shutting down open relays. SPAM'ers do not require a system of relays to get their mail where it's going. Newsletter software and a Yahoo! Mail account will do that for you.
They're screwing people over just because they may not have a vast knowledge of mailing systems/software.
Remember: It doesn't take a genius to build a web site and buy a dedicated server. Heck, simple mistakes could be made simply by an inability to situate to an unfamiliar OS and the applications therein.
Some of the SPAM Blacklists won't remove the submission from their list, and now our customer's mail is often rejected simply because of a few lists inability to keep their data current.
The inability of these moderators/administrators is directly effecting an outside company simply because they don't feel the need to keep their data from going stale. If you don't have the time to manage a SPAM Blacklist; don't start one.
And I wrote the form-2-mail script myself. It was designed for just what you've explained. The addresses are stored in an array within the script, and are limited/protected. If spam'ers attempt to send spam through the system they will either get rejected by the a) referrer b) array limitations c) mail server or d) domain restrictions. I didn't just go pick it up at the first CGI directory that I came across.
And by the way, this article is about spam blacklists, so let's try to keep the criticizm to ourselves, or at least save it for a topic titled "Form-2-Mail Scripts", shall we?
If your customer configured the server wrong, making it an open relay, then it is that customer you should be collecting recovery costs from. In the future, be sure terms that specify this is in your contact that you have each customer sign. Be sure the spam and open relay issues are discussed with them before the service is turned on.
I also believe that Slashdot is for the sharing of information and opinions. I never asked you to suggest changes in how we deal with our customers.
The daily reality is that Stronium is located in just about every plant, due to weapons testing in the 40's and 50's. Every baby born has a fraction of stronium in their teeth due to it's ability to mimic calcium. This is considered to be an effect of women's increased risk to carry stronium in breast milk. Our bodies can not tell the difference, and our body uses this man-made radioactive element as it would calcium. It is also suspected that stronium-90 is a major factor in the current rise in breast cancer.
With a half life of 28 years, this is something we will have to deal with for quite some time. And.. it mostly relates back to the cold war.
So, for those Slashdotters who claim that we don't have to deal with this in the USA. I strongly recommend you take a look at this web page and read it in detail:
-Lots of great information about radioactive elements used by the United States government during the cold war, and what's happening to those unused weapons at this time. Also very informative of how these weapons/elements affect our daily lives. I read this a long time ago, and have had it saved since then. I owe most of my knowledge of radioactive elements and weaponry to this article. I suggest you read it.
This is a fact of life for everyone, especially Russia and the USA. We don't find it in containers capable of melting ice (even through lead casing), but we do find it in our children's teeth, breast milk, and bioaccumulating in our vegetation. I can avoid an ice-melting container in the woods. I can't change what's in my teeth.
Elections have been so monumentally screwed in so many countries, that this should really be taken at face value... a big screw-up on the part of the participants, and a slap in the face to Australian citizens. It's like saying "Here's who we want elected.. and we think you're too dumb to vote them into office, so we'll elect them for you."
Same old politics, just another country. Here are some articles;
Take a look, especially the Liberia one.
If you need any more proof, go to Google and search for "plots to rig elections". You'll get a whole lot more reading material.:)
It happens.. all the time. No power goes without its abuses.
Anarchy is the state of non-government. Now, (example) if you shoot someone under total anarchy, you are showing governance over that person, and therefore are not following anarcho-beliefs.
So, my guess is that this little prick's thoughts about "overthrowing" the US government would require some (well, probably a lot of) violence... and therefore, a show of governance.
Violence = Governance
Governance != Anarchy
Therefore, this little script-kiddy was about as smart as my morning orange. He is simply contradicting himself by even selecting to believe in the abomination of the US Government, much less his actions [building explosives].
I say send him to prison and let him claim to know something about how to take it in the butt, because his claim to anarchy is.. well, sheer idiocy.
It's very interesting that I stumbled upon this post, as this happened to our company today. We have a $50/month dedicated server client who ended up on a SPAM list, as an immediate result of an open relay. Now, we're spending loads of our time as a result, and only receiving $50/month in return.
Anywho, I think SPAM Blacklists are a good idea, in concept, but many blacklist owners/moderators need to step up and take action to keep good, clean hosts off of their lists. If they can make an exception for reformed hosts, how can a host that was never deformed in the first place end up a permanent part of their list(s)?
The dirty thing to do would be to threaten a lawsuit on the owners/mods sighting that they are publishing false information about your company. It seems a bit ridiculous that they can leave listings in their databases that misrepresent other company's standards, simply because an open SMTP relay was left active inside the host's network.
Not to mention, I'm sure most people, and just about all/.'ers don't appreciate spending their time and resources cleaning up a mess that should've never been created in the first place, especially one that is out of the host administrator's control.
Has everyone ever noticed that almost all major bugs/worms/viruses start with Microsoft or an entity of M$?... and most of these contribute to large-scale problems.
............. Yet: "Linux is a cancer."
Ballmer: Take the first 4 letters of your name, append an 's', and you have exactly what I'm going to kick you in... jackass.
I find this site incredibly stupid.. or incredibly smart when accessed by a stupid person.
If you haven't seen it, it counts down and then just keeps popping up new browser windows until you eventually lock-up. The neat thing about it is that it tells you to save your work.. the owner must be a real nice guy *cough*idiot*cough*.
If you feel like testing your skills; let it count down and give it a head start.. Then see if you can close the windows as fast as it pops them up. Yes, I do fall under the "stupid person" category as I have actually tried this.
With all of the advertising capabilities available on the internet, I would suggest a compromise between the two.
The company running the game could produce advertising incoming using:
1. Data Mining.
2. Banner Advertisements.
3. Newsletter Advertisements.
4. Premium Accounts
I'm sure if they have enough basis to charge $20/month, their user-base is fairly large. Therefore, they could probably make a nice bit of coin off of newsletter ads alone.
Since this still wouldn't equate to $20/month per user, they could at least knock it down to $10/month or so.
The logic behind this system is fairly simple:
1. Banner Ads rotating every 30 seconds at.0025 per ad.
2. Newsletter Ads at.01 per email.
3. Data Mining: Selling ads to software/game designers based on highly-targetted output. Yes, this would require users to provide information about their interests.. and I would hardly say that producing a list of your favorite game-styles is an invasion of privacy.
4. Premium Accounts: When a user pays an additional $5/month (or so, based on host preference), all advertisements are removed and they could throw in some other small features to account for the other $2.50.
In conclusion, there are probably several routes that could be taken to decrease the $20/month fee and the interface would not be greatly inflicted using banner advertisements @ 10k or less rotating twice a minute.
One side note: I am greatly inadequate as far as knowledge of gaming systems goes because I don't generally have any time to play. If I've made myself look like a giant ass by posting this message, just let me know.:)
That sounds like an awesome idea. Coming from a web-based services company, I'd definitely be interested in developing that with you. E-mail me or add 19108489 to your ICQ list and we'll evolve it a bit. If anyone else has ideas for joint-venture web-based services, feel free to contact me.
Rather than paying a micro-fee for content, why don't webmasters establish a "Premium Membership" fee for users that are willing to pay in order to have advertisements removed. They could also come up with some more add-ons that would make it worthwhile. Most surfers have grown used to ignoring banner advertisements so I really couldn't care less if they exist on the web site. If someone offered me a Premium Membership to a web site that included lots of useful information, services, excellent technical support, and some other little features: I would be more than interested in creating an account with them. I'm obviously not going to pay $10/month to simply remove banner ads even though I don't acknowledge their existance in the first place. They would basically have to remove my searches for that entire topic although. For instance: I have a membership with a computer hardware company and need a review of a new processor release. If I can't go there and find it, then it's not worth paying for.
I'm sure some online companies are already doing this but they're probably limping along with ideas. Offer some free services such as user@domain.com webmail, an affiliate program, etc. Anyone else have any ideas for features that could accompany a "Premium Membership" and apply globally?
I don't want to scroll down and click on those damn advertisements. I love how the have the girl in there too.. sex sells, and why not capitalize on it? I'm thinking of trying myself... Perhaps I should strip completely naked except for nipple caps and take pictures for my web site. That will probably just disgust all of our visitors however... oh well. Whatever.
I'm so sick of that damn advertisement it's not even funny. I plan to steal thousands of those cameras and start a game of home run derby. Anyone interested in playing with me? We can smash the little black camera into pieces and then stick pieces of the circuitboards to our heads to show victory over the pop-up advertisements, or pop-under advertisements as the press calls it... idiots.
Oh dear... it seems as though we've found another completely decayed box of bones by an island again. Perhaps we should pick it up and use the bones for tools such as the Native Americans have done in the past? Or maybe we should just hurl them at each other and see who gets the most bruises. Or, even better.. we could grind the bones into powder and hurl handfuls of white dust into each other's eyes to see who goes blind first.
Seriously, we have a better chance of finding a trace of meat in any Taco Bell restaurant then we do of finding Amelia's airplane.
By the way, can I have a grant for every dead person I think I've found? There's like 10,000 bodies buried underneat my house. I don't know how they got there though. *grin* What do you say you give me $10,000,000 and I'll blow my house up so that we may recover the bones. Then I'll buy an island with the extra money. Eh? Eh? C'mon... I know someone out there has 10 million to fund my expedition to the earth beneath my dwelling.
Hey. We're working on a multiplayer gaming system called SRGN. It's going to support many multiplayer online games using an IPX interface which will optimize all connections for low-latency 56k packet transfers running off of multiple T1 connections and a maximum limit of 250 users per server. Should be done by the end of the summer including an online interface and a downloadable application. It's going to automatically launch users into the game like Mplayer used to but enforce similar technology of kahncentral.com to decrease latency.
Email me at justin!@webworkznetwork.com (minus the !) and we'll work something out to carry/promote your game. That will bring in some online users and I'm sure we can set some kind of payment regiment up where you could receive a part of the overall income generated from your game using banner advertising (inside the application), data mining (the legal way, of course), and premium accounts (which will include real-time voice chat inside of the game, removal of banner advertisements, etc... to make the purchase worthwhile).
Of course, this all relies on wether or not your game is worth carrying. If you have some sort of BETA set up for it, feel free to send me the URL so I can check it out and have a few friends do so, also.
I'll give you a rundown of our facility too so you can see the steps we've taken to ensure 99.9% up-time.. 100% for the past 9 months.:)
Well, thanks for reading and be sure to check out kahncentral.com... I don't like promoting the competition but it's an awesome service.
There are a lot of available hacks on the internet which convert the scrollbars to the lefthand side of the screen. I'm sure you can run a search and find a few good ones.
Fun Fact:
Lefthanded people have shown a significant decrease in resistance against poisons and toxins, nearly 40%. Since this is true, many scientists believe that most people are righthanded because lefthanded people died out much more easily due to food poisoning in the early stages of humanity. Neat, eh?
Anyway, Definitely check out some of the hacks and you're sure to find something that will manually change the configuration of your applications without requiring the apps to be well-developed; because we know many of them aren't.:)
Hey. Just reading through the posts regarding the in-dash unit you are looking for. I'd like to point you to a great discount site which I frequently purchase from. It's called MM X-Press. They've got some sweet deals from a lot of well-known manufacturers. They're not the cheapest on everything but they do have a lot of good deals. Let me know what you think.
It was a great solution in respects to convincing the offending webmaster not to link to his material rather than asking permission and save the file locally for use on his web presence.
It was no a great solution in respects to the defacement of the person(s) web site whom decided to link to the image. While it seems a bit harsh, I agree that it was a great way to convince the webmaster to discontinue the links to the image's location. However, I just don't see it as a reasonable way for someone to convince another developer to stop linking to their images.
I completely believe that computer generated graphics are an art form. When an artist is designing a painting, they must include many important fixtures such as lighting, shadowing, blending, etc.
The same applies for computer-generated graphics. Now, I'm not talking about simple graphics intended for web-development purposes. I'm talking about graphics that are intended to be artistic, rather than buttons, headers, etc (anything that can be applied to a typical web site and layout).
One exception to this rule is possibly Eyeball Design. Check that web site out and it will make you appreciate computer-generated graphics and fully accept them as an art form.
While I respect an artist's ability to create works by hand, computers are going to play a significant role in the technological development of art forms, especially graphical design. It's time to gain some respect for designers because they work just as hard as any freehand artist could ever. It's the same exact modeling techniques but, given the abilities of computers, some automation occurrs. Just because the designer doesn't have to create every single pixel by hand, doesn't mean he/she isn't an artist.
Well, the administrator of the web site, to which you have linked to, is in charge on this subject. It is his file to modify, wether or not anyone has linked to it. So, a possible remedy for this situation would have been to simply save the file and load/link it from your server/hosting account.
Either way, it is entirely the administrator's call on how to modify his/her files. While this case makes it very apparent that the admin didn't appreciate people using his bandwidth, it still seems a bit ridiculous that he would replace the file with pornographical content rather than just slapping a "STOP STEALING MY CONTENT" image or something similar. After all, 900 bytes wouldn't exactly crush his bandwidth (assuming the network is on broadband connectivity), unless multiple developers were linking to it.
Now, if this defacement had been something similar to the defacement of the NASA site (article), then you would have a case.
Well, in conclusion:
I suggest that anyone linking to web site files (namely images) save them onto hard disk and upload them to their own hosting account or server. There's no legitimacy in using someone else's bandwidth. Of course, make sure the administrator gives you explicit rights to use the image in the event it is copyrighted.
Slashdot Mirror
First of all, they're not blocking SPAM by shutting down open relays. SPAM'ers do not require a system of relays to get their mail where it's going. Newsletter software and a Yahoo! Mail account will do that for you.
They're screwing people over just because they may not have a vast knowledge of mailing systems/software.
Remember: It doesn't take a genius to build a web site and buy a dedicated server. Heck, simple mistakes could be made simply by an inability to situate to an unfamiliar OS and the applications therein.
Some of the SPAM Blacklists won't remove the submission from their list, and now our customer's mail is often rejected simply because of a few lists inability to keep their data current.
The inability of these moderators/administrators is directly effecting an outside company simply because they don't feel the need to keep their data from going stale. If you don't have the time to manage a SPAM Blacklist; don't start one.
And I wrote the form-2-mail script myself. It was designed for just what you've explained. The addresses are stored in an array within the script, and are limited/protected. If spam'ers attempt to send spam through the system they will either get rejected by the a) referrer b) array limitations c) mail server or d) domain restrictions. I didn't just go pick it up at the first CGI directory that I came across.
And by the way, this article is about spam blacklists, so let's try to keep the criticizm to ourselves, or at least save it for a topic titled "Form-2-Mail Scripts", shall we?
If your customer configured the server wrong, making it an open relay, then it is that customer you should be collecting recovery costs from. In the future, be sure terms that specify this is in your contact that you have each customer sign. Be sure the spam and open relay issues are discussed with them before the service is turned on.
I also believe that Slashdot is for the sharing of information and opinions. I never asked you to suggest changes in how we deal with our customers.
With a half life of 28 years, this is something we will have to deal with for quite some time. And.. it mostly relates back to the cold war.
So, for those Slashdotters who claim that we don't have to deal with this in the USA. I strongly recommend you take a look at this web page and read it in detail:
The Tooth Fairy Project
-Lots of great information about radioactive elements used by the United States government during the cold war, and what's happening to those unused weapons at this time. Also very informative of how these weapons/elements affect our daily lives. I read this a long time ago, and have had it saved since then. I owe most of my knowledge of radioactive elements and weaponry to this article. I suggest you read it.
This is a fact of life for everyone, especially Russia and the USA. We don't find it in containers capable of melting ice (even through lead casing), but we do find it in our children's teeth, breast milk, and bioaccumulating in our vegetation. I can avoid an ice-melting container in the woods. I can't change what's in my teeth.
Farooq
Yassir El-Sirri
Liberia
Take a look, especially the Liberia one. If you need any more proof, go to Google and search for "plots to rig elections". You'll get a whole lot more reading material. :)
It happens.. all the time. No power goes without its abuses.
Anarchy is the state of non-government. Now, (example) if you shoot someone under total anarchy, you are showing governance over that person, and therefore are not following anarcho-beliefs.
So, my guess is that this little prick's thoughts about "overthrowing" the US government would require some (well, probably a lot of) violence... and therefore, a show of governance.
Violence = Governance
Governance != Anarchy
Therefore, this little script-kiddy was about as smart as my morning orange. He is simply contradicting himself by even selecting to believe in the abomination of the US Government, much less his actions [building explosives].
I say send him to prison and let him claim to know something about how to take it in the butt, because his claim to anarchy is.. well, sheer idiocy.
search engine >
:)
Google Search: brittany spears nude >
nakedcelebs.org >
nakedcelebs.org/brittany.asp >
email >
Email Contents:
"Hey Timmy! Check it out!!!
nakedcelebs.org/brittany.asp
DUDE!!! SWEEEEEEETTTTT!"
Note to moderator: Troll will be acceptable.
It's very interesting that I stumbled upon this post, as this happened to our company today. We have a $50/month dedicated server client who ended up on a SPAM list, as an immediate result of an open relay. Now, we're spending loads of our time as a result, and only receiving $50/month in return.
/.'ers don't appreciate spending their time and resources cleaning up a mess that should've never been created in the first place, especially one that is out of the host administrator's control.
Anywho, I think SPAM Blacklists are a good idea, in concept, but many blacklist owners/moderators need to step up and take action to keep good, clean hosts off of their lists. If they can make an exception for reformed hosts, how can a host that was never deformed in the first place end up a permanent part of their list(s)?
The dirty thing to do would be to threaten a lawsuit on the owners/mods sighting that they are publishing false information about your company. It seems a bit ridiculous that they can leave listings in their databases that misrepresent other company's standards, simply because an open SMTP relay was left active inside the host's network.
Not to mention, I'm sure most people, and just about all
Haha. That's kind of funny considering the point of the web site.
You'd figure someone that actually took the time to write that script would take the time to make sure it worked in most instances.
............. Yet: "Linux is a cancer."
Ballmer: Take the first 4 letters of your name, append an 's', and you have exactly what I'm going to kick you in... jackass.
I find this site incredibly stupid.. or incredibly smart when accessed by a stupid person.
If you haven't seen it, it counts down and then just keeps popping up new browser windows until you eventually lock-up. The neat thing about it is that it tells you to save your work.. the owner must be a real nice guy *cough*idiot*cough*.
If you feel like testing your skills; let it count down and give it a head start.. Then see if you can close the windows as fast as it pops them up. Yes, I do fall under the "stupid person" category as I have actually tried this.
The company running the game could produce advertising incoming using:
1. Data Mining.
2. Banner Advertisements.
3. Newsletter Advertisements.
4. Premium Accounts
I'm sure if they have enough basis to charge $20/month, their user-base is fairly large. Therefore, they could probably make a nice bit of coin off of newsletter ads alone.
Since this still wouldn't equate to $20/month per user, they could at least knock it down to $10/month or so.
The logic behind this system is fairly simple: .0025 per ad. .01 per email.
1. Banner Ads rotating every 30 seconds at
2. Newsletter Ads at
3. Data Mining: Selling ads to software/game designers based on highly-targetted output. Yes, this would require users to provide information about their interests.. and I would hardly say that producing a list of your favorite game-styles is an invasion of privacy.
4. Premium Accounts: When a user pays an additional $5/month (or so, based on host preference), all advertisements are removed and they could throw in some other small features to account for the other $2.50.
In conclusion, there are probably several routes that could be taken to decrease the $20/month fee and the interface would not be greatly inflicted using banner advertisements @ 10k or less rotating twice a minute.
One side note: I am greatly inadequate as far as knowledge of gaming systems goes because I don't generally have any time to play. If I've made myself look like a giant ass by posting this message, just let me know. :)
That sounds like an awesome idea. Coming from a web-based services company, I'd definitely be interested in developing that with you. E-mail me or add 19108489 to your ICQ list and we'll evolve it a bit. If anyone else has ideas for joint-venture web-based services, feel free to contact me.
Hmmm. Naked women engaged in sexual activities vs. a review of GEFORCE3...
:)
I wonder why it's profitable.
Rather than paying a micro-fee for content, why don't webmasters establish a "Premium Membership" fee for users that are willing to pay in order to have advertisements removed. They could also come up with some more add-ons that would make it worthwhile. Most surfers have grown used to ignoring banner advertisements so I really couldn't care less if they exist on the web site. If someone offered me a Premium Membership to a web site that included lots of useful information, services, excellent technical support, and some other little features: I would be more than interested in creating an account with them. I'm obviously not going to pay $10/month to simply remove banner ads even though I don't acknowledge their existance in the first place. They would basically have to remove my searches for that entire topic although. For instance: I have a membership with a computer hardware company and need a review of a new processor release. If I can't go there and find it, then it's not worth paying for.
I'm sure some online companies are already doing this but they're probably limping along with ideas. Offer some free services such as user@domain.com webmail, an affiliate program, etc. Anyone else have any ideas for features that could accompany a "Premium Membership" and apply globally?
I don't want to scroll down and click on those damn advertisements. I love how the have the girl in there too.. sex sells, and why not capitalize on it? I'm thinking of trying myself... Perhaps I should strip completely naked except for nipple caps and take pictures for my web site. That will probably just disgust all of our visitors however... oh well. Whatever.
Haha. I love you Tackhead. That was quality.
I'm so sick of that damn advertisement it's not even funny. I plan to steal thousands of those cameras and start a game of home run derby. Anyone interested in playing with me? We can smash the little black camera into pieces and then stick pieces of the circuitboards to our heads to show victory over the pop-up advertisements, or pop-under advertisements as the press calls it... idiots.
Oh dear... it seems as though we've found another completely decayed box of bones by an island again. Perhaps we should pick it up and use the bones for tools such as the Native Americans have done in the past? Or maybe we should just hurl them at each other and see who gets the most bruises. Or, even better.. we could grind the bones into powder and hurl handfuls of white dust into each other's eyes to see who goes blind first.
Seriously, we have a better chance of finding a trace of meat in any Taco Bell restaurant then we do of finding Amelia's airplane.
By the way, can I have a grant for every dead person I think I've found? There's like 10,000 bodies buried underneat my house. I don't know how they got there though. *grin* What do you say you give me $10,000,000 and I'll blow my house up so that we may recover the bones. Then I'll buy an island with the extra money. Eh? Eh? C'mon... I know someone out there has 10 million to fund my expedition to the earth beneath my dwelling.
And so the sarcasm comes to and end...
Hey. We're working on a multiplayer gaming system called SRGN. It's going to support many multiplayer online games using an IPX interface which will optimize all connections for low-latency 56k packet transfers running off of multiple T1 connections and a maximum limit of 250 users per server. Should be done by the end of the summer including an online interface and a downloadable application. It's going to automatically launch users into the game like Mplayer used to but enforce similar technology of kahncentral.com to decrease latency.
:)
... I don't like promoting the competition but it's an awesome service.
Email me at justin!@webworkznetwork.com (minus the !) and we'll work something out to carry/promote your game. That will bring in some online users and I'm sure we can set some kind of payment regiment up where you could receive a part of the overall income generated from your game using banner advertising (inside the application), data mining (the legal way, of course), and premium accounts (which will include real-time voice chat inside of the game, removal of banner advertisements, etc... to make the purchase worthwhile).
Of course, this all relies on wether or not your game is worth carrying. If you have some sort of BETA set up for it, feel free to send me the URL so I can check it out and have a few friends do so, also.
I'll give you a rundown of our facility too so you can see the steps we've taken to ensure 99.9% up-time.. 100% for the past 9 months.
Well, thanks for reading and be sure to check out kahncentral.com
There are a lot of available hacks on the internet which convert the scrollbars to the lefthand side of the screen. I'm sure you can run a search and find a few good ones.
:)
Fun Fact:
Lefthanded people have shown a significant decrease in resistance against poisons and toxins, nearly 40%. Since this is true, many scientists believe that most people are righthanded because lefthanded people died out much more easily due to food poisoning in the early stages of humanity. Neat, eh?
Anyway, Definitely check out some of the hacks and you're sure to find something that will manually change the configuration of your applications without requiring the apps to be well-developed; because we know many of them aren't.
Hey. Just reading through the posts regarding the in-dash unit you are looking for. I'd like to point you to a great discount site which I frequently purchase from. It's called MM X-Press. They've got some sweet deals from a lot of well-known manufacturers. They're not the cheapest on everything but they do have a lot of good deals. Let me know what you think.
It was a great solution in respects to convincing the offending webmaster not to link to his material rather than asking permission and save the file locally for use on his web presence.
It was no a great solution in respects to the defacement of the person(s) web site whom decided to link to the image. While it seems a bit harsh, I agree that it was a great way to convince the webmaster to discontinue the links to the image's location. However, I just don't see it as a reasonable way for someone to convince another developer to stop linking to their images.
I completely believe that computer generated graphics are an art form. When an artist is designing a painting, they must include many important fixtures such as lighting, shadowing, blending, etc.
The same applies for computer-generated graphics. Now, I'm not talking about simple graphics intended for web-development purposes. I'm talking about graphics that are intended to be artistic, rather than buttons, headers, etc (anything that can be applied to a typical web site and layout).
One exception to this rule is possibly Eyeball Design. Check that web site out and it will make you appreciate computer-generated graphics and fully accept them as an art form.
While I respect an artist's ability to create works by hand, computers are going to play a significant role in the technological development of art forms, especially graphical design. It's time to gain some respect for designers because they work just as hard as any freehand artist could ever. It's the same exact modeling techniques but, given the abilities of computers, some automation occurrs. Just because the designer doesn't have to create every single pixel by hand, doesn't mean he/she isn't an artist.
Well, the administrator of the web site, to which you have linked to, is in charge on this subject. It is his file to modify, wether or not anyone has linked to it. So, a possible remedy for this situation would have been to simply save the file and load/link it from your server/hosting account.
Either way, it is entirely the administrator's call on how to modify his/her files. While this case makes it very apparent that the admin didn't appreciate people using his bandwidth, it still seems a bit ridiculous that he would replace the file with pornographical content rather than just slapping a "STOP STEALING MY CONTENT" image or something similar. After all, 900 bytes wouldn't exactly crush his bandwidth (assuming the network is on broadband connectivity), unless multiple developers were linking to it.
Now, if this defacement had been something similar to the defacement of the NASA site (article), then you would have a case.
Well, in conclusion: I suggest that anyone linking to web site files (namely images) save them onto hard disk and upload them to their own hosting account or server. There's no legitimacy in using someone else's bandwidth. Of course, make sure the administrator gives you explicit rights to use the image in the event it is copyrighted.