Hotlinking to Smileys I store in my website's folder?

[DreamRyder]

I use smileys in quite a few forums & blogs.

A while back I used to have them hosted on this one particular picture hosting site. They went belly-up.

Would it be ok for me to host these 400 or so smileys (emoticons) like those you use on your site but way more, in a folder of my account, & link to them when I post in the various forums & blogs I subscribe to?

They are small files....90% of them are under 100k (most between 5 to 25k) so the bandwidth would be very small, & they would take up very little space.

Here is an example of 2 of them:



So can I hotlink to these type of pic files if I placed them in a folder on a free website I build in x10?

Thanks

[descalzo]

imageshack and photobucket not options for some reason?

[DreamRyder]

The add-on I use needs a specific & consistent domain, whereas Imageshack & Photobucket changes it's domain/sub-domain with each upload (look at my example links below)--- they all seem to now, & most pic servers also don't do animated gifs unless you go premium.

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7723/cheerskj4.gif

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/128/victorypi2.gif


Silly because of file size, & such small bandwidth impact I know, but that's what they are charging/bilking for now.

Hell if I had unlimited resources I could get a paid dedicated website for the price they want, & I can do all the other web site things to boot. Unfortunately I don't, so besides the service I was using going belly up, if I could do my web stuff here, & this to boot, it would be great----I've heard a lot of good remarks about x10, so I'm hopeful that I can kill 2 birds with one stone......Comprende mi amigo?

[essellar]

It's not a file size/bandwidth thing -- or at least not directly -- it's that the non-premium services usually run the images through a limiter because Joe User doesn't know that the 14 MP image from his camera is a lot bigger than reasonable/necessary for viewing on the web. That limiter usually uses a simple graphics library to open and, where necessary, resize and compress the image. Unfortunately, that same library is unable to process animated GIFs properly. The premium services leave the original file alone, but may create downsized and thumbnail copies for galleries.

In any event, hotlinking is not specifically prohibited here, but it cannot be the primary purpose of the files. That's file hosting, and that's against the Terms of Service. The images would have to be used legitimately on your own website here -- that is the reason for the existence of these accounts. In other words, the two birds need to be cohabiting or you need to find another stone. The Terms of Service are pretty clear:

1. Server Usage

...x10Hosting does not allow any of the following content to be stored on its servers.
.
.
.
* File Storage: Accounts are not to be used for file storage, your account will be permenantly suspended if found to be breaking this rule. Downloads are only allowed on your x10Hosting account if they have to do directly with your website. e.g. you developed custom software and are selling it or giving it away. Accounts may not be used for mirrors, game file hosting, or any other type of file hosting not specified here.

[DreamRyder]

So, basically I would need to provide say an open page or pages offering these downloadable images for say a totally voluntary modest donation to cover my time & efforts, for use in their own Smiley Forum Library Button like I am doing.

---- or ----

Have a poll suggesting the above, naturally with a complete list of examples on exactly how it would work, & ask those that stop by their opinion---no donations required.

They are then being used for other purposes, & I'm not just using them for storage on my site. Would that better fit into the usage guidelines if I read what was posted correctly?