This Chatboard Is Getting Boring , Needs New Focus .

Irfanview is exceptionally simple. And did Bobby mention it is free?

If I want to post something, I can pull up the scan of a page on my computer, drag a box around the stamp I want, control-y [crops], control-r [opens the resizing dialogue], type in 600 for the longest dimension and 72 for dpi, and control-s [saves] to name it.

It only takes as long as 45 seconds if I custom rotate the image +1 or -1 to do a little straightening.

Sure it would be great to not have to worry about the size limit, but if it helps save space (which I assume has a direct correlation with costs), it is worth it for the long haul.

The exceptional scans that are posted in many threads (the engravers thread, for instance) are great to see, and outside hosting might be a necessity for those. But we have the choice. Host 'em up elsewhere, pain free, or post them here.

I think it is a workable choice.

My 2d.

Should've added a recent acquisition to throw a bone to floortrader

Pretty happy with this 1-shilling Falkland KGV:



[97.2KB]

I find this forum very diverse in its knowledge, covering every subject that is presented and then some. Alot of us lurkers really didn't post anything or reply to topics because the knowledge out here is very intimidating, especially if you can't add to the topic in a constructive way. So its better just to read and not type.
I haven't used the search function that often myself. When I did read up on certain search topics it still wasn't clear in my head so I would seek re-posting it ,so to speak. Forums are to me a form of socialization that makes you feel good when you get a response to your inquiry. Many people happen upon this site thru their searches and may be the quiet type that won't post just lurk until something makes them want to contribute.
Knowledgeable information is gathered thru sometimes many questions being asked. We all know that in the old days we were under the impression that stamps would be worth alot of money and it still is in peoples minds today. So whenever stamps are acquired the first questions are what do I have and is there any value here. I'm proud to be part of this forum and its members, Posters or Lurkers. I'm up for any new ideas we can brainstorm.
Sorry for all the paragraphs. Thanks to all for your time.
Gary

Not to go off topic but Gar brings up an interesting point. Who started this whole 'stamps gain value' concept anyway? It's even mentioned in some of the youtube videos from the 50's. I've never seen a genuinely valuable stamp in person, aside form either whatever the collector had attached to it on a personal level or the intrinsic face value as postage. So where does this mythos come from?

Nice posts all.

Lurking and then contributing is how I started on here years ago. I knew that one specialized ting that no one, at the time, know about, through my own quiet stamp collecting and research.

I ahve heard other new collectors with busy lives speak of having felt intimidated at times by the knowledge here.

But everyone, young or old, new or long time collectors or appreciators, have their own personal point of view. I enjoy hearing from all. The braod spectrum of opinion is what makes specialized magazines 9maybe online nw?) come alive and hold readers and posters interest.

Of course, the knowledge of the loonger timed members can hold an interest too, just well seasoned by mistakes and foibles occurring over the ears.

It's fun to learn again how to walk or post or collect as you wish. Knowledge gathering is collecting too.

There isn't an Irfanview version for Macs. Anyone know of an equivalent?

Terry

Short and sweet: I agree with floortrader on many issues. The quality of discussion has come down - there are very few GREAT topics these days here.

That said, it's not just this place. MOST stamp related websites suffer the same IMHO. Not sure if it's a moderation/management issue (a lot of old timers have moved onwards one way or another) or something else (collectors being more busy with life or similar).

But... Bravo to floortrader on bringing up a touchy topic.

-k-

I think it has things to do with the original stamp dealers, large stamp companies, the massive number of people who did (and still do) collect stamps, the investment potential that stamps hold in sagging good economy and bad times, the claiming on income tax returns possibilities in older years I think, the flucuating economies.

if you can't afford gold then stamps are a good way to diversify your holdings. Having buying and selling skills helps a lot too of course.

I'd suspect that if you'd compare todays forum with whatever era in the past generated more engaging topics you'd see a lot of trends.

1) Stamp collecting (at least in the US) is a bit of a dying hobby. I'm being poked fun at by any of my friends who've found out about it. It equates to being old in their minds.

2) Cultural trends has been strongly pushing toward electronic entertainment for the past two decades heavily. And I personally feel that the push for gaming platforms gets stronger every five years or so, or about with every new generation of gaming console.

4) Message boards go through ebb and flow periods. Sometimes they're up with lots of posts and life, sometimes not so much. Another forum I hang out at for investments goes weeks between individual posts, sometimes more. Then suddenly it's jumping with new posts for a few months, then slowly quiets down. We're likely in a valley trend here.

5) The older generation of stamp collectors may very well be passing away. Always everyone I've met who collected stamps at one point or another was of the WW2 generation. They're passing away at a rapid rate now and leaving a vacuum in their wake. This gets back to point #1 above. So while I'm sure many collectors have wandered off for one thing or another, I'm sad to say that there's likely a few who passed away and due to circumstances no one here has been notified or knows anything about it. I've seen that happen on other forums where after months or years of silence someone comes back to tell us someone else has been deceased for X-amount of time.

I don't think blame should be pointed at the mods or the website in any fashion. I think we're just dealing with sets of trends combining together.

It's not the Mods or the site that have brought my participation down here (Not like I have much that is interesting to post anyways) but I post here much less than I used to. For me it is a few individuals that have entirely deflated the proverbial SCF tire. Questions asked have been met with replies that make me wonder sometimes why I even bother to post at all.


For scan size, why do some fight Photobucket ? It's free and for myself I scan all stamps @ 1200 dpi and covers @ 1000 dpi which is optimal for showing varieties and detail.

Hi stalzer,

It is Photobucket's attitude to image copyright that puts some people off using it. By posting an image on photobucket you seem to be deemed to have assigned any copyright, or at least risk others using your images. As an artist photographer I will have nothing to do with any such outfit.

Terry

Edit for omission and clarification. TC.

Edited to add:

The net has many posts regarding this and this one seems to shed some light on what you are agreeing to when posting images on photobucket.

http://www.photoattorney.com/2009/0...-to-use.html

I have been here on SCF for a while and find it to be very diverse in the postings. Having said that, I can see where the original poster is coming from. Naturally not every topic is of equal interest, but it is of interest to someone. I am very interested in covers and early US. But I find other things here of interest.

I suppose I am guilty of not making more interesting posts and starting new topics. Let make as my new year's resolution to do better.

Hi Terry, "Preview" I was told is just as good, and it should have came installed on your MAC already. Gary

I think custom avatar's would be great.......

There's a plugin for Irfanview that allows you to do a "save as" and pick a target file size. That's how I did the one earlier. Here's the download link...

http://luci.criosweb.ro/download/Riot-plugin.exe

Completely safe, just uncheck the Realplayer download if you don't want it.