Ebony Bondage - technical

Some people who visit Ebony Bondage may need advice on using their browser. I am providing this very basic resource primarily for these people. This page is not intended as a comprehensive resource, and although the information it contains is correct to the best of my knowledge, I make no guarantees about accuracy.

I will also be trying to provide useful links for people who become interested in digital images (see the links page 2).

questions 'we expect' to be asked frequently

Mac and Linux users please accept my apologies for the windows-centric approach - but it is likely you will know more about these things than I do!

1. What is my "browser"?
2. How can I save pictures on my own computer?
3. Why does ebony-bondage provide pictures in more than one size?
4. What are the sizes of the images at ebony-bondage.org?
5. Can I change the size of the viewing window in my browser?
6. Can I change the size at which images are displayed on my monitor?
7. What factors influence the quality (and file size) of a digitally stored image?
8. Any special advice for AOL users?
9. How can I make a link open in a new browser window?
10. Which browser would you recommend?
11. Can I use a website based e-mail service?
12. What format are your video files in, and what software do I need to view them?
13. How can I turn off automatic image resizing in Internet Explorer?
14. Time saving tips for downloading images
15. Internet Explorer will only save the images as bmp files!?
16. What is a browser's cache folder?
17. Can I make use of my browser's cache?

1. What is my "browser"?

Answer
You are using a browser right now. A browser is a software package that renders web page code into what you see on your screen. Popular browsers include Internet Explorer from Microsoft, Navigator from Netscape (this may be packaged with additional software as Netscape Communicator), the open source browser Mozilla, and Opera from Opera Software.

Further Explanation
Although all these browsers are designed to do essentially the same thing (i.e. translate web page code into a visual display) they are NOT identical, and there are differences between the browsers in how they implement this task. Historically the companies that produce browser software have added their own proprietary features, but there is a lot to be said for having a standard way of interpreting a standard language. There is a body (the W3C consortium) that is responsible for defining these standards in line with emerging "language" formats. However the various browsers differ in the way they support and interpret these standards. Furthermore, the companies that produce browser software continue to develop newer versions.

2. How can I save pictures onto my own computer?

Answer
All the popular browsers allow you to save images to your computer.

If you want to save an image, hover the mouse over the image and right click. An option to save the image/picture should be available in the menu that appears. Sometimes the authors of web pages disable this function using using javascript. You may be given a choice of the file format you want to save the picture in, but generally you would leave this unchanged.

If you want to save a web page, you can use the Save (or "Save As...") option in the File menu. Note that recent Internet Explorer and Opera browsers allow you to save an entire web page complete with images.

3. Why does Ebony Bondage provide pictures at more than one size?

Answer
So you can choose the best size for you, according to the size and resolution of your screen, and the speed of your Internet connection. By supplying at more than one size, you can fill your screen without the loss of quality associated with automatic image resizing (please browse Ebony Bondage with this function turned off).

Further Explanation
I want to provide images of the highest quality I can, both in terms of the subject matter and technical quality. I have no control over the monitor you use, and the monitor can significantly affect how the viewed image appears, so we supply different image sizes for you to choose whichever suits you best. These sizes are measured in pixels (pixel = "picture element"). Pixels are small units of area, rectangular in shape, arranged in rows and columns. When an image is displayed on your screen it is composed of an array of rows and columns of pixels. Each pixel in an image has a definite colour, and it is the composite effect of all these individual pixels that is interpreted as a coherent image by our eyes and brains.

These days, the most significant factors that are likely to affect the appearance of an image on your monitor are the physical size of the screen, and its resolution (colour depth may also be a factor if you are using an older screen).

The higher the resolution, the more pixels there are per inch. Screen resolutions are often described by the number of pixels wide by the number of pixels high

The physical size at which a pixel is displayed on your screen is dictated by the number of pixels displayed per inch, and this value varies from screen to screen. It depends upon the physical size of your screen in inches, and its resolution (the number of pixels wide and high). For some screens, the resolution at which they are viewed can be adjusted.

Let us take an example. If a digital image is 750 pixels wide by 420 pixels high, it will approximately fill your browser window if the screen resolution is 800 x 600 pixels. This is true regardless of the physical size of the screen in inches (or cm). Therefore if we viewed an image that was 950 pixels wide by 600 pixels high, it will fill the browser window on a screen that has a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, but it won't fit on a 800 x 600 screen. So, what size should we supply you with? Since we wish to please everybody, we are supplying most images at these two sizes, so you can choose what is best for you.

4. What are the sizes of images at ebony-bondage.org?

Answer

These days (updated in May 2007) our "small" landscape images are 768 pixels high (whether portrait or landscape), and our "standard" images are either 1024 pixels high (portrait) or 900 pixels high (landscape).

5. Can I change the size of the viewing window in my browser?

Answer
Yes, there are two basic methods; viewing in full screen mode and turning off toolbars. The actual options available to you depend on which browser you are using.

Further Explanation
Whichever browser you are using, you will be able to select which toolbars to view, and since each of these takes up screen space, turning them off will increase the size of your viewing window. For example, you can increase the size of your viewing window significantly by turning of the navigation toolbar, thus;

• The "Standard Buttons" toolbar in Internet Explorer (View > Toolbars > Standard Buttons)
• The "Navigation Toolbar" in Netscape Navigator 4 (View > Show > Navigation Toolbar)
• The "Navigation Toolbar" in Netscape Navigator 6 (View > Toolbars > Navigation Toolbar)
• The Opera browser gives you various options via the View menu

Of course you may not want to lose the "Forward" and "Back" buttons which are on the navigation toolbar, but there are keyboard and mouse shortcuts;

• All browsers recognise Alt+(left arrow) for "Back", and Alt+(right arrow) for "Forward"
• Opera users can use the excellent mouse navigation options; click-and-drag left for "Back", and click-and-drag right for "Forward". In addition z is an alternative shortcut for "Back".

If you don't want to turn any toolbars off, you can try dragging them so that more than one are on the same line, or configuring your browser preferences to display fewer buttons on particular toolbars.

Users of Opera, Mozilla and Internet Explorer (at least in recent versions) can use the F11 function button to toggle a full screen display on and off. This effectively makes the viewing window fill your entire screen. I find this extremely useful.

Opera users also have the capability of re-sizing the viewing screen itself (including images). This is a very nice option, but be aware that certain magnifications degrade image quality. I presume this is because if you force an image of x pixels tall to be displayed in a space that is x+n pixels tall, the pixels don't always match up neatly. In any case each pixel is magnified, which may lead to a less pleasing effect.

Internet Explorer has an option of automatically resizing images. I recommend turning this off (see below).

6. Can I change the viewing size by adjusting my monitor?

Answer
Maybe, and it is worth finding out.

Further Explanation
With at least some versions of Windows (including Windows 98), using some monitors, it is easy to reset the resolution size of your screen. Place the cursor anywhere on the desktop (the large empty area of the screen when no windows are open) and right click the mouse (alternatively open "my computer", then "control panel", then double click on the "display" icon) and click on the "settings" file tab. Then slide the slider in the "screen area" section to select another resolution size, and follow instructions. I have heard there is other software that will re-size your screen resolution.

Note that altering the resolution does not change the physical size of the screen (in inches or cm), but changes the number of pixels displayed in the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the screen. Thus a given image (eg a screen icon) will appear physically smaller when a monitor is set to a higher resolution (because more pixels are crammed into a given space).

There are a number of common pixel array sizes. For example you might be able to select between display options of 800 x 600 pixels, and 1024 x 768 pixels. Sometimes altering the resolution can have a negative effect on display quality (blurring or flickering).

If an increase in screen resolution leads to visible flickering, this is not so good for long-term viewing. The reason is that a higher resolution display requires more information to be displayed than a low resolution display. This information must be refreshed by the monitor regularly (many times per second), before the image fades significantly. Screen "flicker" is due to the brightness of picture elements fading visibly before they are refreshed.

7. What factors influence the quality (and file size) of a digitally stored image?

Answer
Most of the photographs of natural objects that you will come across on the web have been compressed using the popular JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) compression algorithm. This is not the place to discuss the technicalities of JPEG and other image compression formats, but for those of you who are interested, we have supplied some links to informative resources in the links page.

However there are two important points about JPEG compression. The first is that each time this type of compression is applied it is accompanied by a permanent loss of picture information. The second is that the amount of compression which is applied can be varied; lower compression levels lead to less loss of information, better quality pictures, and larger file sizes (i.e. slower downloading). Higher compression levels lead to more loss of information, poorer quality pictures, and smaller file sizes (i.e. faster downloading). For this reason a balance has to be struck, and the aim is to compress image files as much as possible without causing an unacceptable loss of picture quality.

Different people will assign different levels of importance to file size and image quality. Someone with a very fast broadband connection will be relatively less worried about the size of image files than someone who is using a slow modem. We believe the nature of the material we supply is enhanced by good image quality, especially if our members want to print any of the images. Therefore we want to provide high quality pictures, and we assume that Internet access will get faster over time. For these reasons we provide images that haven't been overly compressed. We hope we strike the right balance for the majority of our members, and we regret it if we fail to please everyone.

Furthermore, because here at ebony-bondage.org we use our own original material, we can control the amount of compression we apply to our JPEG images without them going through any intermediate compression steps that are beyond our control. Since all of our pictures are re-sized and compressed from the original files, we are able to achieve a favourable quality-to-file-size ratio.

8. Any special advice for AOL users?

Answer
Actually I can't answer this with any authority, because I haven't had much experience using the AOL browser. But I do know the AOL browser somehow makes uses of the ART file format to render pictures, and if you save images as ART files you may have problems viewing them later using other software. I have read a suggestion that you use the option, available in the AOL browser, of saving image files in the .bmp file format, although these take up far more file space than the original JPEG files.

Of course, different versions of the AOL browser will not all be the same. I have also read that the AOL browser is set by default to further compress downloaded images. If that happens, it will degrade image quality. If you use the AOL browser and have problems, I suggest you have a look at this link.

Of course, if AOL is your internet service provider, there is nothing to prevent you from browsing the Internet using any browser you wish. Once you have established an Internet connection, you can use any other browser you have on your computer. The main popular browsers can be downloaded at the links below:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Netscape
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera

9. How can I make a link open in a new browser window?

Answer
All the common browsers allow you to do this. Try right clicking on the link, and from the menu that appears, select;

• Open in New Window (Internet Explorer, Navigator 4, Opera)
• Open Link in New Window (Navigator 6)

In Opera and Internet Explorer, you can perform the same function by holding the shift key while clicking the left mouse button. I recommend this procedure if you have downloaded a large page with many links on it (for example our "Models" page). Keep the large page open, and open the links in new windows as you need them. Using Opera, if you also hold down the control key, the new window opens in the background.

Most modern browsers also give you the option of opening a new web page in a new tab, as opposed to a new window (ie you will now have 2 "tabbed" pages open in one Windows window).

10. Which browser would you recommend?

Answer
This is a matter of personal preference, and different browsers may be preferred in different situations. These can all be downloaded from the internet. In addition, not everything written on the web is fully standardized, and some browsers cope with certain tasks better than others. Some may fall on their faces when asked to do certain things. It might make sense to have a choice of browsers available.

Further Explanation
I use Opera as my default browser, mainly because I like the mouse navigation. However I use Mozilla Firefox for some things. This is a fast browser that gets good reviews from the "experts". One other alternative, which gets good reviews but which I have not used, is the Avant browser, which is based on Internet Explorer.

People who think Microsoft has the moral dignity of the Wicked Queen in Snow White might prefer to avoid Internet Explorer (the Wicked Queen tried to kill Snow White when her beauty started to compete with the Queen's own).

11. Can I use a website based e-mail service?

Answer
Yes.

Further Explanation
There are a number of options. I have used Excite, Hotmail and Yahoo! while there are others. My personal preference from these is Yahoo! which (as I write this) provides 100 Mb for free, with excellent spam and virus filtering capability. There is no reason why you should not open as many email accounts as you wish, using all of these services.

To sign up for these services follow these links: Hotmail, Excite, Yahoo! The last is the sign up page for Yahoo! in the USA, and you may be redirected to your local Yahoo! site if you try to sign up from a different country.

12. What format are your video files in, and what software do I need to view them?

Answer
Video clips are posted in WMV format in "broadband" and "lowband" versions. Members can download the the video files to their own computers and watch them using either Windows Media Player, or Real Player. Both of these viewers can be obtained free of charge.

Further Explanation
Generally speaking, it is worth checking you have the most up to date versions.

• You can download the Real (or RealOne) Player here (Real's web pages don't necessarily open the same in different browser and regions. If this link is not useful, go to the Real Media website and make sure you find a link to the FREE player, not the one you have to pay for!) Or if you already use Real Player, you can find an update option in the menu.
• You can download Microsoft's Windows Media Player here

Mac users

• You can download a free Windows Media Player for Macs. Alternatively this page also gives information about using something called Flip4Mac, which enables you to watch wmv clips using QuickTime, or so they claim. A free version of Flip4Mac is available. (My apologies, but somehow I have acquired an automatic distrust of all claims made by Microsoft!)

13. How can I turn off automatic image resizing in Internet Explorer?

Answer
It is simple to toggle Automatic Image Resizing on and off in Internet Explorer:

The short description:
Tools > Internet Options... > Advanced, then scroll down the list and remove the tick in the box against Enable Automatic Image Resizing

The long description:
Click Tools in the main menu, then click Internet Options... from the drop down list. This brings up a dialogue box that has the title "Internet Options" at the top in the blue bar. Click the Advanced tab in this box, and this brings up a list of selectable options, each with a tick box beside it. Scroll down this list until the Enable Automatic Image Resizing option in the Multimedia section. If there is a tick in the box, images will be automatically resized if they are too big to load completely in your browser window. This results in a dramatic loss of quality. Click in this box to select or deselect this option.

Further Explanation
Microsoft in their infinite wisdom know what we want to do better than we do, so they resize our images for us by default.

The above description is accurate for version 6 of IE, and other versions should be similar (!?)

The many hours I spend optimising the large images can be wasted if they are viewed using a browser that automatically resizes them (to make them fit in the window).

If you are using Internet Explorer, this is probably happening unless you have turned off the image resizing function. This is because the browser is supplied with image resizing as a default setting.

Please turn this off! If any images are too large to fit into your window in their entirety, the browser resizes them, and this severely degrades the quality of large images. I have painstakingly optimised images of different sizes so you can choose which one looks best in your (non-resized) window. This is why one of the reasons I give members a choice of different size pictures to view.

13. Time saving tips for downloading images

Note that these words are directed towards the use of my "old style" galleries, rather than the more modern ones, which open each image in a webpage (with an optional slideshow capability).

a) opening pictures in new windows
Avoid reloading a gallery page by opening each image in a new window (this refers to all galleries that open images alone, not to the more recent galleries that open images in web pages). For example, you can keep this page open, while downloading full size images, as follows:

hi vhi hi vhi hi vhi

Opera:
If you are using Opera, hold down the shift and control buttons while clicking on all three "hi" links. Three new windows open in the background. Go look at each, and shut them in turn, while this page remains open.

Internet Explorer:
Hold the shift key down when you click the mouse on a link.

Firefox:
Hold the control key down when you click the mouse on a link.

b) use your cache folder
Check your browser preferences! When your browser opens a web page (such as a thumbnail gallery) it stores all the files in a cache folder on your hard drive. The next time you open the page, your browser either reloads all the files from the server again over the internet (slower) or reloads them from the cache folder on the hard drive (much faster). If you are not sure how to do this, consult your browser's help files. There is more information about cached files below.

14. Internet Explorer will only save the images as bmp files!?

Answer
I believe this problem is specific to Internet Explorer. If you use Mozilla or Opera, you will not have this problem. As usual, I apologize for my Windows-centric response, but all non-Windows users will not have this problem anyway.

Further Explanation
Sometimes Internet Explorer will not allow you to save jpeg images in the jpeg format, and only gives the option of saving the files as bitmaps (.bmp).

If you save in the bmp format you will not lose any quality, however the files are significantly larger than the original jpeg files. Furthermore, if you subsequently convert the bmp files into jpegs, you will lose quality at this stage. If you really want to save them as jpegs, IE stores the files as the original jpegs in the Temporary Internet Files folder. Therefore if you find them here, you can copy them to another location on your disk.

It appears there are a number of situations that can trigger this crass IE stupidity. I have seen a number of reports stating this problem is caused when the Temporary Internet Files folder (the cache) is full (in this scenario I presume the images would not be found in the Temporary Internet Files folder). This is easy to fix by emptying the cache; select Tools, Internet Options, General, followed by clicking the "Delete Files..." button in the Temporary Internet Files section.

Another possible cause is if the web page has an address in the form: http://username:password@website/page.htm, as might occur if special password protection software has been installed.

A still further possible cause is if there is an extra full stop in the file name, because IE will only recognize the first. For example, an image file named blablabla.pic.jpg will be saved as blablabla.pic unless you manually change the name to blablabla.jpg , in which case it will be saved properly (since it is a jpeg).

There may be other causes that I am unaware of.

15. What is a browser's cache?

Answer
Every time you view a web page for the first time, your browser downloads one or more files over the internet. These files are stored temporarily on your hard drive, and your browser makes use of these files to display the web page which you see on your computer's monitor.

Further Explanation
When you view a web page for the first time, your browser typically downloads several files over the internet.

If the web page contains solely text, it is likely that only one file will be downloaded (usually this would be an html file). However the majority of web pages contain images or other elements, and each image is encoded by a file that must be downloaded to your computer.

So how does your browser deal with all these files?

All the files are stored (or cached) temporarily on the computer's hard drive, in a folder called the cache.

So what happens if you visit the same web page again? That depends upon how your browser has been configured.

Your browser may display web pages that you have already visited solely by making use of files stored in the cache, in which case it does not need to download any files over the internet. This means the page will display much quicker second time round. However if the web page has been updated on the server in the meantime, the updated page will not be displayed.

Conversely your browser may have been told to re-load all files afresh from the server every time the same web page is visited. This means you will never view an outdated page, but all your browsing will be slowed down by having to fetch all image files, etc, afresh each time you view the page.

There are "in between" scenarios. In the browser's preferences you should be able to adjust the way your cache folder is used. You may be able to tell your browser to load files from the cache for a set period of time, and only to re-download from the internet after this period of time has elapsed. For example, Opera allows you to set different periods of time for html files, image files, and other types of files.

If you want to reload an entire web page afresh over the net, your browser will have a button to do this (usually called "reload" or "refresh", ofteh the F5 button will do the trick).

16. Can I make use of my browser's cache?

Answer
There are situations where it is useful to control how your browser makes use of it's cached files. I recommend you find out how your browser is making use of it's cache, and find out how to change your preferences.

Further Explanation
Here are two examples of why a cache can be useful;

Example 1: There are several images that appear on every page in the public area of this website Ebony Bondage (the navigation buttons etc). Your browser only needs to download (over the internet) the files for these images once. They will then be stored in the cache, and used from the cache when they are needed. Thus they will be used from the cache every time you view the same web page again. But in addition to this, they will also be used from the cache every time you open a different page from the public area for the first time. This is because the same image files are being used in all these pages, and your browser knows that! This obviously makes browsing quicker because you don't have to keep downloading the same image files over the internet time after time.

NB Your browser's preferences may be set to NOT make use of the cache! In which case every image is downloaded again every time it is required on every page! Slow, baby, slow!

Example 2: The cache can be very useful if you have a slow internet connection and want to watch a slideshow at full speed. If your browser uses images from the cache, you can download the entire slideshow at some miserably slow download speed, and then start it again (by clicking on the web page to start it, exactly as before). However on the second run the images will not be downloaded over the ponderous internet, but be loaded from your cache folder, which is fast!

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