Preparing for the BIG FIFTY

How WQTH will preserve media “disk space” in the future, to preserve site security and anonymity

But first this message from Wolf…..

WARNING: DO NOT delete images in a media bucket, once they have been used in an article / post / comment – you will ruin that article / post / comment, plus ANY OTHER POSTS which used that image, which you may not know about.

SHORT VERSION: NO DELETIONS.

I promised that I would do this post at 45%, and at 46.6%, I’m almost not a liar. But my plan was to do it before 50%, and that is working out pretty nicely.

HUH?

What I am talking about is HOW FULL OUR MEDIA BUCKET IS.

Here is what our media bucket looks like.

This list of images you see actually scrolls on FOREVER. It’s generally easier and very convenient to SEARCH THROUGH IT, using the search widget near the top, and the name of the image file, or some fragment of it. Search on “melania”, and you get DOZENS of wonderful pictures of our beautiful FLOTUS.

As Wheatie has pointed out, media searches are a GREAT WAY of conserving media bucket space. Not only that – people can replay their favorite images, which are extremely popular. All I have to do is type in “field” and I know that I will get back WHEATIE WARRIOR!!!

Right now, our media bucket is ALMOST half-way full.

I had PROMISED that I would have a solution READY before 50%, so that we would all begin a solid conservation plan when we got to 50% full.

We’re almost there now – hence this post.

If we do nothing, then in roughly a year or two, it will fill up. So we have to make a choice:

let it fill up, then pick a WordPress purchase plan, which lowers security and anonymity below what I consider acceptable values.
let it fill up, then move to a new, similar, WordPress site, and keep this one as a kind of archival “Volume I” of WQTH. This is not a bad option. It can be repeated endlessly, and is a kind of fail-safe back-up plan, TBH.
begin using this site’s media bucket only for header images, which have to be in this site’s media bucket – not elsewhere. Host MOST of our images somewhere else. This would likely keep the site open indefinitely, as the WordPress basic offering media bucket size will likely increase faster than we can fill it with header images.
move to a completely different secure and anonymous platform, such as a theoretical “Gab Blogs”.

My choice is now to pursue the THIRD option, with the SECOND as our backup.

The GOOD NEWS is that I have a great way to do this.

Hosting images elsewhere is the key. The PROBLEM is that this adds a level of complication which most authors find very annoying – including ME ME ME.

For example, I am VERY adept at using IMGUR for storing images. Observe….

See some familiar images from my comments? Imgur is where I store a LOT of my memes and handy pictures for use in comments. It’s also quite usable for images in WordPress articles, too.

I will admit that it’s marginally easier to just upload a picture to the WQTH media bucket when doing an article here, but the small effort required to upload it to Imgur instead, and then use a LINK to the Imgur location, is not bad at all. This is a GREAT way to save space. A few seconds? Not a problem.

However, I have to admit that the searching isn’t as great on Imgur, and some people just don’t like it. And YES, there are other hosting sites, but they all have problems. Photobucket will ransom you hard for a paid account, and limits the bandwidth of your images. Others – well, let’s just say that I preferred Imgur.

Many people find that the sign-up process for Imgur is not trivial. Worse, getting onto there without having to type in the password every time can be a challenge for some. It’s easy to get locked out of Imgur if you forget your password. Finally, getting quickly to the plain image URL takes some practice.

All of these reasons were why I was balking at doing this post when we hit 45%. I just didn’t feel like I could offer a GREAT solution.

WELL, now I CAN offer a great solution. I tested out something, and it works like crazy.

Let me see if you can figure it out.

You know that I had ANOTHER WordPress blog before this one – and before the U Tree – right?

Well, it has a media bucket just like this one.

OK – I should say ALMOST like this one…..

So this is ALL you have to do.

make sure you have your own blog on WordPress, like https://wolfmoon1776.wordpress.com/
get a bookmark or favorite to its media bucket (authors know how to find the media bucket)
keep that bookmark very handy, so you can open up that media bucket whenever you need
upload all your images except headers to that personal WordPress media bucket
search for images as you would in the WQTH media bucket
to get the URL of an image, right-click on it
to put an image in an article here, add an image block

click on “Insert From URL”

in the widget that says “Paste or type URL”, paste in the URL of the image in YOUR media bucket
it might look like https://wolfmoon1776.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/wordpress_image_block_ready.png?resize=219%2C219
remove the resize stuff
it now looks like https://wolfmoon1776.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/wordpress_image_block_ready.png
hit “Return” or the Return button onscreen
you get an image like this

or this

or even this

There you have it – easy as pie.

Now, if you feel like an image is REALLY important, and it MUST be stored SAFELY and SECURELY on the main WQTH site in our communal media bucket, then by all means do so. But otherwise, you will find that it’s fairly easy to store images on your own site, and there are numerous advantages to this as well.

If you need help setting this up, let me know. Likewise, if you think you’ve found a better solution, please let me know THAT in the comments below, and I’ll add it to this presentation as an addendum.

Thank you for all your hard work. Hopefully, I’ve not added too much to it by this workaround.

You will have plenty of time (the percentages are moving REALLY slowly now) to figure this out before we get to 50%. At that point, I plan to unleash WHEATIE WARRIOR OF THE MEDIA BUCKET to remind people about conserving the resources of our beautiful site!

**THIS ONE is in the SITE MEDIA BUCKET.**

We’ve got a good thing here, and I think if we stick with THE PLAN, we’re gonna be able to keep it that way for a LONG, LONG TIME.

W

**“WE’RE THE NEWS NOW. AND WE’RE KEEPING IT THAT WAY!”**

20200228: MAGA Rally thread, Charleston, South Carolina

Gosh, a week ago we were in Vegas together. Steve is still cleaning up from the mess we made at his house in Colorado Springs, and we’ve been around the world since then. Yet, we’re on this Trump/Wolfie roller coaster together. Please …….hold onto the bar.

https://media.giphy.com/media/SrmLZIT3S8oFO/giphy.gif

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) – President Donald Trump will host a Keep America Great Rally on Friday, February 28, at 7 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, his reelection campaign announced Thursday.
https://abcnews4.com/news/local/pres-donald-trump-to-host-rally-in-north-charleston-day-before-sc-democratic-primary?fbclid=IwAR1M7_bBfEVgtKcTgW8QayT0ov15afdgsxfBqLfW7n_WCS0Ks8AAygM9ltM

FOX10Phoenix Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJg9wBPyKMNA5sRDnvzmkdg
Golden State Times Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWXPkK02j6MHW-4xCJzgMuw/videos
CSPAN:

We’re on the road again and it feels good. We’re headed south, to the coast.

https://media.giphy.com/media/QQAF6WHwL11m0/giphy.gif

We can almost smell the South Carolina BBQ and Momma’s Sunday chicken from here. We’re headed into the land of exceptional hospitality, outstanding college football, southern grace, honorable men, gorgeous women, ceiling fans, wide porches, and blooming azaleas, …….. we’re headed to LOW COUNTRY.

We’re so glad you finally made it to Charleston, and glad you’re staying for the weekend. There is so much to do here!!!!!!!

Charleston is a bit of a geographic challenge, so many bridges it will remind you of Amsterdam. The town sits at the southern tip of the Cooper River and the Atlantic. Thus, water surrounds the town and beautiful beaches are found everywhere we turn. A major hurricane hit on Charleston would be a disaster.

With water everywhere, several rivers converging, and an Atlantic Port, we can easily understand why Charleston played a primary role throughout our nation’s history. From the first shots of the Civil War fired on Ft. Sumpter……

To the present day MAJOR cargo terminal and US NAVY Port, which Charleston has become.

With the constant hussle and bussle of business activity in Charleston (South Carolina has the lowest unemployment in the country at 2.3%), it’s hard to imagine the graceful, slow, southern lifestyle which Charleston offers. Yet, Charleston is low country, hot, humid, and sticky. No one would survive in a navy blue suit during the month of August….. so things are a little more casual. But the downtown, historic, and financial centers are beautiful, especially when the azaleas bloom in the spring.

In “North Charleston” (which is really west of the city, but it’s up river, therefore NORTH), where President Trump’s rally will be held, the median age is 33yrs old and median home cost is $131K. The burbs of Charleston are affordable, young, hip, yet still close to great museums, art, beaches, and airports.

https://www.live5news.com/video/2020/02/21/video-preparations-underway-trump-rally-north-charleston-amid-other-large-events/

Come hungry!! The food in Charleston is a perfect cross section. It’s east coast, meets New Orleans love of seafood, meets wild Asian influence, with a healthy portion of Southern Mommas fried chicken or Uncle Fred’s BBQ. Thus, Charleston is a perennial favorite of the Food Network.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hG_HQUg4Uw

Trumpers are getting ready in Charleston:

Folks are already setting up for President Trump’s rally tomorrow. The North Charleston Coliseum parking lot opened at 7 a.m. @Live5News pic.twitter.com/U7zHvwk5gF
— Summer Huechtker (@summerhuechtker) February 27, 2020

https://twitter.com/RobSmall_Trump/status/1233104052281438208

https://twitter.com/d_parket/status/1233008098261991428

President Trump is hosting a rally in North Charleston on the eve of South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary.

Just want to point out in advance that the North Charleston Coliseum’s capacity is 14,000.
— Brian Hicks (@BriHicks_PandC) February 20, 2020

See you all at the rally!

20200228: Attention all QTreeps, Need Your Help, Please.

Need your help, folks. Calling all QTreeps.

Apparently, our little Coronavirus thread, and updated threads, are MILES ahead of the politicians and pundits on MSM (Sure wish we received classified briefings though, can you put in a word for us, Wolfie?) AND, I’ve found, publishing OUR link, along with a message of “We’ve been working on this issue since January. Here are 100’s of links, videos, sources, and hints. Be informed, not fearful”……… shuts down all political opposition. It’s truly stunning how ill-informed the media is on the subject (or they are intentionally misleading the public). The amount of DISINFO presents a hazard.

Nonetheless, our little thread has tremendous value, both as real information for those who are new to the subject or genuinely worried, AND for those who using the virus as a political weapon. I shared our thread today across social media. In the last 7 hours, I’ve received at least 2 dozen private messages of thanks and hundreds of short messages……. people feel better when they have information in their hands. Let’s give them information.

The current thread expires at the end of the month and I’m putting together a new one for the first week of March. Thinking we will update once a week until crisis subsides. Good idea or no?

Please, I need your contributions. Please post here, anything you have. I’ll be happy to sort it out over a long weekend and add to an updated thread. Please include a source/link, where you can and pretty please, DATE the source. I figured out a little too late that dates create a huge problem. For instance, I might type a brief sentence and say “yesterday, Laura Ingraham show”. Well, several days later, I have no idea WHICH day was “yesterday”. See what I mean?

Miss Gail Combs, I was wondering, nudge, nudge, if you could find some spare time, to provide us with a similar update like you did last time. If you can’t get it in by Sunday, I can always edit the post and add it later. Would be most appreciative. Where is Smiley2? I need you, and Aubergine, and the chemist guys, and info about air travel from FG&C, and Bakocarl’s tidbits, and everyone.

People are afraid when they don’t know what they’re dealing with, and we have reams of information. You guys pull items from Chiefio, foreign sources, etc. We always joked that QTree was an amazing collection of expertise, and we’re proving it now, when it counts. We’re fortunate to have different people with varying skill sets (medical- econ- VALUABLE hints from our grandparents- herbal medicine- Heloise-type-hints on how to keep a clean home/office) to add to the post. And it’s the only way to examine the whole problem.

Unless someone has a better idea (and heaven knows, I’m always open to a better idea), we’re going to divide the post into the following categories. If you think we need another category, let me know. This has become, very much, a group project:

The dashboard from Johns Hopkins which counts “official” cases all over the world.
Trump Administration response (the timeline and links to various agencies)
China Responses
Aggregated responses from other countries (I’m going to tear this one apart)
Vaccine news and updates https://twitter.com/johnrobertsFox/status/1233156544520507393
Speculation on how the virus started
Economic impact and stories
Hard Data Medical info
Other medical info to boost immune system, herbal remedies, ways to keep your house clean and NOT spread the virus to others.
Hard links for OTHER valuable sources/blogs and a brief sentence or two about what they provide
Media Bias and debunking section, like the great article from AP News https://apnews.com/d36d6c4de29f4d04beda3db00cb46104
Other news items

You guys are the best. Thank you.

All my love,

20200228: Dear KAG Open Thread.

Welcome to Friday’s OPEN THREAD at the QTree! It’s the weekend and time to crack open a beer and put some steaks on the grill! Thank you for the Thursday hand-off TrumpIsMine. Thank you to Wolfie for keeping us all organized, up and running. What would we do without FLEP’s News Roundup to keep up? Thank you, Flep. Hat tip and a hearty thank you to Wheatie, Dep, BakoCarl, Michael, all contributors and the lurkers!

We don’t believe in political correctness at QTree. Free Speech is practiced here. ENJOY IT. Use it or lose it. This board will remain a REFUGE for those who need civility, either some or all of the time. Important Guidelines are outlined here in the January 1st open thread, with an addendum on 20191110. In other words, please keep it ~~SOMEWHAT~~ civil. We have a new board – actually a new SITE – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.

One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the breathtaking Taj Mahal! pic.twitter.com/7Oz7h431Q0
— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) February 26, 2020

What a week we’ve had. We’ve gone from India, with images of hundreds of thousands of Indian citizens gleefully welcoming our President, FLOTUS, and delegation in grand fashion……. and in a small overlooked news item, Sec Wilbur Ross traveled on to Pakistan. Hmmmmm! The President came home with a 3 billion dollar military sale but did not buckle on a larger trade deal. Good. The USA is in a winning position and he won’t sign unless it’s good for American citizens. We want “Reciprocity”.

When the President returned home, he was greeted by news of massive selloffs in the stock market and a media intent on causing a panic over Coronavirus. News out of Italy/Iran and South Korea sparked concerns over the virus spreading. In South Korea, we learned over 800K people signed a petition calling for the impeachment of President Moon, because he did not act fast enough to close the borders to Chinese travelers, …..which makes Trump’s decision to close travel to those from China, a month ago, quite wise. THUS, Italy’s politicians and other country’s leaders reacted severely to any threat of the virus….. which made the media salivate. The President addressed the nation on Wednesday night.

The reaction in the media reminds me of an anecdote I learned long ago, told to me by a seasoned fund manager. He said, “I could hire anyone to work for me…… When everything is going well, it wouldn’t matter if I hired people straight out of the phone book, but the reason I hire the best in the business, seek them out and pay them more, is because there will be a problem/disaster/catastrophe in the next ten years. During that moment of crisis, decisions made by savvy and calm employees will be all that stands between me and the sharks.”

It’s why we hired Donald Trump as President, for a moment such as…. Coronavirus.

In other news, well out of the headlines, the President’s Judicial Armada plugs along, the Border Wall continues adding mileage, and the Trump Admin won big in the Appeals Court for a ruling on restricting block grants to Sanctuary Cities. Promises made, promises kept, the list of accomplishments continues.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg, Pa., Saturday, April 29, 2017, on the 100th day of his presidency. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Dems are annihilating each other in their debates and on the campaign trail. We’ve had fun watching the implosion on several Dem Debate Threads and the forecast for next week is “100% chance of continued amusement”.

Tonight, the President travels to South Carolina, for a rally before South Carolina Primary. I’ve already started marinating the ribs for the grill. We can sip tea, or share a few Mint Juleps, comfortable with our Stable Genius, while the Dems muddy themselves in the gutter. Full Debate Thread will go up after midnight. Surely, there are already people in line. Ya’ll can come visit me at the B&B while we’re in South Carolina.

No, this is not my house, but a “cousin” B&B in Charleston.

Make sure you rest up over the weekend because we have another rally in North Carolina on Monday night, ahead of the Super Tuesday primary. It is election season.

“Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People.” Candidate Donald J Trump

Remember Wheatie’s Rules: