www.3dprintersforum.co.uk | 3D Printer Forum UK

Rather than comply with the UK online safety act (which requires social media sites etc to enforce rigorous age verification), photo hosting site Imgur (which I, in particular, have until now used to host images for posts on this forum, clearly of a racy nature unsuitable for minors – not!) has chosen to simply pull the plug on UK users (disabling their accounts) and not serving content if the viewer is in the UK.

This means my posts are broken for some readers until such time as I can re-host my images and update my posts. I already have a OneID account, so verifying my status should not be an issue (if Imgur wanted to, and weren't just acting in a fit of pique), but I guess that might not help when it comes to trying to verify the status of the reader on some remote forum being served, nor help verify that the content is safe.

In short, it's all rather a mess and needs a coordinated resolution, otherwise other image hosts might well go the same way.

NOBODY SHOULD NOW HOST ON IMGUR, unless they don't care whether their image posts are visible to everyone. Just because you can see them, doesn't mean everybody can see them. If anyone does post from Imgur, I will use mod powers to intervene.

Normal forum users do not have edit privilege on their historical posts, so if anyone needs a post edited to include a new image link, better PM me the details.

More info here: viewtopic.php?p=1880#p1880

See also: https://help.imgur.com/hc/en-us/article ... ed-Kingdom

The Admin has now enabled post attachments, so images can be embedded without a separate photo hosting site. See here: viewtopic.php?t=727

We have a plan.

We (the forum staff) have devised a method to extract the Imgur-hosted images and correct the posts they display in. Unfortunately it's a manual (non-automated) process, and it looks like it's me in the frame to do it, so will have to go on my task queue...

Meanwhile, if you are desperate to see the pictures (and if Imgur is getting in the way), I'm told you can access the forum with a spoofed geolocation using a free* VPN service (set it to anything other than UK!).

* Important! In general, people should beware of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), free VPNs in particular. There is an IT adage: "if something is free, you are the product". It costs money to operate websites etc, and VPNs are no exception. Where do the operators get their funds? Unless it is genuinely philanthropic, it's by pushing you ads and/or selling on your data – in other words, harvesting and marketing information about you, to a third party, as the product. VPNs are a man in the middle, able to intercept all the data you push through that channel, including the encryption key exchanges for HTTPS comms.

Even with paid-for VPNs, you want some kind of verification that the operators are the "good guys" and have measures in place to guarantee they are not eavesdropping.

Think about it: if Russia, China, criminal hackers, or even GCHQ wanted an easy intercept, all they have to do is set up an eavesdropping VPN, give it nice branding, market it as "free & secure" on social media, and wait to see who comes knocking. I'm not giving them ideas, I'm sure they are already doing it. This might even be how M&S, Harrods, and Jaguar Land Rover got penetrated.

What I'm saying is, a VPN might make your banking details secure from eavesdropping on a public hot-spot, but far from being an extra layer of security could be making them vulnerable at an international level.

Use VPNs mindfully. Don't use them for sensitive data unless you are certain of the security. Accessing this forum is not what I would call "classified information" though, so I won't worry about using a free VPN specifically for that (and only that)!

CrazyIvan wrote: Wed Oct 08, 2025 9:07 am We (the forum staff) have devised a method to extract the Imgur-hosted images and correct the posts they display in. Unfortunately it's a manual (non-automated) process, and it looks like it's me in the frame to do it, so will have to go on my task queue...

Well... this had not risen to the top of my queue yet, so @3dadmin has been quietly getting on with it in the background. Thanks!

It's all done now, except for a video I need to contact the relevant user about...