SMUG MUG PHOTOS has just purchased FLICKR PHOTOS

[Joseph Frank1]

Hello ALL ------------

To those of us members HERE who have a FLICKR photos membership and webpage ---


Well, I just got an email from FLICKR photos that it has been taken over by SMUG MUG photos and if you don't agree to and sign the SMUG MUG Terms of Services (TOS) by May 18, 2018, your FLICKR Account will be discontinued. HERE BELOW is the official notice!
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Flickr loves you

We’re excited to announce that Flickr has agreed to be acquired by SmugMug, the photography platform dedicated to visual storytellers.

SmugMug has a long history of empowering people who love photography and who want to improve their craft, making them a perfect fit for Flickr and our creative community. With SmugMug, we’ll continue to focus on you, the Flickr members who inspire us all with your work.

Nothing will change immediately with regard to your Flickr account. You will still access Flickr with your current login credentials and you will have the same Flickr experience as you do now. We will continue to work to make your Flickr experience even better.

We think you are going to love Flickr under SmugMug ownership, but you can choose to not have your Flickr account and data transferred to SmugMug until May 25, 2018. If you want to keep your Flickr account and data from being transferred, you must go to your Flickr account to download the photos and videos you want to keep, then delete your account from your Account Settings by May 25, 2018.

If you do not delete your account by May 25, 2018, your Flickr account and data will transfer to SmugMug and will be governed by SmugMug’s Terms and Privacy Policy.

Read more detailed FAQs about this transition on the Flickr Blog.

We’re happy that Flickr is your home for photography and we look forward to the next chapter in our adventure together as we join the SmugMug family.
Thanks,
The Flickr Team
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The SmugMug acquisition brings to a close a long and frequently painful chapter for Flickr. Founded in 2004 by Stewart Butterfield and his then-wife, Caterina Fake, Flickr was sold a year later to Yahoo for $35 million after the service gained a massive following. Silicon Valley talked of the “Flickrization of Yahoo.” And Yahoo retired its photo service, Yahoo Photos, and made Flickr its flagship.


SMUG MUG is a paid for photo hosting service ---having 4 member -account plans -- but basically from $45 or so $ annual to a higher level cost.

With Flickr I have an annual (grandfather) PRO ACCOUNT for # 24.95 annually, unlimited storage and no ADS, and I have 2 other free accounts with a terabyte of storage each

The only thing good about this change is getting away from the dreaded and long incompetent Yahoo and questionable VERIZON ownerships.

Here is a link to the FLICKR Support Forum page -- and official and reader comments on this change and sale to SMUG MUG
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https://www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us ... 502/page2/
Flickr: The Help Forum: [Official Thread] Flickr has agreed to be acquired by SmugMug - Discussion Post
http://www.flickr.com
to your friends and family, or blog the photos and videos you take with a cameraphone.
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BELOW are some industry articles about the FLICKR PHOTOS sale to SMUG MUG PHOTOS and any plans -- LINKS BELOW

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/201 ... 537377002/

These are the best underwater photos taken in the world
http://www.usatoday.com
SmugMug's deal for Flickr, previously owned by Yahoo and then Verizon, should breathe new life into the photo sharing and storage pioneer.
https://www.cnet.com/news/photo-sharing ... r-smugmug/
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Flickr has a new owner as Verizon sells it to SmugMug. Don't freak out, SmugMug tells Flickr photographers
http://www.cnet.com
Don't worry, SmugMug won't try to turn Flickr into the next Instagram, CEO says as he takes over the site 10 months after Verizon bought it through its Yahoo acquisition.
https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/20/fli ... quisition/
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Pro photo storage site SmugMug buys Flickr
http://www.engadget.com
Remember Flickr? Now it has a new owner.
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So, I guess we all will have to wait and see what happens. Being I have between 4 and 5 thousand photos over my 3 Flick Accounts, I will probably automatically morph over to SMUG MUG and wait to see what happens. They claim FLICKR will be kept the same (with improvements I expect) and as a separate Photo Hosting venue - alobeit tied to the SMUG MUG family -- but time will tell.

regards - Joe F

[healey36]

Thanks for posting. I have a "free" Flickr account with only a couple hundred snaps stored. I expect there'll be an effort to monetize that at some point, hopefully not using the heavy-handed approach Photobucket took.

Healey

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I use SmugMug and like it far, far, far more than Photbucket ever, infinitely more reliable and up to date software, nd it is far more user friendly than Flickr.

They actually provide real timely online assistance.

[J. S. Bach]

Odd, I do not have a Flickr account but I got that email. Oh well, I will just ignore it.

[Joseph Frank1]

Hello

Re: your comments posted in your message above ------------

"............I use SmugMug and like it far, far, far more than Photbucket ever, infinitely more reliable and up to date software, nd it is far more user friendly than Flickr.

They actually provide real timely online assistance.............."

------- THANKS for same -- and yes, I have been reading better than usual reports, remarks about Smug Mug. FLICKR PRO for newer members and users of FLICK has risen to $49.95 fee annually. I have what they call a "grandfathered" long standing old PRO account grandfathered to the $ 24.95 annual original price for unlimited storage and no ads. As stated, I also have 2 separate free accounts

Anything would be better that what screwups yahoo inserted into FLICKR since they bought in in 2005 -- but more so after that Melissa Meyer Yahoo CEO tried to "enhance and improve it" (Flickr) a number of years ago - and caused so many system and operation bugs and glitches in it.

And yes, Photobucket (aka photosuckit) IS FOR THE PITS

regards - Joe F

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Hello

Re: your comments posted in your message above ------------

"............I use SmugMug and like it far, far, far more than Photbucket ever, infinitely more reliable and up to date software, nd it is far more user friendly than Flickr.

They actually provide real timely online assistance.............."

------- THANKS for same -- and yes, I have been reading better than usual reports, remarks about Smug Mug. FLICKR PRO for newer members and users of FLICK has risen to $49.95 fee annually. I have what they call a "grandfathered" long standing old PRO account grandfathered to the $ 24.95 annual original price for unlimited storage and no ads. As stated, I also have 2 separate free accounts

Anything would be better that what screwups yahoo inserted into FLICKR since they bought in in 2005 -- but more so after that Melissa Meyer Yahoo CEO tried to "enhance and improve it" (Flickr) a number of years ago - and caused so many system and operation bugs and glitches in it.

And yes, Photobucket (aka photosuckit) IS FOR THE PITS

I found Flickr to be excessively cumbersome and at times totally unwieldy to use. Being under the Yahoo umbrella just makes everything worse.

On the assistance note; they advertised a response within 15 min. I had a problems that as it turned out originated from my misunderstanding a setting. Someone from SmugMug sent the answer in under 15 min. They also had a generous test drive period that they let me extend an extra 2 weeks. The price per year for the account that I''m using was only a ~$1/month greater than my Photobucket account. My files moved from everywhere else and I've not looked back. I had more trouble closing my Photobucket account that anything else.

Now how they will integrate your Flickr accounts into SmugMug is an unknown.

[webenda]

I found Flickr to be excessively cumbersome and at times totally unwieldy to use. Being under the Yahoo umbrella just makes everything worse.

Rufus,

Sometimes we agree
Sometimes we don't
Flicker had free accounts
Smug Mug don't

I found Flicker to be super easy to use prior to Yahoo. After Yahoo it was not straight forward but I found work arounds. I did not mind because it was free.

I did not expect a free Flicker ride forever. At least this move to Smug Mug is not going to happen without warning--like when Photobucket took all my photos hostage and demanded a ransom for them.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I found Flickr to be excessively cumbersome and at times totally unwieldy to use. Being under the Yahoo umbrella just makes everything worse.

Rufus,

Sometimes we agree
Sometimes we don't
Flicker had free accounts
Smug Mug don't

Getting actual service beats free. Just remember, even if it's free, you can always buy it cheaper.

I found Flicker to be super easy to use prior to Yahoo. After Yahoo it was not straight forward but I found work arounds. I did not mind because it was free.

I have no pre-Yahoo experience to gauge against - that you needed work-arounds speaks to my finding Flickr cumbersome and unwieldy. Again, even if it's free, you can always buy it cheaper.

I did not expect a free Flicker ride forever. At least this move to Smug Mug is not going to happen without warning--like when Photobucket took all my photos hostage and demanded a ransom for them.

I knew as soon as Verizon pushed its e-mail to AOL and that Photobucket boosted its rates to absurd it was time to move. I do not believe that they took your photos hostage; you could have downloaded them and departed. Their terms of service let me use PB until the end of this year -- I still left.

[webenda]

I do not believe that they took your photos hostage; you could have downloaded them and departed. Their terms of service let me use PB until the end of this year -- I still left.

Photobucket advertising overwhelms my computer. I can recover one picture if I hurry then the backlog of advertising waiting to download blocks the next attempt. It was easier to download a free "Photobucket fixer" allowing me to view my photos on this site and recover them from here. Of course, MTJ deletes photos periodically due to finite storage space so the time to do so is limited.

Recovering Photobucket photos is a moot point for me, all my photos are backed up on a second internal hard drive and an external digital drive. I just gave recovery a try to find out what other people with free accounts were experiencing.

As far as closing my Photobucket account, why? They are only punishing themselves by using up their storage space. Photobucket can hold my photos in Photobucket purgatory forever as far as I am concerned.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I do not believe that they took your photos hostage; you could have downloaded them and departed. Their terms of service let me use PB until the end of this year -- I still left.

Photobucket advertising overwhelms my computer. I can recover one picture if I hurry then the backlog of advertising waiting to download blocks the next attempt. It was easier to download a free "Photobucket fixer" allowing me to view my photos on this site and recover them from here. Of course, MTJ deletes photos periodically due to finite storage space so the time to do so is limited.

Never had advertising - I had the lowest tier pay account.

Recovering Photobucket photos is a moot point for me, all my photos are backed up on a second internal hard drive and an external digital drive. I just gave recovery a try to find out what other people with free accounts were experiencing.

Then they were hardly hostages. Recovery of them was made difficult when PB eliminated the ability to download entire folders.

As far as closing my Photobucket account, why? They are only punishing themselves by using up their storage space. Photobucket can hold my photos in Photobucket purgatory forever as far as I am concerned.

Why leave them your property? Your photos belong to you. Also, having a pay account, I also wanted all that discontinued.

[webenda]

You make Photobucket sound so wonderful. Maybe I will go back to using it (NOT).

[Rufus T. Firefly]

You make Photobucket sound so wonderful. Maybe I will go back to using it (NOT).

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..................they are not.

[webenda]

Hello ALL ------------

To those of us members HERE who have a FLICKR photos membership and webpage ---

regards - Joe F

Thank you Joe. After a little discussion and research I am still undecided where to to for photo hosting service. I just tried ImageVenue (free) and found out it is not safe.

SmugMug says it is safe.

Rufus said, "Getting actual service beats free." Getting "safe" service beats free also.

Reference: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17604

[ScaleCraft]

I have had a Flickr account for years. Probably before yahoo bought it.

I have never received any e-mails about smug mug, no TOS changes, in fact, when I open Flickr, it is still a yahoo log in, still has pop ups about yahoo account, and the bottom of the about page has this (today):
© 2018 Yahoo, Inc. All rights reserved. Powered by WordPress.com VIP

So, as of today, 28AUG18, it seems to be still yahoo owned. Or at least so branded.

Da Google says yahoo started breaking up in APR18, but even though some of Da Google says smug mug owns it, they have changed nothing.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I have had a Flickr account for years. Probably before yahoo bought it.

I have never received any e-mails about smug mug, no TOS changes, in fact, when I open Flickr, it is still a yahoo log in, still has pop ups about yahoo account, and the bottom of the about page has this (today):
© 2018 Yahoo, Inc. All rights reserved. Powered by WordPress.com VIP

So, as of today, 28AUG18, it seems to be still yahoo owned. Or at least so branded.

Da Google says yahoo started breaking up in APR18, but even though some of Da Google says smug mug owns it, they have changed nothing.

Interesting..... If you go to https://www.flickr.com/ I don't see any of what you are describing and it looks very much like the log in home page for SmugMug. If I'm on my Yahoo sites, the tab for Flickr at the top is missing. Yet, the next log in page looks like the Yahoo log in page which is weird since I'm already logged in to Yahoo....... Well, if they can make something confusing and convoluted, they will do so if only to prove that they can make it all worse than it was yesterday.