TCH-Andy

you do need a hobby with jokes like that - far to much time on your hands That's a good idea. you would probably need 3 layers really, because you don't want a complete picture on any layer - otherwise you get the picture placed in your temp file. Worth a look though Thanks Andy

You're allowed to burst bubbles Not a problem, there are a couple of other ways - if the picture is not the active window then you can do a print screen as well. But if it takes someone a lot of time and effort to pinch it, then as least they will stop and think about things - maybe There is no foolproof method, my aim was just to come up with a method based on Tracys' great idea to help make life tricky. Thanks Andy

The free email forwarding is http://www.bigfoot.com/ef/index.jsp and the webmail (pay) is http://www.bigfoot.com/ef/infopage.jsp?sho...webmail.default I use the free forwarding (and have for about 10 years) which means whenever I change ISP etc I still have an email link. Andy

http://www.bigfoot.com/ Andy

How about mail.com? or bigfoot? I've used both in the past without to much trouble Although I did leave mail.com when they started wanting to charge me Andy

As a thought for anyone who wants to play with the php script then please go and get a copy of the code from http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/prote...ectimages.shtml I cannot place it here due to copyright, but you are free to pick up a copy and modify it. Set up the initial variables at the front to; note: the /hidden/images/ can be any directories that you create. If you modify the line to then it will stop somebody picking up the image direct from your site using your code. you can see the source code for test3.htm and test4.htm by looking direct on the website. The key bits are; which closes the window on any mouse or keyboard clicks and stops use of the print screen. These only work for IE, but you could put a check in for browser type and use similar commands for other browser types - if only I knew what they were The clever bit of splitting the image in two, and using a semi transparent image so that two horrible looking pictures when placed together made a perfect picture was down to Tracy. This effectively means that the temp file at least only has two halves of a picture in, and the thief has to work out how to put it together - as turtle did Anyway, I must pop off and catch up with a couple of other things, but I'm sure I'll be back to play with this challenge again at some point Andy

Well, I thought I'd managed to stop you pinching it from the source code. If you got to http://www.mycoted.com/chimage.php?image=horse1.jpg then you should just get a 404 error saying the file doesn't exist. However if you go to http://www.mycoted.com/test3.htm the chimage command should work and you'll get the image. Unfortunately, if you now go back to http://www.mycoted.com/chimage.php?image=horse1.jpg it sill pick it up from your temp file Back to a bit more thinking Andy

Back home, finished the days work, so time to add a few of the inprovements I've throught of during the day. I doubt we'll cover all non IE browsers, but if we can make it to much hassle for 95% of the folk then I'll be happy. Boxturt, when you got it from the source code, did you read the php file to identify where the hidden directory is? or did you just use http://www.mycoted.com/chimage.php?image=horse1.jpg to get a copy of the file? I think I can stop the latter from within the php code. Andy

Hi Tracy, Flattery will get you everywhere In reality, no smarter than you. It was your idea of how to split the image that made this all possible I have been working in Creativity and Innovation for quiet a while now, and one thing I've learnt is that most of the 'impossible' is just tricky, and if you think about it a little from a different perspective then it all becomes possible. I just wish I was a decent programmer who knew about php, html etc. 'cos then it would be a lot easier Off to the day job now, but I have some ideas to get round the next set of issues (Netscape etc) & will play again this evening and publish the code and method I've used. Andy

Well done, the prize certainly goes to turtle please feel free to play - It's nearly time for us Brits to go to bed, but I'll happily put up the php script and how it was done tommorrow - I think there are still a couple of tweeks to improve thngs. As people say, it's tricky to stop it completely, but we seem to have made it to hard to be worth bothering about trying to steal an image. Andy

Hi Tracy, Yes, I'd forgotten about the IE image toolbar. I've just updated the page and hopefully got rid of that. As you say, you are going to end up with some information in the temp folder, but it's getting hard work for someone to steal your work Andy

I think it's fixed in IE versions 5+ but not in all others. Only time and a few more hits will tell. Andy

OK, with a big thanks to dsdemmin, we have another version to play with. I've branded the horse (sorry about that), but can anyone get a copy of it to paste here? I need to speed up a couple of bits, but that can be done if all the security checks work. At the moment the method also stops anyone else from leeching it from your site, and if they do try it sends you an email saying which site is trying to link to it. Please, do your worst and steal away http://www.mycoted.com/test3.htm If you do manage to steal it, can you let me know your machine type (PC / Mac), operating system, browser, and rough outline of how you pinched it. On my tests you can't pinch it from a PC with IE, but you can with Mozilla. Thanks Andy

OK, I've been playing and got a bit further. I can prevent the image appearing in the temp files (thanks to the original idea by Tracy) & I can make all keys close the window - except the print screen I normaly use Alt-Print screen so had tested for that I have to go out for a mtg now & havn't completed enough for folk to test further yet. Back later Andy

Did the print screen not close the window? another door to close I've had a few thoughts during the day to improve things, so I will implement it and add an update for you to try and steal soon. Hopefully we will get it so that there is nothing worth taking in the temp files either - ever the optimist Andy

This is the code I used - it needs a little work to tidy it up. On the first page Then on the second page For better security I think you need to combine this with the method Tracy initially used (otherwise you would have a copy of the full picture in your temporary store on your hard disk). In addition. For good bots I think you need to place the images in a directory where robots are excluded. For bad bots I think you need to include a 'honey trap' (ie a hidden link into the banned area, which then bans their IP if the use it). dogburt, I'm interested as to how you managed to do a right click? I presume you havn't got Java enabled (since it is a Javascript stopping you from right clicking), but then I would have expected you not to be able to open the window in the first place!!! I'll maybe have a play later today. Scott, I was assuming that if you couldn't get to the second window (because all clicks close it, and hence you wouldn't see the source code). How did you see the source code to identify the file? Unless of course you look at the first file source code which gives the name of test2, then you can open test2 directly, and the Java script doesn't work - more work needed .... Andy

OK, time for a bit of fun try this page http://www.mycoted.com/test1.htm click on the horse thumbnail, then try and capture the image... It works in the latest versions of the browsers on a PC, but not sure about a Mac, and I doubt old versions will work. Andy

Hi, Yes, I tried the usual ones - right click, file save... Then just went for a straight screen capture - which is difficult to get round. I'm just playing with an idea though to see if it will work. If you have a thumbnail of your image (which you don't mind them stealing anyway). When you click on it, it opens a new browser window, the size of your image - no menu, resize or anything else. Which closes on again on any key or mouse click... Not sure it will work, but I'm just having a play Andy

this one? I like a challenge OK, I admit, I had to cheat slightly - yes it did give a challenge, and to be honest I don't think there is a real way round the route I took. I think it would deter the average nasty rascal. Now to the other half of the problem - delaying the table display. Andy

For the benefit of others I'll pass on what I've learnt about reading the .htaccess file ^ means directly at the beginning of the string - ie in the first case the agent identifyer (HTTP_USER_AGENT) starts with the letters tAkeOut [NC] means No Case - ie it is not case sensitive [OR] is a logical 'OR' ie, if the agent is takeout or teleport or vacuum then the rule applies [F] means Forbidden - i.e. it returns a 403 forbidden code to the client. boxturt, if we tickle you under the chin do you come out of your shell? it used to work for my tortoise Andy

I downloaded Teleport Pro to have a play, and the more I play, the less I like it. By default, it impersonates Microsoft Internet Explorer - you can set the option to identify itself as Teleport, but who will You even have an option to ignore the robots exclusion standard !!!!! I don't see a way that the htaccess can get round this without a little extra programming. My first thoughts are to use PHP to recognise when anyone is hitting my pages faster than say 10 pages / minute. It should let all the friendly bots through, but deny anyone trying to suck your pages dry. Anyone have any other suggestions? Andy

But with that nice safe shell to hide in, not a problem I'm having a look at how to protect my site to, I'll let you know how I get on with my attempts if I ever understand it all Andy

Boxturt, A useful link here http://diveintomark.org/...block..._unwanted_robots might be worth a try of some of the suggestions there. Andy

Yes, you're right about Yahoo. My mistake, I stand corrected Andy

musicfrisk, Good Bot I would say. Yahoo is the main search engine, but I think it also covers MSN, HotBot, Overture, LookSmart, About, Lycos, and others I think from memory. Andy