autofantasia's photos with the keyword: ipernity

Contrary to what people often say and what this lamb obviously believes the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. For HFF - Happy Fence Friday . Wishing everyone a good weekend and hoping that next week brings further news of the IMA takeover of ipernity. Oh, and in case you're wondering this shot was taken at the same time as I took the one of The Three Lambs as used for last week's Sunday Challenge .

Well, it appears that the wait is over as Christophe Ruelle, the President and CEO of Ipernity SA, has finally accepted the IMA proposals as announced in a brief update posted by William Sutherland. The next few days should see further announcements being made on both sides once they have finalised the logistics of the transfer. Got to be honest I'd almost given up hope that a deal could be struck and even today there's still a little voice inside my head saying "I'll believe it when it happens", but this isn't really a day to be negative ... it's a day to celebrate and to try and be as optimistic as we can be about the future. It's also a day to say a big thank you to those involved within the 'inner circle' of the IMA, and not just William although I suspect his part has been significant, for all they've done to get us to this stage. Thanks also to Christophe who it appears has finally showed us all that he does indeed still care about this great platform his team created all those years ago and the community that come to call it home.

Most, but not all users of ipernity, know that the site has been having financial difficulties for some time and closure of this great platform does indeed remain a distinct possibility. However, there is now a ray of hope on the horizon thanks to a small number of people who got together and came up with the idea of creating the Ipernity Members Association (IMA). This body has now been officially registered and a crowdfunding campaign initiated to raise funds to secure ipernity's short term future in the first instance, but ultimately with a view to acquiring the platform for the community. However, time is of the essence as the IMA need to secure sufficient monies within the next 2 weeks to cover the site hosting costs for March and April or ipernity will almost definitely close. If they are successful then the expectation is that the platform will be transferred to the IMA in a matter of weeks, but as I've said first we need to raise enough money to keep the site going. Many have already made a donation, myself included, and the campaign has got off to a great start, but there is still a way to go. So, I would urge anyone who hasn't yet made a pledge to follow the link below and donate as much as they can afford. www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/ipernity-members-association-a-non-profit-entity The last few years have seen countless photosharing sites like Multiply, Fotopic and more recently Panoramio fold. So, understandably people feel let down, they feel disengaged, and are tired of seeing internet businesses (big or small) take their money, offer them a future, build up their hopes and then in an instant they take a decision that throws them out into the cold. The situation is becoming such an issue for many that they have actually started to question if it is all worth it, if the internet really has anything to offer them and I think this was beautifully summed up recently in a comment posted on ipernity by Peter Kohler who said: "I give up. Trying to create, preserve or maintain anything in the ether of the web is a futile effort unless you physically own the website yourself. Three years of work and effort and it can just vanish like a fart in the wind. Very disappointing and profoundly depressing." And now ipernity itself is on the brink of closure. The people that created this great site have admitted they are tired ... that they feel a desperate need to turn the page and move on. But they have also heard our pleas and agreed that they won't just slam the 'book' shut and toss it on the fire. This is a unique opportunity then for everyone who loves ipernity and who wants it to not only survive, but to become somewhere we can call home for many years to come. Yes, there are still questions to be answered and hurdles to be overcome, but together we really can make a difference. Let us not fail ... let us unite and ensure that through ipernity our photos really do have a bright future and will be here for a very long time!

No, not a sign that I'm going back to flickr, just another one from the 'processing room', which I hope some of you will enjoy seeing. Three images blended with some 'brushy wizadry' on top!

Or even just a sign of better times to come for ipernity and those that care so deeply for it ... as ever though, the Devil may well be in the detail. Or perhaps it's all just too little too late and we are all damned. Ipernity Members Association Project Please view on black for best effect ... while you still can!

I was one of the many that came flooding across from flickr back in 2013 having found its revamp too messy, not at all intuitive and way too slow for my internet connection to handle. I knew that in time I would have got used to all those new buttons and learnt how to do what used to come naturally, but it would still have looked a mess and still have been far too slow. So I left flickr behind and began to set up my new home here on ipernity having decided that it was by far the best alternative product on the market. In many ways it reminded me of the ‘old’ flickr, it was clean, fresh, and easy to use and above all it was fast. I didn’t have to wait for ages for photographs to load, there were no ‘bad pandas’ to be found and the people behind the site seemed keen to develop it as best they could, but in a way that suited the end user. Team Ipernity not only communicated with account holders on a regular basis, they consulted them on possible new developments, they sought their opinions, and best of all they actually took on board what people had to say. All very refreshing in today’s world, particularly if you’d moved here from flickr and so I was quick to show my support by taking out Club Membership. In that first year they posted 73 articles and made many subtle, but welcome improvements to the site. The following year that number dropped to 31, but they were still very active and the product continued to deliver in ways that flickr never did so I naturally renewed my membership and continued to add to my photostream without any concerns. However, in 2015 it appears all is not well in ipernity. Since the beginning of the year following on from the cloud migration only 2 articles have been published by the team and none of them, with the exception of Julian, appear to be using the platform that they themselves helped create. Elsewhere the team seem to be even less active with no posts on Twitter or Facebook at all in 2015 and the Google+ account seems to have died altogether. All of this, combined with the team's tardiness when it comes to responding to tickets over recent months and their apparent inability to solve the problems reported, really does leave me worrying about what is happening to ipernity. It has left me questioning if this is still a thriving go-ahead community inspired business model or if it is a project that is it being left to simply tick over before ultimately having the plug pulled and the life support switched off? And I know from posts, articles and discussions I’ve read elsewhere that I’m far from being alone in having these concerns so I’m posting this open letter to Team Ipernity in the hopes that they might respond. Don’t get me wrong, I still love ipernity and I’m not meaning to criticize the product or for that matter have a go at individuals … I’m merely expressing an opinion that, from the outside at least, it does indeed appear that all is not well in ipernity. I accept that sometimes no matter how enthusiastic you are about a product and no matter how hard you try to make it succeed there are times when you can do no more: when you quite simply have no more time, energy or finances left to invest. That may well be the situation as far as Team Ipernity are concerned and whilst it would be devastating news at least people would say they tried, they tried, but they failed. No shame in that, at least not as far as I’m concerned. However, what would be unforgiveable would be if having reached that point they failed to communicate it properly and at the appropriate time to users, both existing and potential. For instance, most people would think it very unprofessional to continue to take subscriptions knowing that the project had been cast adrift like a rudderless boat, which had been holed below the water line and abandoned simply to be left to sink without trace at some point in the future. As it happens, my own Club Membership is up for renewal again in a few weeks and all this uncertainty is making me question whether I should renew this time around. So, it would be nice not only to have my open tickets dealt with, but to have some answers/reassurances about the future of ipernity. If you share my views, or at least some of my concerns, and you too would like to know what the future holds for ipernity then please add the above image* into your faves. Click that little star now and help shine the spotlight of Explore onto what we Brits would call "the elephant in the room".** *The image shown entitled "Elephant In The Room" was produced by Canadian artist Brandon Thomas and sourced through the deviantart website. You can see more of his work here . **The phrase "elephant in the room" is an idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. The expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk which no one wants to discuss.

Just finished moving my Ripon Spring Classic 2013 album across from flickr. So I tried to upload a 'signpost' image to flickr to redirect folks across here and guess what ... nothing changes!

Just finished moving my Ripon Spring Classic 2013 album across from flickr. So I tried to upload a 'signpost' image to flickr to redirect folks across here and guess what ... nothing changes!