Dreamstime Just Broke ProStockMaster

rimglow

« on: February 20, 2009, 12:57 »

Dreamstime just broke my favorite upload tool, ProStockMaster. Dreamstime now requires you to enter a number code before uploading.


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peep

« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2009, 13:04 »

Something has been wrong with their FTP too. I uploaded a few files yesterday and they have not appeared there yet. I can only see them in some folder when I log in using Total Commander. But I am not able to find them anywhere on the page.


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Jack Schiffer

« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2009, 13:53 »

Quote from: rimglow on February 20, 2009, 12:57

Dreamstime just broke my favorite upload tool, ProStockMaster. Dreamstime now requires you to enter a number code before uploading.

Prostockmaster is working fine no need for number code for my version


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rimglow

« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2009, 14:02 »

Well, yes it says it has uploaded the files successfully, but they never showed up in the "unfinished files" section. (I do have the registered version of ProStockMaster.)

Were you able to finish the files? Are you on a PC? I'm on a Mac.


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Jack Schiffer

« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2009, 14:29 »

Quote from: rimglow on February 20, 2009, 14:02

I am on a PC my file uploaded fine sometimes it takes awhile to appear in the unfinished files


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null

« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2009, 15:26 »

No it isn't Prostockmaster, it's Dreamstime. I uploaded by regular FTP last wednesday night and they only showed in the unfinished section today. They must have had problems with the servers.


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WarrenPrice

« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2009, 16:24 »

Maybe the administrator response in this thread is related in someway?

http://www.dreamstime.com/thread_16416


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eppic

« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2009, 02:09 »

MY FTP uploads have been wonky lately too. I see they're uploaded in File Zilla, but they don't show up in DT.


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WarrenPrice

« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2009, 22:32 »

My latest batch using Prostockmaster is "lost in space." Huh

??

Not sure if it is the upload software of problems at DT? Huh


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WarrenPrice

« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2009, 00:22 »

I can't understand WHY they did that??? I had to enter the 'confirmation' number for each image being uploaded. It seems like DT is deliberately disabling ProStockMaster. It's a shame. It really worked well.


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rimglow

« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2009, 09:00 »

I posted the same comment in the Dreamstime forum, but they removed it within 2 hours. I guess they considered it a negative post, and did not want to address the issue.


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zee

New Member

« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2009, 09:18 »

Hi-- I uploaded to Dreamstime on Prostockmaster from a Mac on Friday and they haven't appeared on the website yet. I e-mailed them but haven't received a reply.


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null

« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2009, 08:43 »

Once again, the problem was the import from the FTP servers into the unfinished section, NOT Prostockmaster. That problem was solved over the weekend. I guess Prostockmaster uses FTP, right? The CAPTCHA code only applies to HTML upload.

As to the CAPTCHA, DT is probably targeted by junkbots that explore all entry forms on the net, especially those of high-profile sites. Automated uploading of junk can cause unnecessary server and bandwidth load, and reviewer time. If that's the case, I don't understand why DT removed the posts on the forum.

Yes DT is very finicky about mentioning third party products that access the site, like that Russian keywording program. They blanked out the link on the DT forum last week, keeping issuing warnings not to allow other sites have your login/pass.


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rimglow

« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2009, 11:14 »

I did get this reponse From Dreamstime:
"The "outside" upload was suspended for a while. Whether it will be back or not, depends on the resources that are consumed this way. Please use the FTP until then and don't use third party brands on the forums.Thank you."

Guess that about sums it up.


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RacePhoto

« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2009, 11:23 »

Quote from: rimglow on February 23, 2009, 11:14

Yes, it does. We don't want your photos, because we have too many and to assist with that, we are blocking "outside" uploading.

My last batch from the weekend is not appearing. Has anyone had photos go through with PSM or should I assume they will never be seen?

I'd guess that it's not just PSM they are blocking, but something else that was causing problems. I can't see any reason why an App. that helps and encourages people contribute, would be blocked. Just a guess...


« Last Edit: February 24, 2009, 10:36 by RacePhoto »	Ignore \| Logged

rimglow

« Reply #15 on: February 23, 2009, 11:36 »

Don't get me wrong. I like Dreamstime. They make money for me. I was just expressing that I miss being able to use ProStockMaster.


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davidm

Premium Member

« Reply #16 on: February 23, 2009, 14:10 »

Quote from: WarrenPrice on February 22, 2009, 00:22

I just verified and I confirm that Dreamstime blocked PSM uploads with the web site image capture.

I do not know if DT just wanted to stop receiving thousands images PSM sends them free of charge or it was some kind of their internal misunderstanding inside Dreamstime or else.

I sent an email to Dreamstime. Let's see what they answer.


« Last Edit: February 24, 2009, 13:43 by davidm »	Ignore \| Logged

null

« Reply #17 on: February 23, 2009, 17:25 »

Quote from: RacePhoto on February 23, 2009, 11:23

Yes, it does. We don't want your photos, because we have too many and to assist with that, we are blocking "outside" uploading.

What do they mean by "outside uploading"? Uploading by third party software?


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null

« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2009, 17:29 »

Quote from: davidm on February 23, 2009, 14:10

I wrote a short blog post on this matter letting other customers know what happened and also sent an email to Dreamstime. Let's see what they answer.

Does PSM uses the HTML upload? Why not FTP? Anything HTML depends on parsing and that's vulnerable if the site is hostile. They could replace the CAPTCHA from upload to login. FTP they can't block this way.


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davidm

Premium Member

« Reply #19 on: February 24, 2009, 02:54 »

Quote from: FlemishDreams on February 23, 2009, 17:29

Does PSM uses the HTML upload? Why not FTP? Anything HTML depends on parsing and that's vulnerable if the site is hostile. [...]

Yes, PSM works over HTTP. The original idea was (and remains to be the same) that you want to be in control of every image you upload, knowing its individual sales, downloads etc for each site. You should be able to remove the image from a site or update its data (e.g. keywrods) directly from PSM.
This stuff is not implemented yet for most agencies, but we plan doing that. We did an initial implementation for per-image stats with PantherMedia through ProStockMaster API and we plan extending this stuff, adding iStock and Fotolia through their HTTP-based APIs.

This is something that you can achieve with HTTP but not FTP, since for the latest you do not know what ID the image gets on the upload.
FTP is indeed good for uploads, but it can not be used for the deep integration with an agency like we want. Anyway, of course we can do FTP uploads.

We offer DT a free complimentary value added service for their customers and it's hard to believe that Dreamstime can see it differently.

I assume that this should be some kind of misunderstanding and I am quite sure that we can sort it out very soon


« Last Edit: February 24, 2009, 13:35 by davidm »	Ignore \| Logged

null

« Reply #20 on: February 24, 2009, 18:08 »

Quote from: davidm on February 24, 2009, 02:54

Yes, PSM works over HTTP.

Ah ok, thanks for the explanation! In that case they really added the captcha to hit PSM, thereby annoying everybody else, since the import from the FTP server is very much delayed. There is a thread about it at the DT forum but all they did was a warning against third party software, and they didn't reply on the PSM question since 2/21.


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Achilles

« Reply #21 on: February 25, 2009, 07:28 »

I emailed our thoughts to David yesterday and asked him to clarify his posts here. Well, he didn't but posted that he is waiting something from us. I was hoping the information will be passed on, but it is not the case.

Here are the facts:
1. third party software programs have access to users' login and pass; we don't like that and we had cases when contributors had their accounts accessed, password changed, payment requested. We blocked those, but you get the point. I'm not saying David's software does it, but we can't endorse third party software programs due to this problem. It was explained to them right when they launched their program and to our members lots of times.

2. our blocking didn't target David's software, but all such programs. We have a FTP upload system, you can use it for free.

3. the software was using a lot of resources from our servers, reason why it got cut off. It affected all contributors and the FTP upload was messed up because of such third party means. I can't comment on how they are developed, is not my business. But we will not pay hardware to be used to upload 1% of our submissions and waste 50% of the resources.

Whether it will be brought back or not remains to be seen. We don't respond nice when threatened, especially with hacker-like maneuvers.


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null

« Reply #22 on: February 25, 2009, 09:30 »

Quote from: Achilles on February 25, 2009, 07:28

Whether it will be brought back or not remains to be seen. We don't respond nice when threatened, especially with hacker-like maneuvers.

Yes, there are scripts all over to break captchas. My interest was just technical, why on earth would anybody use HTML to upload, and not FTP.

I never wanted to use PSM for the plain reason that it has no factual business info on its site. No real-world address. Where are they, who are they? The only thing they have is a sitemail to contact. If anything would go wrong, how would one go after them?

For those wanting to upload to several sites there is Filezilla, open source and free. You can schedule your uploads to as many sites very easily, then leave it running alone. It's safe since you login info stays on your disk.

If server load is a concern though, the load of statistics gathering scripts like Lookstat is much heavier. I wonder what DT's position is on scripts like that. DT will easily find out since all the requests come from the same IP. Did Rahul of Lookstat consult with DT about that?