FBCDN image is not allowed in stream, How can this be?

by Stephen Dewitsky posted on June 22 2010 13:15  

The phrase "FBCDN image is not allowed in stream" does not have much meaning to most of the natural world, but to a developer integrating with Facebook features this phrase is a nightmare.  Over the past year we have been developing iPhone apps that will process images in unique ways.  We thought it would be interesting to allow users to share these images with their friends on Facebook, if they have any friends.  The normal procedure is a two part process.  First, a user would upload the image to their very own photo gallery hosted on their Facebook profile.  When that is successful the user could then choose to publish a message to their stream which would include a link to this recently uploaded image.  It was fast and it was fun.

About two weeks ago I noticed that some previously published feeds, and any new feeds, were missing the shared photo.  Immediately I thought there must be a problem with the code.  Let me take a look.  HMMMMMMM.  Everything looks good, but why is the image missing?  Wow, I don't have much time to continue debugging this.  Let me check Facebook Developer Documentation.  Nothing here about missing images.

On the 17th of June 2010 the shock was felt. I was testing a new iPhone app we are working on for in20years.com.  The Facebook integration was complete and I attempted to publish a message to my Facebook profile using a Facebook Photo Gallery image.  The process came to a halt and the dialog read, "FBCDN image is not allowed in stream ..... You can see this because you are one of the developers of the app."  Ouch.  I could indeed see this message and yet I have no idea what it means.  Endless Google searches return nothing.

With shifting priorities in schedule we decided to let this go for the weekend.  Monday morning was a bit more informative.  Facebook Developer Forums erupted in outrage that all existing apps ceased to work due to this error. The official word came through an RSS feed reading:

Serving Images in Stream Stories
Jun 18, 2010 3:21pm

We no longer allow stream stories to contain images that are hosted on the fbcdn.net domain. The images associated with these URLs aren't always optimized for stream stories and occasionally resulted in errors, leading to a poor user experience. Make sure your stream attachments don't reference images with this domain. You should host the images locally.

So what does this mean?  Well it depends on your point of view.  It means Facebook does not have enough consideration for current applications using images in the fbcdn.net domain to grace the developers with a warning of this new policy.  I was experiencing problems for weeks before this statement was released.  It means that developers cannot rely on any implementation of a Facebook API component to behave the way they expect on a day to day basis.  It means that developers must find a way to host their own images if they plan on placing them in a Facebook Stream.  It means we must react with Ninja-like reflexes.

 

WILLIAM EGGLESTON: PARIS-KYOTO

• WILLIAM EGGLESTON: PARIS-KYOTO

WILLIAM EGGLESTON: PARIS-KYOTO

ウィリアム・エグルストンの視点

これまで日本では、まとめて紹介される機会がなかったウィリアム・エグルストン。
日本における初の個展となる今回は、2000年以降に撮影された２つのシリーズ
「パリ」と「京都」を中心に、初期の代表作やドローイングを加えて展示。
ベールに包まれた伝説的写真家・エグルストンの真の姿が明らかになる。

The American Males' Guide on How to ... - Google Books

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「巨大仏!!」 ［NEWS］

「巨大仏!!」

日本各地に点在する超巨大仏像の数々をひたすら撮りつづけた写真集

10 8/24 UPDATE

世界初の企画なのだという（そりゃそうだろう）。本書は、なぜか日本各地に点在する超巨大仏像の数々をひたすら撮りつづけた写真集だ。

まずは、その写真術を評価したい。「とにかくでっかい仏像」が、日常の風景のなかにある、という、どうしようもない「違和感」が、すべての写真に通低するテーマとなっている。ときにそれは、ユーモラスであり、ときに軽くショッキングだったりもする。それが全28体、民家の屋根のむこうに／道路を見下ろすように／山のなかにこつ然と──偉容をあらわすその様は、超現実的であり、同時にこれこそが、「いまのニッポン」の風景なのだなあと納得させられるものがある。

ちなみに、本書で挙げられた「巨大仏」の基準とは「ウルトラマンよりも大きいこと」だそうで、それ以下のサイズは「プチ巨大仏」となるそうだ。また、各巨大仏ごとに「鎌倉の大仏（13m）を縦に積んで何体ぶんとなるのか？」というイラストがバロメーターがわりに掲載されているのもわかりやすい（？）。なんでも、日本最大の巨大仏は茨城の「牛久大仏」（120m）だそうで、このサイズともなると、鎌倉の大仏が手のひらに乗るはずなのだという。

巨大仏関連の書籍では、宮田珠己さんの『晴れた日は巨大仏を見に』が、本書に先行するものとしてあった。同書は論考およびエッセイが中心だった。であるから、本書はただただヴィジュアル・ショックを追い求めるという姿勢を貫徹させて、先行書との差異化に成功したといえるだろう。僕は地上波を観ないためよくわからないのだが、著者は放送作家として成功しているかたなのだという。正常な美意識からはおおいに逸脱したこれら巨大仏を、風景の一部の「珍なるもの」として認め、愛でるようなこの視線は、著者がテレビの現場から得たものなのだとしたら、この点も、日本的で、面白い。

本書に追随できる企画を僕は思いついた。それは「巨大仏の空撮」だ。できれば動画がいい。リオデジャネイロのコルコバードの丘のキリスト像（30m）が、いつも頭上から空撮されているように。その映像こそが「リオの象徴」のひとつとなっているように。日本全国の巨大仏を「さらに高い位置」から眺めることで、よりいっそう、この日本という「珍なる国」がよく見えてくるのではないか、という気がした。

Text:DAISUKE KAWASAKI (Beikoku-Ongaku)

「巨大仏!!」
中野俊成・著
（河出書房新社）
1,680[税込]

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(video)Genius of Lady Gaga - In Camera interview

Genius of Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga was the ninth participant for In Camera interview series.

Pop phenomenon, fashion icon and award-winning recording artist, in May 2010 Lady Gaga became the ninth participant in our In Camera live interview series, exclusively answering questions submitted by friends, celebrities and fans worldwide.

View the on-demand footage of this exclusive broadcast here alongside the real-time transcript edit created during the course of the interview process.

The Transcript

• 

  SHOWstudio.com is a fashion website, first and foremost - Lady Gaga, we have asked you to be the ninth participant in our series of In Camera interviews because, more than any other contemporary musician, your work feels inextricably connected to fashion. What function does fashion serve for you? Do you use it to underline your musical themes, or is it another outlet for a different type of creative expression?

  - asked by Alexander Fury, London.

  

  It's all of the above, but I think more importantly on a cultural level I think music and fashion have always mirrored each other as part of a creative context. They cannot be separate. I need fashion for my music, and I need music for my fashion.

• 

  You are such an inspiration, from what you wear to how you sing. But where do you get your inspiration from?

  - asked by Ricky White , New York, New York.

  

  From capital HIM. I think there are two different kinds of artists. People who need to be plugged into a cultural movement, in music, fashion or the latest fishing techniques. But I think for some of us - and I would perhaps say the same about my friend Nick Knight - it's a much more innate gift. A much more spiritual experience. We don't have to be plugged into a particular movement to be part of it. It's transcendent, it's an inspiration that we're born with. To be perfectly honest, right now my biggest inspirations are my fans...(cunt. after the gaga)

http://whatgetsmehot.posterous.com/the-genius-of-lady-gaga-2-hr-int

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