Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Most images on the site seem to be broken including Avatars
Broken Images
- Thread starter Broken_Erika
- Start date
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
I know I’m seeing the same issue. I wonder if it was related when the forums just loaded up as a blank page earlier.
Buster's Uncle
AC2 Owner
-It's happened since 10:04am, it seems.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2000
- Messages
- 12,499
This is due to some storage migration being done by Xenforo. Will let you know migration is all done.
Aha so that is the problem. Thx
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2000
- Messages
- 12,499
Xenforo said the storage migration is completed and all images should be showing. Please let me know if you still see issue.
s.bernbaum
Mostly lurking
Still no images showing.
Broken_Erika
Play with me.
Weird, they work here. Clear browser cache?
I just got here and everything looks normal.
s.bernbaum
Mostly lurking
I logged out. Cleared cache. Logged in. Still no images. I'm using Firefox on a Mac. Images were fine before yesterday, when they diappeared.
I'm using Edge on a laptop (Windows), and everything is normal. 
s.bernbaum
Mostly lurking
I'm using an older Mac OS. The version of Safari for it can't access CFC at all. I do have a newer Mac running a later OS, although not the latest. I don't like the newer OSes, so I mainly use it for online sites that I can't access with my preferred OS. I will start the newer one up and see what happens with it later but I would really like to be able to use my favorite system, which worked fine here before the migration that has just happened.
s.bernbaum
Mostly lurking
I have logged in with the newer Mac OS using both Firefox and Safari. Images are fine using either one. However, I would really like the images to work like they did a few days ago, so I can use my preferred system. What got changed that broke the older version of Firefox?
Since we migrated to hosted XenForo, updates are applied automatically. It's possible that one of these updates broke something with the older version of Firefox you were using. From a site standpoint, these automatic XenForo updates are a good thing - it doesn't require staff time or intervention, and ensures we always have security patches applied. Which at one point about 15 years ago, we were bit by security issues, so it's not an idle concern.
I'm afraid that means you probably are out of luck - but one diagnostic question - which version of Firefox are you using? I just tested on a spin-off of Firefox 52.0.9 ESR, from March 2017, on Windows XP, and everything is working as expected, including images. Opera 12.18, whose engine has only had security updates since 2013, loads images as well, although the reply functionality is broken. It's possible I could identify what is causing it to not work if I knew which version you were testing with, although being able to address that remains very unlikely.
Dhoomstriker
Girlie Builder
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2006
- Messages
- 13,457
I would like to register my extreme objection to this change.
Images now appear to be hosted on a surveillance capitalist provider, Cloudflare.
The domain name that they are using is a subdomain of the "community.forum" domain:
civfanatics-data.community.forum
If you don't yet know what surveillance capitalism is, it's time to do some learning.
news.harvard.edu
www.theguardian.com
www.wellesley.edu
By tying our avatars together with Cloudflare, it becomes quite simple for Cloudflare to start associating our CFC identities with our real-life identities, as Cloudflare is used as a content delivery network on other websites where you are likely to use your real-life identity, such as a job applications website.
I request that the site administration staff contact XenForo to register such an objection and ask that they revert the change. Thank you.
Some info about Cloudflare:
Of course, there are some worse options for a content delivery network with even more surveillance capabilities. It would be preferable not to use one at all. However, if XenForo insists on using one, there is at least a recommendation for BunnyCDN, which apparently seems to take privacy very seriously:
For example:
"All anonymous data is kept by us, so there are no chances of a third party tying your unique ID and behavior to any personal profile."
Images now appear to be hosted on a surveillance capitalist provider, Cloudflare.
The domain name that they are using is a subdomain of the "community.forum" domain:
civfanatics-data.community.forum
If you don't yet know what surveillance capitalism is, it's time to do some learning.
Harvard professor says surveillance capitalism is undermining democracy
In her new book, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” HBS Professor emerita Shoshana Zuboff outlines her belief that surveillance capitalism is undermining personal autonomy and eroding democracy — and the ways she says society can fight back.
news.harvard.edu
Shoshana Zuboff: ‘Surveillance capitalism is an assault on human autonomy’
What began as advertising is now a threat to freedom and democracy argues the author and scholar. Time to wake up - and fight for a different digital future
What You Need to Know about Surveillance Capitalism
Harvard Business School professor emerita Shoshana Zuboff discussed her book “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power” at Wellesley on February 25 and shared insight on surveillance capitalism (or the lack thereof) and the impact of...
By tying our avatars together with Cloudflare, it becomes quite simple for Cloudflare to start associating our CFC identities with our real-life identities, as Cloudflare is used as a content delivery network on other websites where you are likely to use your real-life identity, such as a job applications website.
I request that the site administration staff contact XenForo to register such an objection and ask that they revert the change. Thank you.
Some info about Cloudflare:
Of course, there are some worse options for a content delivery network with even more surveillance capabilities. It would be preferable not to use one at all. However, if XenForo insists on using one, there is at least a recommendation for BunnyCDN, which apparently seems to take privacy very seriously:
For example:
Privacy & Data Policy | bunny.net
We make sure that your data is your own! At bunny.net we follow GDPR guidelines and are fully transparent about how we collect and use your data.
bunny.net
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s.bernbaum
Mostly lurking
My older Firefox version is 48.0.2, dated April 2016. My newer OS is using the latest version of Firefox, just updated itself yesteray. After 48.0.2, the Firefox updates no longer work with the older OS and stopped happening automaticly. If I try to upate the older system I get a no updates available message.
Okay, this is still weird.
Does this picture https://civfanatics-data.community.forum/avatars/o/105/105715.jpg?1477458081 open if you click it?
We have 0 leverage on this, and this is not a new change. In this case your avatar should also be the least of your concern, as there is a lot more other data generated in this setting.
Does this picture https://civfanatics-data.community.forum/avatars/o/105/105715.jpg?1477458081 open if you click it?
We have 0 leverage on this, and this is not a new change. In this case your avatar should also be the least of your concern, as there is a lot more other data generated in this setting.
s.bernbaum
Mostly lurking
Yes. I can see my avatar fine through the link you provided but it does not show here, nor does anyone else's.
Edit: As soon as I posted this message, it appeared with my avatar visible but the rest of the avartars on this page, including my older messages, are still blank. However, when I reloaded the page everyone's avatar is now visible.
Edit #2: When I went to the Civ4 forum and looked at several threads, everyone's avatars show fine but all of the screenshots are missing. Instead of a screenshot image, it just shows a code number with either a PNG or JPG suffix. The codes are not links just "names" for the missing screenshots.
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Okay, that gave me a baseline to test with. I installed Firefox 31 (the closest older version I have an installer readily available for), and fired up CivFanatics. Sure enough, the avatars (aside from the XenForo default "initials" ones) were not loading.
I also got a warning that Firefox 31 didn't trust CivFanatics, and I had to make a security exception to trust its certificate. CFC's security certificate is signed by ESET, which is a relatively new provider, and I've run into the same issue with older software not recognizing ESET certificates, so no surprise nor an issue, it's the equivalent of dictionary software from 2014 saying, "covid-19 is an unknown term".
But this got me to thinking, could the same problem be why images aren't loading. So I copied the URL for your avatar, opened it in a new tab, and Firefox 31 gave the same warning that it didn't trust the site. I added an exception, refreshed this thread, and voila, all the images are loading. The lock symbol by the taskbar shows the following:
And "More Information" shows me that the (new?) XenForo image host is using Let's Encrypt, which is also newer than Firefox 31, and with its public beta launching in April 2016, may also be too new for Firefox 48.
So I would suggest clicking that link for your avatar, you'll probably get the Firefox security warning page (which I neglected to screenshot), but if you add an exception and refresh, I'm cautiously optimistic that will solve your image-loading issues.
With a bit of web searching, I also found two possibilities for browsers with slightly newer engines on OS X 10.6 to 10.8 that might aid compatibility with modern sites - InterWeb and Firefox Legacy. They are based on Firefox 52 (or newer, for some browser/OS combinations), which was a fairly commonly targeted minimum browser version as it was an extended support release. I'm surprised at how well the Web continues to work on a spinoff of Firefox 52 that can recognize more recent security certificates, but that "being able to recognize recent security certificates" item is a tripping point.
