Over the last several months, for various purposes, I've made images for graphical links to this site. If you'd like to include one on your site (thank you!) please select the version that best suits your needs.
Button:
Larger version:
If you prefer a banner style image:
Of course you may also use the main header image on this page if you prefer. If you want to get really fancy there is an animated version of the header logo. I wouldn't recommend using this however, it is substantial file (486K) and takes quite some time to load.
"Can I use material from The Oracle on my site?"
Yes, you can. Provided you follow a few simple requests, you have my permission to use certain materials from this site.
You may not use the following:
You may use the following freely:
You may use the maps if you adhere to the following:
<A HREF="http://www.realmoracle.com/fester.htm">Festering Hate Pool</A>
If you prefer, instead of linking to each map you may pass your visitors over to The Oracle's maps page:
<A HREF="http://www.realmoracle.com/maps.htm">Call it whatever you like</A>
The Oracle header graphic may be used for providing links to this site. If there is something else you wish to use and are unclear about authorization please don't hesitate to write.
"Oh man! Why are you doing this?"
The simple answer is because I wish to control the products of my efforts. From the beginning I have always made the maps, and just about anything else I produced for the Realm community, freely available to all who wished to use it, in most any manner they desired, with few restrictions and without any requirement for credit being given. My generosity has come to haunt me.
The Realm maps are pretty well established and are carried by many, if not most, sites that wish to offer maps. Yet the only sites that consistently carry the most current versions are those sites that link to my server rather than maintain copies on their own. Anyone who asked to carry the maps on their site was told "Yes, provided you keep them updated". Unfortunately, very few did anything beyond grab the copies they wanted at the time and then let things go. An out-of-date map is worse than no map at all. A map which you trust to be reliable but which leads you astray is like falling into a pit trap while taking a romantic stroll. At least the person without a map in unexplored territory is aware enough to be watching where they are going and what they are doing.
On the personal side, I have become acutely aware of my work being used on other sites with little, if any, acknowledgment of the material's source. There are sites out there that have taken portions of my old site (HyJinks' Compass) and copied it en masse, changing a few details and then posting it with the implication that the work is their own. One site I ran into actually copied my whole site, called it something else, and opened up for business. Flattering but hardly ethical.
If the Realm community wishes to make use of my work they should come to me for it, not somewhere else.
Thank you.
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