Fire season is hitting hard this summer

[GrantSP]

Just took a couple of very poor quality shots of the surrounding hills near my home.

As you can see the entire valley is engulfed in smoke. A few fires were started with lightning strikes the other night and as yet they aren't under control.

 

 

As yet they aren't threatening but I'll be on the watch.

 

EDIT: I can't figure out the damn Dropbox links so I've deleted them, just have a look in the link below.

[Nebulous112]

Not good, Grant! That's a frightening situation. Stay safe out there. :-(

 

FYI, I cannot see the pictures - I think they are dead links.

[GrantSP]

Hmm... don't know why. Does this work?

[Nebulous112]

Yes, that link worked fine. I was already logged into Dropbox, and the gallery with the four pictures came up without a problem.

 

Wow, that smoke is fairly thick. Nice wooded area you live in, Grant. Hopefully the fire can be brought under control quickly.

[Greg]

The reason it doesn't work is because neither Dropbox nor SkyDrive/OneDrive allow embedding images. Both require users to access files via the website or the app, so you might consider switching over to copy.com.

[EssArrBee]

Are you guys still having a bunch of droughts all over the country? Seems fire and drought can go hand in hand. Just look at California and Texas. My cousin was evacuated from his house right after Christmas because California has been on fire forever. Texas almost burnt down in 2011. Satellites could see them from space.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Texas_wildfires#/media/File:Bastrop_Fire_Complex_Terra_Sep_05_2011.jpg

 

Stay safe Grant.

[GrantSP]

Yeah we get it all. Droughts are throughout most of Queensland and here in Tasmania. Farms having to shutdown with the flow-on effect that the townships then suffer from lost income.

Then massive floods hit and wipe out whole towns. Just last month most of the mid New South Wales coast was hit with massive rain and floods, some got over 250mm in one night. Currently it's bushfires that are raging, here where I am, and in rural Western Australia and South Australia.

 

Add to that Salt-water crocodiles, Taipan and Copperhead snakes, Funnel Web and Red Back spiders, Box-Jelly fish and sharks, who wouldn't want to live 'down under'? Oh forgot to mention one of the most dangerous birds in the world: the cassowary. 

 

Thanks all for the kind words. I'm not too worried just yet, no flames on the horizon and I have plenty of water in my dam, just in case.

[EssArrBee]

Oh god, don't mention birds. I have an irrational fear of birds. I saw Hitchcock's movie when I was way too young and it has stuck with me ever since. Australia sounds a lot like Texas, but with more venomous snakes and spiders. Droughts, fires, sinkholes, hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding are all pretty common for us. I live in the desert, so even the plants are trying to kill you, except prickly pear cactus. You just get used to it I guess.

[GrantSP]

Oh god, don't mention plants. I saw The Day of the Triffids when I was way too... 

Actually I would love to see that part of the world, from what I've seen it is breath-taking.

[Greg]

Spiders... yech. I developed a big aversion to spiders when I was about 5 or 6. We lived in the country and one of my neighbors grabbed me from behind and planted me face first into a huge spider web with a rather large black spider. I think about that incident every time I see a spider.

[GrantSP]

It's really eerie here at the moment. Very still with no wind at all but there are no birds singing and, with all the particulates in the air, rain is trying to fall but the temperature is so hot it doesn't actually hit the ground.

 

A most strange experience. The wife has gone off to work and me and the cat are left here sort of bewildered by it all. Beautiful, but odd.

[phazer11]

Yes be careful Grant. If you don't already have one I'd recommend getting a fire safe (not one of those Namby Pamby ones you can get at a hardware store) and putting your most precious things in it just in case something happens. I always have one with a backup of my medical records and such in the coolest most structurally sound room of the house physically attached to the ground.

[z929669]

The reason it doesn't work is because neither Dropbox nor SkyDrive/OneDrive allow embedding images. Both require users to access files via the website or the app, so you might consider switching over to copy.com.

Actually, it works fine:

 

... simply place the image into the DB 'Public' folder, then "Copy Public Link" then place URL into the popup window that comes up using the image icon in the editor ;)

[GrantSP]

I finally found out about this "public" folder everyone is talking about.

 

According to DropBox, accounts setup after October 4 2012 no longer have this folder and instead employ a 'Share link' system. Unfortunately that involves me manually adding individual email addresses to each folder I want to share. DropBox Pro or Business accounts still use that method but my basic account does not.

 

Some DropBox links.

What is the Public folder for?

Enable Public folder

How do I disable or enable the public folder for members of my Dropbox Business team?

 

Clearly I must use Copy.com.

[z929669]

Yes, Copy works too. I am glad I am grandfathered in with DB though ;)

 

Hope the fires subside without further event.