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Do you have a question you need help with?
Posted 8 months ago.
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I'm requesting Flickr please fix Explore.
Posted 8 months ago.
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But Explore doesn't mean anything. It's not a mark of quality or an award. It's simply a way to show a sampling of images on the site, chosen by a mathematical algorithm. Nothing more.
Posted 8 months ago.
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I'm seeing 500 images. It's not broken. Broken is when it isn't displaying images.
There's nothing to "fix".
Posted 8 months ago.
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No, but I used to enjoy being able to find new contacts through their exceptional photos on Explore and now all I see are large eyed dolls, people's lunch and mediocre images peppered in between.
Posted 8 months ago.
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Ah yes, back in the days of the "kittens, babies, sunsets" Explore.
Posted 8 months ago.
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 Then let me rephrase that- The algorithms that are meant to be impartial are anything but...
Posted 8 months ago.
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Buddha's Ghost edited this topic 8 months ago.
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You're really better off not paying attention to Explore. I find that groups relevant to my interests are a good way to find new stuff.
Posted 8 months ago.
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I hate kittens, babies AND sunsets- however there were a wider variety of images a few years back.
Posted 8 months ago.
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 I don't pay attention to explore, I just miss being able to use it as a tool to find good photographers on this site easier.
Posted 8 months ago.
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 People have been complaining about Explore since it's inception. There are *always* people who find whatever's in Explore to be mundane, idiotic, pointless, ugly, boring, (not my words,) etc. etc. etc. It will never make everybody happy... I'm among those who haven't looked at it in years - except when I've accidentally clicked on it due to site redesigns. :/ Even then, I've quickly navigated away.
Posted 8 months ago.
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This thread has nowhere useful to go. Here's some previous pointless Explore threads.
Posted 8 months ago.
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The thread was fine until just short of a half dozen people started making passive aggressive posts in hopes of starting an argument. It's just too hard to ignore.
Looks to me like Explore is pretty messed up if it's highlighting photos from days, weeks or months ago. Very definition of a bug.
Posted 8 months ago.
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But  jakerome, you have only made one post. From where do you get half a dozen?
Posted 8 months ago.
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That, right there, is my point succinctly stated. Thank you.
Posted 8 months ago.
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Hi kids!! This is a User to User forum and as such is here for users to ask questions about flickr not working correctly.. The op's post is about he has found Explore to be broken as he sees it and I have to agree with him and with Jakerome's comment..
Posted 8 months ago.
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Pacdog "The op's post is about he has found Explore to be broken"
Has it ever actually worked? I admit that I don't watch it much now, but it's never given me photos which I find interesting for over 7 years.
Maybe my tastes are too weird to be defined by an algorithm? ;-)
Posted 8 months ago.
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Having Explore "work correctly" is such a subjective concept, so I don't know how anyone can say that it's "broken".
Posted 8 months ago.
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The Magic Donkey says you are all a bunch of dim wits and you should go forth onto the world and make pretty pictures with your little black viewing boxes.
Explore is naught but a steaming pile of Panda Rainbow Vomit.
Posted 8 months ago.
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Explore is naught but a steaming pile of Panda Rainbow Vomit.
Ah but many thousands of thousands of Flickr members (pro and non-pro) Explore is all they care about!! They log into bighugelabs.com/ before they log into Flickr just to see if another of their works has made it..
As much as you all feel Explore is a pile of vomit many live for it.. don't ask me why.. They just do.. And you all know it!! Well any of you who know how Flickr really works know it.. That kids is a fact!
Posted 8 months ago.
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 +1
And just because it is not important to some, it does not mean that it is not important.
And maybe it is time for a new algorithm.
Posted 8 months ago.
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If Explore was not being looked at then it would not still be a feature of the Flickr site! Explore is and will always be a Key feature of Flickr..
Why keep fighting it? Just give in and admit i'm right! You know i'm right!
*smiles*
Posted 8 months ago.
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jakerome
Looks to me like Explore is pretty messed up if it's highlighting photos from days, weeks or months ago. Very definition of a bug.
Then it's the Flickr members who are changing upload dates that are buggy. It's not happening unexpectedly or accidentally.
Posted 8 months ago.
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And how difficult is it for a computer program to be able to distinguish that data (in this case- the date uploaded) has been changed at some point? Making excuses doesn't change the fact that Explore has this glitch.
Posted 8 months ago.
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It's "broken" because it's showing the exact same photos from Explore on a different date, simply because the flickr member changed their upload date. No amount of rationalizing can whitewash that.
Posted 8 months ago.
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Please stop wasting my time about such a trivial issue!
Posted 8 months ago.
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 : Who are you to define what can and cannot be mentioned in this Group? If you find it trivial, don't read the thread. No-one's forcing you to.
Others DON'T consider Explore to be trivial, and that's it's perfectly valid to raise the issue of Explore not working the way it's allegedly supposed to.
Posted 8 months ago.
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"..here for users to ask questions.."
OP should have said, " Was it in order when on checking the top listings in Explore I noticed one recurring theme......"?
Posted 8 months ago.
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Hello Buddha's Ghost,
"It's "broken" because it's showing the exact same photos from Explore on a different date"
Can you give us some examples?
Posted 8 months ago.
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Buddha's Ghost
how difficult is it for a computer program to be able to distinguish that data (in this case- the date uploaded) has been changed at some point?
Not at all. But there are many reasons to change the date uploaded. I do it all the time, because I usually upload my images as 'private-me only".
Several days later, after I've finished tagging, titling and writing descriptions, I change the date uploaded before I make them visible to others. If I don't my contacts never see my new uploads.
Are you suggesting that because I take time to carefully prepare my images, they should be excluded from Explore?
Or are you suggesting that a computer can become a mind reader and decide whether my reason for the date change was "appropriate" or not?
Posted 8 months ago.
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i thought he is wrong, or that's not a matter; but its disappointed me when i see a photo that i marked as favorite already, in Explorer!
Posted 8 months ago.
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People have been changing dates on their photos to move them to the "front of the line" for about as long as Flickr has existed. This is not new, nor is it surprising it would work in this way.
If you care about the artificial popularity of Explore, then it shouldn't bother you that there are artificial means to maintain that popularity.
Posted 8 months ago.
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 said "Can you give us some examples?"
Certainly,
www.flickr.com/photos/micke33/8135961735/
was getting comments as far back as seven days ago and one person congratulated them for being in Explore five days ago, yet here it is, #4 in Explore for the 4th of November. Judging from the bunching of comments by times, it looks like the photographer changed the date each morning to represent the current day. I am not saying he did this to specifically garner attention on Explore and I'm not commenting on the merits of his photo; I'm simply pointing out that Explore shouldn't be showing photos from previous days in the current listing, regardless of the cause.
www.flickr.com/photos/cletterman/8125745832/
comments from a week ago and congratulated on Explore two days ago, yet here it is again on the current Explore in a high position.
www.flickr.com/photos/marks_ridge_photography/8153143278/
comments from two days ago
www.flickr.com/photos/robinhali/8153291078/
comments from two days ago
www.flickr.com/photos/marie_c_cudraz/8148673727/
comments from three days ago and even has an annotation under the photo
"EXPLORE
Nov 2, 2012 #480
Nov 4, 2012 #22 #19"
www.flickr.com/photos/52090393@N07/8153305553/
comments from two days ago
www.flickr.com/photos/amacviolins/8153407658/
comments from two days ago
The examples go on and on. I would just like to reiterate this is not a statement on the quality of the photos in question nor is it a pronouncement on the motives of the members listed herein; it is simply me informing that Flickr Explore is not functioning the way that logic would seem to dictate that it should and has a glitch that needs to be corrected.
Posted 8 months ago.
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Buddha's Ghost edited this topic 8 months ago.
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What I am saying IS, that regardless of the reason for changing the date uploaded from the original upload date, Explore shouldn't be hosting the exact same photos day in and day out. If Explore is indeed a tool fashioned to showcase what Flickr has to offer on a daily basis, why would you want to keep showing the same photos. It's like having a closet full of phenomenal outfits, yet at the end of the day you "wash" the one you wore that day and then slap it on again and again and again for the following days.
Posted 8 months ago.
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It shouldn't be too hard to stop images from ever appearing in Explore for multiple days - once an image has been in once, it could have an (invisible?) 'Explored on' date associated with it, and henceforth would only appear in Explore for that date, or not at all.
Even for those of us that don't care about Explore as some sort of prize to chase, it might actually be a useful feature if it worked better, and it would certainly be an improvement to change it so that it didn't actively encourage the sort of irritating image promoting abuses that it does now.
Posted 8 months ago.
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Well I've long been a proponent of once a photo is in Explore, then that user's photostream is ignored by Explore for some nominal period, like 30-60 days. Would settle a lot of the gaming and preciousness about a mindless robot file picking machine.
Posted 8 months ago.
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"Well I've long been a proponent of once a photo is in Explore, then that user's photostream is ignored by Explore for some nominal period, like 30-60 days"
You won't get many votes for that, but I'll vote for it. :-)
Posted 8 months ago.
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And here I thought that someone picked the photos based on style or subject or comp or???. Kind of dissappointing to find out it's just a random number generator. Wish I would have never read this thread.
Posted 8 months ago.
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 And here I thought that someone picked the photos
I'm not sure how that would be possible with thousands of photos being uploaded every minute.
Posted 8 months ago.
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 Why the photostream and not just that photo?
Posted 8 months ago.
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Because it acts against pretty much any and all attempts to game the system by making it impossible for any one account to get a lot of 'acclaim' from Explore, so whatever tactics anyone tried they still couldn't get what they'd want, so there'd be no point trying. And because it's harmless - the point of Explore, such as it is, is to show off a small selection of good or interesting photos from Flickr. There are enough of those that Flickr simply doesn't need repeats from anyone.
Posted 8 months ago.
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 Because people who tend to follow Explore are wont to game it, so the same people with the same kinds of photos tend to show up. If the guy with the flower/bee photos or the girl with the sullen teen angst photos were blocked for a month or two, then it self-generates variety and spreads the content across the many millions of other Flickr users, instead of the few thousand who seem to cluster within it.
Posted 8 months ago.
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I`m so glad this topic has been raised!!! Well done Buddha`s Ghost. I`m so sick of seeing the same people`s photo`s in Explore. I think they should get rid of the (edit) posted to flickr date button!!!
Posted 8 months ago.
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I agree totally with the idea that a users photostream should be blocked for a month or so after a picture has been in Explore to give variety.
I also think that the amount of views/comments given to a picture should not be a factor in the algorithm when assessing the picture, this would make date changing useless and eliminate much of the gaming and also give a more equal chance to those who do and those who don't use awarding groups..
Posted 8 months ago.
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oldt1mer edited this topic 8 months ago.
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 Johnny994
Wow, that's fascinating. Spam reported...
Posted 8 months ago.
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Mikel Pierre
"Why the photostream and not just that photo?"
Because it's not the photo that was trying game Explore and keep other photos out. It was the person, the user who did it. ;-)
Posted 8 months ago.
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Hey, it's great to see this one:
www.flickr.com/photos/al-sabt/8150962850/
still on today's very first page of Explore, exactly like it was three days ago when I started this thread. And he's already changed the date again to the "7th" .
Posted 7 months ago.
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Buddha's Ghost edited this topic 7 months ago.
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Hello Buddha's Ghost,
Thank you for providing all the examples. We are working on a solution to stop that and it should be ready soon.
Thanks!!
Posted 7 months ago.
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I agree with all of you!! Explore sucks, and the number of times i have seen the same photo day after day is amazing!!!! i mean what the hell! still has its wonderful selection of plastic dolls!! come on flickr staff, your not 5 years old, lets have some INTERESTING photos to Explore :))
To the twat below, why dont you grow up!!! some of us cant help our accents, are you the one that takes photos of the plastic dolls, is that why you are defending Explore, how sad are you, we are all entitled to our opinions, get a life!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 7 months ago.
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Caz 71♥ (On hols) edited this topic 7 months ago.
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❖Caz 71❖(Off) "come on flickr staff, your not 5 years old
True, but your spelling and punctuation suggest that you are.
Posted 7 months ago.
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I don't know if most of the criticism against Explore is all that warranted. I never check it, but just to satisfy my curiosity I checked all the entries for 1 November 2012. Of the 500 pics listed, there were 2 of plastic dolls (if you don't count a reflection shot of rubber duckies), 1 sunrise/sunset, 1 kitten, 1 puppy and I didn't notice any of the bad teenage cellphone shots. In fact, most of the pics were pretty good. There wasn't even one panda! :-)
Posted 7 months ago.
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Ncedisa:
According to the gist of this thread, many of the images from Explore on Nov 1st have since had their posted dates changed so they appear on today's Explore. So what you see on Nov 1st is a more normalised output from the algorithm.
But perhaps that's part of the answer - don't bother looking at the current date; if you want to use Explore stay a week behind!
Posted 7 months ago.
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Perhaps the day of algorithms has run it's course and we should resort, heaven forbid, to human beings picking their favourites, alternatively they could cull images they deem not fit. Photography magazines do it successfully. I see this could mean fewer explore images.
I do understand the cries of do away with it altogether but a well implemented pick of the best of flickr is surely a thing to aspire to. I rarely dip into explore these days as I tend to follow a decent bunch of togs and get my fill of nice images, however we all buy books and magazines and get to see good images, why not expect this on the site we subscribe to.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Perhaps the day of algorithms has run it's course and we should resort, heaven forbid, to human beings picking their favourites, alternatively they could cull images they deem not fit.
-1
1. It sounds like you are suggesting that Flickr hire or devote staff to sift through the thousands of images uploaded each minute to choose images that are "worthy" of being in Explore? I'd rather they put their energies into larger endeavors that affect the site as a whole, and not a fringe group.
2. Technically, how would a staff of humans manually sort through all these? www.flickr.com/photos/
3. Who or what criteria would determine if an image is "fit" for Explore?
Posted 7 months ago.
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Assuming a human being could review 3000 images every minute, what if that human being likes plastic dolls, lego and teenage girl SPs? Then you are right back where you started.
Posted 7 months ago.
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 Ugh. You made me do it! :-)
Checked for 7 November 2012 (the 8th isn't available yet?)
Dolls: 3 (2 lego, 1 other)
Puppies: 1
Kittens: 2
Cats: 6
Sunrise/sunset: 3
Cellphone Gal: 1 (maybe)
Pandas: 0
Cats win!! :-)
Posted 7 months ago.
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Ncedisa:
If you compile that list each day, maybe with some links back to the photo pages, you could make FD redundant ;-)
Posted 7 months ago.
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Dave, if you're interested in great human-selected photos, check out the Flickr Blog: blog.flickr.net/en
Posted 7 months ago.
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The calendar view is never available till the next day.
Posted 7 months ago.
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No chance! You'll only get me to do that once. :-)
Posted 7 months ago.
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Ncedisa:
Your analysis suggests that Explore isn't particularly skewed towards any of the categories people usually complain about. I wonder if there has already been some changes made, as Emily alluded to.
Posted 7 months ago.
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If so, well done Flickr!
Posted 7 months ago.
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Indeed, the Magic Donkey has quite possibly wandered down another path on its ever-changing travels...
Posted 7 months ago.
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 Cool. I actually enjoyed the trip this afternoon. Thank you. May the Magic Donkey wander happy meadows.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Does this mean that my shots now have a chance of making it into Explore ?
Back in 2005 I did something to upset the Magic Donkey and some 12,000 public uploads later not one had made it :(
Posted 7 months ago.
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 kh1234567890:
During that time some 6 billion pictures have been loaded to Flickr, so the odds are against you.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Patrick Costello:
During that time some 6 billion pictures have been loaded to Flickr, so the odds are against you.
Wasn't like that in the old days, before Yahoo! bought it - I got 5 Explores in three days in March 2005 :)
Posted 7 months ago.
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kh1234567890:
Flickr was a lot smaller then; even I had 50 images explored ;-)
Posted 7 months ago.
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Thanks Flickr for fixing this bug. Even though it wasn't really a bug and the thread never should have been started.
Posted 7 months ago.
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jakerome "Thanks Flickr for fixing this bug. Even though it wasn't really a bug and the thread never should have been started."
That's got to be the reply of the week. :-)))
Posted 7 months ago.
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Extra carrot rations for the Magic Donkey!
Posted 7 months ago.
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Michael Smith From the reply by Schill I'd guess that they're now feeding the poor beast something other than carrots - staff are perhaps being naughty and slipping him a few donuts with something other than sugar coating to perk him up ;-)
Do the RSPCA cover cruelty to donkeys in the US? ;-)
Posted 7 months ago.
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I can't believe I'm agreeing with Jake.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Does this mean more of my fabulous shots like the one below can get into Explore?
I have plenty of dead squirrel photos I have been waiting to upload until i could be assured The Magic Donkey was feeling better.
Posted 7 months ago.
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Me too kmacgray........................
Posted 7 months ago.
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Although I am probably one of the worst amateur photographers on Flickr, and only use a point-&-shoot camera, I have had 32 images explored!! (And not a kitten among them!) At times, I've had two images explored on consecutive days. So the algorhythm simply beats me! ;)
I never look at the explore page - I find out mine have been included because of the comments of those who have seen them there.
It would never ever occur to me to change the date on my photos - couldn't be bothered! I think those who do are pretty sad people.
I've always believed mine get explored because they're 'quirky'!! :)
www.flickr.com/photos/mamamia65/sets/72157627158589023/
Posted 7 months ago.
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It's Friday and Magic donkey is going to take a break...
Happy Friday everyone!!
Posted 7 months ago.
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