usually 'j' move down, 'k' move up.
I think these shortcuts come from the text editor VIM. Google reader has the same shortcuts. so the way it is on the big picture is a bit disturbing.

my $.2

thanks for the great pics.
the keys are backwards: j should be down, k up.
for some examples, see any Google app. GMail, Reader, etc.

Mea culpa - got the J & K reversed. Fixed now Thanks!

doing a great job, thanks

I think you guys are doing a great job, and personally as a web developer and fairly busy website owner, I can totally understand your rational for ad. You obviously didn't have to mention it, but you did; which is much appreciated.

Thanks for the great content. Keep it up.

pavs

ps, Are you guys using Amazon server to host images?

"Pressing the "k" key moves you forward one image, the "j" key moves you up."

Isn't this the opposite of most systems that use these two keys to navigate? vi in Linux, Google Reader, etc. both use "j" to go down, and "k" to go up. Nifty that a keyboard shortcut is incorporated though, I'll just have to think in reverse.

The j & k navigation are a godsend. Thank you!

Also, the extra ad does not bother me at all.

The new ad is really mild and barely noticeable. The j/k scrolling is a nice touch.

I haven't seen this blog in a couple weeks and I'm not understanding the "-96, -95, -94" comment counts on the left. What do those refer to and why do they count down instead of up?

keep 'em comin!

@Matt: The "-91, -90", etc. was just a bug, hopefully fixed now. Having to go through gyrations to split comments onto a second page once they grow beyond 100. The page becomes unbearably large and punishing for browsers when the comments climb into the thousands. Still researching better ways to paginate (Movable Type version 1.53, for those intersted).

For those using Firefox and the "Type to search" feature typing J or K start searching the page for the letter, using Alt-J and Alt-K work just fine.

Internet access = $30 a month
Ads on blog = less then 5 seconds of time
Your pictures = Priceless

Thanks!

5 TB!
Well, your entries always end up on the Digg frontpage, whose users are very pleased about the large images and all of them in 1 page, so i hope the ad will cover the costs.

That's great - I was just thinking that it is frustrating not having a way of skipping to the next image, without awkward scrolling.

you are doin' a great job! thiss site is truly a gem!

thx from berlin for all these mamazing collections

For those fantastic pictures, I am willing to accept any number of ads so that you can keep them posted.

Hi! As usual, you're doing a fantastic job. However, may I ask just one little thing? Can't you select the ads you put on the page. All I'm getting are those annoying "you're visitor 999999, you're the winner". Please, reconsider select advertisers that keep the page beautiful and professional looking.

Specially when you put some hart touching pictures, it's disturbing to see those ugly, colorful, blinky ads, and probably lead people to install spywares in the computer.

Thank you all, and again, this is the best blog ever by far.

nice improvements.

still i am really disappointed that you still didnt manage to put the copyright and caption of the photographers and agencies that provide you with all the content into the pictures. actually, its not about putting it in, its more about NOT REMOVING it..

i dont know about your country, but here in europe its a crime to remove copyright, even from the metadata.

respect your resources!

Do you take donations? For pictures like these, I'd definitely be willing to chip in $5/month.

thanks for the great job!

the jk nav is absolutely amazing, i already use that in bloglines, i think google reader has that too

Thank you so much. This blog is the best.

I don't think you should ever have to apologize for putting ads into something like The Big Picture. There's a world of difference between a lousy blog that's obviously an ad-farm, and a truly unique destination like The Big Picture. It's pretty obvious when someone is trying to squeeze a bunch of money out of ads on a page, and when someone is just trying to cover the expenses associated with keeping something like this running.

Frankly, I am surprised that there aren't MORE ads on The Big Picture, and I'd encourage everyone who is visiting this site with AdBlock enabled to consider whitelisting it, so we can all continue to enjoy it without having to go behind a stupid pay wall.

I don't know how much sway you have over picking the ads, but you should get in touch with The Deck (http://decknetwork.net/), I'm sure they would love to have you as a client!

Fantastic site. With all the photos on the web, who guessed it could be improved.
The J,K is great. What about using the arrow keys (up, down or right-left). Fairly common, at least on a Mac.

Ads are a small price for us to pay for such quality images.

Try to use https://aws.amazon.com/s3 to serve static images.
The network traffic and disk space is quite cheap

Actually you don't need to resort to Javascript for the "j" and "k" navigation. HTML already has this built into the spec. It is called Access Keys. The only difference is that you have to use ALT-J or ALT-K (or CTRL on Mac), instead of just one key. But like I said it is part of the spec and probably easier than using Javascript. Check out the Wikipedia link...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_keys

I wish you had a big picture of the j and k keys. That would have been cool.

Great job guys!

Thanks for the added feature - i have been wanting the 'j/k' feature for a while. Keep up the excellent posts and large photos. It is really what makes your blog stand out.

A wonderful site. Expect to have more traffic - all my friends are now converts!

Just wanted to say thank you for posting large pictures in the first place.

Not only are the pictures on this site incredible, but you guys do well with feedback, keeping us updated, asking for input and taking suggetions. Thanks for putting on a great show.

Great work, I have no complaints about anything (except the odd idiot and self promotion in the comments), do what you have to do, and thanks for the heads up about Nachtwey. If you're ever stuck for a subject one day a restrospective of Nachtwey's amazing work would be welcome!

If the ad is at the end of the picture show, it's not obtrusive. But here's a suggestion: why not make it a BIG ad, approximately the size of one of the featured photos, and charge a premium for it? Advertisers would love it, viewers (probably) won't mind it, and it will keep the bandwidth flowing...

The ad is no problem. Hope it helps to pay for this. I agree with Khalid @ comment 37 - make it as big as it needs to be to make some $$$$ in return for this great content.

For those who like the j/k navigation, you should try Opera for general browsing as it has z/x for backwards and forewards and when I use other browsers for testing, that's one of the many, many reasons, I find them so clunky.
Oh and you also get to find out what features will be in FF in a few years times too. :-)

Khalid's suggestion about a big ad at bottom is good, as it will be in keeping and if it helps keep this great site online....

I donèt think anyone is going to complain about ads considering the bandwidth thatès being used up.

Will clicking on those Ads help to cover the costs? I will make sure I click on them every time I visit.......but please don't reduce the richness of images.....

I concur with all the other voices regarding the ads (I don't mine 'em!) and the bandwidth (I am tempted to apologize...). This site is an excellent use of the web. And bandwidth. Thank the Globe for me, would you, please?

My compliments for your work, the pics are always amazing.
And don't worry about the ads, if that's necessary to cover costs, so be it.
I posted a link to your site on my Facebook profile, so all my friends can enjoy it as well.
Regards from the Netherlands