 Quotes •  Headscratchers •  Playing With • Useful Notes •  Analysis •  Image Links •  Haiku • Laconic
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You heard the image. Don't do it.
An item on one web-service that is requested by another web-service, usually an image. This isn't when an image is actually a potholed link.
This is not only impolite (it eats up your victim's bandwidth), it's almost always a really bad idea. A Hot Linked item may have been removed by the original host (this is a big problem with YouTube links). The original host can be undergoing a performance problem. The original host may have changed its linking policy. The original host may be gone. The original host may have substituted a different (and often obscene) image for the one at that URL ... The list of possible badness goes on and on.
Luckily, this Wiki provides a way for people to upload images that skips a lot of those badnesses. See the Media Uploader on the Tools menu.