Friends

The empire strikes back

In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.

RSS feeds again

If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.

Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

c_s_i

If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.

Enveloped in postcards

Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.

Photos of the week

If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
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In response to user comments from last week, we want to let you know that we'll remain LJ cut-free for the next month in order to get more eyeballs on our evolving newsletter. As for product coverage, that continues to be our top priority. For more granular detail, however, we recommend you join lj_releases.

Super-tweak for Yandex search

Some of our beta testers expressed privacy concerns using the Yandex search engine. Here's why: Last week, when you ran a search, you could see the usernames (and only the usernames) of everyone who commented on an entry, even if that entry was switched to Private or Friends Only after it was originally indexed. You could NOT see the actual comments from Friends Only or Private posts. In response to your input, we've implemented a fix to keep all user activity currently marked Friends Only or Private completely hidden. If you'd prefer your public content not to be indexed by Yandex, click here and use the settings labeled Search Inclusion (this covers your entire journal) and/or Comment Search Inclusion (which covers comments only). To test drive Yandex search now, click here.

Postcards from the edge

Several years ago, we asked LiveJournal users to send postcards to help us decorate our dull, white-washed offices. Since a good idea warrants repetition, we're at it again (same issue, new address). We hope you'll surround us with LiveJournal love by sending your postcards to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. We'll post snapshots right here. Be sure to include your username, since we'll randomly pick 10 lucky recipients to win free paid account time.

Conquer Writer's Block

Here are some excerpts from this week's most popular question of the day:

If a friend or relative makes a racist or homophobic remark, do you tend to confront them or let it slide? Are you more likely to confront them if it offends you directly or someone else who seems reluctant to speak up?

1. I find it easier to stand up for other people, and i wouldn't let it slide if they made a rude or hurtful comment.
2. Usually if a friend makes a racist or homophobic remark, I tend to let it slide. I think that while i would not say such things myself, I have no right to censor those around me.
3. This happens all of the time. I confront some relatives, but I refuse to if they are drunk or watch Fox News.
4. I'd let it slide if it was just a private remark... As much as I despise bigotry and intolerance, I know that you can't change people-they have to change themselves ...
5. Confront! confront! confront! Politely, but without equivocation.
6. SPEAK UP. Always, always, always speak up. Letting something slide lets ignorance win. No matter if it offends me directly, or someone else, I will confront the speaker and let them know that's not ok.
7. I don't get offended personally. As an immigrant, woman, gay and person of color if I took every single potentially offensive remark seriously I wouldn't get anything done.
8. I punch them in the balls. With my mind.
9. I do speak up, but often very timidly because I feel that I'm white and therefore I don't really have any authority to lecture someone on what's racist and what isn't...
10. Generally speaking, I do not let this shit fly, because it reduces me as a person, to this non-person and it replicates the destructive discourse that makes sure that sexual minorities, racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, trans people and every intersection thereof into something other than human... And sometimes... I'm just too tired to deal with it, so I roll my eyes, make a sarcastic remark and hope the conversation moves on quickly.

For more daily questions and user comments, join writersblock. FYI, we don't want to invade your privacy, so we haven't credited individual users for their responses. We'd appreciate your feedback on this!

Spotlight community of the week

We can't resist making one last midnight trip to the ol' pumpkin patch. If you adore crazy costumes, fiendish festivities, and bottomless candy consumption as much as we do, this community has just what it takes to light up your jack-o-lantern.


halloween_fan

Photos of the week

We received so many incredible photos, we had to close our eyes and point. We uploaded a selection of awesome images at our new lj_photophile community. Please join and start posting (try to keep the width at around 625 for the sake of consistency)! We'd love for you to tell us more about your photos! You can help us select spotlight photos by commenting on your favorites. Once again, we thank you for making our online world more beautiful!

shutter	pancetta	ilya_gorokhov

Curtains

Thanks, again, for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you next week.

Just visited my neighbourhood optician. He has won my undying loyalty.

The trip resembled one to an opthamologist: he gave me invaluable theories and information on my eye condition. I have seen double, literally, ever since the eye operation I had to correct my 'lazy eye' during my school days.

He said that the overlapping images might be caused by the great imbalance in the degree of my eyes. The other possibility is weak eye muscles in my left eye, causing 'eye turn' that makes both eyes unable to function together. The effect is amplified when my eyes are feeling tired. Either way, the result is eye fatigue and the gradual separation of the two images as I get more and more tired.

It's true; on bad days after work I can hardly walk properly and have to blink to focus. When I don't get enough sleep, particularly, focusing requires a ridiculous amount of concentration and my irritation level soars. I guess I never realised how much my eyes determined my destiny.

He advised that I rest my eyes regularly by looking into the distance or closing them. Sleeping more also helps, apparently. I shouldn't read or use the computer too much. The irony is great, I know, considering my job.

I shall follow his advice as faithfully as I can.

He did all this for us in about an hour and a half while the shop swarmed with other customers. It was insane how many people walked in. Despite the crowd, he never skimped with his attention. He listened to every customer and never looked rushed or anything other than fully attentive to every single query we had -- and I had a lot of questions. It was an incredible feat.

I realised that he must love his job and love people in order to behave this way. Having the degree counts for nothing; knowledge without passion doesn't get applied. An intellectual inclination might compensate partially for interest in people, but not fully, I think.

Anyway, the new spectacles will be here by the end of next week. Next month, I might try contacts, as he said they don't result in different-sized images in the vision.

Oh, and I passed my shodan test in naginata over the weekend.

The President signed the Matthew Sheppard hate crimes bill today. It's been years since I've been an activist, but a trans-inclusive hate crimes bill was one of the two major goals we were working toward when I was. ENDA is still out there, and there are plenty of other things wrong, but this at least is a step forward.

чрз isdn3000твттр

coffae said something interesting last weekend when the three of us were lying in the Botanic Gardens eyeing the stars. She remarked that I wake right up when we start conversing on topics that I find meaningful. I think she said "deep topics".

I really am energised by things that are meaningful to me. Trivialities sometimes set me brooding, and too much gets me annoyed. I like talking to people, though; exchanges, debates, arguments. I like figuring out what makes people tick, then being able to see through their eyes and understand why they speak a certain way or choose to do things in this or that way. The sense of imagined connection when I 'get it' is quite marvellous.

I was thinking a few days ago on the bus why I spend so much of my life pondering other people, honing this particular art that I'm coming to realise is my art -- as it is my Achilles' Heel. Every strength like this stems from an essential weakness, I believe, a core insecurity. The beauty, the symmetry, of that thought resonated through me. It's as if nature compensates in kind for what she takes away. My recent change in situation has also its oddly bright side.

My brain seems to take these disjointed events and slowly grind sense out of it over the course of days, weeks, months.

Вторая часть куда сложнее. Ее можно было бы назвать футуризацией, да ведь дело не в изобретении новых терминов. Она требует создания особого культурного и психологического климата.

В. Сурков

Must type before bed. I watched Julie & Julia with a large number of colleagues today after a rather full day at work.

It was pretty funny but hit too close to home; it's one of those cases that relating too much actually made it uninteresting to watch. I guess I watch movies nowadays to either escape entirely, for which I just need a reworked fairytale trope, or to be inspired, seeing something new and revelatory in everyday material. This movie was nearly the second kind but didn't strike me deep enough to succeed as an emotional drama. But that's just my take on it. I loved how we could sit in a row and laugh at those things that others might not appreciate.

Yes, it was the laughter, more laughter than I've indulged in for a long time, and I was very very happy. Tired, though. Been tired for a week now after going out for two consecutive nights two weeks ago--throws my biological clock right off.

I wonder what this week brings. It should be quite sad that I have no motivation to attend the Writer's Fest this year... I know exactly why, though, and my reasons are quite reasonable. Que sera sera?

Нульт. Впечталения от isdn3000