We're going to keep this short and sweet (Frank and birthday vgifts will be back next week). You've probably seen the updates to our main menu. Don't be alarmed. You'll find everything you need, just in slightly shifted format. Just so you know, we based these changes on input from both experienced and new users who were not familiar with LiveJournal. Our goal was to reduce barriers to usability and make LiveJournal more accessible and easy to navigate. Please note that this is a work in progress. We welcome your detailed suggestions in feedback. We thank you, in advance, for helping us improve your LiveJournal experience.

We've updated the global navigation menu:

Here's a quick breakdown of what you'll find where:

• Scrapbook can now be found under Profile (thanks for your feedback, btw), along with Settings, Stats, and Edit Profile.
• You'll find all the tools you need to post and update entries under Journal, which includes posting and editing entries, managing comments and tags, and customizing your journal's style.
• Friends contains all of your friend settings, from filtering your Friends page to adding, removing, and finding new and existing friends on LiveJournal.
• Under Communities, you'll find links to manage your communities, accept community invites, and create new communities.
• Explore includes search features, RSS feeds, Question of the Day, and FRNK radio.
• Under Shop, you'll find links to upgrade or give a paid account, buy virtual gifts, purchase LiveJournal merchandise (like T-shirts), and view your payment history.

LiveJournal Mobile update:

We've enhanced LiveJournal's mobile site to improve usability and load times. We've made more of LiveJournal's features accessible via mobile, including posting comments, uploading photos, reading and commenting on friends' posts, finding and messaging friends, and more. We look forward to reviewing your feedback and recommendations for future improvements.

Other important changes:

• You can lock comments to prevent further commenting on a post, while leaving existing comments visible.
• We replaced the "Tell a friend" link with a new "Share This" widget that lets you share LiveJournal posts on other social media sites, including Facebook, Digg, Twitter, etc.
• We changed some of the icons on entries (you can hover over the icons to view descriptions).
• You'll see a Tag count on your Tag management page.
• You'll now see the 10 most recent vgifts on your profile page. To remove vgifts, left-click on the vgift and choose whether you want to remove the vgift from your profile or delete it entirely.
• We've added options to help you control receipt of vgifts, which you'll find in My Stuff under Edit Profile. You can now enable vgifts from friends or everyone and disable anonymous vgifts.

We've got your fix:

• UPDATE: Rolling several updates into one listing here -- 1) Scrapbook should be back and working again. 2) The problem with the Update Journal page in IE6 and IE7 should be fixed now. 3) The problem with the userpic add-on package pricing has been fixed and refunds issued to anyone who was overcharged while the erroneous prices were in place.
• Non-conforming images will now be automatically resized for custom mood themes.
• Line breaks no longer count as two characters against your entry's character limit.
• We fixed a bug on the Manage Tags page so you can clear all tags and add new tags.
• We corrected the UI for the update.bml page so it displays properly in IE8.

Thanks again for joining us. Frank and company will be back next week!

Tags: custom mood themes, global navigation, mobile app, tags, vgifts

wordy_icons
Searching for words to the wise? Come celebrate the joy of witty userpics in this creative, sharing community. A great place to strut your stuff or hunt down the perfect turn of phrase to complement your mood du jour. If you love the art of snark, you'll find inspiration, admiration, and entertaining jubilation.

Tags: wordy_icons

corrupted_wish
Ever dream you'd find a genie in a bottle to grant your fondest wish? Granted!! Simply post your ardent desire and an alternative reality will materialize before your weary eyes. Quirky, creative, and oddly cathartic, a place where fantasies come true, but never in quite the manner you imagined. Shooting star meets Murphy's Law.

Tags: corrupted_wish

cookingfailures
Whether you're a wizard or a passionate novice in the kitchen, we've all had our share of recipe disasters. From the fallen souffle to the runny chocolate mousse to the lasagna that looks (and/or tastes) like it's been eaten before, come embrace your epic fails through photos and stories. Help others learn from your cooking calamities or simply revel in the fun of failure.

Tags: cookingfailures

So, I'm out drinking with a friend at Gordon's Wine Bar ("the oldest wine bar in London") on Saturday night, and I'm left by myself for a few minutes whilst he rushes off to the nearest cashpoint to replenish his wallet. Whilst I'm left alone contemplating the wine list, I become aware of a tremendously, absurdly drunk middle aged woman who is babbling away to her increasingly bemused looking friends, and occasionally glancing in my direction.

It's at moments like this that I start to take a very particular interest in the damp patches on the wall, or perhaps start examining my shoes to see whether they need another polish. Mobile phones are also a useful prop on these occasions. If there is one rule in adult life which has served me well, it's the very simple rule of "For God's sake, don't make eye contact with the pissed up middle aged woman sat on the next table". It never ends well. It's not that they'll do anything sexually inappropriate - why, that usually only happens with me once out of every eight times - but it has usually lead to endlessly looping conversations and nights out being compromised slightly by peculiar, loud interjections from a sozzled stranger. By the same token, you should also avoid eye contact with the pissed-up middle aged man who is a bit emotional, but this is more because he could kick off at any given moment. Different reasons for different genders. I've never been punched by a drunk woman (yet).

At one moment, it looks as if the lady is going to burst into tears. It's not clear what the reason behind it is - there may be a very good one, for all I know - but then it happens. She begins sobbing incoherently, and then turns to me to ask if I have a tissue. I check my pockets, find nothing, and am forced to apologise politely.

"Can I have a serviette from your table, then?" she asks, and I say "there you go", and hand one to her. She takes it and turns back to her friends, who seem rather quiet and distanced, as if this scene happens quite often at their social occasions.
After mopping her eyes with the serviette and blowing her nose, she puts it back on my table.
"You must not let anyone else use that!" she commands me. "And I am very sorry. That's so, so unladylike".
"It's not a problem, really," I respond.
"Oh, it is!" she insists coldly. "It's appalling! I should never do things like that!"
"Don't worry about it," I reply, to which she gives me a peculiar stare.
"You Are Weird," she states firmly, pointing at me.
"Er... what do you mean?" I ask.
"I mean You Are Weird," she replies. "There are degrees of normalness and you are not normal".
"Oh," I say, and am promptly rescued from the conversation by my friend who returns from the cashpoint. She drifts off shortly afterwards, saying she has to go to bed and mumbling some gibberish or other. My relief is probably obvious.

I used to get this - the "weird" accusation - most when I was nineteen years old and living in a small town in Essex. Back then, though, I used to wear garish clothes and had ridiculously backcombed hair, for reasons which probably made sense at the time but now seem utterly embarrassing. If you are going to walk around looking like an extra from one of the more surreal moments in a David Lynch film, it's inevitable you'll get the accusation. For most of my adult life, however, the accusation has been fired at me by somebody who isn't particularly behaving according to any rules of usualness themselves, usually people who are drunk or on drugs. Perhaps my responses to their own weirdness is far too calm, measured and non-responsive - I've no idea.

I don't dress outlandlishly at all socially (or at home, for that matter). This doesn't mean to say that I don't understand why other people feel the need to, but I've always liked being able to worm my way into most social situations without being an outsider, and without presenting myself in a way which might make others feel excluded. If you're keen on observing human behaviour, it's quite valuable to be able to slip through the net yourself as a potential comrade rather than presenting yourself as a particular type of person who may (for fair reasons or otherwise) not get a look in. Still though, I sometimes get this suspicion that people are quicker to pick up on my personality and interests and realise I'm not part of their crowd than I realise. That irritates me. I don't necessarily want to be friends with them, I'd just quite like to be more subtle. Life's more interesting if you're able to get a detailed picture of other people, and can manage not to alienate them. Although in this case, alienating the woman in question was probably a very good idea, so ten out of ten for me there perhaps.

I also remember an occasion when some poetry friends and I supported a psychedelic indie band at some gig in East London. The band in question wrote rambling and ridiculous songs and had some particuarly dazed and confused looking members, yet when they took to the stage, the lead singer took the piss and accused us of being weird. The subtext seemed to be "As musicians, we can behave how we want. As people, however, you lot smell strange. Those are the rules". Not for the first time I found myself thinking that a lot of people involved with rock music - in its many forms - are actually very conservative with leanings towards hypocrisy. I remember mumbling to myself at the time "Do you think YOU look normal, your honour?", and I've found myself thinking that quite a few times since as well.

We're finishing up a few odds and ends before our next major release. Our mighty Ops guys continue to slay spambots and balance load times on a highwire without a safety net (which is kind of tough dressed in full ninja gear). Down on solid ground, we're celebrating this week's virtual birthday party with a warm toast to pants. If you can rearrange the letters of your favorite city, state, and/or country (feel free to combine these elements) to spell one of Frank's favorite treats (e.g., pants, wire, paper, etc.), he'll send you over a can of whipped cream to top it all off (provided you return the empty can for his midnight snack)! And, with that, let the word scrambling commence!

Stuff you should know:

We're still working on the delayed/missing notifications issue. Sorry, we're frustrated too. We'll keep you posted. Last week, we became aware that a recently-implemented script was overwriting affiliate referral fees for some of our users. Once we confirmed this, our Ops team quickly removed the script. Please be aware that, while we may beta-test other affiliate scripts down the line, we will take greater measures to ensure that no existing user-referral arrangements are impacted in any way. While we plan to stick to a weekly news schedule, if we have a release in between regular newsletters, we'll post here to keep you informed. You can also check lj_releases for current release information.

To our paid users, we send squirrels in love!

If you have a paid or permanent account, you can send five free Squirrels in love vgifts through Monday, March 15th at 4pm, PST! You'll see both the free and the $0.99 squirrels displayed until they've scurried off to their new homes. Please send only one vgift at a time. In other words, you'll need to complete check-out and start a new order for each vgift you send. If you're not receiving vgifts (from friends and/or Frank), you may have disabled them. To enable vgifts, visit Edit profile (under Profile), scroll down to the bottom of the page, and select 'Do not disable' from the drop-down menu. Have fun!

Help is on the way!

We're pleased to announce the winner of our first charitable vgift poll, Doctors without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières, which provides critical medical care to under-served populations around the world. Priced at $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of the proceeds we raise from the sale of this vgift (we'll cover credit card fees). We invite you to start recommending nonprofits for our next fundraising drive at ljnewscontests. We'll take suggestions through the month and post a poll in the news during the first week of April to let you choose the recipient. We thank you, again, for your passion and generosity.

We've crowned a header

Congratulations to ohterlus for submitting the winning header, which will go live next week and keep us leafy through mid-April! You can submit designs for our next header contest at ljnewscontests now until March 31st. We'll post a poll in the news to let you decide which header will sit at the top of LiveJournal from mid-April to mid-May. All artistic interpretations are welcome. The winner will get a $25 LiveJournal gift certificate. All other contributors will receive $5 gift certificates. Our heartfelt appreciation for sharing your talent and creativity!

For this week's winning photo and more adventures with Frank & Meme, we'll catch you under the cut!

( Read more... )

Tags: charitable vgift drive, frank & meme, lj_photophile, march header contest, notifications, squirrels in love, tinyurls

Actually, I've just realised that with all the excitement over the last few weeks - or stress at the very least, 'excitement' is probably too strong a word - I forgot to mention that I'd be doing a gig on Thursday 11 March at The Old Ship on 3 King Street in Richmond, TW9 1ND.

Here's the Facebook blurb:

"You are invited to an evening of the spoken word
and music on the second Thursday in the month,
provided by Alec Bell and friends
at Richmond’s celebrated and historic hostelry.

Inaugural session, Thursday, March 11th
Guests will include:

Dave Bryant
Frances Isherwood Michael Wyndham
and more ….
contributors, both readers and musicians, from the floor will be welcomed.

If you want to read, please arrive by 7.30, and talk to Alec Bell"

Two observations here: Firstly... Hooray, it's a non-London gig! At last! Except it isn't really, since Richmond is on the District line and close to the Thames. But at least that's a non-London postcode in the address, which has to count for something, eh readers? Oh, OK then. Look, so far as non-London promoters are concerned I might as well not exist, so you can't entirely blame me for taking crumbs of comfort where I find them... Although as one provincial poet friend of mine pointed out, at least I'm not a non-London poet desperately trying to get gigs here, which is apparently even more frustrating.

Secondly, I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get back to Walthamstow from this one late at night. I have yet to delve deep into the Transport for London website to work out what my best options are, but I fear it's going to be a long journey - so I've taken the following day off work in lieu (I'm owed a lot of lieu) in case I crawl into bed at one am or something.

Anyone who lives in the area or just wants to make the journey to Richmond that evening with me, you would obviously be very, very welcome. This is a new night, and I've no idea what the likely attendance will be, but adding to the headcount can never be a bad thing - unless you're that ex-National Front bloke who smashed a window in a pub during a poetry reading back in 1999 we've all been hoping never turns up to anything ever again. Luck has certainly been on our side with that problem so far - perhaps he decided poetry just wasn't for him, hence the smashed window (probably).

The Facebook event link is here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=341113387120&ref=ts

See you there, hopefully.