* Start writing book review entries for 2008 and crosspost from Vox.

* Do 8-month writeup for baby!

* Do waaaay too much stuff for work.

* ENJOY SUMMER.

Welcome to my journal!

I have stuff to say. I say it. I link it. This should not be considered anything unlike having a conversation in public with friends, where some people may overhear certain things, but where other conversations are shunted off to a special events room. And yes, I do occasionally mutter to myself in the corner.

I don't friend a lot of people. Most of them are people I've known for a good decade, or are friends of friends and have enough interests in common that I trust them. Trust me, there's enough nougaty goodness here even if I don't friend you. I occasionally talk about personal stuff such as medical issues, personal issues, family issues, work issues, or social issues.

Sometimes I feel the need to clean house, especially if it seems like I'm passing over entries of people who aren't commenting, and will remove people from my friends list due to that. If you were friended, and really miss reading my entries, feel free to comment below! I'll see about adding you back. :)

So. Please feel free to stick around! Read. Comment. I'd love to get to know you.

[FYI, comments are now screened for privacy purposes.]

LJ has decided to make another attempt at redesigning the profile page. And while it probably could use a little tweaking, I'm not sure this is it.

Do this when you have a moment free. Really-- it'll only take a moment.

1. Go to http://www.livejournal.com/betafeatures.bml and turn on beta testing.
2. Look at your own profile page.
3. Look at the profile page of a friend who lists different kinds of information than you do.
4. Look at the profile page for any community that you run, or a community that you are a part of.
5. React. [If you wish, visit the lj_design entry where all of this is discussed and give them some input.]
6. Go to http://www.livejournal.com/betafeatures.bml and turn off beta testing.
7. Profit. Chill out or something.

Seriously-- if you have any interest in design, or art, or usability, or LiveJournal, take a moment to give some feedback.

testing copypasta

via xanthvamp:



According to Wikipedia: Wolverine_&_the_X-Men, the cartoon will air on Nicktoons in early 2009.

Sweeeeeet.

Eh, I figured I'd answer this one.

My first userpic was this one:



It's a great photo of me. I cropped it, converted it to B&W, and did the artsy bar so that it focused on my eyes. I don't use it often, but for a while it was my only userpic.

My current default userpic is this one:



I created it when I heard that Yahoo was doing a "READ" t-shirt promo along with the American Library Association. I hadn't made a Yahoo avatar yet, and this seemed pretty fun and a little more sassy and savvy than my other "Read!" default userpic, so I switched.

And here I thought that paying $225 for an 8GB USB drive was steep:

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/627025/Buslink-USB-Flash-Drive-PRO-2/

:O :O :O

Wow. I didn't expect a ruling that quickly. Cool.

It'll be interesting to see where things go from here.

If the CA constitution were amended to define marriage as only heterosexual couples, that could still be challenged in the courts, yes? What about the case of someone who's MTF or FTM getting married? There are a lot of trans folks that could challenge that one way or another...

Yes, yes, I'm a few days behind.

But I am gleefully ecstatic that Edwards endorsed Obama.

I don't know that I'd want to see Edwards as veep candidate again; I think Bill Richardson might be a good fit given that he's been a governor. But I don't really know enough about politics to really know if that would be the best choice.

Anyway: yay!

What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.
Here's the twist: add (*) beside the ones you liked and would (or did) read again or recommend. Even if you read 'em for school in the first place.  (I'm putting a # next to the ones I own-- or the ones that I *think* we own-- but that I have not read.)


Heh.  It's *really* fun watching two librarians look over this list going "which room would that be shelved in" and "wasn't that by [author X]?" and "...what the hell book is that?!?"

I have finally caught up on my book reviews!

Well, I've caught up to what I'd read by the end of last year, that is.

I still have nineteen books that I've read so far this year that I need to do writeups for.

-sigh-

I admit it:

The Magneto meme is just too darned fun.

I saw another video yesterday of Bush in Africa, trying to dance.

Thus, a Gratuitous Icon Post. Nothing else to see here. :D

Oh my GOD this is the FUNNIEST range of LOLcats/ORLY that I've seen in a while:

http://gnimmel.livejournal.com/92277.html


SRSLY. Just go. Now. You know you want to. Safe for work, even.


Thanks go out to devilindupriest for the link.

As soon as I get my coat on, I'm off to the local junior high school to vote. Usually I'm one of the first 10 people to vote in my precinct. Wonder if that'll be true today?

Last night, I saw my first McCain commercial. On MSNBC. During Countdown with Keith Olbermann! That was sort of surprising. Then again, lots of the FOX news / republican conservative blowhards have said they'd rather have Hillary than McCain.

And on a lighter note... does anyone else ever tear up when they get that little "I voted" sticker? 'Cause I swear I do it every single time...

I am SO BORED by this game that I have decided to do my Illinois State Tax Return.

*boggle*

OTOH, I want that Audi. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.


HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA, apparently my old-school cable connection down here is five seconds ahead of Aardy's digital cable signal on the upstairs TV. This is especially fun since we can hear each other's TVs.

To the religious Christians: Merry Christmas, our Savior is born!

To the rest of you: Enjoy the day, and enjoy your presents if you're exchanging them. :) Happy Holidays!

Well, I upgraded to Norton 2008 (Internet Security) but apparently the new version doesn't block advertising. GRRRR. I was really happy with the lack of ads in my old version.

Anyway, I'm on IE7. What's a good program to get for ad-blocking? The cheaper (=free!) the better.

No, I do NOT want to be encouraged to use Firefox. I know what the ad-blocking solution is for Firefox. I have a need to use IE7 for certain things, and would like also for ads to be blocked from stuff like the Weather Channel software (= my whole computer, not just a particular browser).

Thoughts? Ideas?

Being that I have no time whatsoever, and will have even less once I go back to work, I'm paring down my friends list. I barely have time to read and comment as it is, and end up being a week behind lots of the time, so most people won't notice anything different.

Mostly, I dropped communities and feeds, but I also dropped some journals, mostly those of writers who haven't commented in my journal. I also dropped a few journals that haven't updated in aaaaaaages.

To give you some examples-- Wil Wheaton is gone (sob!) as is metaquotes. I'll add them and the others I've dropped back during the summer months, when I've got more time to focus on people and places and things.

If you were dropped, and want to be added back so that you can read my FO stuff, just let me know in the comments (screened). I'll be happy to add people back who are actually reading. :)

Since I've seen it mentioned a few times on my flist, I figured I'd link to a handy summary for my non-spr0t friends (and for support volunteers who haven't had time to wade through the whole thing yet):

[http://theemdash.livejournal.com/612904.html?style=mine] is a summary of the Adult Concepts / Explicit Adult Content flagging system that was described in [http://community.livejournal.com/lj_biz/243697.html], and is based on / links to answers that marta posted to that thread.

You may also want to take a look at [http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=281&view=full]

Okay, *that* was the episode we'd been waiting for!

My fave characters, and several subplots coming to a head. Hiro reminds himself of the value of life and death. Adam makes an appearance. Parkman discovers and uses his new power. Mohinder and his nose-bandage have fun with a gun. Elle gets what she deserves. Bob does something nice (and the eyeroll at "can I keep him?" just about *broke* me).

And OMG.WTF.HRG! Yowza. What a great way to end an episode.

If only they all were like this. No wonder twins, no Sylar, no boring Peter. (Interesting Peter is okay. And Nathan looks *so* much better when he's naturally just a little scruffy, instead of all political and stuff.)

Can't wait for next week...

Paid users:

OMG YAY!.

*squeee!*

(plus: tag auto-complete on Post an Entry and Edit Entry pages!)

This weekend, my husband hit a new level in odd quotes:

"The squirrel is no longer in session."

WTF? The squirrel is no longer in session? Is this cold-war-spy code? Is this a veiled comment at sigma7 and his place of business in higher education? What could it mean?

Apparently, it means "I've forgotten the phrase 'The wheel is spinning, but the hamster is dead.'"

I will say that the new version has kept us giggling uncontrollably for the past day and a half. -grin-

I had to squeee with delight when I saw the ad for The Amazing Race, scheduled to return on Sunday, November 4. YAYEZ! Ooh, and there's a chick with pink hair. ZOMG, fashion goths. Seriously: I'm not kidding. :O

Apparently there are no two-gay-person teams this year (ETA: found 'em! See comments), and no two-parents or two-older-folks teams. Several dating, siblings, or (grand)parent/(grand)kid teams, though, and the obligatory blondes and best friends.

In other news, Viva Laughlin has already been cancelled. It looked like yet another Vegas-casion-style show, with the premiere ep featuring Hugh Jackman (apparently because Jackman and his wife were the producers).

What I and most other people didn't know? It was a musical. Like, remember Cop Rock? Yeah, something like that.

*Not* surprised that that got cancelled.

Look, actual content! (SFX: oooooooooooooh!) This is because Grandma is still here, yay.

So aardy and I were watching CSI:NY on Wednesday, and laughing at the Second Life bits. OMG. First of all, we cracked up at Mac's look when Adam asked whether his avatar should be male or female. Funny how "Taylor" *needed* to be female later on in the ep. Also noted the furry fox avatar option. Also snickered at Adam's suggestions and mods to make "Taylor" less newbie-looking.

But wow, the costuming choices for the chicks in SL. "Brick House"? C'mon. How slutty do most of the chicks really end up looking in SL, and do the guy avatars have an equal amount of beefcake? 'Cause it isn't fair otherwise.

I know that I want my local forensics lab to have a big-ass entire-wall-sized screen so the computer tech can kick virtual ass on the city's or county's dime. Ditto my local congressman's office having a 24/7 videoconferencing hookup. Your Tax Dollars At Work!

I loved the "virus" that suddenly popped up several copies of "Taylor" all saying the same thing. But my god, the NY crime lab has got to have the shittiest computer security ever. First there was the wi-fi jacket downloading everyone's computer data a few weeks ago. Then the SL virus starts infecting all of the computers. I love how Adam logged off of his computer by hitting the Escape key. Mmmmyeah, that'll do it, sure. Just hit the Escape key, and you can shut down all of the terminals in your area! Wheee! I'm sure that the person who was seconds away from a case-breaking fingerprint match would love that!

[In related news-- since when does hitting the Escape key on the Journal Update page cause one's text to be erased? It's like I hit the undo key, except hitting it again did another undo back, and by the third time I hit it, it had even erased my Subject line! Not cool. I don't know if it's an IE bug, or a feature, or what, but that sucked. Yes, I know, type on Notepad or use a client...]

I will say that the ep kept me interested at the end. Where did she go? The trash chute? The original chick's avatar-like costume was very well done-- nice anime-style, good-con-quality work. But getting a thread facelift to look better? Ick. The killer's version of the costume and that green wig were much less awesome.

I'm sure that any SL folks who were watching were probably giggling with glee at their world being featured; if LJ was a focal point on CSI and they did it right, it'd be awesome. (Except you know that certain people would have a fit that there was a Sponsored Community tie-in or some crap like that.)

This is the only thing I could think of when I was up between midnight and 3 am. Straight. *whimper*

This is the first time I have had this particular difficulty ordering pizza:

Me: Hi, I'd like to order a pizza for delivery, to pay by credit card.
He: Okay, this is for [address], right?
Me: Yup!
He: What can we get for you?
Me: Large pizza, thin crust, easy on the tomato sauce.
He: Do you want the 14" or the 16"?
Me: Wha? Um, I've only ever ordered the "Large" before. (y'know, like for the past two years or so, unless I've gotten a medium?)
He: Well, we have the 14" Large or the 16" Large.
Me: Well, that seems kind of weird. Why not just call the larger large an extra-large?
He: People don't want to order an extra-large! They are willing to order a 16" large, though.
Me: Uh-huh...
He: Lemme look it up... Yeah, it looks like you've been getting the 14" large.
Me: Okay, so that, with pepperoni and ground beef.
He: Okay.
Me: So the total is [price?], right?
He: Nooooo...
Me: It's not?
He: No, it's [price about a dollar more]. Oh! But our prices just went up.
Me: Uh-huh.
He: Okay, thanks.
Me: Wait! Don't you want my credit card info?
He: ...oh, yeah.
Me: *facepalm*

Via [http://community.livejournal.com/lj_biz/242903.html]:

If you email donorschoose@sixapart.com before 5 p.m. PT on Monday, October 1, 2007, they will send you a gift certificate worth $30 that can be used at the DonorsChoose.org website. It's a charity which helps teachers to fund projects for their schools.

The easiest way to search for a project is to do so here: [http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/browse.html?zone=0].

I've looked around at a few proposals, and I think I'm going to put my gift certificate towards this one: [http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=103723]. It's a middle school charter school in Chicago where the teacher wants to buy a digital camera and several reams of paper in order to create a new school newspaper. The total cost to fund it is $324. So if ten of you request gift certificates and join me, our $330 could *totally* fund that newspaper project. That's pretty cool.

[The only sucky thing is that you apparently have to put in a USA address to say where your gift certificate is coming from. Someone in this thread suggested a possible workaround solution...]

Remember-- if you want to get a gift certificate, you need to email donorschoose@sixapart.com before 5 p.m. PT on Monday, October 1 (aka tomorrow)!

There's been a recent freakout on my flist and in several LJ communities where people are stating that LJ has turned on automatic payments for people without their permission.

No, LJ didn't. And I'm putting on my LJ Support Volunteer hat here.

The only way that autopayments will occur is if the user has specifically signed up for them. That is the *only* way that the system will keep and remember one's credit card information. Even if someone used a credit card in the past, that information isn't kept on file unless the user specifically turns on the autopayments.

Anyone who isn't sure about when they agreed to autopayments is welcome to file a Support Request here. Make sure you select "Account Payments" from the dropdown box. The LJ staff can easily point users to when they signed up for payments and what their payment history has been.

Please, don't spread around this falsehood. Instead, please point people with questions to file a Support request and provide them with the link above.

I mean, seriously. There have been people freaking out about autopay being turned on who have been doing autopayments monthly for the past six months. *boggle* There have been people who talked about letting their paid accounts lapse who *forgot* that they needed to turn off their autopayments in the first place. Not LJ's fault.

[http://www.livejournal.com/manage/payments/] shows you your Account Status page and when your next automatic payment will be, if you've got autopay turned on.

[http://www.livejournal.com/manage/payments/history.bml] shows you your payment history.

So: Go, right now, make with the clicky, and check what your current payment history and payment status is. And if you have questions, please contact Support first so that you can get further information, instead of spreading misinformation all over the place.

Thanks.

seen via a few on the flist, but I wanted to pass it along too...

synecdochic has just started a writing workshop in her journal, and it looks AWESOME. For those of you who are going to be doing nanowrimo and other such things, I'd highly recommend taking a look.

I have to give a shout-out to jim_smith and his awesome community gore_sports, which has recently come back from a hiatus. After matching one orange ninja kid against another orange ninja kid, and putting Erin Esurance up against Kim Possible (go Erin, woot!), he's now begun another match:

The eight-man "Noble Savages Finish Last" free-for-all.

Will Adam Savage win over Fred Savage? Will Vandal Savage conquer Doc Savage? Will anyone care about Michael Savage or Dan Savage? Will Randy Savage take out Martin Savidge just for having the wrong last name?

Next week, only one Savage will stand. Who will it be? You decide, true believer!:

http://community.livejournal.com/gore_sports/4245.html


[Seriously-- I get a kick out of these tournaments. -grin-]