royanrannedos

Notes augmented

We've enhanced and de-bugged Notes. If you haven't tried it yet, now's the time! You can create a private note when you ban multiple users. You can also delete multiple notes at once. Lastly, paid users have the option to add a note (visible only to you) whenever you add or remove a friend (guaranteed to avoid embarrassing social mishaps). If you don't currently have a paid account, you can upgrade now! It only takes a few minutes and costs less than a bad shopping mall haircut (plus, it's way more fashionable)!

Product tweaks and bug kill

1. In another effort to zap spam, comments containing links from domains LiveJournal deems untrustworthy are now automatically screened


2. If you sign up to get notifications of the Writer's Block question of the day, you'll now see the daily question in the email notification, so you'll have a little extra time to ponder before you post. You can subscribe to Writers Block notifications here


3. The issue causing random comments to vanish has been fixed!


4. If you visit a LiveJournal page and get prompted to log in, you'll be returned to the same page after you sign in (Thanks, Dreamwidth)!


5. If you don't edit the timestamp for an entry at all, the entry timestamp will indicate the time the entry was posted instead of the time the Update Journal page was loaded

New FCK fixes rich text editor!

1. We've updated our RTE (Rich Text Editor) to FCKeditor version 2.6.5 for improved visual design!


2. When switching from the RTE to HTML editor, links for syndicated feeds are no longer broken


3. RTE now functions properly in Safari 4.0


4. An extra line/space will not be auto-inserted whenever you switch from RTE to HTML editor


5. The insert image link now works correctly in all browsers


6. Comments with paddings/backgrounds render correctly within the comment box (and will no longer wrap outside the box and break frames/margins)

LiveJournal Cares

We’re pleased to introduce you to lj_cares, a new LiveJournal community dedicated to raising awareness and funds for U.S. charitable organizations that improve the health and well-being of people around the world. Each month, we’ll spotlight a nonprofit that is making a significant global impact through medical research, public outreach, and/or humanitarian social programs. Charities will be selected in accordance with the U.S. calendar of national health observances based on a high rating (of over 60%) on Charity Navigator and global scope of impact.

In this, our inaugural month of November, we will celebrate national adoption month by offering a charitable virtual gift (priced at $2.99) to support Love Without Boundaries, an organization that saves the lives of orphans with life-threatening diseases and places them in loving homes around the world. LiveJournal will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of charitable vgifts (we'll cover the cost of credit card transaction fees). To learn more about Love Without Boundaries, please visit lj_cares and read about how they helped save Baby Kang and the Rainbow Twins from fatal illnesses, who are now thriving in nurturing families. You can purchase your Love Without Boundaries gifts in the Virtual Gift shop.

Papered in postcards

A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to send in postcards to surround us with LiveJournal community. Thanks for coming through! We've received postcards all the way from Germany, England, Finland, and Canada and from all over the US, including Texas, Florida, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Indiana, Hawaii, and Oklahoma just to name just a handful. We're thrilled with our improved decor.

Please keep the love coming for one more week by writing 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 drawing the names of ten random contributors next Thursday to win paid account credits!

Photos of the week

We have more dazzling images posted by talented LiveJournal photographers from around the world. We're hoping to span the entire globe, so please continue posting and tagging. Of course, you can also sit back and enjoy the view at lj_photophile.

You can see a sample of this week's gorgeous photos and check out spotlight communities and awesome user content after the jump!

Curtains

We thank you, once again, for joining us. See you next week!

The empire strikes back

RSS feeds again

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Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

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Enveloped in postcards

Photos of the week

lj_photophile

How many times have we, the Filipino people, braved the storms?

In 2006, our country was rendered helpless by the super typhoon Milenyo, and then next, we suffered from the relentless gales of typhoon Reming. Some years later- the year is 2009-, we find ourselves, face to face yet again with another force of nature – the tropical storm, Ondoy, which was, to our dismay, followed closely by typhoon Pepeng.

Many of our brothers and sisters, both the rich and the poor, found that they could not escape Ondoy’s and Pepeng’s merciless grasp. For days, our streets were flooded with black, murky and muddy water. There were not enough life boats, and the rescue teams lacked valuable man power. Supplies and rations were fast disappearing. The prospect of a better tomorrow seemed bleak to some, pointless to others, and hopeless to the majority. Lives were shattered, and the once seemingly solid futures were questioned.

The Philippines was drowning.

THIS WAS WRITTEN FROM THE STOMACH

            I was born hungry. I was born in a shack, cold and damp. I was born right into the giant grasp of poverty; of hunger. When, like so many of the children who were born at the exact second I was, I cried for milk, my mother, like any mother, took me in her arms, and rocked me, slowly, gently. She held me close, and I could feel her rough hands, that were shaking from labor, run across my face, in an attempt to soothe me. But I was hungry. I was desperately hungry. And so, no matter what comfort my mother offered, I simply cried louder. My lungs were pierced with air that carried the fetid scent of blood, sweat, trash, and rat urine. My stomach, little as it was, shouted, demanded that I be fed; demanded that warm, smooth milk enter my body.

            And then my mother started crying.

The Painter

They have asked me to do that which I consider as impossible; improbable.

Ah! These foolish men! They think that to wield the brush is an exact art, one governed by certain rules of science. No. They are wrong; for to wield a tool as noble as the brush is to master the ability of one’s hands. You must be calm. Shaking hands and trembling fingers will only ruin your masterpiece. You must exude an aura of confidence. You must be able to breathe life into the colors that you have befriended, must let them glide across your canvass freely.

These men, they also think that I know everything in the field of the arts. They are mistaken. For I only know that when you paint, your mind must not be restricted, must not be caged. I only know that if you let Blue streak out smoothly, just as the sky above you does, but do not forget that it must too, be savage, inconsistent, just as the sea before you is, then you will achieve realism. And if you let Red sound his war drums in the morning, then in the evening, lay him to rest; let him speak of love and passion, you will understand the magnitude of his voice. I only know that each color, each hue and shade is different; utterly unique, and that you must handle each one with reverence, and with respect.

But, ah, truly they have asked me to do that which I consider impossible; improbable.