elukes

Whats the deal with this whole "one laptop per child" thing, anyways?

I can't think of any good reason an older kid shouldn't have more than one. At the very least won't it make it so much simpler to separate school work from everything else if the kid has one laptop with next to no graphics acceleration but excellent battery life for school, and one built for gaming, movies, and internet that uses the power needed for that kind of goofing off?

I took my almost two-year-old son's ancient orange Macbook away a couple months ago after he broke something else totally unrelated. Since it was an OS 9 generation unit with a Motorola-style main chip, it mostly just crashed anyways. He did like making it talk and also had renamed almost every single icon or file to something totally bizarre - I haven't seen so much of what looked like line noise on one screen since before they started putting MNP into 2.4kbit modems in the very early 1990s!

Still, it wasn't one of his favorite toys, probably because it didn't have any wheels on it. Eventually I'm going to want to let him play with it again, and I'd hate to have someone suggest that ought to be the one he's stuck with because of a "one laptop per child" policy.

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!
( Read more... )

http://tomkinstimes.com/2009/10/fao-open-minded-football-journalists/


FAO Open-Minded Football Journalists

I appreciate that it’s difficult for anyone covering lots of clubs, as well England (and maybe even other sports), to have specialist knowledge of Liverpool FC. I accept that, as a result, journalists make judgements on snippets of information, and often regurgitate the old myths.

(For example, Liverpool’s marking at set-pieces has been largely excellent for four seasons; therefore when it’s not working, that doesn’t immediately make it a terrible idea; too many journalists jump on bandwagons with no facts to back up their assertions. But that’s the English football way, alas.)

Some editors clearly wanted sensational stories. But plenty of fans want the truth. Some journalists care about the facts, but of course, there are those who just want a good story; and as the saying goes, the truth must not be allowed to get in the way.

Cont...
( Read more... )

aiyatheydidnt
The Chinese version of ONTD, AIYA is a dynamic international community that welcomes users who share a love of contemporary Chinese pop culture. Dedicated to celebrity gossip and entertainment news, you'll enjoy gorgeous photos and breaking stories featuring the glitterati of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

wendylady2
Designed to rescue fashion victims everywhere, this Brit-based community reads like a rag-ezine. Published once or twice weekly, you'll view bizarre highlights of the global fashion scene through captivating photos and delightfully snarky editorial. Sit tight for a virtual fashion tour from the runways of New York to Milan to Paris and back home again to London in homage to the adage: you can't buy good taste.

soldiers_heart
A passionate community for veterans of all ages (mostly American), plus families, friends, and supporters. View poignant snapshots detailing life in combat and back on civilian soil in the form of original artwork, personal narratives, poetry, and photos. Be forewarned that members don't shy away from describing their disappointments, disabilities, and struggles.

( pictures that i have enjoyed )

Hello all! How were your footballing weekends please? Anyone good, anyone awful etc? Arsenal were pretty good; we didn't need to be anything outstanding because, once they'd conceded, Sp*rs were pretty terrible and had almost nothing going forward. Cesc's goal was brilliant and it is now ten years and twenty games since Sp*rs have ever beaten us in a North London Derby. Though, according to Harry Redknapp, there's "no gulf" in class. Riiiiight. Anyway, I trust that people like Redknapp and Robbie Keane will be keeping their thoughts to themselves before the game at WHL at least.

Otherwise, Liverpool - oh dear oh dear. What's going on there? Well alright, that's slightly obvious; you've only got one half decent player who's fit. Some lovely red card action going on this weekend too, Barry Ferguson surely winning the "Stupidest Red of the Season" award. Barry Ferguson, doing some idiotic? Surely not.

So that'll be the one team in North London again then? Hey, hey Robbie Keane - since you went off so early you'd have had a chance to assess your bench. How was it? Looking good? Up to the quality of Arsenal's?

Oh Tottenham, they never, ever learn. Hilarious.

EDIT: If you're reading this, our maintenance is OVER! The problem was not found on our equipment, which means we'll have to work with our ISP to fix this small problem -- which also means another maintenance window in the future -- but at least we have eliminated our side.

Thank you everyone, and a special shout out to rekoil for giving me a great suggestion AND also the opportunity to feel like I've just called in to a local radio station.

Have a great day, night or afternoon wherever you may be.

---

Hi everyone, sorry for the late notice but I'm going to have to do some testing on 1 of our 4 internet circuits TONIGHT; Friday night or Saturday morning depending on which time zone you're in.

Most of us shouldn't notice any impact, though there may be some slowness or lag when I switch traffic on to our other ISP circuits and then another hit when I stop the tests. If a page won't load or times out, try hitting refresh 1 or 2 times and it should load then. If it doesn't work at all... trust me, I'll be typing really really really fast to try to undo whatever I just did. Hopefully you'll have some Halloween candy (if you're in the USA and celebrate that kind of thing) nearby to take away the bitterness of a small site outage. :(

Here's the handy-dandy Website That I Always Use to get a feel for when the maintenance will start in your area. Our site traffic historically dips on Friday afternoons until Saturday morning which is why we tend to pick this time for maintenance work.

( tech details )

status.livejournal.org will, of course be updated before and after the maintenance window. Or else marta will get mad at me. :D

bt

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.

So I just found out that Socerpulse went down. So I was wondering if anyone else knew a place where I can get MOTD highlights.

Does anyone have (or have any sources for) hand calculations to determine the cooling of a heated box in natural convection?

We have thermal software, but want to be able to do ball park hand calculations to ensure that our software is not off in the weeds. We have a small aluminum box, in free air, heated internally. We are interested in the steady state skin temperature of the box.

Right now the thought is to combine 6 plate analyses as an approximation, but I wasn't sure if there was a more specific model we could use.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

X-posted to engineers

halloween_fan
Here at LiveJournal, we never balk at an opportunity for high drama, wicked costumes, and gluttonous sugar consumption. But this community takes it one step further: Here, everyday is Halloween. Of course, the hallowed eve is particularly sacred to this spirited crowd. If you're looking for last-minute costume ideas for your black cat, faux eyeball candy, or stand-out haunted houses, dive in for a splash of pagan merriment.

picturing_food
Designing gourmet? Feast your eyes on these pixel perfect dishes with an accent on presentation. A visual smorgasbord of eclectic cuisine, ranging from fusion to down-home comfort foods. If the way to your heart is through your stomach and the way to your stomach is through your eyes, you're sure to leave with a good taste in your mouth.

bookish
Passionate readers share well-penned reviews on a broad sweep of genres, including fiction, YA, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, and good ol' pot-boiling suspense. Those of a lit crit persuasion are invited to introduce themselves before posting. And for the silent majority who prefer to bask in our neighbors' labors, there are thoughtful reviews, book list suggestions, and even great gift ideas to keep your library card and dowtime filled.

Hello all! How were your footballing weekends please? Anyone good, anyone awful etc? Arsenal were frustrating, again. A point away from home isn't the worst thing in the world but the way we surrendered that lead was immensely annoying, especially considering almost everybody else (bar Chelsea) dropped points. We shouldn't be throwing two goals away, certainly not to a team as limited as West Ham. God only knows what's happening with the goalkeeper situation but I don't think Mannone has the experience to be our number one, even if he has got the raw talent.

Away from us I am now a huge fan of Glenn Whelan. Maybe next year eh Spuds fans? Man United were pretty rubbish yesterday as well although, for once, I agree with Sir Redface and reckon that Carragher should've been sent off. Still, I don't think it would've made much difference, Liverpool were simply the better team.

Just what my icon says.

"This is the one
Oh this is the one
Oh this is the one
This is the one
I've waited for"