First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
HCG and I have been hating each other a little bit for the past week. What started as a silly argument over the return of my Wii, escalated to us yelling at each other on the phone, me almost crying out of anger, and him saying those magic words that really hurt me: "Fine. Then 'wii' won't be dancing anymore." (Very clever too, huh?) Oh, do I hate him so. And it's because I know he doesn't mean it and because I know he's only doing it to push my buttons, that I can't stand it. And boy does he love to push those buttons. I'm like his favorite remote control.
So the next time we chatted over MSN, he pretended nothing had happened and started making plans for the night. And I, being the proud little girl I am, promptly reminded him that "wii were not dancing anymore." He thought I'd overlook it and go on like nothing had happened, but I wanted to show him that I could, indeed, survive without dancing with him. Friday came and went, and neither one called the other. I have to admire the stubbornness on both our parts: I, on the one side, was not going to give in. He knows dancing is my weakness and I didn't want him to have such a power over me. He, I suppose, sat back on his couch waiting to see how long l would last. Then Saturday happened.
Alex called to make plans for Saturday night. When I told him I had no plans and HCG on his part made up an outing with other friends, Alex knew something was going on and somehow dished it out of me. That night he made plans to meet me at Alibi's, the little place HCG and I usually go to on Saturdays. I love that place; it's a small restaurant-turned-into-bar with a live salsa band and a very nice, cozy atmosphere. Needless to be said, everybody asked me where HCG was once I got in, and apparently, it was just beyond their reasoning that he wouldn't be there with me. Like something was unbalanced in the world. Some people even wanted me to give him a call or, even better, go to his house and drag his butt to the restaurant. Alex saw this and became adamant on cooking up a way for us to make up.
He worked hard on trying to get me to talk to HCG, I'll give him credit for that. He went on to try and convince me that I was the better person and that our friendship couldn't end over something so petty. That we both loved dancing with each other and it was stupid that we wouldn't anymore just because he was a jerk and I wanted to stand my ground. Okay, so he didn't say that last part, but that was also true. Finally, and because he was already getting on my nerves, I made him a proposition: if he and his girlfriend convinced HCG to go out that night, I'd go make peace with him... if only for the sake of dancing. (Right!!!) He called, and to his (and mine, and probably even God's) surprise, HCG not only agreed but also told him to call me and see if I wanted to go. That was, I thought, as good an apology as he would ever be able to conjure. It was my turn to act, so I got up and did the one thing I knew would work: I went to Dunkin Donuts.
Ten minutes later, I knocked on his door. Through the blinds of his window, he saw me and the corner of his lip curled up. He opened the door and stood there, the amused expression on his face making me nervous.
"I brought you a peace offering" - I said, holding out the Dunkin Donuts bag.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes. Alex called me..."
"I know. He called me, too."
"And I figured, as long as we're both going to be in the same place, we should call a truce." He opened his mouth to say something, but I went on. "You know him... he'll be demanding we hit the dance floor and he'll wonder what's wrong if he doesn't see us dancing."
"You're right" he said, "and I wouldn't want to put up with his wondering."
"So what do you say?"
He looked at the bag, then at me, then at the bag again. He took it, inspected its content, and pulled out a single blueberry muffin. His favorite. His smile grew wider. "Come in" he motioned as he walked to the living room.
Sitting on the couch and taking the first bite, he came to a sudden realization. With his mouth full still, he said, "You didn't put any poison here did you? Or worse... laxatives?!"
As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.
The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.
When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.
It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.
Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.
As always, thanks for your patience.
Everyone in my family has always loved numbers. My mom and her siblings are all engineers; both my parents participated in countless Math competitions throughout their school years, and if they ever got a score as low as a 98% on a Math exam, they'd retake it in search of a perfect score. My mom actually enjoys doing her taxes and keeping my dad's company's numbers up to date. And then there's me.
I practically taught myself how to read at the age of 4. Whenever I saw words -at a train station, on a book, on street signs- I would ask the nearest person what the sound of that letter was, and I'd put it together with the vowels around it. By the time I was 6 and entered 1st grade, I could read at a 4th grade level. I read everything and anything in sight. I read at school while the rest of the kids ran around with basketballs. I read at the dinner table, and by the window when my parents would turn the lights off for the night. I had perfect grammar (at least in Spanish); teachers would often ask me how to spell words, and I even found an error or two in the newspaper. When I turned 7, I knew I wanted to write a book. I wrote and read a lot, and I enjoyed it immensely. In 8th grade, I won a National Spanish competition.
One semester a few years ago I took a creative writing class. It was challenging and refreshing; I loved it. But my wedding was to be at the end of the semester and I didn't finish it. Since then I've started several blogs, short stories, and even a long-ish story. I walk around all day in blog mode, thinking of things I can write about and developing ideas for stories. But when I sit down to write, nothing comes out. I simply can't write. I walk around with a notebook "just in case" and even when I get the writing bug, I get distracted too easily. I don't know if the perfectionist side of me won't allow an idea to be committed into paper unless it's perfect, or if I'm just lazy. Maybe it's a bit of both. Maybe I should just force myself to write for a certain amount of time, every day, to exercise the flowing of words from my brain to the paper. There should be a device that takes ideas, sentences and stories directly from my brain into a piece of paper... till then, my poor characters will sit on the sidelines, unsure of their future, cheering me on.
HCG and I have recently started developing an imaginary SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) Manual about Straight Men. The joke started with his buddies at work and quickly extended to me, and basically it's a list of things that real, macho men just don't do. Like, for example, say "Oh my gosh!" or give another guy a motorcycle ride.
So yesterday we're having lunch with Alex, a recently acquired friend who likes to wash his hands everywhere he goes, and that, obviously, is in the SOP Manual. We tease him all the time about this, and even point out the bathrooms as soon as we walk into a restaurant. It was a nice afternoon and we were sitting at one of the outdoor tables, which were mostly empty except for a man about 2 tables from us. Going through the pictures on his phone, Alex shows me a picture of one of his cats, and HCG quickly points out that having a cat is a big no-no for a straight man and that it should be in the SOP Manual. Alex, trying to defend himself, says he also has 2 dogs, and HCG asks what type of dogs... and very loudly explains that it better not be a chihuahua or a poodle, or else he'll be in trouble. Turns out Alex has a bulldog and some other type of manly dog, so he was saved from the poking this time.
Just then, our waitress announces she'll be right back with the food and Alex promptly says it's time to wash his hands. As he gets up, the man 2 tables down gets up as well and walks past us... with a miniature poodle.
Priceless.
Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.
We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.
I will keep you posted.
Thank you for being so patient.
Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.
This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!
Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.
Can't wait to read your posts!
~ daisy
The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Have a great weekend,
daisy, Team Vox
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