Arwen's Blog

The Edge of Propinquity

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givesushope
It's that glorious time of year when we reunite with loved ones (we neglected all year), stuff our faces to excess, and pass out in front of the TV. Perhaps a recalibration of the thanksometer is in order. A spin-off of the popular GivesMeHope.com site, this community invites you to document moments of kindness, generosity, and pure human love.

veggieslackers
Despite its mainstream appeal, Thanksgiving is not for everyone. There are those struggling with food disorders, for whom this day causes endless conflict. There are the cash-challenged, who can't afford the gluttony we've grown to expect. There are the lonely, who don't have loved ones nearby. And let's not forget the vegetarians, who decry the animal cruelty. But there's one more group we often overlook: the terminally lazy! This community of lazy vegetarians offers easy recipes for an animal-friendly feast.

fashin
Just in time for holiday shopping season, this fashionista community brings you the world of haute couture in the form of sumptuous photos, video clips, and candid commentary. There's also a sugary sprinkle of mainstream movie discussions and debates on such pressing social issues as manicure styles and celebrity colonics. If you need a break from the daily grind to indulge your girlie side, this is twinkly pink on steroids.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Hi all, Guess this is my intro post along with a question for those who have gone or are going to San Jose State U...
First my Intro:
My name is Katrina, I graduated in 08 with a BA in history and another major in anthropology. I wanted to take a year off between going back to school (Also to decide which kind of graduate school I wanted, history, Forensic Anthropology, or Library). I want to focus on references and archives.

In my off time, I do a variety of activities but my big one is ballroom dance but I also am thoroughly obsessed with musical theatre as well.

My question to those of you who are going or have gone to SJSU:

Who are some good professors and who are some I should watch out for?

x-posted to libraryschool

Hey girls,

I am expected to graduate in the next March, and I am wondering if I need to start applying for jobs now, or I have to wait until I get my degree. I am interested in working at both public libraries and academic libraries.

I have applied for two jobs about a month ago, but haven't heard anything from them. I don't know they didn't consider my application because I am not eligible, or I just applied too early.

We're now in the second day of Open Beta for the Archive of Our Own! It's been a crazy weekend! Here are a few updates on how it's all going, below the cut.

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( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

We're now eight hours into Open Beta for the Archive of Our Own, and we're really excited to see people signing up and using the Archive. So far, we've seen new 493 accounts created, and our new users have added more than 1500 new works in over 150 fandoms! Our lovely front-end coder and support volunteer Cesy has been tracking our progress with some beautiful graphs: New users and fandoms since Open Beta and New works since Open Beta.

If you have questions about what Open Beta is and how to get an account, please check out our Announcing Open Beta post \0/

Open Beta is still beta, and as such the site still has a few kinks. We really value the feedback that our new users have been giving us, and our lovely Support team are working hard to respond to queries as fast as possible. In order to keep our users informed, we'd like to highlight a few of the more common issues and questions here:

Invitation queue

If you sign up via our invitation queue and have trouble entering your email address, check there aren't any extra spaces before or after it. This has been causing a few problems with our validation - it's a bug that will be fixed very soon.

If you joined the invitation queue and when you check back it says you're not in the queue, then please check your spam for your invitation email. If it hasn't shown up, then submit a support request and we'll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Invitation codes

If you receive an invitation via email, you can just click on the link to get to the sign-up page and your code will be entered automatically.

If you are an existing user of the Archive and you'd like to give a code to a friend, then you need to give them an invitation link, not just the raw code. You can choose to send them an email via 'Invitations' on your user home, and this will happen automatically. If you want to share a code without sending an email, then go to 'Manage invitations' and you'll see an option to 'Copy and use' your existing codes. Click on this to copy the invitations link - it's this that you need to share with people.

Account names

The Archive of Our Own allows you to post under various pseuds. However, these are linked to your account name, and this name will be displayed publicly on the site. Therefore, ensure your user name is one you don't mind other people seeing! Please also take care entering it, as it's difficult to change once it's been created.

We'll be improving the information text on the account creation page shortly to make this clearer - sorry to those of you who were confused.

Problems with special characters

We are experiencing some problems with special characters such as em-dashes (the long 'double hyphen'), umlauts and accents. In some cases, these characters will cause posts or imports to be cut off. If this happens to you, a workaround at present is to use the raw html coding for the special character (see this list of html entities for reference). We're working hard to put in a proper fix as soon as possible. (We hope it won't discourage posting in languages other than English in the meantime - we're excited to see works in Czech, German, French and Spanish already!)

We'll keep updating our Known Issues page on the Archive of Our Own with any further bugs that arise, and you may also find the Archive FAQ helpful. We'll also be posting regular Archive News Posts on the AO3 (mirrored on the OTW News blog and mirrors) to keep everyone up-to-date on new developments.


Despite a few inevitable bugs, Open Beta has been going really well! The shiny AO3 servers (owned by fandom, y'all!) are holding up really well under the vigorous workout they're receiving, and we're totally jazzed to see people using and enjoying the Archive. Thanks so much to everyone who got us here! <3

Mirrored from an original post on the Archive of Our Own.

So I am applying to UIUC for fall 2010, got told that I have to take the GRE because of my GPA... has anyone gotten into UIUC after being told they have to take the GRE? Any advice would be wonderful. I am really nervous and would live to here from anyone that has gotten into UIUC, or my second choice Dominican U. How hard is it to get into either? And get a job after? I would really like to stay in IL after the MLIS. Thanks!

Mirage of Blaze Novel translation
Latest...
Volume 21, Chapter 5 (Part 1) http://99me.livejournal.com/5035.html
Volume 21, Chapter 5 (Part 2) http://99me.livejournal.com/5182.html

The Archive Of Our Own is now in Open Beta! *\0/*

This means that you can now request an invitation! Get all the details and answers to your questions in our Open Beta information post.

Thank you to everyone in fandom who made this possible! We're incredibly grateful to everyone who got us this far – all the OTW staffers in their many roles, those of you who supported us with your donations, and fandom at large for being awesome.

FANDOM OWNS THE SERVERS, GUYS! Come and join the party!


<a href="http://transformativeworks.org/open-beta-here"><img src="http://transformativeworks.org/sites/default/files/invitecat.jpg" alt="OTW: o hai donate" /></a>

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog.

This post is also available in Deutsch, Español, Français and Suomi.

My Friday Slice of Writing Life You can comment here or there. I am talking about October and November. I discuss, get this, not goals but their consideration.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

The Archive of Our Own Open Beta launch: Saturday 14th November (see the world clock for the launch time in your timezone).

We're thrilled to announce that the Archive Of Our Own will enter Open Beta on Saturday! *\0/*

Now that we're in Open Beta, we're ready to start expanding our user numbers so that fandom can use the Archive for real!

Open Beta – your questions answered!

How do I get an invitation for the Archive?
You can get an invitation in two ways:

• You can add your email address to the invitation queue (opens Saturday 14th November see world clock for the launch time in your timezone) (ETA Invitation queue now open here!). We'll send out invitations to addresses on the queue on a first-come, first-served basis, depending on how many new accounts we can support at a given time. This way, you won't have to know someone who already has an account in order to have a chance of getting one.


• Users who have an account on the Archive will be given a certain number of invitations to hand out to their friends. We know that people like to share the fannish glee and to build their networks on new sites, and we want to give people a chance to do that. Extra invitation codes will be issued to users periodically depending on how many new users the site can manage.

When will the invitation queue open?
The invitation queue will open on Saturday 14th November – world clock for the launch time in your timezone. Our launch post will let you know the link for the queue, and we’ll begin issuing accounts to addresses in the queue right away! (ETA Invitation queue now open here!)

We know that many of you in North America will still be asleep when the queue opens - since fandom is international, it was inevitable that this would be the case for someone. We've timed it this way so that as many of our staffers as possible can be around to provide support. We also anticipate that there will be more users from North America, so we wanted to give folks from elsewhere a chance to get on board before the queue gets out of control.

If you are unable to join the queue because of the timing, a friend can add your email address to the queue for you.

How long will it take for me to get an account?
If you've requested an invitation code, you can check where you are in the queue. Just enter your email address on the invitations page, and you'll receive an estimate of when you will receive your invitation, based on the rate at which we're sending out invitations and the number you are in the queue. Exactly how many invitations we can send out per day will depend on how well the site responds to the extra users.

I already have an account. How do I give an invitation to someone else?
On your user homepage (which you can get to by clicking 'My Home' when you’re logged in), you'll see a new tab called 'Invitations'. You can manage all your invitations here, and if you've run out then you can request some more.

To send an invitation to someone, just enter their email address and select the invitation you’d like to use. They'll be sent an automated email. You’ll be able to keep track of which invitations have been used on your 'Manage Invitations' page.

What can I do if I have questions or need help?
If you have questions about the general process, feel free to leave a comment on this post and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible. (So that everyone can share in the same discussion and see one another's questions, we're disabling comments everywhere except the main OTW blog. Please hop over there to comment!)

If you have questions about the Archive, then you might find the answer in our Frequently Asked Questions. You can also check out Known Issues to see if you’ve hit a bug we’re already working on.

If your question isn't answered in the FAQ then please submit a support request and our support team will get back to you as quickly as possible.

Finally, during the first few days of Open Beta, we'll be offering live support through our Support Chatroom. We'll keep this staffed as much as possible – OTW staffers can be identified by the OTW on the end of their names. Of course, non staffers should also feel free to help one another out – if you can answer someone else's question, then don’t feel shy!

I have Opinions about the Archive. What should I do?
The Archive is by fans, for fans and we love to hear your feedback! Open Beta is still a work in progress, and we'll be adding new features, fixing bugs and making enhancements in response to your feedback. Send us your comments via the Support and Feedback form.

If you'd like to be more involved, we always welcome volunteers. No previous experience required!

The Archive of Our Own is for all fans – please spread the word in your fandoms near and far, and come and join the party!

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog. Comments are disabled elsewhere - please join in the conversation there!

This post is also available in Deutsch, Español, Français and Suomi.

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. The issue causing random comments to vanish has been fixed!
3. 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)!
4. 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
5. Comments with paddings/backgrounds render correctly within the comment box (and will no longer wrap outside the box and break frames/margins)

New FCK fixes rich text editor!

1. We've updated our RTE (Rich Text Editor) to FCKeditor version 2.6.5
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

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, 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!

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Curtains

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

Here is how it would go:

I make a post in the morning.
We can dress up in stacks and bell bottoms, club gear, or work clothers or PJs.
We can post pics or not.
We can link songs.
We can chat with each other.
We can find some grub and talk about the weekend ahead.

What do you think?

EDIT@08:16 UTC/GMT. Wow. That was ugly. I expected it to go for 30 minutes and have maybe 1 minute of broken connectivity. Instead it lasted over 4 hours and we had 10 minutes of downtime directly related to the load balancer upgrades and then another 5-10 minutes of downtime when our primary Pingback database server crashed and the secondary couldn't take over; which could have been indirectly caused by the network upgrade missing a self-VIP.

Anyways, we're up, we're working, the load balancers are barely breaking a sweat right now and I need some food and a shot of whiskey. I don't even *like* whiskey!!

Thanks mhwest and dnewhall for helping out!

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On Saturday the 14th at 4AM UTC/GMT we will be upgrading the operating system of our network load balancers to a newer version, one that will allow us to use both CPUs! Nifty, because multiprocessing is nice.

Since we have 2 load balancers, the plan is to upgrade 1 at a time, and there really should be very little impact to our website. Hopefully you won't notice a thing and I'll get to go back to the hotel and watch some wonderful late night infomercials.

We've got a lot of exciting projects coming up for 2010 and we're hoping that we'll be able to deliver them all to you, that you will find it useful/cool/lovely and then you will use the site even more. Behind-the-scenes work like this will give us the capacity to handle the anticipated traffic, so expect a few more maintenance windows especially in the beginning of next year as we've got some neat ideas to improve performance around here! We had the recent 30-45 minute outage yesterday due to one of our logging databases filling up disk space -- not so great design coupled with my human error in handling the initial problem -- and it looks like we're going to finally have some resources to eliminate stuff like that. I can't wait!

As usual, I will be updating status.livejournal.org before and after, just in case you are not able to reach our main website during the work.

MG's Slice of Life