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!
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I thought it was time to update. XD I was looking for a beta-reader in the previous post, because I've always had lots of friends with freetime who were willing to help me, but in this period they're all so busy (damn school!) and I don't want to bother asking them to beta-read my fictions.

Well, I found two beta-readers and a proof-reader: it's just great there are so many people out there willing to help an helpless writer like me. *sends kisses* They've all got different interests, which is perfect since I won't have to bother them too much with the things they don't like. :D Seriously, they saved me. It's like my birthday! **

One of them *coughScough* already helped me with a fiction I wrote last week and she's perfect; I mean, I did know she was an incredible writer, but the way she beta-reads is exactly what I need. I can't wait to make the other ones work too. *o*
That fiction was an original one and it was about a werewolf and a ghost, I don't like it that much, which means I'm definitely ready to write an horrible book that will become a bestseller like Twilight, YAY! By the way, I'm looking forward to watching New Moon movie. XD

What else? I didn't go to Lucca Comics, like I told you. :( It isn't related at all, but next week I'm going to be 20! *_* I think I'm going to have two birthday parties, one in Bologna with my friends from university and one in my hometown with the other ones. mocchy talked about a ピクニック (picnic) under the Maroccan cedar in the middle of the university's garden and I proposed doing 花見 (hanami= flower watching, usually cherry blossoms), but there are no flowers... we'll just watch the pidgeons. XD

My friend Giada is organizing the party in my hometown and she doesn't want to tell me anything about it, she said we're going to play some games, sing and a friend of mine told me it's going to be my funeral. °_° WHAT? I'm really curious, I guess I'll keep bugging my friend till he tells me everything. I'll trick him or something, because he can't keep a secret. XD

I hope you all spent a nice Halloween. :) I was too tired to celebrate, so I ended up writing a fiction for a challenge on fanfic_italia. <3

Now I'll go and have lunch with some friends - I'll have to write a femslash fiction and I'm going to ask some questions to a friend and maybe I'll take notes too XD - and then I've got a Japanese lesson. YAY. *_*

!Italian!

Ciao a tutti, cari utenti che capitate anche per caso sul mio LJ.
Un tempo (neanche tanto tempo fa), c'era una meravigliosa fanciulla che adoro dal profondo del cuore con la quale ciarlavo dalla mattina alla sera, approfittandone anche per propinarle i miei scritti perchè li betasse e mi desse un parere. *_* Purtroppo a causa delle nostre fitte liste di impegni, non riusciamo mai a beccarci e quando finalmente ci riusciamo, mi è mancato talmente tanto parlare con lei che chiederle di betarmi è l'ultimo pensiero.
Potrei mandarle la roba via e-mail così me la beta quando ha tempo, ma onestamente mi scoccia approfittare di lei con tutti gli impegni che ha. ;_;

Quiiindi, mi servirebbe una beta, o un beta. <3 Va bene anche part-time, in nero, in affitto, a tempo determinato, disponibile solo per determinati fandom, come preferite.

Sono un'autrice (paroloni...) che scrive saltuariamente, quindi non si tratterebbe di un impegno costante e nemmeno troppo faticoso, potete prendervi tutto il tempo che volete per betare, salvo in determinati casi in cui ci sono scadenze (ma fidatevi che in quei casi posterei all'ultimo secondo, quindi il betaggio avverrebbe dopo la consegna nei tempi che preferite).
Come già detto, se non conoscete o non vi piacciono alcuni fandom o coppie di cui scrivo, basta che lo diciate e non è necessario che mi betiate anche quelle. Inoltre, se mi dite per esempio "Sono disponibile a betarti solo fic sui telefilm", non vuol dire che dobbiate per forza betare tutte le mie fic sui telefilm.
Di solito è una cosa molto informale, non un impegno ufficiale, del tipo "Ho scritto una fic, hai tempo o voglia di betarmela?", se non ne avete vi vorrò bene comunque e chiederò a qualcun altro. Per questo motivo, accetto più di un/a beta. <333

Insomma, si tratterebbe di qualche fic ogni tanto e se dopo una-due fic vi accorgete che vi richiede troppo tempo/impegno o che semplicemente non vi trovate bene, basta che lo diciate e amici come e più di prima. XD

Requisiti richiesti:
- Senso dell'umorismo -non c'entra niente, ma è faticoso lavorare con gente noiosa, senza offesa-; XD
- Un'ottima conoscenza della lingua italiana -i miei errori sono dovuti principalmente al fatto che qualche volta sbaglio a pigiare i tasti e non me ne accorgo nemmeno rileggendo, ma come requisito non guasta mai-;
- Capacità di dispensare consigli e esprimere giudizi con cognizione di causa, che è decisamente quello che mi serve di più;
- SENSO CRITICO, perchè sì, mi serve una persona schietta che mi faccia notare anche il pelo nell'uovo e mi demolisca per bene;
- Una conoscenza, almeno di base, dei fandom di cui tratto (principalmente Harry Potter), non sarebbe male, ma non è indispensabile;
- Un po' di inventiva riguardo ai titoli delle fic, perchè sono costantemente a corto e scelgo cose orride;
- Una persona almeno un po' tirannica o sadica che mi costringa a scrivere sarebbe l'ideale, non indispensabile però.

Fandom e pairing.
Ho scritto su Harry Potter (Draco/Harry, Ron/Hermione, George/Pansy), ultimamente sono principalmente interessata alle Draco/Harry e alle George/Pansy, non escludo un giorno di scrivere di altre coppie.
Ho scritto una fic su Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Kurogane/Fay), che avrebbe bisogno di betaggio. Non ho al momento in programma di scriverne altre.
Ho scritto di personaggi originali nell'universo potteriano (solo pg originali, Potter&co. non sono mai esistiti in quell'universe) ed ho in programma di scriverne ancora. Non si tratta di Mary Sue o Gary Stu, per la cronaca.
Ho scritto una one-shot originale, ma non ne farò un'abitudine. Programmo di scrivere su Gossip Girl, Dollhouse e chissà che altro.

Per farvi un'idea, trovate le mie fic:
Vecchie; Recenti; Nuove

Per proporvi:
Lasciate un commento in questo post con nickname e indirizzo e-mail, in ogni caso i commenti sono nascosti. Se siete su LJ potete comunicarmi l'e-mail anche via MP.

OFFRO A MIA VOLTA SERVIZIO DI BETAREADER a chiunque volesse approfittarne. <3

Autore: Me.
Titolo: Little red hiding hood.
Riassunto:
In un istante quella cosa aveva spazzato via tutte le certezze di una vita, tutto ciò in cui aveva sempre creduto come essere umano e come dottore, la stessa esistenza di quell’essere era qualcosa di impossibile da spiegare, eppure era lì davanti a lei.
Un licantropo.
Personaggi: Originali, Julie + licantropo. XD
Conteggio parole: 1806
Generi: Horror
Avvertimenti: One-shot
Rating: PG.
Note: Scritta per la terza fase del Dolcetto o Scherzetto Fest @ fanfic_italia col tema “paura”. Non fa granché paura, la mia speranza è che non sia scontata. <3
Prendetevela con sourcream_onion perché solo per lei scriverei queste robe indegne. XD

( Little red hiding hood )

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.