lilbear’s Neighborhood

Exciting News from Six Apart (and the YouTube Conduit is Fixed)

Team Vox
Nov 17, 2009
49 comments

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.

TypePad Micro

7 comments

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

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YouTube Conduit

Team Vox
Nov 16, 2009
20 comments

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.

~daisy

The Amazon Conduit is Fixed

Team Vox
Nov 2, 2009
24 comments

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.

~daisy

Amazon Conduit Update

Team Vox
Oct 29, 2009
19 comments

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,

daisy

Amazon Conduit: Update

Team Vox
Oct 20, 2009
23 comments

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.

~daisy

Let's Have a San Francisco Crapstorm At Muni Tomorrow...

njudah
Oct 19, 2009
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Note: My ISP chose to move my site right in the middle of the busiest time of the year, which left me little time to fix the server paths in PHP scripts that Movable Type uses. (Thanks for nothing, Dreamhost). Anyway, all of the links here don't work as a result so you can't read years of brilliant writing on this, but trust me they're there. and if anyone wants to help me fix this, since my knowledge of MT tapped out long ago, read about it here).

Oh here we go.

I'm getting caught up with blogging today because I was busy all weekend (including a detour to LitQuake where I attended the super-entertaining panel hosted by SFist and SF Appeal) and the next two weeks are going to be really busy for me. However, as I read The Twitter, the newspapers and so on, it's clear we're going to have an authentic Made-In-San Francisco crapstorm coming this week, and well, hey that's what fuels blogs, right?

In this case, we have two pieces of news that don't really have as much to do with each other as spinners and the like would have us believe. However, because the human mind likes to pick out patterns even when one might not exist, we're going to have one of those unproductive debates where shrillness and cleverness beat out the facts. (Remember David Chiu's silly-willy "accounting" about fare inspectors?)

As part of the "deal" crafted by "Mayor" Newsom and the Board of Supervisors over the MTA budget, a study on parking meter hours was preparedTuesday on parking meter hours was prepared. The point was in part to share the budget pain amongst everyone, instead of just Muni owner/riders, and to encourage 21st century parking management as well. There's plenty for people to like or dislike, and the misinformation pumped out by political types and the "Green Mayor" have helped fuel irrational speculation. The irony is of course, once again, "Green Gavin" has stabbed Muni owner/riders in the back, and talked a good game on climate change, but of course goes back on his word. (Insert blogger snark/sarcasm here)

Now, I'm not a car abolitionist, and I absolutely hate relying on fines as a permanent operating fund source. That's in part because for several years I owned a car and racked up a sh*t-ton of tickets which I very much disliked paying and cost me a lot of money! And no one likes fishing for quarters or finding out they don't have any at the wrong time, my primary cause for getting a ticket, if I recall...

However, I also dislike how people use parking spots in business districts for overnight parking when they come home, essentially getting free parking on the taxpayer dime. It's not good for business districts that operate past 6pm, and it's not fair that some people get a "fake freebie" and some pay more for less. Right outside my apartment I see the usual suspects (some of whom I found don't even live in the neighborhood) hog all the spaces all night, while those that need one are circling for an hour.

It makes a lot more sense to find ways to make it so those who actually need parking can find it, and those that do not (i.e. like a former neighbor of mine who was perfectly healthy yet had to drive 2 blocks for a pack of cigarettes in his gas guzzling SUV) pay more. Unfortunately, with the storm launched by the media , and opportunistic politicians who want to be seen as giving goodies like Santa Claus without disclosing the true cost, will probably ensure that reasonable policies will go down by the wayside, and no one wins.

Complicating matters was the release of a study, no doubt done by the No Duh Institute, which makes the earth shattering discovery that fare cheats cost the Muni system a significant amount of money, to the tune of an estimated $19 million per year.

No, really? Stealing from Muni has consequences? Who TOLD?

I've always insisted Muni do a better job collecting fares and parking meter money it is currently owed, before sticking us with more hikes. It's just a natural - one would not take a large piece of their pay each week and toss it in a garbage can and then complain they can't pay the rent, so....why would Muni do that?

Now here's the San Francisco crapstorm - people are trying to tie the fare collection issue to the parking issue, and that's just foolish. The former is a function of management and maintenance and tracking, whereas the latter is about managing a very limited resource in a compact city.

Yes, extended hours on meters would add in a bit of change to the MTA budget, but the real goal is to better manage and charge for that limited resource to keep the city moving. Put it another way - people say the MTA should be run like a business - well if it did, it'd charge market rate for all parking spaces, which would be significantly higher than they are today.

It's a lack of honesty in these discussion, and the willingness of our leaders to put political points ahead of good policy, that ensure that in the end, we, the owner riders of Muni and citizens of San Francisco end up with a dysfunctional transit system, combined with clogged streets and poor parking management. So long as we insist that's ok with us, we'll continue to get such lovely results.

PS: To illustrate that last point, on Saturday night the one-car N on a busy evening was crammed like a sardine can. While it was nice to meet a neighbor of mine I'd never met before, I could have done without the crappy service. Several people on the train indicated that if this keeps up, they'll be forced to take a car or a cab to reliably get home on a weekend night. Epic FAIL, San Francisco!

Photo Credit: Flickr User ZontikGames via a Creative Commons License

Today is Blog Action Day! Blog for Climate Change.

Team Vox
Oct 15, 2009
81 comments

Blog Action Day

11 comments

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

Amazon Conduit Fix Date: October 15, 2009

Team Vox
Sep 11, 2009
36 comments

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

Amazon Conduit Update

Team Vox
Sep 2, 2009
26 comments

In my last Team Vox post, I let you know that we're aware that the Amazon conduit is broken and that we're working to fix it. Many of you want to know when it's going to be fixed and I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you about that sooner.

Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date to give you, but rest assured, the Amazon conduit will be fixed in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I'm about to finish my latest book and I could use a few suggestions as to what to read next, so... if you don't mind, let me know in the comments what's on your nightstand and/or what book you think I absolutely must read next.

Thanks! :)

daisy

Amazon Conduit Not Working [this is sad]

Team Vox
Aug 21, 2009
51 comments

Some of you may have noticed that right now you cannot add books from Amazon to your Vox library. Giving people a glimpse into what's on your night stand is important to many of you, so I just wanted to reassure you that we are doing our best to get this bug fixed. I'll keep you posted.

So sorry for the inconvenience.

Hope you have a great weekend!
daisy