Vakkotaur

Behold a nice, clean design, a journal site set up to *my* liking: http://vakkotaur.insanejournal.com/

LiveJournal used to have a similar look, but some bright spark (ha!) had to go and "improve" it so there's that stupid top-bar covering up *my* links and wasting valuable screen-space. And is there is a clear, obvious way to be rid of the useless thing? Seemingly not. Is LJ trying to drive users away?

It seems this bad idea of a top extra navbar of crap one can't change gets resurrected. It's the Bad Idea that refuses to die. Enough! I had this set up to MY liking for years - don't mess it up. Or at the very least, give me a simple way to get what I want back.

I'd long had things set up so that those without LJ accounts could comment, but I would have to review and approve such things before they became visible. That has just changed. No more anonymous comments. I don't like doing this, but so far I don't recall ANY non-spammer making an 'anonymous' comment this year. But it's been nothing but a parade of spammers. That ends now.

It finally occurred to me that the one big reason I hadn't made that change before has gone. My father, who did not create an LJ account, would occasionally comment. He certainly won't be commenting any more. And whatever real comments would show up on my rants about a couple companies with dubious advertising seem to have tapered off to nothing. And because those posts were more commonly linked to, they tended to attract spambots.

So, now one must have an LJ account to comment here. I'd still rather not do this, but until spammers are all "sponged and purged and, if need be, blasted from the surface of the earth" this is the best option to stop the bastards in my journal.

Spammers delenda est!
(or is it Spammers delendae sunt! ? )

I have accounts on both LiveJournal and InsaneJournal and am beginning to even ponder Dreamwidth despite some limitations. Posting on more than one account (same name - they are, in essense, mirrors of each other) gets increasingly annoying as the number of mirrors goes up. Naturally, I would like to automate this and have "write once, post everywhere" but I have yet to see a client that will do that. I know some sites let you (auto-re-)post to ONE other site, but I don't want to be limited.

The ideal client lets me use all the features of LiveJournal (I have a Permanent account) and InsaneJournal (another Permanent) account) so that I set the title, the text, the groups (if any), the icon, the tags, mood, etc. And both IJ and LJ get posted to and the results look identical save for LJ and IJ branding. For Dreamwidth (if I go there at all) I'd want a nice way for it to fall back to the limited icon set I'd have there, since as I understand it I simply cannot get a Permanent account there and thus Be Done with things - that's why I have those - my personal convenience.) It should also allow me to edit once and fix any goofs without having to do it two or more times. Having a selection that lets me choose to only apply a change in some places would be nice, but not essential. Oh yeah, and it must run on Linux - without WINE - and not be a plug-in to some program I seldom use, so no Firefox plug-in nonsense. While I have a Google+ account, I really only use that to read - I don't care to post there until I can use my preferred identify without Google's kiddies throwing a tantrum and potentially wrecking my phone.[1] Also, the G+ API, like the G+ marketing department, is still in its infancy so I do not expect any current clients to properly support G+, nor do I really need one to.

So far, I have yet to see such a thing, but I could easily be overlooking something. Anything I ought to be looking at?

I got an e-mail notification that someone voted in an LJ poll of mine. But I can't see the details. I can't see the details of any LJ poll just now. The general results are visible, or seem to be, but the details are all (No answers) though it's clear there are many answers. I assume it's yet another LJ database issue and will eventually get taken care of. But it's annoying right now.

I am not going say "Vote for $THIS_PERSON" as I believe it's best people make up their own minds. Read the posts linked from this post and see where the candidates at least claim to stand. It's also a good idea to go back and read the nomination posts to see just how seriously a candidate is taking things. The poll remains open for a week, so you can take your time and think things over. But do vote.

I do have a couple recommendations. Naturally I recommend you look at and consider jmaynard. I know him well and believe he means exactly what he says in both his nomination and positions posts. The experience he claims to have, he does have. He is my first choice, so I suggest you at least consider him.

My other recommendation is that you take a good look at squeaky19 who is my second choice. He runs InsaneJournal which runs on the open source LJ code. Naturally that is a concern of his. But what is key is how he runs IJ. It's a study in contrast with LJ. If LJ had taken the attitude he uses with IJ, "Nipplegate" and Strikethrough and Boldthrough and a few other LJ-messes never would have happened.

I do not have a third recommendation as I have not yet done my own research of all the candidates. Fortunately, I have several days to rectify that. It'll likely be a few days before I truly get started, as I'll be busy with RCFM.

The ability to create a new Basic (the old ad-free Free) account level was removed from LiveJournal. That in itself is not exactly surprising. With LiveJournal seemingly doing about everything possible to drive people to not spend any money of their service, it's to be expected that they might be getting desperate for revenue. The move was poorly thought out, but the execution of it was even worse.

( How to enrage your customers: sneak, lie, and spin. )

I, vakkotaur, am now simulcasting my journal entries on LiveJournal and on InsaneJournal. I have permanent accounts on both, so nobody should see be seeing advertising (well, beyond my own should I happen to recommend something) in either place. Obviously, my "friends list" will differ as there are folks on LJ who are not on IJ, and folks on IJ who are not LJ, though there is at least some overlap. I will be reading both places, and will be notified of comments to both journals. I am not, at least not yet, planning on abandoning LiveJournal. I am, however, not trusting it enough to not have some a backup ready. This is not about any one thing or action. This is the result of a trend I do not like.

( Details )

It's been known for a while that some terms listed as interests on LiveJournal cannot be searched for using LiveJournal's own search system. Tonight the LiveJournal folks posted a bit about that, but frustratingly didn't really say anything other than admit that the blocking existed and that the blocking system would be tweaked to be more specific and less likely to block untargeted terms. Naturally, they were called on this and asked what the reason for the blocking was. The responses have been "We can't say." or "We can't answer those questions right now."

I haven't heard of this happening with any other journaling site, and I suspect if it did that news that such blocking was happening at multiple sites would spread rapidly. It'd likely hit Slashdot and Fark pretty fast. So, as that has not happened, it seems to be LiveJournal specific. If it was simply LJ policy, they could talk about - they might not want to, but they could. So, suppose they're actually being truthful when they say they can't give details. What could explain that?

The only thing I can come up with, and I admit this pure speculation on my part, is some sort of settlement (threatened lawsuit based on "hate speech" perhaps?) that had provisions that LiveJournal would have to block some terms, and that LiveJournal could not reveal the instigators of the blocking.

Assuming there is a genuine reason for the blocking, and that LiveJournal truly cannot talk about it, is there any other explanation?

Once upon a time there was a fellow named Sam. Sam had a company that owned a few buses and a few big vans. His company would haul groups around. Sometimes new folks would join one group or another. Sometime folks would see what the other groups were doing and try riding a different bus or big van.

One day Sam noticed that his neighbor had a big van and was hauling a group around. Everyone seemed pretty happy, but the neighbor was finding that he didn't like spending all his time driving. The neighbor asked Sam if he would buy the van and haul that group around. As Sam was used to hauling people around and used to hiring drivers, it seemed like a good idea. The riders were a little concerned but the neighbor said he'd hang around and keep an eye things. This was good for Sam because the van was a make he and his mechanics weren't familiar with.

Things went fairly well for some time. There were a couple problems with the new van, and not everyone liked they way the van was repaired. Then one day someone said the van was riding low and it was becoming a danger to other traffic. Sam did something stupid. Instead of checking to be sure that the van really was riding low, he kicked a bunch of people off the van to lighten the load. This made a lot of people angry. Even people who could still ride the van.

Sam didn't realize his mistake right away, and more people got angry. Eventually Sam realized that the van wasn't riding low and that he'd been lied to about that. He let people back on the van, but they were wary. A few went to a competing bus and van line, but most stayed since their friends were on Sam's van. Some said it was no big deal, but Sam never quite recovered from that. He didn't say he wouldn't throw anyone off, because someday he might have to. People wondered why some problem passengers were allowed to ride.

Sam and his drivers got a lot of questions. They tried to answer some of them, but the riders wondered why some of their first questions were never answered. Then Sam's company tried to make improvements to the van. But they were not familiar with that make of van, nor with what the riders really wanted. Sam said they were good, but the riders found them either useless or even annoying. Why did Sam waste his time and money on those things when there were other things that they had been hoping for for years? It didn't make any sense.

Sam saw another neighbor who had another van. It was the same make as the van he'd bought from the first neighbor. That guy's riders seemed to be fairly happy. The guy liked that make of van. He asked Sam if he could buy it. Sam didn't have to think about it for long. Sam sold the van. He thought, "This guy wants my headache and will trade money for it. I'll take the money."

What about the riders? That part of the story can't be told for sure, as the neighbor only just bought Sam's van yesterday.

That's why SixApart is selling. LiveJournal has been a (self-induced) headache for them for a while and they'd rather have SUP's money than the headache. SUP is buying because they like LiveJournal and figure having more than just LiveJournal.ru or a piece of it would be good. Where does this leave LiveJournal users? Good question.

While SUP will supposedly be running LiveJournal from the US, it is a Russian company. And that raises some concerns. Will confidential information (not just private or friends only or filter-limited posts) remain truly confidential? I've seen recommendations to make sure that your LiveJournal password is unique (it ought to be anyway) and concerns about automated billing. I'd like to say this is unfounded, and maybe it is. I can't be sure, and better safe than sorry seems a reasonable thing.

Unlike the last ownership transition, there isn't a short friendly post that reassures everyone that nothing will change for the worse. Instead there is obvious marketing-speak stuff spread across three communities, two of them newly created. I don't know if that's SixApart's last bit of bungling or if it's SUP not getting the culture of LJ very well. That Brad Fitzpatrick (LJ's creator) is back in a way, on an Advisory Board, is somewhat reassuring. He will be an indicator: If he leaves (again), it'll tell everyone that the board was just fluff and was only there for PR purposes.

Is it time to bolt? Probably not. I won't say that SUP can't possibly make a bigger mess than SixApart did because such a thing is always possible. It does seem unlikely. SixApart had a bunch of things of which LJ was only one. LJ was the one they sold off "to concentrate on their core." Their core? Everything that wasn't LiveJournal. No more denying LJ was the red-headed stepchild to SixApart, they admitted it by their actions. SUP also has more than just LiveJournal, but not by much. This is a Big Deal for SUP.

What will SUP do? Right now only time will tell. If they're really smart, they'll undo some of the stupid things that SixApart did. I don't expect the tag/flag stuff to go away, but other changes would go a long way in the winning hearts and minds department. Now we get to wait and see if they're smart enough to do that. Or if they're just another corporation that doesn't fully grasp just what it is they've bought.