So anyway,

Tweaks and enhancements

1. In order to improve site security, we've temporarily suspended the ability to change passwords for old email addresses that haven't been used for over six months. For further information and support, please visit our customer care page.
2. We've launched a new mobile site with an enhanced UI at m.livejournal.com. View spotlights, post to your journal, read and post to friends pages, and more, no matter where you roam! Please let us know what you think, since this will eventually replace our existing mobile interface. You can update your mobile preferences on your account page.
3. We've upgraded from Beacon to Facebook Connect to improve dual posting. If you've already signed up for Facebook Beacon, you're good to go. If you wish to update your Facebook Connect setting, visit Account Privacy settings and scroll down to the option labeled: "Send information about my updates to Facebook." You can choose Always or Ask each time. Remember to save (on the bottom left corner of the page). To learn more, check out FAQ 249. While we're on the subject, if you happen to be visiting that side of town, please join our Facebook fan page for a touch of home away from home.
4. You'll now receive the Writer's Block Question of the Day in the body of email notifications. To sign up for Writer's Block notifications, visit writersblock and choose the Watch Community option. Next, update your Writer's Block notification settings by checking the box to the right of "Someone posts a new entry to writersblock."
5. Paid and permanent users can now view, add, and edit Notes of commenters. Notes will appear beside the username of comment posters (instead of stars) on S1-themed comment pages.

Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!

Postcard winners!

We wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude for sending so much joy our way. Frank is still blushing with excitement over the love notes, proposals, propositions, and occasional intimate photos sent from his admirers around the world (China, Norway, Japan, and Poland just this week)! At his request, we blindfolded Justin, one of Frank's BFFs, spun him around in five dozen counterclockwise circles, and asked him to point to ten random postcards/envelopes pasted to the wall. After a brief trip to the bathroom, he chose the following lucky winners, to whom we will give a six-month paid account token (for paid, basic, and plus users) or, for our permanent account holders, a $15 voucher for the LiveJournal gift shop.

So, without further ado, the winners are:

1. seraphene
2. fotog
3. boykitten
4. seshat_6
5. anti_aol
6. lisalees
7. katrinkacat
8. mistyboston
9. _woody_lein
10. another_slender

Bugs, Tweaks, and Enhancements

1. We fixed a bug from the last release that was causing screened comments to become unscreened if they were edited
2. If you happen to be gaming around the corner, check us out on Facebook and be sure to spread the word!
3. We've added new vgifts to celebrate Thanksgiving! Check out our feathered friend, below!

Give more with charitable vgifts

In honor of national adoption month, we're offering a charitable vgift (priced at $2.99) to support Love Without Boundaries, an organization that provides healthcare and adoption to orphans suffering from life-threatening diseases. LiveJournal will donate 100% of gross proceeds from the sale (we'll cover the cost of credit card transaction fees). To learn more about Love Without Boundaries, please visit lj_cares. You can purchase your Love Without Boundaries vgifts in the Virtual Gift shop. We'll keep you posted on how much we raise!

Photos of the week

We're delighted to showcase yet more incredible photos from some of our brilliant LiveJournal photographers around the world. Keep posting (and tagging). And be sure to show some love by commenting on the awesome view at lj_photophile.

Check out this week's photos and more amazing user content after the jump!

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. See you next week!

On Monday an epic battle began between me and 

hyla02
 

It was the battle named ‘Dictator VS Democracy’ by BBC West Midlands News (Honest) I don’t know if it got coverage anywhere else though. It consumed me, I stumbled to the brink of madness, I danced about in my pants and punched a mirror like in Apocalypse Now’ The magnitude of the occasion was confirmed when, although she has been spoken about many a time in the annals of this blog, my Mother made her first ever appearance in the (written) flesh form. There were traitors and skirmishes in each camp with both camps adopting different methods to each other and as a result of that having different stories to tell.

Here is the BBC West Midlands News Report on the events -

Lets start with the occurrences in Hyla02 blog, Hyla02 began with the battle cry “Ok my LJ friends, it is time to prove your allegiance to me!!! :D”. making her intentions and approach clear, she wasn’t messing about, she wanted results…and results she got, rather quickly, within seconds her icon had received four votes. Drunkendeadcat gentle persuasion attempts to converse with her loyal subjects were pushed out, barbed wire lined the journal walls and he was escorted off the premises by armed guards. Hyla02 was organised, she had created a poll, a quick and direct way to gain numbers. With a fat cigar in her mouth and mirrored shades, she sat slouched on her throne and cackled at her opponents non-pollness, speculating there would be chaos on his blog. Her minions continued to support her “I voted for yours cos i'm a loyal lj friend” was a familiar retort and hyla02 smiled and nodded her head, ruling with fear and cutting out any room for creativity she was getting results. But suddenly things took an unsuspected turn, there was defiance in her ranks, a lone being of tremendous courage and strength stood up to the enforcer and cried out in the rain - “I voted for the scary kitty because I love you so much that I want us to have our first conflict, thus we can resolve it and, thus, become much closer than before”…oh…that’s not exactly defiant…but STILL a vote for the black and white cat (the one who has nothing to do with Postman Pat). As you may have picked up on there, the title given to the original icon by hyla02 was ‘Scary kitty’ fear tactics are commonly used by evil dictators. There was a piece of controversy when a protestor threw verbal eggs at Hyla complaining of animal cruelty, that her icon was degrading to cats across the land as no cat would be seen in that glasses/cigarrette combination. We spoke to Tiddles, the leader of the 'Feline Empowerment Society' who had this to say "Hylas' icon is a fashion icon...see what I did there...I can assure you many of our members are scampering out this minute taking up smoking and wearing a wide range of spectacles, shaded or otherwise' 

Now we move on to the story of the events that took place on drunkendeadcat blog. A quiet peaceful place where democracy rules and friends are allowed to mill around at whatever pace they desire…like grazing cows.

Drunkendeadcat is a liberal man if a little disorganised, no poll or clear way to submit your vote was implemented, he believed in gentle polite persuasion and compliments were the correct methods to go by…the equivalent of those ‘Accident and injury clipboard people’ who harass you when you’re shopping…although not all of them are polite. Proof that the relaxed way allowing people to be creative doesn’t always work was when certain friends of drunkendeadcat started making their own icons for him, a kind and thoughtful gesture yes but it wasn’t getting him results in the actual competition! We spoke to drunkendeadcat, or DDC as he is sometimes known (By himself) and asked him to comment on this, he seemed to greet it in his usual relaxed and friendly manner without an ounce of worry “My friends are exactly that my friends and I love each and every one of them and each and every thing they bring to me as a gift” What a kind, thoughtful human he appears to be. Unfortunately as the conflict continued he looked in trouble for a large amount of the time and speculation whether he did or did not call in favours were unfounded but the event that is leading most people to whisper that he did was the surprise appearance of A-list friend The Ice Queen of Armageddon who sailed up to the shores in her elegant Ice-Pirate Ship, cast her vote for the drunken one (A former pirate as you know if you know the story otherwise you don’t know if you don’t know the story) and promptly sailed away again as she is rumoured to be suffering from flu, we wish her well.

In conclusion, before we give the results, it was a fierce and well contested battle between two great icons and whoever becomes or remains as the default we are pleased to announce peace talks have occurred and whichever one doesn’t win plus the others that have kindly been made will still remain active and will feature prominently. The generous and thoughtful friends of Drunkendeadcat even suggested having a different one for each day of the week to keep everyone happy.

Ok…here are the results -

On Drunkendeadcat blog = Drunkendeadcat received 14 votes Hyla02 received 6 votes

On hyla02 blog = Drunkendeadcat received 7 votes Hyla02 received 14 votes

Overall 21-20 (Oooh it couldn’t have been closer)

The winner is