See you in 2010!
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.
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
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.
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.
So, I have abandoned Vox in favor of Twitter. I didn't mean to, but the small character limit just fits me. I came back to Vox today because for the first time in a long time I have something I feel like I need to get out that will take more than a couple of sentences.
I have been in a funk all year. Mostly from the fibromyalgia, hypothyroid and chronic backpain. I have had severe fatigue which makes even the smallest problems seem insurmoutnable. This last month I have been especially horribly depressed. Aside from a handful of trips to the grocery store I have only left my house to go to the doctor.I can't and don't really want to do anything else. I can't really fingerpoint any specific reason for this turn for the worse, but I stumbled upon a ripped up scrap of paper in my bedroom and that is was brought out this entry.
When I was 19 I was going through a similar bout of not leaving the house. It had even turned into slight agoraphobia at a certain point. I was going to see a very apathetic psychiatrist at the time whose name I can't even remember. She never really talked to me during sessions other than to ask if I was feeling better. I would say no and she would just give me more medication or change the meds I was on and ask to see me again in two weeks. One other thing she did tell me was to start journaling when I had nobody to talk to. I took this advice and started journaling compulsively. I was rarely seen without a book and pen in my hand. One day when i was in a really bad spell I decided that the journaling was a bullshit waste of time and I ripped all the books to pieces. There was about 20 of them and they were torn to bits and thrown away. All except for one small bit of paper that I ripped out of the book and then decided I should keep. I don't remember why I decided to keep it, but that's what I stumbled on today.
It was the top third of a page with the date intact. 26 October 1999 almost exactly 10 years ago to the day. No other words on that side of the page, but I had taped on the emergency room bracelet I had worn the day before. the other side says "I will never forget the hellish way it felt to get my stomach pumped. It was awful, I..." and the rest was lost to the rubbish bin
That's when I had my stomach pumped after swallowing hundreds of pills. pink, yellow, white and more. A rainbow! I actually remember the doctor asking me as the contents of my stomach were coming out, " was yellow the only color of pill you took? oh wait there's pink!" I had a plastic piece in my mouth so I couldn't bite down and the tube down my throat so how he expected me to answer, I don't know.
Even though I can remember the entire ordreal perfectly there are a few things that really stand out in my mind. Firstly, having my wrists tied down to the side of the bed and thinking it was just like in the movies and then instantly feeling trapped when they made sure they were tight and secure. the second thing I remember was machine's alarm going off and being told I had to calm down. I was crying so my nose was running and my throat was filled with a big tube so I couldn't breathe. Of course I wasn't calm! Suddenly though one of the men in the group of interns who had been brought round to stare at me, jumped behind me on the other side of the bed and started to rub my tummy. Such a simple and silly thing, but it worked. I was able to focus on his warm hand rubbing my tummy and the machines shut up and I could hear him telling me it was almost over and I would be just fine. I also remember bullshitting the psych doctor that came down to decide if i had to stay in her ward for a few days. It was very easy to lie and get out of it.
Sometimes it feels like 10 years have passed and other times it feels like it just happened last week. I remember hoping that in the future I would laugh and think how lucky I was not to have died. 10 years on and I can't honestly say that yet. Maybe in another ten years I will be able to.
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,
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.
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
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
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! :)
