Below are the most recent 15 friends' journal entries.

Sunday, November 8th, 2009
badmovie	2:24a	Read a book! This is the one I've been clawing my way through at work -- finally finished. I started it back in June. Fifty-first book started & finished in 2009: DNS and BIND, Fifth Edition by Cricket Liu & Paul Albitz (618 pp). Was it interesting? I chose this particular O'Reilly book because I do find DNS interesting, and it doesn't hurt that it's relevant to my job. It has been relevant to my last few jobs, in fact. Well-written? As a textbook/reference work, it's written simply and clearly. I might have had to re-read sections to absorb them, but that's more my fault (well ... and the fact that I'm only reading this book at work, so by defition it's late at night and my attention is divided). Would I read it again? I'll refer to it again, no question. A large part of the point of reading it was so when confront by an odd DNS question, I might have an idea where in the book to hunt (or if it's something that post-dates or is irrelevant to the 5th ed). Keep or give away? Not mine. It belongs to the Merit NOC "library." Would I read a sequel/further adventures/etc? Heh. I can see myself looking through newer editions to see what's changed, but not read front-to-back again. Barring cartoon-style amnesia. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
smithee_awards	12:11a	Keep your eyes open but please don't keep them peeled. Er ... the point! Should anyone happen to spot Jones Soda Tofurkey-and-Gravy locally, please let us know. We would love to bring you some of this delightful ... treasure ... but would rather not pay to have it shipped from Jones Soda in Seattle. Now, carry on. (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
smithee_awards	5:53p	More Birthday Movies of a Sort To our die-hard Russian LJ friends poputchik_ru, l33thax0r and madkoder who have stuck it out for several years (bravo!) we watch for you: Red Surf. I think last year we decided on Halloween as the collective Russian Birthday Date, since none of them list an actual birthday, but the Earl though today would be an even better date. Heh. Enough chatter! Movie time! (Comment on this)
Friday, November 6th, 2009
smithee_awards	11:49p	That's quite an overgrown gorilla you have there in your pocket. This is one of those movies that I discovered through the Something Weird film trailer DVD (along with The Godmonster of Indian Flats), as it had one of those scenes that made me sit up on the couch and take notes. In the case of The Mighty Gorga, that scene was ( the old vaudeville Niagara Falls routine ... slowly I turned ... step by step ... inch by inch ... or, wait. No, it wasn't. ) Ah, if only. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
badmovie	3:07a	Read a book! Fiftieth book started & finished in 2009: Flora Fyrdraaca by Ysabeau S. Wilce (691 pp). This book was randomly chosen by dice (3/1/1). It's an omnibus edition, containing Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog, its sequel Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room), and a brief interview with the author. Was it interesting? Flora is one of the last descendants of a once-great House (Fyrdraaca), in a moderately-magickal city (Califa) which is ruled by a Warlord, but administered as a Client state by a would-be conquering power (the Huitzil Empire, aka The Birdies). The first book essentially ends with her Catorcena (ceremonial 14th birthday), and the second one takes place a few months (?) afterwards. I loved the setting (more on that later), but I did not love the pacing. I found myself dipping into and out of the books (abetted by the short chapters, I'll admit), and didn't really get absorbed until the final 150 pages or so. I can recognize that there has to be a decent amount of set-up before things can be drawn tight, but -- it just didn't captivate me. Well-written? The setting, on the other hand.... I thought that this was done very well, in that even after I'd put the book down for the day, I would find myself thinking about the character's names, or bits and pieces of the setting. And I found something strangely charming about "Pigface Psychopomp!" as a swear word. Would I read it again? Possibly will. Almost certainly will re-read sections of it. Keep or give away? Keep. Would I read a sequel/further adventures/etc? If I hadn't picked up the omnibus edition from the Science Fiction Book Club, I might not have gone on from Flora Segunda. But I liked Flora's Dare better than the original, and for this reason I'm likely to read Flora's Fury: How A Girl of Spirit and A Red Dog Confound Their Friends, Astound their Enemies, and Learn the Value of Packing Light. Hopefully I will like it better than Flora's Dare. That's a good trajectory. And I do love the world it's set within. Cierra Califa! (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
smithee_awards	9:45p	In Honor of Tomster0 We are about to embark upon your birthday movie watching experience. Per your request(s) we have BMX Bandits queued up and ready to roll. (Comment on this)
news [ theljstaff ]	1:15p	LiveJournal Major Notes: Spam counter-attack, RSS feeds again, CSI Deadly Intent contest 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! ( Read more... ) (212 Comments |Comment on this)
badmovie	3:21a	Read a book! Forty-ninth book started & finished in 2009: Glad You Asked: Intriguing Names, Facts, and Ideas for the Curious-Minded by the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica featuring Michael Feldman (207 pp). This book was randomly chosen by dice (b3). Was it interesting? It was, although it was not what I was expected. I was expecting more of a humorous commentary. Instead, what I got was a sort-of super-condensed encyclopedia with a handful of humorous asides. It was more informative and less amusing than I'd expected. Unfortunately, I know a wide variety of random things (primarily useless), and so this was not as informative as they intended, I'll wager. Well-written? For an encyclopedia, it is well-written. An interesting read. Michael Feldman's parts were a bit disappointing, actually. Perhaps he's better heard and not seen (sort of an inverse child). Would I read it again? Refer to again. It's more of a very small reference work than anything else. Keep or give away? Keep, I think. Would I read a sequel/further adventures/etc? I would be more likely to heed Stan Freberg & son's advice and simply buy a set of encyclopedias. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
smithee_awards	9:53a	Happy Birthday! Or else! Today is Cine Mal's "civilian" identity's birthday. He requested a Barbarian! movie. A Sword and Sandals movie will hopefully suffice. It had better. Or he might put you in a headlock ... of DOOM! (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
smithee_awards	5:37a	Cybernauseator In the dark future (is there any other kind?) of Cybernator, where there are large matte paintings of a city at sunset -- or possibly sunrise, it is a dangerous thing indeed to be ... ( not clicking on the cut text and reading the review. ) This movie was so much more than expected, and yet simultaneously so much less. It featured Michael M. Foley, but he was all made up as a cyborg, and virtually unrecognizable, except for his voice. (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
smithee_awards	7:00p	From This is (Smithee) True News: Construction robot inspired by sci-fi flick Aliens ( Get away from her you b*tch clicky ) Well OK, Aliens wasn't Smithee worthy but daaaang that construction suit wrocked. I also wonder how long it will be until someone makes a Smithee budget movie in which one of these construction suits runs amuck. Oh please oh please! (Comment on this)
Friday, October 30th, 2009
lj_maintenance [ dwell ]	5:17p	Network Maintenance - Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 04:00-05:00 GMT/UTC 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 (50 Comments |Comment on this)
badmovie	4:28a	Might as well ask I picked up a handful of movies from Liberty Street Video's "We're Closing :(" sale. I'm reading imdb reviews, netflix reviews, etc., trying to figure out if they're good Smithee candidates, or bad Smithee candidates. If anyone has seen any of them ... what did you think? The Omega Code (this looks pretty bad) The Order (starring Heath Ledger, this one might not be bad?) Out Kold (starring Ice T, Kool Moe Dee & Tiny Lister; this looks pretty bad) Q&A (this one looks like it might be good rather than bad) The Quest (JCVD) Quicksilver (Kevin Bacon, bike messenger) Union City (this one looks like it could be good in a strange way) Unspeakable (the cover copy likens it to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer & Combat Shock) Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (movie #2 in "series") Urban Legends: Final Cut (movie #3) Venom (voodoo Louisiana type movie) But at least now I'm only short V (just 1) and Y (zero) movies. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
news [ theljstaff ]	10:53a	LiveJournal Major Notes: Search super-tweak, postcards, and amazing user content! 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? 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. 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. This happens all of the time. I confront some relatives, but I refuse to if they are drunk or watch Fox News. 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 ... Confront! confront! confront! Politely, but without equivocation. 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. 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. I punch them in the balls. With my mind. 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... 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. (697 Comments |Comment on this)
smithee_awards	5:44a	Since I am lead to understand that you like voting in polls I (badmovie) find myself several film writeups behind. I thought I was only five behind, but it turns out that I'm nine (or so) behind. Which of these movies should I write up first? Poll #1477892 Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11 Which movie should I write up first? View Answers Atragon (11) 0 (0.0%) Cybernator (14) 5 (45.5%) Final Examination (12) 0 (0.0%) For Your Height Only (5) 1 (9.1%) Kiss of the Vampire (7) 2 (18.2%) The Mighty Gorga (7) 3 (27.3%) The Sandman (5) 0 (0.0%) The Snow Creature (1) 0 (0.0%) Zombi 3 (4) 0 (0.0%) In case you are curious, the parenthetical number is the potential # of clips (not counting potential Promo clips). (7 Comments |Comment on this)