| LiveJournal Major Notes: Spam counter-attack, RSS feeds again, CSI Deadly Intent contest |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|01:15 pm] |
The empire strikes backIn 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 againIf you're addicted to , ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) 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!
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) 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 postcardsLast 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 weekIf 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... ) |
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| What Do You Do With Ricotta Cheese? |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|03:52 pm] |
I have a one-pound container of ricotta cheese from which I have used about 1/2 c. I now have the rest of the container to use up (I use ricotta mostly in full-container amounts for lasagna or baked ziti or whatever). So... please gimme recipes! |
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| Unpack Boxes for Food |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|01:14 pm] |
Nomi and I have almost gotten the kids' room done, but we still have some boxes we need to unpack and sort through to finish setting up the room.
Anyone willing to help us out this Sunday afternoon? We'll provide some sort of dinner afterwards...
Edited to Add: We're looking at 1 pm to about 5 pm or so, with dinner after. We want to bring food in (either pizza or Chinese food), but it would help if someone coming had a car... |
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| Using What I Was Taught |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|03:08 pm] |
Last June, in anticipation of the birth of Muffin and Squeaker, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) c1 ran a CPR and first aid class in our apartment (mabfan, stormsdotter, lcmlc, my Abba, and I all got certification from this course). I had no intention of ever needing the knowledge, but it was important to have the knowledge in case (God forbid) something happened.
Yesterday, I was in Coolidge Corner running some errands, and as I walked past Trader Joe's a guy fell off his bike onto the sidewalk and did not immediately get up. I immediately put into use what I knew: make sure I was safe, that the situation was safe, and then go over to the victim. I asked if he was OK, and he said his knee was in great pain. He was lying in the middle of the sidewalk, so while he was nominally in the way of things, he was not in immediate danger, so I left him where he was. Two other people -- both women over the age of 70 -- stopped to see if the guy needed any help, and I asked if he wanted me to call an ambulance. First he said yes, but before I could dial 911, he changed his mind, saying he'd call his girlfriend to pick him up instead (noting that it would be cheaper than having an ambulance come). After he called his girlfriend, the two women and I were trying to figure out if/how to get him out of the middle of the sidewalk. My wrists are bothering me (google "mommy wrist" for more information), but I was the most able-bodied of the three of us, but as I was trying to figure out the best way to help him without injuring myself, a semi-burly guy came out of the Game Stop (where our victim had been, as evidenced from the bag that had fallen to the ground when the guy fell) and helped the injured guy get over to the side where there was a ledge he could sit on to wait for his girlfriend.
Once the two women and I had seen the injured guy to the ledge (and had collected his bags for him), we all went our separate ways. When I came out of the Post Office, the guy was still sitting on the ledge, but I presumed his girlfriend (who had been in Brighton) was on her way, so I headed to the T that was coming in my direction.
Part of what c1 taught us was to provide assistance at the needed level to the best of our abilities, and I believe I did just that in this situation. |
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| Contacting Your Town Meeting Member: Four Suggestions |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|03:00 pm] |
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Special Election Sign in Brookline
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Today is Election Day across much of the country, but not in Brookline, Massachusetts, where our next election isn't until December 8 – the primary for the special election to fill the vacant senate seat. So while our friends in Boston and Newton choose a mayor today, those of us in Brookline get to relax and watch.
However, just because we don't have an election today doesn't mean that there's no politicking going on. Brookline's representative Town Meeting, of which I am a Member, meets the week before Thanksgiving, and this year the big issue seems to be the zoning of Zipcars in the town. Articles 12 and 13 on the warrant deal with changes to the zoning bylaws that would make the Zipcars currently in Brookline legal. If Town Meeting doesn't pass these bylaws, it could conceivably mean the end of Zipcars in Brookline.
Although it's extremely unlikely that Town Meeting will not pass these articles, there's been a lot of debate in town regarding exactly how Car Sharing Organizations, or CSOs, should be zoned. Not surprisingly, Zipcar has emailed their Brookline customers to ask them to contact their Town Meeting Members in support of the articles. In his letter, Dan Curtin, the General Manager of Zipcar, has explained rather well the best way to approach your elected representatives. His point is a simple one: find out what precinct you live in and contact the Town Meeting Members for your precinct. He's also encouraging people to attend the Selectmen's hearing tonight to show their support; again, quite appropriate.
However, in the wake of his email to supporters, I (and I presume other TMMs) are getting emails from people who are obviously new to this sort of things. In one email, a constituent referred to Town Meeting as Town Council. In another, I was asked to vote in favor at tonight's meeting, which is not the actual Town Meeting at which I can vote but the Selectmen's hearing. So in the interest of helping out the Brookline voters, I thought I'd offer a quick and easy guide on what to do when emailing your Town Meeting Members on an issue. (Disclaimer: I am speaking here for myself, not for all Town Meeting Members.)
1. Be polite.
This should go without saying, but you'd be surprised how often it doesn't.
2. Make sure you know what precinct you live in, and write to your own Town Meeting Members, not all of Town Meeting.
Many is the time a Brookline resident will send an email to every member of Town Meeting, and all 240 email addresses are on the list. While I appreciate the enthusiasm and passion that these residents have, the fact is that sending such an email can and does dilute the message you're trying to get across.
The reality is that I have to be responsive first and foremost to my own constituents. What might be the right way to vote for a Town Meeting Member representing Coolidge Corner may not be the right way to vote for a TMM representing Washington Square. I'm far more likely to appreciate your concerns if I know that you're writing to me because I'm one of your own representatives.
Corollary: If you do decide to write to all of Town Meeting, please use the blind carbon copy function, and make it clear from the outset what precinct you are actually residing in.
3. Do some minimal research on the issue.
At the very least, please let me know what article number you're writing to me about.
4. If you vote in local elections, tell us so; if you don't, start doing so.
Whether or not a citizen voted is a matter of public record, and I have to admit that here's an issue on which I get kind of, well, strict. On the one hand, as a Town Meeting Member from my precinct I feel an obligation to represent the interests of all my constituents. But on the other hand, if you want me to take a stand on an issue on your behalf, I'd kind of like to think that you might have voted for me and might do so again in the future.
if you don't bother to show up at elections, and I hear from some other constituent on the opposite side of the issues, whose opinion do you think I might pay more attention to?
One resident of precinct 9 used to email me about issues, but never bothered to vote in town elections. After a few years I called him on it, pointing out that if he really did care about what happened on a local level (which we all should), he should make an effort to vote. Even if there are only five candidates running for the five Town Meeting slots in a particular year, voters can show up at the polls and write in anyone they want. In fact, one year, two voters got into Town Meeting through a write-in campaign that they conducted that very day at the polls.
As a politician trying to make my community a better place, if I'm going to remain in office, I need your votes. And nothing gets my attention more than an email that begins, "Dear Mr. Burstein, I am a resident of your precinct, and I vote in every local election." |
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| One Year Ago and Nineteen Years Ago |
[Nov. 2nd, 2009|12:00 pm] |
It's been a few weeks since I've managed to blog here; as I hope people can imagine, the kids still take up a lot of time in our lives. Nomi and I continue to enjoy being parents, and I find myself torn between wanting to post every update about the kids and not wanting to deluge the readers of this blog with all those details. I would post about other things going on in my life, but as I noted recently on Twitter and Facebook, there's not much else going on.
Well, that's not entirely true. We're working, of course, and I'm always trying to make progress on some writing project or other. We're continuing to clean the apartment; in particular, every day we make a little more progress in the kids' room so it will one day be entirely theirs. And we socialize a little bit, although that's mostly close to home. We did make it to a wedding last month, and we're going to another one this month, but any trips out of the house involve so many logistical details that they have to be considered carefully before implementing. (I sound like a military general.)
Amidst all the current chaos that is our lives, however, I didn't want to let two anniversaries pass today without mention.
A year ago today, on Sunday, November 2, 2008, was the official publication day of my collection I Remember the Future. It's hard for me to believe that the book has been out for a whole year. I blogged about publication day last year in my post The Publication Party, and I noted how wonderful it was to have so many people turn out for the celebration.
In honor of the first anniversary of the book's publication, the Open Book Society website is featuring an exclusive interview with me. I discuss a variety of topics, including my thoughts on the current state of the publishing industry and how having twins has affected my writing. Feel free to check it out.
(Also, although I'm probably preaching to the choir here, keep in mind that the book is still in print, and would make a great gift for Chanukah or Christmas. And check out all the other books Apex has for sale.)
Ahem.
So that's one year ago. Nineteen years ago... well, nineteen years ago my father died. And oddly enough, that's true this year on both the Gregorian and Hebrew calendar. Dad died on the evening of November 2, 1990, after sundown, which means that he died on the 15th of Cheshvan in the year 5751. As it so happens, the 15 of Cheshvan began last night and lasts all day today until sundown – and today is November 2.
I've discussed my father here before and how much he influenced me – in fact, I did so again just last year in the post Joel David Burstein for anyone who wants to be reminded about him. Yesterday evening, when I went to shul to recite the Mourner's Kaddish, I contemplated how far I've come from that night in college when Dad was taken from me.
For many years, I defined myself as an adult who had lost his father. Then, in 2007, I had to learn to redefine myself as an adult who had lost both his parents, and that was at an age when most people still have their parents around. But this past summer, I began to redefine myself again, as a father to twins. Last night, as I held my two daughters and thought about how they've both been named in a way that honors my parents, I thought about how joyously Dad would have held the two of them were he alive today.
I wish they could have met my parents, their grandparents, and I hope I'll be able to impress upon them the kind of people they were.
One year ago, and nineteen years ago. |
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| Don't Sweat the... |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|10:45 am] |
Despite a lack of maturity in several areas, I was blessed to drive some incredibly cool cars when I first got my license at age fifteen. I came out one morning, and the asshole bullies down the street had spray painted something mean on the side of my gorgeous classic, a 1953 Olds Holiday Coupe. I cried as if someone had shot my puppy. Dad, disgusted by my show of emotion, grabbed a rag and the gas can from near the lawn mower. Fifteen minutes later the car looked perfect again. He was so unfazed by the offense, that in retrospect I think it was a great learning experience for me: Yes, don't sweat the small stuff, yet beyond that, a lot of what seems like big stuff is really small stuff. |
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| Mama's eBay Coffin |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|06:57 am] |
My mother was a bit horrified by the several thousand Daddy paid for his coffin. Knowing he was going to die, he went to the funeral home and put together a princely funeral running close to $15,000.00. The thought of spending more than the cost of a good used sports car on a coffin bothered us all, yet what can you say to a dying man? When mama came to realize her time would be cut short as well she bought her coffin on eBay for five hundred bucks---delivery not included.
For the next several weeks Mama begged me to take my car to Atlanta, which was three hours away, and pick up the coffin. Over and over I told her, "Mama, there is no way I'm strapping a coffin to my car for a three hour ride on the interstate!" I envisioned having to put a sign on the car saying BOB'S BUDGET FUNERALS just to keep the cops from pulling me over. Eventually she found someone with a pick up to deliver it.
Mom lasted longer than we expected, and the coffin, a dark mahogany with gold fittings, sat at the foot of her bed for years. She told us older kids that when she died just to roll her off the bed and into the coffin and be done with it. I have an adopted sister who is thirty years younger than I, and she was a young teen. Mama assured that sister that the coffin was just a bigger than usual blanket box, although I believe my little sis' had her suspicions.
Mama died on October 30, 2007. My older sister worked all night long and into the next day installing the lining on the coffin. Mom had chosen and purchased the lining material, yet no one had gotten around to stapling it in. The Divine Karlita and I showed up at dusk on October 31st to help my sister load the coffin into mom's station wagon. The lining looked great, and my older sister was emotionally and physically exhausted. The door we had to take the coffin out of was fifty feet away from the car, so there we were, four adults, struggling and stumbling across the yard with a coffin that was surprisingly heavy. By then trick or treaters were hurriedly walking by the house. The children were too spooked by the spectacle of us to stop and ask for candy.
We finally got the coffin loaded into the station wagon. The tail gate had to hang open since the coffin would not quite fit. Though I begged, my sister would not let me hang a sign off the back which said JUST BURIED.
Happy Dios Los Muertos Y'all!!! |
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| Network Maintenance - Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 04:00-05:00 GMT/UTC |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|05:17 pm] |
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.
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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 |
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| "Peace is a thought away." - Jill Bolte Taylor |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|01:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | health and well-being | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  joyful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | "Peace, Salaam, Shalom" by Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow | ] |
I just finished reading the book My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. At age 37, she had a stroke which affected her left-brain, leaving her unable to walk, talk, understand speech, read, write, or remember any details about her life. As a neuroanatomist, she understood how the brain works and watched with curiosity as her mind and body deteriorated. The book records her recovery, aided by her dedicated mother, and her observations of left mind and right mind functioning. She shares with her readers the insights she gained as she lived in "right mind" consciousness. Without the functioning of her left brain neural circuitry, "her consciousness shifted into present moment thinking whereby she experienced herself 'at one with the universe'" (a quote from her website).
In the book, Jill teaches us how to be aware of our own thoughts and how to choose to stay in the mental and emotional space of peace, joy, and connection - something she calls "Tending the Garden". She has some very practical suggestions, which she also shared in a series of interviews with Oprah Winfrey on Oprah's "Soul Series" web-casts in 2008. Also in 2008, she gave a talk through the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference. You can access both these videos at her website My Stroke of Insight. It is well worth your time to watch all these videos, but if you cannot set aside all the time, at least watch the TED talk (about 18 minutes) and the fourth of Oprah's interviews (less than a half hour). These two will give you a good idea of Dr. Jill's philosophy and life purpose.
I come from that rare American entity, the functional family. My parents, all four of my siblings, my children and my grandchildren are all wise, compassionate, creative people who live in joy, striving for peace and connection. From my father, I learned what "being in your right mind" truly means and I hope that I pass that knowledge on to my children and students.
Another quote from Jill Bolte Taylor: “I believe the more time we spend running our deep inner peace circuitry, then the more peace we will project into the world, and ultimately the more peace we will have on the planet.” Now that's a goal I would like to achieve. |
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