Like Neon

I know some of you are likely tired of hearing about the FB/Twitter issue already. Please just know that when I post about these things, it's out of a desire to inform, not to wank. That said, I wanted to make my personal stance on this clear: The issue I take with the change is not born out of paranoia, and quite honestly, I take offense at the condescending attitude that people are upset simply because they don't comprehend how the internet works. I don't have any illusions about privacy on any part of the internet. My concern is with LJ making changes that drastically alter how the site is used, as we create accounts and use them based on a certain understanding. An understanding that is now, in effect, completely incorrect.

From the "About Us" page of LiveJournal, Inc.:

We make sure to safeguard our users' private Journal entries but also provide tools that allow them to choose with whom to share the content they want to share, be it with just a small group of friends, or with a larger user-created community. We respect the decisions our users make, and let them decide how to protect the content they create. We continue to maintain the service that the LiveJournal community trusts.

It isn't that LJ is connecting to Facebook and Twitter that I have a problem with. Yes, I have issues with Facebook as a company and a platform in general, but I wouldn't assume that everyone else feels this way. I applaud LJ for trying to make their user experience more functional, especially as they are well behind the blogging curve when it comes to flexibility and functionality. My problem is that in their careless implementation, they are contradicting their own marketing strategy and neglecting to comprehend who uses their platform and why.

As I've mentioned several other places, actual privacy is not the issue, here. Yes, someone could screencap or copy a post or comment, but that is not the point and to harp on it is a straw man argument whether you are aware of it or not. The issue is poor business practices on behalf of a user base that the people in charge simply don't understand.

I was discussing this issue with my husband earlier, and he reminded me of an illustration of the blogosphere he'd linked me ages ago. I honestly can't recall whether the chart was based on actual data or simply perception; I'm going to assume for the sake of this post that it was the second, as I cannot find it now to check. At any rate, it showed the way people use different blogging platforms/areas of the internet. There was a lot of overlap and connection between most of the large platforms except for LJ, which was this big clump off entirely by itself.

There is a reason for that, whether it's perception or fact: LJ's culture is inherently insular. It is utterly ridiculous that apparently no one in charge thought this aspect of the site merited consideration when implementing new features. What does this say about how LJ sees its users and how it does business?

LJ has, at last, responded. I have to assume the reason for the response being a comment rather than a new post or an edit to the existing post was some misguided and utterly misapplied attempt at damage control. Once again, my belief that LJ knows nothing about public relations is supported. That said, they are encouraging users to vote in this poll, which is something. Not as appropriate as posting their own poll, but it's something.

ETA: I knew I was forgetting something. cleolinda has tried the cross-posting feature and posted about exactly how it works, with screencapped examples.

ETA2: Apparently people logged in via a Facebook account do not qualify as anonymous commenters. IE, disabling anonymous comments is effectively kaput, given that half the fucking world has a FB account.

---

In utterly unrelated news, I have been randomly rewatching Rome, and remembering how much I adore it. Oh, Brutus. ♥_♥

Some helpful soul has provided a CSS snippet to eliminate the FB/Twitter cross-posting option on comment boxes. A few important points:

1. This will only work if you have custom comment pages enabled.
2. This will only work if said comment page is being viewed in your style.
3. This does not eliminate the ability to cross-post, it simply hides the ticky boxes.

To implement, go to Customize > Custom CSS. Paste the following code at the very bottom of whatever you have in the "Custom CSS" box (The big box).

/* ---FB-Twitter Comment Ticky Fix--- */ .b-repost-items, .b-repost-item, .b-repost-item IMG, #entry-form-wrapper .b-repost-item, b-repost-item-fb { display: none; } .b-repost-item .repost_disabled { color: #CCC; display: none; }

Again, this is not an actual fix. It's just a stop-gap of sorts. Thanks to wikdsushi, although I've seen several posts on my flist with this same info.

So, amidst all the hoopla about the Facebook/Twitter cross-posting business, some of you might have noticed LJ brought pingbacks back. Initially, I thought this was cool—It's a pretty standard blogging feature that you can opt to be notified when others link to your posts. Sounds innocuous enough, right?

Make that a no.

Rather than reword what I've already said, here is what I commented to the latest news post:

Sometimes, LJ, I honestly wonder if you've learned anything over the years.

I completely understand wanting to add an extra level of functionality to your users' experience. I can see how you're trying to compete with other blogging platforms by including the ability to cross-post to Twitter and FB. It makes sense on the surface, but you're forgetting about the reasons why people choose LJ in the first place.

This decision to allow all comments to be cross-posted regardless of security level is going to jeopardize the perception of privacy that many users stay with LJ specifically for. Yes, you can argue that comments belong to the comment author and not the original poster, but that's missing the point. If you're locking a post, logically you're doing it so the internet at large doesn't know what it's about. Comments to posts generally refer to what the post is about, thereby completely obliterating any perception of privacy.

Seriously, what the hell were you thinking? All this accomplishes for me is making me wonder why I'm using LJ at all, and I don't even lock that many posts.

Allow users to opt out entire journals or do away with this feature.


Oh, and the new remixed header for September is painfully bad. If we're going to get bad photoshop circa 1998, I would much rather go back to the standard header.

Please, go read the news post and if you have a problem with the changes, let LJ know.

Let's talk about Rubicon.



When I say talk, I mean less of the spoilery sort and more of the general, "why aren't you watching this fucking phenomenal show" sort.

Because really, why aren't you watching this fucking phenomenal show?

My personal affinity for James Badge Dale aside, Rubicon is one of the best shows I've ever seen. Six episodes in, and every one has been meticulously crafted to be completely compelling while giving a minimum of information away—It is, after all, based on conspiracy. The brilliant thing, though, is that it has yet to become bogged down with political dogma, staying focused instead on the journeys of its characters. It's sharp and cerebral, but not heavy.

Rubicon isn't what I would call a water cooler show; it's too steeped in subtleties for that. I'm as guilty as anyone for not talking about it more, principally because it's so difficult to get a handle on where it's going, even when it's utterly engaging. Right now, right this moment, it is my favorite thing on television, and I don't see that changing with the onslaught of fall premieres. Color me enraptured.



I just. Oh, Will Travers. I would want him to be my endearing, salt-n-pepper haired boyfriend if I didn't already live in a world where I'm convinced he's in a long distance relationship with Tim Gutterson. ♥

I will never not do this meme.

Nicked from vivier, with some changes:
1. Anyone who looks at this entry wants to has to post this meme and their current wallpaper on their LiveJournal.
2. Explain in five sentences words why you're using that wallpaper!
3. Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on.


I love Tony and Pepper.

That was easy.

In other news, I really need to go to the grocery store like a motherfucking adult (I have a list and everything!), but Lacy is napping and I don't want to go alone. I am officially ridiculous.

Do you ever look at the list of moods when you post and want to use one just because you've never used that particular mood icon from your theme? I'm not feeling remotely devious, FTR. I'm actually hungry and a little bored, so have another meme:

Comment with a number between 1 and 9443, and I will give you a random song from my playlist. Probably the coolest song in the immediate vicinity. It's only for preview purposes, you're supposed to delete within 24 hours, not my responsibility if you don't, blah blah. Open through…let's say 2 AM Eastern.

ETA: I knew there was something I was forgetting. I made my first Lush order yesterday, after about 3 years getting their newspaper. Two solid shampoos and the solid conditioner. Verdict forthcoming.

Ahhhh OMG.

For my Signs of Aliens course this term, I get to write my two critical reviews on how Superman Returns and Blade Runner represent the Judeo-Christian sign as a social identity or ideology. Also, I have two texts for this class, and one of them is entirely about Star Trek.

Have I mentioned that I love my major? Because I fucking love my major.

» I've been feeling a bit bad about not posting much recently, which is a pretty ridiculous thing to feel bad about, if you want to get right down to it. I'm sure it's seemed like I've slowly been less and less active here, but I've actually been reading yon olde flist dutifully. I've not had much I consider newsworthy, but in the interest of assuaging my irrational LJ user guilt, I will endeavor to find shit worth talking about.

» Like television. Even with the loss of True Blood (Which I stopped watching, yet again) and Sherlock, I am looking down the barrel of one of the busiest TV-watching seasons I've had in quite some time. Currently, Rubicon is the new favorite, Mad Men is back and wonderful, I'm working on S1 of Bored to Death, and I am casually watching Austin & Santino and RuPaul's Drag U. Returning in the fall will be Sons of Anarchy, The Vampire Diaries, Life Unexpected, Supernatural, S2 of Bored to Death, Misfits, and I'm still not entirely caught up on Project Runway. When did I become someone who watches this much TV? I don't know if my standards have fallen or TV has just gotten better.

» School "officially" started for me again yesterday, but seeing as I'm an online student, that didn't mean a whole lot. I'm excited to be back, though; summer really dragged this year. I'm taking Fundamentals of Screenwriting, Comp 2, Introduction to Solar Systems, and that Signs of Aliens film class I wanted to get into last term but couldn't. I've looked over all the syllabuses for my classes, written up an initial schedule, and I'm feeling really confident. I felt like I struggled some last term with the transition to full time, but I still made the dean's list, so I feel very prepared this term. Oh, and thank you, Joe Biden, as this is the first time since I started back to school that my broke ass has gotten enough financial aid to cover my entire tuition. Amazing.

» Oh, and if you missed it, I recently posted two layouts for sharing over at circa77. They got a pretty good reception, so I'm pleased. I'm hoping to make layouts for sharing fairly regularly now, but I know myself and am therefore not making any promises. :P

Just got back from Scott Pilgrim.

I think I came.

Austin Scarlett and Santino Rice have a show together and it is absolutely adorable. It's no Project Runway or RuPaul's Drag Race, but it is AUSTIN and SANTINO in the SAME SHOW, working TOGETHER. ♥ For me, this is just about the ultimate (The ultimate actually being Daniel Vosovic and Nick Verreos prancing around spreading good taste and being boyfrans together with occasional guest Tim Gunn). Santino miraculously has hair. It's amazing. Also, there was a surprising lack of feathers.

As if that's not enough, RuPaul's Drag U started on the 20th and I totally forgot. Not as good as RPDR, but still fun.

In other news, that sense of humor meme was actually quite accurate for me:

Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...

the Wit

(71% dark, 27% spontaneous, 16% vulgar)

Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at OkCupid

Harry Potter has been on my mind a lot lately—As a phenomenon, as a genuinely significant part of my adult life. As many of you are likely aware, I went a number of years being incredibly involved in Harry Potter fandom, and there came a point wherein I became burnt out. At the time I thought, "Well, this is it. This is where HP and I drift apart." The reality, though, is that my intense and often overwhelming love for the canon endures. Fandom I can take or leave, but Rowling's work will always be personal and special to me.

For people who have miraculously managed to escape the HP experience, it's difficult to describe in a way that properly communicates how important a body of work it is, not simply to fans but to the collective whole. The best comparison I know to make is with the Beatles—Indeed, HP is the only other phenomenon I know that comes close to that sort of worldwide reverence and significance. You have to understand that this is unequivocally and undeniably not a bandwagon.

So, what this post is really about is asking all of you: What do you love about Harry Potter? I want to know what fills you with joy, what moves you to tears, why you think this is possibly the best series of books that anyone can read. Spam the hell out of me, and in the process we'll remember all of the reasons it's awesome and maybe convince those few people who don't know better (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, MANDA) why having this experience is one of the best decisions you could possibly make.

The sequel to this. I assure you this will make no sense if you've not read that. Honestly, it may make no sense regardless.

(12:53:39 PM) Anita: This is seriously the coolest shit I have seen in IDEK how long. Everytime someone reblogs it, I am amazed anew. http://bzzinglikeneon.tumblr.com/post/824116241/omg-love
(12:53:58 PM) Megan: omg
(12:54:01 PM) Anita: IKR
(12:54:11 PM) Anita: I want to scream with joy. XD
(12:54:14 PM) Megan: XD
(12:54:19 PM) Megan: please be bffs all of you
(12:54:23 PM) Anita: AHAHA
(12:54:32 PM) Megan: it's Y The Last Man shit all over again
(12:54:41 PM) Megan: NO ONE ELSE IS ALLOWED IN THIS PICTURE
(12:54:50 PM) Anita: LOLOL
(12:55:06 PM) Anita: I SEE YOU TRYING TO SLIDE IN THERE, JEREMY IRONS
(12:55:08 PM) Anita: GET OUT
(12:55:30 PM) Megan: AND TELL ROBERT DENIRO TO FOLLOW YOU, I SEE HIM BEHIND YOU
(12:55:41 PM) Anita: AL PACINO WHAT
(12:55:46 PM) Anita: THIS HAS GONE TOO FAR
(12:55:48 PM) Megan: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS BAR
(12:55:53 PM) Anita: OH FUCK ME
(12:55:55 PM) Anita: THE STREEP
(12:56:00 PM) Megan: OH SHIT
(12:56:01 PM) Anita: WE'RE ALL DOOMED
(12:56:08 PM) Megan: GET OUT OF HER WAY SHE'S STREEPING
(12:56:12 PM) Anita: dfghjgfd
(12:56:15 PM) Megan: FIND SOMETHING TO GET UNDER
(12:56:19 PM) Megan: STAND IN A DOORWAY
(12:56:20 PM) Megan: ANYTHING
(12:56:27 PM) Anita: I'm dying
(12:56:45 PM) Megan: CHRISTOPHER LLOYD WHAT THE HELL NO, NO
(12:56:51 PM) Anita: AHAHA
(12:56:57 PM) Megan: AND IAN MCKELLAN OH FUCK ME
(12:57:12 PM) Anita: I can't even
(12:57:14 PM) Anita: crying
(12:57:15 PM) Megan: XD
(12:57:22 PM) Megan: WHY IS THIS ALWAYS SO FUNNY
(12:57:25 PM) Anita: IDK

» Bathroom improvements continue. At this point we're so damned close to being finished that, combined with what a total wreck it has made my house, it's making me extremely antsy. It isn't so much that these things are difficult, per se, but there are so many little things to do in there, and we've run into so many stumbling blocks. The handyman guy who is going to do the last of the big stuff for us will be back on Monday, and if the planets align, we will be completely finished with this project by the middle of next week.

» Which is a nice segue into my general fail with regards to TR recently. I'm currently really struggling with writing anything of real consequence (As in narrative), and I know you all know I've been doing this bathroom shit, but I still feel bad about it. My one comfort here is that I've got very little open, but continued patience is going to be called for as we finish the remodel and I then prepare the house for Ruth's arrival in early August. ♥

» I finally finished S1 of Misfits early this morning, and JFC, this show. Truly, I wish we got TV this amazing in the US. Six episodes and it manages to be better and more memorable than multiple 15-20 episode seasons of other shows. Now they just have to not cock up series 2.

Speaking of, I'm just going to leave this here:

...as I only just noticed that a fair few of you were posting about LJ doing inactive journal and community purges yesterday:

LJ clarified the info in the news post, and the only journals and communities in danger of being purged are those which have not been logged into (or updated, in the case of communities) for 24 months AND which only have a single (ie, the welcome) post and no comments.

So your old shit you're saving as archive is safe.

I wish LJ had sense enough to explain it that way in the first place and avoid a big and completely legitimate fuss, but at least they corrected themselves relatively quickly.

I do not know which is more disturbing, the fact that Joseph Mazzello referred to Tumblr as a whole as "a cesspool of cowards and narcissists" simply because someone asked him his favorite vegetable, or that the idiots on Tumblr have badgered him with their inanity and awful in-jokes so much that he would have that sort of a knee-jerk reaction in the first place.

As much as I loathe the juvenile behavior of most people on Tumblr, I'm leaning towards being completely fucking unimpressed by JMazz. This is what you signed up for, Joe. How quickly you forget that fans helped you raise $84,000 to fund your personal project, you ungrateful snot.

ETA: I accept your apology, Joe. :P

A few things of interest, while my connection holds up:

thoracopagus: on silence, entitlement, fanfic and criticism

What we ask is that authors utilize the nature of fanfic to its full potential, by opening themselves to criticism of the isms they probably aren't even aware of in their story, to absorb what fandom is trying to share with them when it criticizes these things, to fucking grow as people and allow their writing to grow with them. We don't want fandom to go silent: we want to shape in it a voice that actually pushes boundaries, that actually transforms fannish space from one of privilege to one of inclusion and respect for all fen, one that questions openly the people whose writing tries to reinforce the same status quo authors of classic literature questioned with their published works.

rhipowered: The Privileged Fan's Primer To Not Fucking Up

It's hard to decide if there's a point of most importance, but I think this is it:
Privileged people must learn to be uncomfortable, or no one will get anywhere.
Being comfortable usually means you're riding on privilege. The dominant paradigm's made things easy for you, and you're milking that for all that it's worth, at the expense of other people.

haku: cutting lj loading time

If you use AdBlock (And if you're on a Mozilla-based browser, how could you NOT be?), you'll want to add these URLs to your filter. One of these I added just last night, and I've blocked 200 hits already—That is when I actually slept during that time and my internet was down a good part of the afternoon. LJ is loading MUCH faster for me now.

There were a couple of good pieces of meta linked on today's metafandom that may be of interest to those of you participating in/following the recent fanfic author privilege/racefail debate.

nicki really hits the nail on the head:

It sucks to have unconscious assumptions and prejudices pointed out. It really really does. It isn't any fun at all. IMO it sucks mostly because when it happens we are forced to face the fact that we haven't confronted our own unconscious assumptions and prejudices. It sucks because we like to think we are nice, open-minded people and sometimes our unconscious assumptions and prejudices aren't nice, open-minded, or pretty. It sucks and it makes us defensive and angry and sad.

However, having the issue pointed out didn't create the problem. The person pointing out the issue isn't inserting that issue into our psychology, it was already there. If you have lettuce in your teeth and the person across the table points it out, it is not the person across the table's fault that the lettuce is there.

telesilla nicely sums up what was being discussed in my entry from yesterday:

I personally don't believe in silencing anyone. Seriously, you go right ahead and write whatever you damn well want to. As a believer in free speech, I'm all for you following your artistic vision.

Of course as a believer in free speech I'm also all for calling you out if your artistic vision reflects, for example, the racism prevalent in society today. Because here's the thing, "I was just following my artistic vision!" is not a get out of jail free card. Neither is "I'm exercising my right to free speech!" Free speech is a two way street, people, and artistic vision doesn't shield you from people telling you that your end result is, (again, an example) racist.

And no, I'm not going to read a lengthy meta on why people pointing out your privilege is discriminatory toward you as an author of fiction using characters and situations you didn't even create. Not going to do that, nor am I going to abide you whining about how this "new trend" of not letting people wallow in their privilege is cramping your style. If you feel that way, you are welcome to continue following me, but don't talk to me about it because I do not care if you don't like it and honestly, if you can't wrap your mind around it by now, I'm not interested in educating you. 2010, people. Wake the fuck up or GTFO.

I took a (rather long) nap and someone had the fail delivered while I was sleeping.

→ FYI, you forgot Mein Kampf on your list. I'm not awake enough yet to actually get into proper meta mode and comment on that post, but suffice it to say that if you don't understand why it is flat-out horrible and misleading, please never talk to me again.

→ And a good post on Paramount/M. Night's fail: If you pay for this movie, knowing full well why its cast and its production are racist and problematic, then you are actively, in good conscience, supporting institutionalized racism. Period.

Oh hey, there's more fail in the world today:

→ BP is burning endangered sea turtles alive.

If you follow filmikaze, you probably noticed I saw The A-Team yesterday. I've gone ahead and given in to the Bradley Cooper obsession that's been coming down the pike since I had that inexplicable dream about how we were Hollywood spies and he wanted to get in my pants (Which I apparently didn't tag correctly and cannot now find the post about—You ever notice how my dreams are always about famous dudes wanting to get in my pants? I swear I'm not really that much of a narcissist. I do, however, think about sex a lot). I also need to go read ani_bester's thoughts on the movie, because she is the only other person I know who gives a shit about the original canon. Which is to say,

SHOW ME YOUR DESKTOP.

So, I watched the sneak preview of the Rubicon pilot yesterday, and I am psyched for the series to officially start. I'm not going to lie and say I could follow everything that was going on, but I assume that is the point of the thing. It looks like it has the potential to be a really smart thriller, but I'm not surprised given that it's coming from AMC. FYI, you can stream the pilot here, if you want to check it out.

I am also anxious for the show to start so that I can then make eudaimon write me beautiful crossover fic about Tim Gutterson and his long distance relationship with his emotionally-wounded think tank analyst boyfriend (Sometimes—Just sometimes—I actually love fandom). :D

Currently I feel like I'm in television limbo. I've amassed a surprising amount of new shows I enjoy, but everything is in hiatus (or finished altogether D:) right now except True Blood, which I have a really difficult time giving two shits about anymore.

In other news, I've been really remiss in pimping fansuperlatives this year, but don't forget about it, and please pimp it. If interest in the meme starts to wane enough, I'm not going to bother with it anymore, kids.

A couple of articles WTFing at CBS's decision: NBC Chicago and TV Guide.

I don't normally put much stock in online petitions, but this one is being tweeted by all of the cast (Save yo yo yo Shemar, who still doesn't have one) and has amassed nearly 13,000 signatures (When I last looked) since yesterday afternoon. So if you have a few seconds, sign it.

Apparently many fans are also sending emails and making phone calls, there's more info about that on the CM Tumblr.