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.
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
Change has been not only constant but VAST this summer and fall!
I am living in a new place, the 4th this year after Belgrade, North Conway and Wolfeboro. Matt and I have a great apartment in West Lebanon, NH that is starting to feel like home (thanks mostly to my mom's appetite for Ikea furniture that has no place in her house) and a new roommate, Monica, who is becoming a solid girlfriend - which I've been missing for a couple years now. Female companionship has been sparse and transient, and I am realizing now how great it is to have it back in my life!
I started my first year at Dartmouth Medical School six weeks ago, and thus lifestyle changes about. Without any foreseeable income beyond pathetically meager part-time work and a largesse of learning material related to the human body, "fun" as I used to know it has been cut back quite a bit. Adjusting to a student lifestyle has been tough - especially when the last two years have been the antithesis of what I'm doing now! Wandering, traveling and working are much different than staying put, being in debt, and studying. That said, its not as bad as I'm making it sound - I am learning incredibly interesting things, I get to dissect a human cadaver (how cool is that??), I am surrounded by an excellent community of both med-school and non-med-school friends, and above all, I've taken a real, tangible step towards my dream of becoming a doctor. And, as part of my curriculum, I get to hang out with a pediatrician and help diagnose and treat her adorable kid patients. That keeps me going through weekends spent studying indoors while the leaves turn to fall ... and let's be honest, I don't study all the time. There's been plenty of bike riding, rock climbing, hiking and visiting family and friends. Matt and I havn't even been home the last 4 weekends - visiting Matt's dad on Lake Winnepesaukee, attending Sam and Emily's incredible wedding, going to see U2 at Gilette Stadium, hanging out with Woody and Keith, and traversing the Carter-Moriah are just a few of the recent fun. But no matter what, medical school at this point is a means to an end for me - I am not made to sit in a class room and study over piles of books, and that's what we're doing for the most part. Clinical stuff comes around in 3rd year, and from then on, things just get better and better until you finally get to practice medicine on your own. That's a carrot the size of Montana to me!
The Upper Valley is incredibly beautiful, and I feel lucky to be in school here - if I were in New York, I'd be hating my life. It's amazing to be able to get out of class and pop over to Rumney, or head up Gile mountain to a firetower just outside of town, or jump off the roof of a friends' house in the Connecticut River. I can bike to school every day, a nice 4.5 mile jaunt door to door. And a world class medical center is just a few minutes away, tucked in those hills. It's pretty great. I think I'll enjoy calling this place home for four years - longer than anywhere has been home in a while! But once I'm done, we'll probably light out for the West again ...
The course material is mostly interesting, and mostly very understandable, but very voluminous. The analogy they tell you in orientation is that its like trying to drink from a firehose. I felt incredible unbalanced for a while, hating the idea of studying but knowing I had to, and I'm slowly adjusting to spending my time more wisely, studying smart, and still enjoying myself while giving the appropriate amount of energy and respect to my schoolwork. I want to be a great doctor, and that won't happen if I don't have a solid background in the basic science of medicine. Plus, its kind of a challenge - let's see if I can ace this anatomy quiz, even though there's thousands of terms we have to know. That kind of thing. We have tests every 2 weeks in every class, so the "quiz weekends" are not exactly fun, but certainly doable and a worthy sacrifice.
And things with Matt are also great. We've settled into a lifestyle where though we don't see each other as much (he's still doing shift work over in North Conway), the time we do spend together is always fun, interesting, and comfortable. I always miss him when he's gone, even though it allows me more time to be productive, focus on school, and get out and socialize with my classmates - who are truly awesome! I definitely picked the right place in terms of location and student body character. And we are settling into a pretty strong long term relationship, which is even more of a comfort. All in all, I'm pretty happy! Optimism and perseverance are things that can certainly be refined as a first year med student, so I consider it in some ways a blessing that things are hard.
And the leaves are turning. It's hard to remain upset for long when it's fall in New England!
Ciao,
Anna
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! :)
Some of you may have noticed that right now you cannot add books from Amazon to your Vox library. Giving people a glimpse into what's on your night stand is important to many of you, so I just wanted to reassure you that we are doing our best to get this bug fixed. I'll keep you posted.
So sorry for the inconvenience.
Hope you have a great weekend!
daisy
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