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letter to santa [23rd Dec, 2009|10:54 pm]
chiming_magic
[I'm feeling | okay]

for some reason they've made the copying process screwy this year, so hope this comes out okay apologies if not.
0 style='border:1px solid black; background-color:white; color:black;'><tr><td>Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

This year I've been busy!

In July I punched [info]jgoodfellow in the arm (-10 points). In February I got in line at the supermarket at the same time as someone else and I didn't yield (-8 points). Last Sunday I pushed [info]canadian_diva in the mud (-17 points). In August I farted in an elevator (-6 points). Last month I helped [info]grim_guitarist hide a body (-173 points).

Overall, I've been naughty (-214 points). For Christmas I deserve a spanking!

Sincerely,
chiming_magic
</td></tr></table>
Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:
LinkLeave a comment

a nice poem [23rd Dec, 2009|10:50 pm]
chiming_magic
[I'm feeling | okay]

Okay, i think this went in some lj's at the beginning of this year, but i wanted to post this one again.
Just a huge thank you to all of my friends who've been around, i couldn't have done thse last few months without you guys!
I hope i can repay you one day.
Every single evening
As I'm lying here in bed,
This tiny little Prayer
Keeps running through my head:
God bless all my family
Wherever they may be,
Keep them warm
and safe from harm
For they're so close to me.
And God, there is one more thing
I wish that you could do;
Hope you don't mind me asking,
Please bless my computer too.
Now I know that it's unusual
To Bless a motherboard,
But listen just a second
While I explain it to you, Lord.
You see, that little metal box
Holds more than odds and ends;
Inside those small compartments
Rest so many of my friends.
I know so much about them
By the kindness that they give,
And this little scrap of metal
Takes me in to where they live.
By faith is how I know them
Much the same as you.
We share in what life brings us
And from that our friendships grew.
Please take an extra minute
From your duties up above,
To bless those in my address book
That's filled with so much love.
Wherever else this prayer may reach
To each and every friend,
Bless each e-mail inbox
And each person who hits 'send'.
LinkLeave a comment

LiveJournal Major Notes: Get your holiday fix! [23rd Dec, 2009|11:37 am]

news

[theljstaff]
[Tags|, , , , ]

Holiday debuggery

We know there were a few kinks with the holiday promotion. We've been working very hard to get them ironed out. If you have a paid/permanent account, keep on sending those coupons. Here's an update:

  • If you were unable to send out multiple coupons at a time, please perform a hard refresh, and you should be good to go.
  • If you redeemed a coupon to upgrade your account and the balance at checkout was $0 instead of $9.95 or $15, this means your upgrade did not go through (nor were you charged). We've straightened this out, so you can now apply your holiday coupon toward the purchase of an annual paid account.
  • If you tried to redeem a holiday coupon and had trouble using a gift certificate to cover the balance of an annual paid account, we identified the root problem. If this happened to you, you can now use your holiday coupon together with your gift certificate.
  • If the number of holiday coupons you have available suddenly goes up (instead of down), this might be due to recipients declining the coupons, at which point your pool of available coupons will be replenished and, therefore, increase.
  • If you need assistance with holiday coupons or pretty much anything else (well, LiveJournal related), please open a support request and we'll be more than happy to help!

Tweaks

  • There were some initial glitches displaying results on My Guests, but we've worked them out. We hope you'll check out who's been checking you out!
  • Some of you reported formatting issues using the Rich Text Editor (i.e., line breaks were being removed incorrectly). We've implemented a fix! Thanks so much for your patience.

Give a little extra!

We're pleased to report that we've already sold over 100 virtual red ribbons in honor of National AIDS Awareness month. Remember, for each charitable vgift you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to fund the development of an HIV vaccine. Once again, we thank you for your generosity.

Celebrate with holiday vGifts!

Stop by the Virtual Gift Shop and share some holiday magic with your LiveJournal friends.

Photos of the week

We're back with more dazzling pictures from around the world. Congrats to [info]marlenemcc, who has been awarded a virtual blue ribbon as the winner of our fourth photo contest. We hope you'll click over to LJ_Photophile poll and tell us your picks in pics!

For more fantastic user content, we'll meet you under the cut. Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for reading. Here's wishing you the very merriest of holidays. We'll see you next year!

Link206 comments|Leave a comment

long time no speak [20th Dec, 2009|08:15 pm]
chiming_magic
[I'm feeling |ooooh christmas]

Just another quick one, had a good few msn chats today, particularly with [info]wordwizard1000 every tim e we've chatted, i've had to go off for some reason so today was good to catch up and i know there's going to be a skype next week sometime, huge amounts of yayness in a bag.
Link2 comments|Leave a comment

hark hark what news! [20th Dec, 2009|08:13 pm]
chiming_magic
[I'm feeling | okay]

Evening all,

Am sitting in the kitchen after a decision was made for me to come home yesterday due to the bad weather, there hasn't been much, but if there had of been, i'd have been stuck.
I've had a good day today, i've mainly been resting at home and i stuck sweet bells on my stereo today good and loud! there's such good versions of christmas carols on there, including the holly and the ivy where the word choir is sung properly.
Another one is the subject line's title.
I listened to [info]kwpodcasts show where it was pretty much christmas music all the way through.
Had sausage caserole for tea which was yumpsk!
Had a nice bath too and pretty much set for the rest of the week, can't wait until christmas day!
Link6 comments|Leave a comment

Touching on Accessibility [19th Dec, 2009|07:01 pm]

puppybraille
[Tags|, , , , , , , ]

One of the things I've wanted to do for a while is give some credit where credit is due. As I've been learning about my iPod Touch, I've encountered several great resources and found some wonderful people who've helped me along the way. This post serves two purposes. One is just to say thank you! and the other is to point others to some great resources.

First, I'd really be remiss if I didn't mention that Apple has a whole page relating to
Accessibility
This is a good starting point. And because the accessibility features are part of the iPod, I was also able to get help through the Apple Care program.

Next up is the
Maccessibility
network. This is a network of people who provide information on the accessibility of Apple products. One of the great features this site has to offer is a whole list of applications known to be accessible on the iPhone or iPod Touch with Voice Over. This is how I learned about many applications I use and got the courage to experiment with others.

I also learned a lot from the
Screenless Switchers Podcast

Finally, there have been many on Twitter who have helped me out. Two of them are
Steve Sawczyn
who
has a blog
and
[info]unsilenceddream

Others have been helpful but are less public about their online personas so I leave them out due to my desire to respect their privacy, not because I don't appreciate their help. My whole point here is that there is definitely a movement of people who are choosing to use a product which comes accessible almost right out of the box.

One last thing, I'm still open to responses to my survey on
a potential book about the accessibility of the iPod Touch
Link2 comments|Leave a comment

Writer's Block: Simply wonderful [18th Dec, 2009|11:54 am]

puppybraille
[Tags|]

It's often said that the simple things in life are the most precious. What small pleasures make you the happiest?

Submitted By [info]nisie


View 857 Answers

I love this question. As I’ve said before, it’s sometimes easier to focus on the good things rather than trying not to focus on the bad things. Here are some of my good pleasures:

Laughing at a good joke.
A song I forgot I liked..
Having the harness in my hand and knowing Julio and I are working well together.
Realizing that Julio took me around an obstacle, just as he’s trained to do.
Making jewelry.
Getting complements in said jewelry.
Drinking hot chocolate.
Being in or near water, either a warm pool, a nice bath or listening to the ocean or a stream.
Dancing in my living room.
Singing while I dance.
Learning a new skill with my iPod.
Helping someone else.
Hearing that I look nice.
Finding new hobbies.
Giving and getting hugs.
Hearing friends do radio shows and podcasts.
Talking with friends.
Reading a good book.
Realizing that I’ve got a long list of simple pleasures.
LinkLeave a comment

LiveJournal Major Notes: My Stats, My Guests, Holiday promotion, Yandex search, Whitelisting! [16th Dec, 2009|05:07 pm]

news

[theljstaff]
[Tags|, , , , , , , ]

Get to know My Guests. Want to know who's checking you out? You can now view the 100 most recent, logged-in users who visited your journal during the past 30-day period with My Guests. For those who prefer to fly under the radar, you can update your My Guests privacy setting here.

Introducing My Stats. If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can now see detailed reports on how many people are visiting your journal, friends pages, and entries (wherever they're posted on LiveJournal). You can also view data on comments and RSS requests. My Stats is only available to Paid and Permanent account holders, but you can upgrade anytime. (FYI, an annual subscription costs less than a large pizza with everything on it, PLUS it's rumored to make you lose weight in your sleep!) For additional details on this feature, read this article in [info]paidmembers.

Get ready to check your vital statistics!. To begin, mouse over Journal in the upper nav bar and select My Stats from the dropdown menu (Horizon) or select My Stats under Journal in the side bar (Vertigo). If you're using another design scheme, you can visit My Stats directly. You'll find My Guests on the My Stats tool bar.

Happy holiday promotion!

We're delighted to tell you about our holiday coupons, which will help you share the love with your LiveJournal friends! If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can send up to 10 LiveJournal Basic/Plus users a $10 coupon for an annual paid subscription now through January 15th, 2010. Recipients can upgrade for $9.95 (instead of $19.95) for one year by enrolling in our automatic payment plan or make a manual payment of $15 (instead of $25). Please note that these coupons are not transferable and cannot be used to renew existing paid accounts. If you're a Paid/Permanent user, you can send out your holiday coupons now!

Tweaks and Enhancements

  1. The search is on: We've replaced our default search tool with one from Yandex, a leader in search engine technology. This means you'll get smarter, more granular results! To get started, enter your search terms and click the Go button to the left of the Find box on the upper right of the LiveJournal header. This will take you to the search landing page where you can further refine by Entries, Comments, People & communities, and FAQs. You can also access the search page directly.
  2. Whitelisting: We've released a new option to help you moderate your busy communities more efficiently. If an entry contains a link to a whitelisted (i.e., trusted) site, it will be posted automatically without need for moderator approval. If a post contains a link that is not on the whitelist, you'll be prompted to approve. To access this option, please visit settings for any community you maintain and select the third option in the Community Moderation box (located in the lower left-hand corner). Click the enable link to custom-edit your community's whitelist, which has been prepopulated with trusted domains. You can manually add or delete URLs in the text box. Please note: If you're the maintainer of an unmoderated community, you may see the radio button for this setting checked, even though it's not active. This is a known issue. Please select whichever option you prefer and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. If you're happy with your current settings, then no need to do anything!
  3. TMI, dude: We've added some fun FREE sponsored vgifts! You can send up to 50 TMI vgifts to mutual friends (btw, you cannot send free vgifts to communities). If you're a Paid/Permanent user and you want to view sponsored gifts, click Show sponsored gifts on your homepage or visit the sponsored gift page. These vgifts will only be available through Wednesday, December 23rd.

You can view more awesome user content after the jump!

Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Until next time, stay snug!

Link633 comments|Leave a comment

Statistics for Paid Accounts [16th Dec, 2009|03:01 pm]

paidmembers

[marta]
[Tags|, ]

Statistics are here!

You can now see the number of people who have visited your journal, your individual entries, a chart of comments, readers of the RSS feed of your journal, and the last 100 logged-in users who have visited your journal directly (if you've enabled My Guests).

Things you should know:
-Stats are completely anonymous (only My Guests is tied to username); only numbers are recorded, not any other information
-The times and dates in the graph are based on server time, which is UTC/GMT
-The light grey number at the top left corner of the graph is the statistical outlier
-While the graph may go back in time to this summer, the stats-gathering server was not on constantly, so previous stats may be missing. Today, and going forward, full stats are collected and displayed.
-If you opt out of My Guests (meaning that your username will not show up on other people's reports and you will not be able to view your My Guests tab), it does not affect your use of the rest of the Stats - if you're a Paid or Permanent user, you'll still be able to see all the rest of the information on this feature

Page-by-page walkthrough )
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$10 coupon for your friends! [16th Dec, 2009|02:59 pm]

paidmembers

[marta]
If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can now send 10 of your non-Paid friends a $10 coupon. Your friend will be able to purchase a Paid Account for $9.95 (instead of $19.95) for one year by enrolling in our automatic payment plan or make a manual payment of $15 (instead of $25).

  • All Paid and Permanent accounts can send out the coupons by clicking here (it's also under Friends -> Holiday promotion in the site header)
  • You can also send to people not on your Friends list by manually entering the username in the field provided
  • If your friend declines the invitation, it will be returned to your available invitation pool and you'll be able to send to someone else
  • You can send the invitations until January 15th
Link445 comments|Leave a comment

good evening swine flu jab tomorrow [14th Dec, 2009|10:03 pm]
chiming_magic
[I'm feeling |yikes]

Evening all,
I've had a nice time tonight, relaxing, having a very nice dinner and listening to folk waves, a show i haven't listened too in a while.
Today i went to get some more medication and had my housing appointment with janice.
We did another risk asessment (boring but necessary) and talked a lot which made me feel better.
Tomorrow is one of the busiest.
I've got my swine flu jab in the morning, oooooh i'm really not looking forward to it.
I hate needles, yes i'm blind and can't see them, but hate the prick.
The pain is awful.
After that i'm having a mini manicure and pedicure before christmas which i'm looking forward too.
I've never had a pedicure before, interesting.
I've got a meeting in the evening and that's my tuesday done with.
so yeah, hope tomorrow is good for everyone.
Link2 comments|Leave a comment

Writer's Block: Holiday blues [14th Dec, 2009|11:11 am]

puppybraille
[Tags|]

What is the most emotionally challenging aspect of the holidays for you? Do you enjoy this season more or less than you did as a child?


View 814 Answers




This is a hard one. I think for me, the most challenging part of the holidays is when I don't feel peaceful, and am having a lot of pain. My health is always impacted this time of year. I can't go shopping for long periods, and because of where I live and my multiple issues, transportation is difficult. It usually takes several trips to get things for people, or if I get my act together, I can sometimes buy things online.

It's hard to take care of myself right now and not feel guilty about it. As a kid, guilt was never part of Christmas, but as an adult, it definitely is. I honestly worry that I don't give enough to others, both materially and emotionally.

On the other hand, there are a lot of changes in my life recently and I am experiencing life more fully. There are tons of blessings, like new hobbies, new and closer friendship relationships and a feeling of grattitude for life. Even when I eat, I experience flavors more fully. So in many ways, I actually enjoy the season more, if not for the guilt factor.
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weekend and 1 week to go [13th Dec, 2009|11:02 pm]
chiming_magic
[I'm feeling |have no fucking idea, next?]
[I can hear |heartbreakers and heavy sleepy breathing]

Evening all,
I'm so happy right now, joe won the x factor, thank god! best man won.#
I got back here on friday and have been enjoying my weekend.#
Saturday was spent mostly relaxing and in the evening [info]jadylady and gav came round for a while, very nice and we exchanged presents and cards, i haven't opened my present am waiting until christmas day.
Today we went for lunch in the grovener in, our last one together before next sunday when i leave for christmas and we all go separate ways.
I'm partly looking forward to christmas, i'll say for the record i'll never ever forget last christmas, even though things have happened and some of the party have parted ways, it's one i'll keep in my heart, forever.
This week i've got a meeting, volunteering (whenever i can fit it in) and on tuesday my swine flu jab, aaaaaaah! i'm not looking forward to that.
Anyways, will update whenever i can.
Link4 comments|Leave a comment

New book? [11th Dec, 2009|08:50 pm]

puppybraille
[Tags|]

Another book? Maybe! If you want it. If you're interested, or even if you're not, please take my
iPod Touch book survey
LinkLeave a comment

Writer's Block: Forever young [11th Dec, 2009|09:45 am]

puppybraille
[Tags|, , , ]
[I'm feeling |anxious]

If cryogenics became a real, affordable option (i.e., if you could freeze your body until aging and illnesses were better understood), would you consider it? If so, do you fear you'd miss out on the wisdom that comes with growing old and dying?


View 614 Answers



This is a hard question to answer. There are times when I wish I could freeze my body and not experience the pain of RSD and just wake up when RSD doesn't exist or has been figured out. I get so frustrated with being ill and in pain, and all the baggage that comes with it. But it also brings great opportunities with it! I've learned so much from the way my life is. So, yeah, I do fear I'd miss out on something good that might come out of it.

I guess it depends on the day. When my pain is bad and my body is uncooperative, I wish I could just sleep until they can fix me. But then there's the part of me which knows that my blindness, something many consider to be a terrible affliction has brought me great opportunities. I'm just starting to see some of those blessings in my RSD life, and I do try to focus on that instead of the pain but it's hard to do.

I also fear I'd miss the chance to help others. When I self-published
my book
I found out that many people did like my writing and some even say it helped them. And even though I haven't been blogging as much, I used to get comments on entries that helped others. If I can be used by God to help otherss, who am I to stand in the way of that by escaping a situation I don't like? It's not easy, and I don't walk around smiling all of the time, but there are so many good things I'd miss out on, I guess I'm not sure what I'd do. Given the choice, not considering anything else, I'd get rid of my pain, and if I find a treatment that works, I'll use it, but for me to just take myself out of the equation might mean fewer blessings for me and just maybe for others.
Link2 comments|Leave a comment

(no subject) [11th Dec, 2009|01:10 am]

prog_neeber
[Tags|, ]
[I'm feeling | tired]

This is my nephew Euan, he's 4 days old

Photobucket

Braw eh?
Link1 comment|Leave a comment

LiveJournal Major Notes: Notification fix, Snowflake cookie avalanche, LJLimerick, holiday vgifts! [10th Dec, 2009|02:49 pm]

news

[theljstaff]
[Tags|, , , , , , , ]

Tweaks and enhancements

  • As a number of you reported, a service interruption impaired sending and receiving notifications for a couple of days. This was due to an avalanche of snowflake cookies. We've removed the free snowflake cookie and unclogged the pipeline. Timely notifications should resume shortly. Please note that there's a backlog in our queues, so you'll be getting earlier notifications first. For more details, check out this post at [info]lj_maintenance.
  • In anticipation of the new year, we've embarked on a self-improvement kick to boost our backend (pun semi-intended). This will allow us to offer you a holiday promotion in the next few weeks (yes, we're listening and working very hard to make it happen). We sincerely appreciate your continued patience and support.

Holiday vgifts are here!

We've added some fantastic new vgifts to help you spread holiday cheer. We also hope you'll honor AIDS Awareness Month by purchasing virtual red ribbons. Priced at $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine.

Introducing: LJLimericks

We cordially here do invite you
To craft a fine limerick. Might you?
Each week, a new theme,
Then a poll, that's our dream
Winner posted on news to delight you!

In honor of all the brilliant writers on LiveJournal, we've created a brand new community: [info]ljlimericks! Each week, we'll enter a handful of limericks into a poll (which we'll tuck snugly under an LJ-Cut). The winning poem will be published in the following newsletter. In addition, the author will receive a virtual blue ribbon! If you have the time, come drop us a rhyme. Please keep the "Nantucket" stuff on the downlow, since this is a youth-friendly community. Our first prompt is: Insomnia in winter.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible images from our global photography community. Congratulations to [info]sempre_marseeya, who has been awarded a virtual blue ribbon as the winner of our second [info]lj_photophile poll.

We hate to squelch your creativity, but, as a courtesy to other users, please post only one photo at a time and keep the main photo no larger than 350x350 (so images display properly via mobile and on friends pages). You can link to a larger image and/or post photos under a cut. Just so you know, we select photos for the poll blindly, based on user comments and staff feedback. Please continue to vote, comment, and, of course, enjoy. You can check out the week in pictures and view more awesome user content after the jump!

Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay warm and safe out there!

Link481 comments|Leave a comment

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