Two bits of bad news...

[smeddley]

Economically, LJ may be going down the tubes. If it falls, I worry I'll lose touch with all you great people. :( Sadness.

I'm going gray, which in itself is not the bad news. I really don't care... except my gray patch I found is in a weird place! It's behind my ear, not at the temple or anything. And, the worst part? It's only on the right side. I'm getting old unevenly! Something tells me it's weird I should be most upset about the 'uneven' part, but there you have it.

Comments

[cherokeepurple.livejournal.com]

Sounds to me like your battling getting old - fighting it off on the other side! Good job... now how do you manage that! My gray is coming in all over, especially on the temples.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Maybe because I'm right-handed the left side of my brain is working harder and staying younger?

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

I'm right-handed too, but I notice all my gray hairs on my left side. So, you aren't the only one, but I don't think your theory works ;)

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Rats! Then I suppose my starting to do things left-handed won't balance me out, then... ;p

[tarpo.livejournal.com]

What the heck are you talking about?

[foxfirefey]

This. But don't worry. If it's dying, it would be a very slow death. No need to panic about it.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I hope it'll take 1-2 years, at least. And by then there might be some seriously, good alternatives. And who knows, someone who understands running a blogging service might actually take over...

I'm not panicing (yet) it's just a sad future thought. :/

[foxfirefey]

Actually, yes, I am very hopeful for Dreamwidth and have been helping them out in my small capacities. This has renewed the project's vigor, and there are old school LJ employees behind it. They are not just making a fork; they are also making some changes to the system, for the better. For instance, your reading list and your "friends" will be separated. They're also working on making it so that your journal can be imported completely, with comments and userpics at least.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

The lack of the ability to save/move comments efficiently is really annoying. :/ I've never manages to get LJ Archive to work, it hangs up everytime on the comments.

[foxfirefey]

Dreamwidth would do the import in this instance--there is no other way they could import comments and trust that was what was actually said.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

your reading list and your "friends" will be separated

Oh, I like the sound of that.

[tarpo.livejournal.com]

There are a couple of million accounts here. Its not like they are suddenly going to close up shop

[tarpo.livejournal.com]

oh pfft.. I'll believe it when I see it. Seems like over dramatic writing to make a big deal out of some bad business.

[foxfirefey]

I'll note my don't worry was to smeddley.

And I don't think I've written anything overly dramatic--I'm just very sad, one of my LJ friends was just laid off with one week to go and no severance. This isn't a rumor. I don't even know how to begin comforting her. Other remaining employees are devastated, and I'd imagine that the volunteer Support are, too.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

This is one of the least dramatic places I've seen it discussed, to be honest. I was trying to be not-at-all panic-y about it, just mentioning how sad I would be to lose it. Then again, pretty much everything comes to an end eventually.

I've had friends laid off, there's nothing really you can do or say, just... being quietly supportive, I think, and letting them rant if they want to. I hope things work out for your friend, and soon - maybe they'll end up with even a better job! (this did actually happen to my friend that was laid off twice in two years - she's happiest where she is now)

[foxfirefey]

Well, your journal isn't dramatic, but I don't know whether they were calling the post I linked to (which I wrote) overly dramatic, or whether it was places I was linking to, such as Valleywag or something.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I admit I didn't follow your link, but I will say the Valleywag article is pretty dramatic and obviously meant to cause a stir. Like most of the 'news' these days, drama=ratings! I'd like to say I'm surprised LJ hasn't made an official announcement (on LJ itself) but really... I'm not surprised they'd think to post here last...

[foxfirefey]

That's because VW is a gossip rag. Self admitted.

These firings only occurred yesterday. The VW article was posted at 2 am. It's not surprising there is no official announcement on LJ yet. They've just barely managed to whore out the PR about "valued colleagues" "leaving the company" during this "restructuring".

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

It takes a lot of time to think up that many euphamisms for 'fired'! Seriously, do companies really think they're cushioning the blow? That anyone buys that they're really sorry? (Sure, individuals might be, but honestly, if it's what keeps the business afloat no CEO would think twice or feel bad - especially once you've transitioned from thinking of them as people to classifying them as 'resources')

[foxfirefey]

They just made an official press release. Here is their classy Twitter post (don't know if that's an official channel).

[aeamek.livejournal.com]

We know this Russian company likes money, so they'll probably keep it going as long as it's bringing in SOMETHING.

The problems come when they can't update their service. Firing the tech people probably wasn't the smartest move.

[foxfirefey]

Oh, it'll be kept going. Russian coders are just ever so much more cheaper than US users, and the company is more concerned with developing its Russian market, which has different needs and wishes than we do.

[aeamek.livejournal.com]

BUT THIS MEANS THE COMMUNISTS WIN!

[foxfirefey]

Well. The capitalists, anyway. SUP isn't communist, I can say that.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Eeep! Capatalism and communism cannot be compared! One is a system of economics and one is a form of government...

(sorry, pet peeve!)

blah...

[a-l-p-h-a-b-e-t.livejournal.com]

Eh, I'm sure LJ will get gobbled up by google or micro$oft or something. The management will keep messing with things to bring the cost of the company down so it will look appealing to a bigger company to buy.

Although if it does collapse, I'm willing to put forth some money to spin off LJDQ! :)

Re: blah...

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

You're really hooked there, aren't you?

I get all happy when I see friends quoted there. :) Okay, not as happy as when I am (though I need to remember to play more regularly!) but happy...

[cazrolime.livejournal.com]

You can get accounts at scribbld now without an invite code, and I'm working out how to backup my journal there in the unlikely event that lj goes down the tubes. So if it does and you're looking for me, hi there (http://www.scribbld.net/users/cazrolime/).

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I have, at least, bookmarked you - of course I already found you on Twitter! :D I dont' know if I want to sign up for yet another blog account, but we'll see...

[cazrolime.livejournal.com]

:D I lied anyway, I'm more likely to move to insanejournal (http://cazrolime.insanejournal.com) now if everything goes balls-up. The user interface is more intuitive, and despite that stupid yellow face it also doesn't make my eyes sad. \o/

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I have an insanejournal!

I bet you can't guess my username! I bet you can't! ;p

[cazrolime.livejournal.com]

I dunno, does it have like an S in it or something? :P

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

In fact... it does!

Are you psychic?!

[cazrolime.livejournal.com]

Only a little! It's nothing to brag about, really... some mind-reading here, a spot of future-seeing there...

[mmmontserrat.livejournal.com]

Yes, I caved and started dying my hair last year when I was stuck on a tarmac during a JFK bomb scare (and they did arrest those guys) anyway, I pulled out about 10 gray hairs just sitting there playing with my front strands not to mention the ones I can't see!! EEK~

Thankfully, my hairdresser is frugal like me. She gives me a "family discount" for reviewing her at Yelp and she only charges me $40 per highlighting session instead of like $150 per sesion. CAN YOU BELIEVE women pay that much? She also does it so people Don't say, oh you had your hair colored/highlighted today. My step-sister's hair is always painfully colored so it looks wrong. I hate that.

[sv-galena.livejournal.com]

It's good being a guy :-)

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Except that whole male-pattern baldness thing... ;P

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I can't believe the amount it costs some places to get your hair done! I've decided to just go natural for now - no muss, no fuss, and most importantly, no cost!

I admit I pulled out the gray hair I first found in my bangs, because it was thicker and sticking out funny. Really, that was the reason!

<.<
>.>

Edit: Eeep! My poor little emoticon had lost an eye!

[mmmontserrat.livejournal.com]

From my recruiter seat it seems like a lot of companies are downsizing because they can right now. I haven't peaked at the financials for what's LJ's parent company called again?? But it seems like they should be making money from sponsors and advertising right?

I think LJ would be gobbled up by a big company too, for the "revenue stream" aka the public *we* that are potential revenue stream and potential marketing guinea pigs.

[mmmontserrat.livejournal.com]

oh Six Apart is still a private company so we can't examine the financials--to see how "real" the financial threat to them is. Or how badly they are really doing, aside from Press Releases. Thx for keeping us informed.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I can't believe they still haven't said anything to us... They have to have seen the panic posts!

[auraesque.livejournal.com]

Did you see a dead people?

I like google reader to keep up with my non-LJ (and LJ) friends. You can find me at: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/02540403858753719177 and add me so we can share our quirky internet finds outside of LJ. :D

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna have to take a little bit of time and figure that out... I haven't yet delved into the world of Google Reader, I fully admit I've rather put all of my eggs in one basket here at LJ... O.o

[crimsonlotus84.livejournal.com]

When the Armageddon Clock starts ticking I'll give you my Email address (which I think you already have). We can always migrate.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

There will be a place to go! There will!