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8:45:00 PM EST
Hearing King of the Mountain -- Kate Bush
Peeking My Head Out
Tornado update: the worst seems to have passed us by, although we lost power here in the Scalzi household for more than an hour, and the power has been flickering on and off since then. We're still in the middle of a lightning storm, however, and every once in a while the sky lights up and reveals serious gray ominousness. It's pretty and scary.
Update update: People are still dropping in comments in the earlier entry I designated for comments about the update, so by all means swing by and see the latest in what people have to say. Needless to say, people have been quite passionate about the topic. I do want to say thanks to the majority of you who have honored by request to leave the comments about the update in the designated thread; I know emotions are running high but it's good to see that even in such circumstances people are being generally polite. It's also been very useful for me to be able to point to one place where interested folks can take the temperature of the AOL-J.
I also want to thank the folks who have dropped me e-mail or comments letting me know that their ire is with AOL and not at me. I appreciate the sentiment, but I also want you all to know that this is part of my job. We've all been through a lot of good things together, and I've benefited from your thanks and praise with those. When things happen that cause people to be upset or frustrated with AOL and AOL Journals, I have to work with that, too. It's why the first thing I did when I signed on this morning was to put up an entry about the ad banners and invite you to leave your comments. I was pretty sure of what I'd be seeing in the comment threads, and I wasn't wrong.
Independent of my own thoughts regarding the ad banners, my primary regret today is simply that I was not in a position to have brought the matter of the ad banners to you folks prior to their appearance. There are various reasons for that, which are immaterial now, but to the extent that I bear responsibility for that lapse, you have my apology. Bringing these sorts of things to you proactively is part of my job responsibility as well, and in that respect I am sorry I let you down. This is my job, and I should have done it better for you.
Between now and the final set of updates to the current AOL Journals client, I'll be working to make sure that we keep lines of communication open -- Joe has written about some of the upcoming feature updates already, but we'll also work to keep you up on the dates the updates are to be implemented, so you'll know ahead of time if you see changes or if there are temporary glitches in how you access your AOL Journal. Hopefully we'll keep the surprises -- pleasant or unpleasant -- to a minimum from here on out.
Now I'm off for the evening, to spend a bit of time with the family. Have a good night, and I'll see you all in the morning.
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hi john
natalie -
I have two journals John. One is a light hearted one that I can live with. The other journal is special. Andi (artloner) and I created that journal for the ill and disabled. Everyone can write in it via email. Andi worked hard to try to find soothing colors and a pleasant theme for those who have a problem with flashing things and other stuff. Now these people are forced to endure a flashing ad banner. I can take it. I don't like it but I can deal. It is not fair to those who come to our journal for help, or as a haven. They come to be around others who understand and care. Now they have this. I am truly not angry for me. I am angry for them. We started this FOR them! They are the ones that suffer because of it. No, I don't blame you. It isn't your fault. But it isn't right John. It just isn't right.
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The more I read, the more I can see all of your points. As of this moment, I'm not sure what I plan on doing to support the cause. I feel llike, because I'm an AIM journaler, that this is an issue that doesn't impact me the way it impacts all of you. That being said, I also feel like you all have been taken advantage of because you weren't told what was going to happen, and you weren't given a choice. If I were in your position, I think I'd be pissed too. No--I know I'd be pissed.
The part of this that does impact me is what makes me upset. I just joined this community a few months ago. What kept me writing here, instead of moving to blogger, or livejournal, was the ease of the system and the warmth you all have shown me in the time I've been brodcasting my thoughts. I have come to appreciate many of my fellow J-Landers (even if I live on the AIM side of the tracks), and it upsets me that AOL takes your work and your position as a paying J-Lander so lightly.
I still don't know if I want to join the exodus or not--a decision will be pending and will be posted sometime tonight, I think. If I join the exodus, it will not be for myself, but as a sign of solidarity with other J-Landers I respect.
Please, those of you who have posted in the past on my journal, make sure you drop by my journal and leave a forwarding address. If I get enough of a response to this request, I will join Patrick in posting your new addresses in my journal.
Y'all keep your heads high.
Jess
http://journals.aol.com/aurielalata/CIWTheOtherInvisible
PS: This message will be posted at my journal as well. -
Jess, it is, IMO, a combination of the two. Certainly if someone somewhere had given a rat's ass about the time and energy we've put in to making AOL-J the community it's become enough to give us the courtesy and dignity of a head's up, perhaps we would not feel as violated as we do with this unannounced, cowardly, middle-of-the-night sneak attack. Which it was.
However, for me, had the sneak attack been taking away Arial Narrow or our ability to hyperlink, I would have been angry, but certainly not to the extent of chucking two years of my life to find a new home on Blogger.
What I write in my journal is mine. They are MY feelings, MY opinions, MY emotions, not AOL's. And I don't work for free. My intellectual property is just that: MINE. And it's not for sale. I would never have maintained an AIM blog. Why would I when I can go to Blogger, get a much nicer template, much more versatility and an ad-free, cost-free forum?
Sorry Jess. It's the ads.
~~ jennifer
11/19/05 10:22 PM
http://RightDownTown.com/info
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