I'm
afraid. Sorry for the delay -- I was waiting to hear from the tech
folks on a few things (primarily the procedure on clearing your
TopSpeed cache, below [Update: which I have now
added.] I will post more info as I hear from
them:
* Ad
Banners:
Nothing new to tell you. We're working on
displaying disclaimer text, but everything I see says the banner ad
isn't going away.
Also, BusinessWeek's Blogspotting
did a followup
entry on Saturday about some of your
boycotts and other protests in response to the ad
banners.
* Character Sets Not Displaying
Properly:
This
is the issue of extended characters (accents and other symbols) not
showing up correctly. As mentioned, the tech folks tried a fix but it
didn't work. No update at the moment.
*
Inability to Save Entries:
The
tech folks really think that the problem of being unable to save
entries is fixed on their end. Because of cached files that are stored
on your computer, your computer may not be "seeing" the fix, so you'd
still be having the problem even though it's
"fixed."
The tech
folks are working on installing a patch that will force your computer
to get the correct version of the files, by telling it to go look for
the files in a new location. This should happen by Wednesday. If you
don't want to wait (and why would you?), you can try clearing your
caches yourself.
There are two types of
caches we are concerned with. You will need to clear
both:
Cache 1. Your
Web browser cache: This one is easy to fix. Go to
AOL Keyword: Browser
Settings, click the text link that says Internet
Explorer Settings, then in the section marked "Temporary
Internet Files", click the button that says Delete
Files:
2. Your AOL TopSpeed cache (or footprint):
This one depends on which version of the AOL 9.0 software you have
[Update: I added the instructions for AOL 9.0 SE
users] :
- If you have AOL 9.0
Safety & Security Edition: This is easy,
but you need to have the most recent version of
theAOL 9.0 software. Go to AOL Keyword: Browser Settings. You
should see two tabs -- one for "TopSpeed" and one that says "Clear My
Footprints." Click on the Clear My Footprints tab,
then click the Clear My Footprints
button. - If you have
AOL 9.0 SE: You can use the AOL System
Information Utility program, which comes with your
AOL:
* In the Windows Start Menu (usually along the
bottom of your screen), click the Start
button.
* Click Programs, then
America Online, then AOL System
Information:
*
In the AOL System Info program, click the Utilities
tab, then click the Clear Browser Cache button.
Despite the name, the TopSpeed guys assure me that clicking this button
will also clear the TopSpeed cache:
You
might need to restart your computer after doing
this.
[Update:
Clearing your footprint should fix the problem, so the following
instructions have been superceded, but I have left them in for future
historians] If you would like to disable AOL TopSpeed, go to AOL
Keyword: Browser
Settings. Uncheck the box next to
"Optimize Web browsing using TopSpeed technology:
This
should tell your computer to stop using the TopSpeed cache, which will
force it to get the correct version from the
servers.
if this fix works for you, or if you're still having
problems.
Thanks -- Joe
45 comments:
I like the idea of the disclaimer. Yes we know the ads are going nowhere so ignore them and move on people! Thanks for helping me joe i appreciate it
Deb
"The banner ad isn't going away" according to exactly WHO?
If your people are telling the national media that AOL has received only 23 complaints, then why should we assume the decision makers are aware of any more than that?!
AOL certainly hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt, and - now that you're clarifying in the SMALL TEXT that the ads are here to stay - how's about putting us directly in contact with Bad Decision Central.
Joe...It took me several attempts but I finally got my journal to save my entries. I am happy to hear about the disclaimer. Thanks. Lisa
Okay, now we are getting somewhere. I guess the disclaimer text will do, but please make large enough to see. Not like those tags in the grocery store that say 5/$10.00, but has a small text below the price that says "must purchase quantity stated"
Hi Joe,
Can you feature my journal?
http://deabvt.blogspot.com/
V
Just out of curiosity have you actually asked the AOL top guys why they think it is a good idea to keep the ads? You keep telling us they are here to stay, but the negative consequences seem to far out weight the positive, so I was just wondering why they would implement something that obviously does not work and could possible damage the products advertised in the long run. And make sure you put the ad disclaimer in some bold text and color so people really can see it.
Too bad.. I've once again tried this. IS there a REAL reason I can't access MY journal? I've tried all these "wonderful" ideas. Some journals I can access some I can't.. but never MY own....
We all know from cigarette packages how well disclaimers work. Disclaimers are absurd, bureaucratic nonsense. We can certainly speak for ourselves--that's what the journals are FOR. The way you speak of the banners, it certainly sounds like a "done deal." Still, no one has seen fit to explain to us how, when, or why this decision was made. It stinks to high heaven. I've got "bloglines" now and don't need AOL's alerts. I've got a great journal at Blogspot where I don't have to wrestle with ftp space and resizing to post pictures. And, best of all, NO BANNER ADS are on my journal there. http://theresawilliams-author.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the Email responce to my comment below, Joe:
Again, I'd like to make this perfectly clear: This IS NOT about the answers I WANT and in the timely fashion for which "I", me and only me, prefer to have them answered; I'm quite sure I'm not alone. THIS IS about ANY & ALL ANSWERS TO "ALL" OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED -not just the answers that you may "think" "I" want to hear but to all the answers to the questions concerning Everybody on America On-Line. As to weather we may think them good or bad is an individual decision. And, in reference to you being "the only tech folk I know" What I meant was this: The AOL On-Line Tech folks DON'T ANSWER their Instant Message complaints but save maybe a week later. If they have worked that Bug out I'd be surprised; it's been a while since I've had the stomach to try. hmmm..actually I haven't had to until this most recent "Update" So, you are the only tech person I know. I alert you to my problem and you answer my questions here. Am I wrong about that? I'm confused.
SHOW US THAT OUR COMPLAINTS ARE BEING HEARD.
It really is that simple, Please???
Joe, my save entry problem is fixed. Thanks for you and the other bloggers who posted the info on clearing the caches, it worked for me, and it took me less than 3 minutes to do. It's really simple.
On the other hand Joe, you keep talking about these banner ads. I have yet seen one on my blog or anyone elses. What's the deal? Am I missing something? Just curious. Thanks.
- http://journals.aol.com/treesoup1/TheWildCatBlog
I don't need your "disclaimer text" -- I've come up with my own... things like "Bank of America Sucks." I'm sure the advertisers like that in the blog description and entry titles. Y'see, that's one of the many problems AOL's going to face with slapping banner ads atop personal journals -- negative publicity and basically an anti-company advertised stance.
I got out my box of disks and found a old 7.0 version of AOL then took out 9.0 and put in 7.0.
It worked! No pop up nor glorified spam from AOL. (8.0 might work too, but I had no 8.0) I have to operate differently in this old program but I don't have the ad's on the bottom of my email nor at the top when I visit other web sites. And I have peace! Everytime they've up dated they're more intursive anyway. AOL needs a lawsuit...they've have false advertising on the free disk they've given everybody to use their serves. Thanks
What is it going to take to let you know that we don't need no stinking disclaimers? We already had to put our own up since last week. An update on when the ad banners THEMSELVES will be removed would be much, much more appreciated. All your Magic Smoke-and-Mirrors isn't going to shut us up, Joe.
Armand,
What do you mean AOL is saying that they have recieved only 23 complaints about the ads? (Did they mean "23 hundred"?) I have sent 8 separate emails to JournalsChanges, multiple emails to WashingtonCaps, I have spoken with Technical Support and I have left more messages on John and Joe's blogs than I can count (and I am not the most angry person in this mess)..... where does 23 come from???
Virginia
http://animalnaturespirits.blogspot.com/
And I agree with what is said below, a disclaimer isn't any kind of solution. I already have a disclaimer on my now abandoned AOL journal. Removing the offensive ad is the solution. My words and my thoughts should not be used against my wishes to sell products and services that I have not approved of.
Virginia
http://animalnaturespirits.blogspot.com/
I knew the corporate whores wouldn't take away a potential money source, even if we have to lie down on our backs and do the work while they collect the money.
Shame on you all for the dirty coins you make off of our lives and off of our friend's and family's lives and deaths.
Shame on you.
wow
nat
I would really like you to answer Armandt's question, Joe. Why is AOL lieing and saying they've only received 23 complaints? And why is the number of complaints important? Whether it's two complaints or a thousand, AOL has an obligation to its customers.
We deserve an explanation. We've waited long enough.
Yes, I still have a problem, there's still an ad on my journal.
Ari
this fix worked for me.... now we just need to fix that ugly ad banner. Virginia and I alone have written more than 23 letters to the journals changes address.... something smells very fishy. Joe, can you get them to make all the letters publicly accessible so we can see them? Or I would be glad to come and pick up a transcript....
judi
This morning I calculated in the 27 months I have been using AOL Journals I have paid $457.65 to AOL. It is a lower price than some, because I have the arrangement where I have agreed to pay AOL on top of already having a service contract with Comcast. That cost me $1,215 for the same 27 months. My average cost of using the AOL service since 1993 is approximately is $3,888. So, while that might not seem much for AOL, I would imagine then a hundred customers would be $388,800. Maybe there are more than a hundred unhappy customers? What is going to be the worse for AOL. Losing its most sound customer base, losing the profits we represent, loss of advertising space our presence is allowing, perhaps the bad press that is going to to continue following in its quake? I have a couple of additional problems with what I've seen this week beside the sneak in the dark attack on our good will and patience. First, if I wanted to access AOL from another server, why am I paying AOL. The second thing is your mention of "this weeks" anger, like given time our anger will diminish. Believe me, I can hold anger longer than you can hold your breath! Still disatisfied customer.
23 complaints total from individuals? Come on, that's all JournalChanges@aol.com got? That's all the phone calls? The complaints to Keyword: Tell Us? I don't believe that at all. It's sad how members are treating like cattle. Moo.
I've decided that since it feels like no one is listening, I shall double my efforts and shout louder.
GET THE ADS OFF OUR JOURNALS.
AOL has broken any trust that we had.
Ari
Joe, I'm curious why you never told us how to solve the Ad problem. I just figured out how to get rid of it and it was SO simple! Are you maybe not aware of this "fix"? All I did was go to my private journal, click on the pop up blocker and click "block animated graphics from aol.com". I exited my journal and went back into it and it was totally gone! Only a teeny tiny red x was left at the very top. Please pass on this info to all the angry AOL subscribers and maybe, just maybe, you can get some relief from all this craziness!!! (sorry about posting this in this entry, but I didn't really know where else to put it)
Hi stephdsohre -- I addressed using AOL's ad blocker here: http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/853
The short of it is that while it will work for you, people who visit your blog might not be blocking ads, which is still an issue for many people. Thanks -- Joe
(posted and mailed)
Joe, the banner ad mystery I was having is solved. It was due to blockup and ad controls with my Nortons - which brings about a whole other issue as to AOL and these companies who take advantage of those who have pop up controls and never freakin realize that their own personal page is being literally littered with adverstisements without any compensation at all! I would have never known that Bank of America and Verizon Wireless chose to put their advertisements on my Wildcat Blog if it weren't for you and the AOL blogging community talking about these ads. But hey, I'll post more later on my blog. But I see the ads now and I'm not happy with it.
How much did Michael Jordan make off endorsing Nike?
Joe - an observation and a question:
We have been told that the text in the alerts was shortened (in the same update as gave us the banners) in order to fix the alert delivery problem.
In the past, the alerts were long enough that I was often able to read an entire entry without having to go to the actual journal. Now, I almost always have to go to the journal (which has forced me to cut down on the number of alerts, since I don't have time for that, especially since the banner ads slow load time). However, I notice that the UK journals, which do not have the ads, still provide long alerts. This implies that the shortening of the alerts is connected somehow to the addition of the banners.
One cannot help but wonder if the purpose of shortening the alerts was NOT to fix an alert problem, but to forcefeed the banner ads. !!!!!
Wouldn't it have been more efficient, more effective, and less disruptive to put the ads in the alerts, and leave the alert text long, rather than putting them in the journals?
~~Silk
Silk -- I have an entry on the Alerts text length changes pending (this was noted last week, I just thought it was more important to get the Save Entries problem resolved). I will post it later today. Thanks -- Joe (posted and mailed)
NEW ENTRY, ENTITLED "THE FINAL STRAW -- THAT OLD CAMEL HAS COLLAPSED"
ONE WOULD THINK. . .
that aol might be trying to retain and recover those of its unpaid contributors who might have gone elsewhere.
ONE WOULD BE MISTAKEN.
More than a week after the ads went up:
1. My archives still indicate 1 post per month.
2. The archives still go to the wrong month, so to find an old entry you have to go back into archives, click on the CORRECT month, and got to the date in question, and then start all over again for the next one, etc etc. . .
AND
HERE'S THE WINNER:
I have always backed up my journal periodically with hard copies. I have several notebooks worth. Today I decided to work on that task a bit. In the past I would simply open an entry and click "Print." I would get a nice clean copy of the entry, with photos or other illustrations completely intact.
BUT GUESS WHAT????????????
THE ONLY THING I CAN PRINT NOW ARE THE ADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOT my entries. NOT MY ENTRIES.
For the entries I have to painstakingly copy every single one into Word, save and print -- and the photographs all come out as about 1/10 the size of a thumbnail.
I hope the BOA commerical artists are happy.
I AM NOT.
i tried blocking the ad with the "block animated media from aol" but it doesn't do anything.. is that because i have aol 9 se? also tried clearing all the stuff you said to do...sigh..
http://herethereandeverywhere2ndedition.blogspot.com/
http://journals.aol.co.uk/deslily/HereThereEverywhere2/
thanks to oceanmrc for the information......... I learned more from you than I have from aol in days:):):)
As always, it is a pleasure Joe.
And for your listening enjoyment:
http://forimmediaterelease.biz/index.php/weblog/the_hobson_and_holtz_report_podcast_87_november_21_2005/
about 1/4 of the way through the broadcast.
judi
They must be making the lastest updates: I have to access my journal from Firefox again, and my counter is gone. ::sighing::
Ha! Another journaler has solved my problem. See my comment section if you want to know how.
Her expertise does not, of course, excuse aol's lack thereof.
Oceanmrc... Thanks for the information. My eyes roll to the back of my head at the thought of the impending nightmare I'll encounter when I backup my journal. Oh mercy... This could make for a very interesting and *ahem* fragrant audio entry! What will be next, audio ads? My heart is sinking further into this dark abyss. Propaganda and AOL ignorance are overwhelming me. ::sigh::
Still waiting for communication from AOL, until then, I'm grateful for Oceanmrc <and other journalers> for such informative information! Whether I like it or not, happy with it or not, it's communication. Communication is good, it's the cornerstone of humanity.
Judith
http://journals.aol.com/jtuwliens/MirrorMirrorontheWall
And by the way, Joe and AOL Corporate (which is at least affecting an astonishing level of indifference, but one never knows. . .):
Have you looked at this entry, Joe? With all the little screens and instructions? You do realize, right, how ludicrous it is that you should have to ask your paying customers to endure such an entry or try to translate it? I realize that you know what footprints and spiders are, but that's why you are paid and we are not.
OH, and on the subject of AOL indifference:
Remember that Mr. Nixon was advised to stonewall it, and we all know where that sound advice got him.
And finally, with all due respect to Miss Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of a treasure trove of fury must be in want of a blog in which to release it.
ahhhh, hello Joe. My archives are broken. Like it could get any better, right????? How does aol propose to fix this? While they are at it, have them get the banner ads off my journal.
judi
Oceanmrc: Hi...sorry for the step-by-step technical instructions, but there's no way for anyone (that I know of) over here to remotely take over your computer and fix the problem for you (and it's unlikely you would want anyone to have that capability).
Regarding my talking about spiders ops and footprints and such -- I try to provide additional background information to show that I'm not just making stuff up and that there's a reason for all this.
If you think the supplemental information is distracting or confusing, I will re-examine my writing style to see if I can make things a little cleaner and clearer.
Thanks -- Joe
No, Joe, your writing is fine and I'm sure many of us appreciate it. (That's genuine -- no sarcasm there.)
You seem however to be choosing to ignore my point, which is that you shouldn't have to write it and we shouldn't have to attempt it. Things should work.
That said, all the info in your newest post above is very interesting but it's impossible to feel any excitement about all the new releases when we've seen how utterly aol has botched the ad release from a technical standpoint. It really doesn't make any difference whether or not multiple people can post to a newly-skinned journal if said people are too busy clearing cashes with their hidden footprints and spidery webs to post anything at all.
Obviously there's no point in discussing how aol botched the ad release from a customer relations standpoint. The customers are the only ones who care.
Hi...I agree with you that "things should work." In a less-imperfect world, software would be bug-free and self-repairing. However, software, just like anything else, is fallible. Software having problems is not restricted to AOL: All software has problems, and require fixes and patches.
There is no magic wand. It should be also be easier to get peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar, and it should be easier to start a roll of toilet paper, and it should be easier to change a headlight lamp in your car. Everyone in the industry is trying to be better, but software doesn't live in isolation -- it interacts with other programs on your computer, datafiles are subject to corruption, and users do unexpected things to their computers.
Software is never going to be bulletproof. Likewise, I doubt that computers are ever going to be like rotisserie chicken roasters ("Set It and Forget It") -- it's always going to require a certain level of user intervention.
To the extent that software can perform these fixes in the background or in a way that's invisible to the user is something we can strive for, but again, there are always issues of control and access that you have to consider.
Thanks -- Joe
Judith,
I clicked the link and listened to that broadcast. Thank you for that. My spirits are lifted.
Joe,
Tell your techs that they haven't taken the ad off my journal yet. I'm waiting.
Ari
Mr Editor..I cleared all the crap off my computer and it still wont let me post a regular entry in my journal. I had to do an IM entry. Any other suggestions?
Katie
journals.aol.com/katiekdidit/Afreshstart
h
I did the first thing and I don't have the second thing. It stilll will not let me save. What's wrong?
Help,
Karen
h
Thanks for the tips, I will try it and get back with U how it did,Denise
Special Characters???
How about those tech guys find a fix for the 'size 12 font' not working first. Since me and a handful of others were asked to Beta test AOL journals, right at the very beginning, we have made the tech guys aware of this problem. But still, three and a half years later there seems to be no fix in sight, for what should be a relatively easy problem to solve.
C'mon, pull your fingers out guys...
http://journals.aol.co.uk/davethesod/mish-mash/
Post a Comment