Journals R6 Release Is "Go" for Launch, 6/13, 4am ET

Hi folks -- hope you had a good weekend. Here's the current status of the Journals R6 Release, which I mentioned last week: We are a GO for launch, so R6 will be installed tomorrow morning, Tuesday, June 13, from 4AM-6AM ET.

Journals will be unavailable during this time.

Here is status on specific items:

• We're in Beta: The Journals tech team pushed the R6 changes to beta early this morning. As is normal with this kind of thing, there were some glitches, but the Journals team got it up and out there.
  
  To see the beta, just add "beta." to the beginning of the Journal's address; for example, my live blog's address is: http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/
  
  The beta version of my Journal is located at: http://beta.journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/
  
  Note that changes to your beta Journal will be reflected in your real, live Journal (for example, I'm posting this entry via the beta, so you can see... well, keep reading), so be careful or create a test Journal to play around with.
  
  Some of the features you'll see in beta include the new Journals header (with the Journals Search entry field), the tagging beta test for Microsoft Internet Explorer, and the ability to embed tables in entries, like this one:
  
  

  New Feature	What It Does
  Tables	Lets you use tables in entries. Like this one.

  
  
  
• Ad Banners for International Journals: The business teams for Germany, France and the UK have decided to not add ad banners to the top of International Journals. However, as of this writing, Mexico and Canada will be getting the ad banners in R6 (although this is still being looked at).
  

We'll keep you updated as we get more info.

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: AOL Journals, AOL Journals Status, Journals R6, AOL Journals Beta

New Guest Editor's Picks for 6/9

Hi everyone. Here are the new Guest Editor's Picks, as posted to the Journals Main Page and announced in the Journals Message Board:

This week's Guest Editor is Jeannie, an author, journalist, and self-described wine snob who lives in Napa. Her blog is The World Is a Wild Ride...

Jeannie's husband has worked with police in the past (he now works for a private investigation and security firm), so she chose a theme of police blogs (blogs by and about police). Check out her top six blog picks:

* The Police News
* The Policeman's Blog
* LAPD Wife
* LAPD Blog
* Butler County Sheriff's Office Official Blog
* Law Enforcement Blog

Jeannie's varied interests include military history (she's currently restoring an A-26 Invader attack bomber); see her profile for more stuff.

Don't forget, if you want your own chance at being a Guest Editor, send me an e-mail at JournalsEditor@aol.com. Please don't forget to include a link to your blog.

I'm especially interested in blogs by and about dads for Father's Day next week, as well as bloggers who are interested in doing a theme related to July 4th, so please drop me a line if that sound like you.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Thanks -- Joe

Tag: Guest Editor's Picks

Blog Six-Pack Picks, 2.10

So, here's our last installment from the second edition of my Blog Six-Pack Picks,  where I asked all you bloggers to pick six blogs or Journals on any theme, or no theme at all.

Here, you can see the previously featured Six-Pack Picks: 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.9

Check out all our Six-Packers's blogs for full descriptions, bonus picks and more, and please comment in the blogs (pickers and pickees) that you enjoy.

Our Six-Packer today is Princesssaurora, over at Carpe Diem, picking a Six-Pack of blogs that inspire her:

1. LUANNE'S LIFE LIVING WITH LUPUS - "Lu is a good friend who is really struggling with her disease as of late.  Please pop in and give her a hello!"
2. Imaginary Ramblings - "Susan is an army wife and she also suffers with Lupus.  She was awol for a while, but now she is back!!!  YaY!"
3. Karyl's Glimpses of Eternity --  Lupus and Life - "Karyl has the darn Lupus too, but is full of verve!  She has this amazing porch garden that she does each spring and into the summer... please, go check her out and beg for pictures, like I do!"
4. She Said WHAT? -    "Andi just had surgery on her back.  Again.  And she has a bunch of medical problems but the most amazing sense of humor and love for life!"
5. Sometimes I Think - "Krissy and her husband John are going through a scary health crisis right now.  John is battling MDS, a bone marrow cancer.  Yet, they both have a positive attitude, amazing faith and let us share in the love that surrounds their lives and marriage."
6. DUST BUNNY CLUB OF NORTH AMERICA - "...Dorn's main blog, however, check out her list on the side bar.  She has her own photo blog, her hubby has a photo blog and a link to movies that she makes!  And, the link to one of the most inspiring blogs around, LETTERS TO GABE."

So, that's it for this round of Six-Pack Picks. I will start planning for another round sometime in June. Maybe July. One of those "J" months. One of the hot ones.

If you've got any suggestions on how to make the Six-Pack Picks better, please let me know via comments or e-mail.

(For example, the tagging beta should be in full-swing for all Journalers by the time the next Six-Pack Picks rolls around, so maybe all you would have to do is stick a special tag on your Six-Pack pick entries, then I could link to that tag search and plug that into a feed module on the main page -- no muss, no fuss, and it would get the Picks to you a lot faster than doing them by hand. Just a thought.)

Many thanks to all our Six-Packers for participating in this round.

Thanks -- Joe

Tag: Six-Pack Picks

Watch What You Say (Redux)

Hi folks -- just a couple of current reminders that people on the internet may, in fact, see what you write in your blogs, social networking profiles and Web pages:

• Indirectly via Fark.com: 18-year old New York Mets draft pick and pitching prospect Scott Schafer is in a little bit of hot water for items of, shall we say, questionable nature on his MySpace page (which has since been cleaned up and tucked away), as well as referring to himself as a Mets team member, even though he hasn't actually been signed yet. (Oh, right, that.)
  
  The Mets are conducting an investigation.
  
  
• Via Metafilter (and others): According to this New Scientist article:

  "...National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks."

  The article branches off into deeper discussions of RDF, the semantic Web, and other concepts that I don't quite have my head around fully, but it suggests that the information that you post about yourself (and that others post about you) will eventually be pooled and harvested in a wide-ranging network of information.
  
  Now, I wouldn't go burning my blogs just yet: Network Analysis is nothing new -- it's pretty much just a way of examining the relationships between individuals and groups of people in organizations -- it can be applied to everything from companies, to governments, to terrorist organizations.
  
  However, it should serve as a reminder to people to be mindful of what you post online, even if you're not worried that you're being watched by the NSA.

Thanks -- Joe

Tag: Busted for Blogging

Blog Six-Pack Picks, 2.9

Hi all -- here's our next batch of Blog Six-Pack Picks, where I asked bloggers to pick six blogs or Journals on any theme at all (or no theme in particular). This is our ninth installment -- you can see the previous featured Six-Pack Picks here: 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8

As always, check out our Six-Packers's blogs for their full descriptions, bonus picks and more, and leave comments in the blogs that you enjoy.

Today's lead-off Six-Packer is Dornbrau over at Dust Bunny Club of North America, who's got a half-dozen photo-based favorites:

1. PAPARRAZI BY PROXY - "My husband Steve (more commonly known as 'Dickidoo') has always had a good eye for photography and I finally got tired of his constant suggestions that I should shoot this or do that, and I handed him my camera with the suggestion that he take the picture his own darn self..."
2. Retrospect USA - "Meet my older sister 'Redbird'.  She began her passion for photography several years ago with a 35mm SLR camera and recently evolved into the world of digital photography.  I love how she uses color and angles..."
3. Anywhere Is.... - "This is a brand-spankin'-new find for me, and I instantly fell in love with the earthy talent of Shutterbug. When I first clicked on this link I was completely in awe, and the feeling remains with each new entry."
4. Photo Trek - "Radar calls himselfa 'hobbyist photographer', but do not mistake that for being amateur.  There is nothing amateurish about this guy.  His pictures are fabulous!  Don't limit yourself to his journal, check out the links to his galleries.  You won't be disappointed."
5. Involuntary Motion - "I have mentioned this journal before for its written words but would be amiss to neglect mentioning the breathtaking photography found within the entries.  His pictures reflect the simple yet beautiful lifestyle he has chosen to live."
6. Sights and Sounds of My Life - "I have a video blog where I display my videos and slide shows... My embedded video links are working again so you can check out my video blog."

Next up is my pal, lucyvpelt (a.k.a. Susie) over at Felber's Frolics; in a bit of historical trivial, she's a New York comedian whom I'd met at a blog conference. (She wasn't actually at the blog conference -- we just happened to be in the same bar.)

Her theme is "Individuals with awesome blogs that if you don't know, well then I pity you."

In a bit of a content warning, some (okay, all) of her picks may contain strong language and/or adult situations, so you are warned:

1. BestAlbino.com - "...Victor is camera phone ka-razy. But it's infectiously joyous. Or maybe it's just infectious. In any case, Victor has lots of online original shorts to check out and he's usually directing a big movie, acting in a big movie or writing a big movie..."
2. The Girl Who Ate Everything - "This has long been my fave food blog, and it's based in NYC. Now, having reached the ripe old age of 20, Robyn has stepped up her entries to include MORE photos of MORE food and MORE good stuff..."
3. Campzine - "Bob doesn't update his blog thing very often, and I'm not sure he expects anyone to find it, but it's funnnnnnnnny. Bob, incidentally has a kids book out soon from a real publisher that he designed and wrote..."
4. My Big Life - "Actually, instead of trying to describe it, here's something I wrote to another site recently regarding my favorite comedian blog. 'She's been at it since 1996 long before you or I blogged. She calls them "hoaxes," and they are awesome..."
5. You Can't Make It Up - "Always fresh, funny, photo heavy and very childish. I like it. You will too."
6. Gaping Void - "Consistant, passionate, original cartoons and commentary. More focused on marketing theory these days, but I'm into it plus he's stepped up the cartoons to compensate. He's from the UK but lived in NYC long enought that he's got bi-pondal bite..."

On another note, Susie has two #4's, which caused me some confusion until I figured it out; go see her blog to see what I mean.

We've got one more batch of Six-Packs tomorrow; thanks for following along.

Thanks -- Joe

Tag: Six-Pack Picks

Journals Release R6 Is Coming

Okay, folks, here's the news: As Journals Project Manager Yoel writes in his blog, The Daily Grind, Journals Release R6 is approaching. It's currently scheduled for early next week; we'll give you the exact date when it's nailed down.

Like I've said before, the Journals team is using agile development methods, which means smaller releases every 4-8 weeks, instead of just one big release a year. The original schedule was to launch R6 at the end of May, but due to, well, life, the date was moved.

Also, we won't be getting some features we were trying to get this time around (like the free-form mood entry field), but we'll get to those in a later release.

Here are some of the key things that will happen with R6:

• Journals Search Improvements: We're adding a Search box to the Journals header that will allow you to search just your Journal, or all Journals. Here's a mockup:
  
  
  (It's not going to be black-and-white, and that jagged gap is just a cutout so I could fit it in a reasonable width.)
  
  
• HTML Whitelist: We'll be updating the HTML whitelist, which means that you'll be able to include more content from other Web sites using IFRAMEs (IFRAMEs are kind of a window "cut" into your blog, that shows content from another Web page).
  
  Also, you'll be able to use some Javascript from whitelisted Web sites. We'll need to provide more details on how to do this.
  
  
• Table Tags: You'll be able to use HTML table tags in your Journal entries, so you can do fancy layouts and/or real damage to your blog. (I'm being glib, but you do need to be careful when working with HTML table tags, because mistakes can cause unintended things to happen to your page's layout.)
  
  
• Ad Banners in International Journals: I know how popular this one is going to be, but at the request of the International Journals business teams, ad banners will be added to all International Journals -- that means Canada, UK, France, Germany and Mexico.
  
  Project Manager Yoel has posted more information about International ad banners in his blog.
  
  
• Moblogging Beta: Moblogging is the ability to post to your blog remotely, away from your computer. This includes posting photos to your blog from your cell phone. This is done by using a special e-mail address that you send your posts to.
  
  Moblogging has been in kind of a stealth beta, but with R6, the interface will be cleaned up enough so that people can play with it on the Journals Beta.
  
  You get to the Journals Beta by putting "beta." at the front of your Journal's address -- for example, my blog's address is: http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/
  The beta version is http://beta.journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/
  
  The moblogging beta is also kind of a back door into group blogging, too, but we'll get to that later.
  
  
• Tagging Beta: I wrote about the tagging beta back in April -- it's a way to tag your entries (again, in beta), which is a way for you to self-categorize your entries. The current beta doesn't support Microsoft's Internet Explorer Browser, which is the browser that comes in the AOL software, so it wasn't particularly useful to most Journalers. With R6, you'll be able to play with tagging on the Journals beta.
  

In addition to all this, there will be bug fixes, as well as work done on the back end to make it even easier for search engines to find your blog content, and other infrastructure work that you probably won't notice.

We'll have more details on the timing of the launch soon. In the meantime, I and others will be working on ways to explain, demonstrate, and tutorialize the new stuff you'll be able to do with R6.

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: AOL Journals, AOL Journals Status, Journals R6

Power to the People (and Serenity Now!)

Hi folks -- the folks over at Webmonkey have an article that compares different social link sharing/filtering sites that you might find useful.

Social link sharing sites are superficially similar to other link sharing sites like Fark or Slashdot, with one important distinction: Editors don't pick the items to highlight -- the users choose (either by direct vote or other measure of popularity).

In the Web 2.0 world, there's a profusion of these kinds of link sites -- the Webmonkey article provides a table listing some of the more popular ones, with feature comparisons and mini-reviews.

(There are a bunch on that list that even I haven't heard of, and I'm supposed to be keeping up with this kind of stuff. The field is pretty big and growing fast.)

Switching gears a bit, a fan group for the canceled sci-fi Western series 'Firefly' (and its big-screen followup 'Serenity') has set up a series of charity screenings for 'Serenity' around the country on June 23:

Firefly fans (or "Browncoats") have a well-deserved reputation for their rabidity (they're responsible in no small way for having the movie being made in the first place), and they're pretty good at using the Web, blogs and other social media to come together.

I actually know one of the primary instigators behind this whole charity screening movement, Christopher Frankonis (as mentioned in the Willamette Week article about the screenings -- he's a Portland, Oregon-area blogger who'd gotten a bit of fame for his near-obsessive blog coverage of local politics.

His politics blog is now defunct, but you know you can't keep a good blogger down, so he's still rousing the rabble with this and his many other blogs and Web sites.

As for his role in the charity screenings, he claims it was largely just coming up with the idea and pitching it to other people -- there's no central authority here, just an idea, a little homework, and then using the Web site to rally like-minded folks (or, as the article says, "... harness the energy of obsessed civilians everywhere.")

Anyway, one of the lessons we can take from this is that while it's all well and good to have your own blog, the full power of blogs, the Web, and social media happens when like-minded people can get together and do something.

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: Webmonkey, Serenity, Firefly