Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.
We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.
I will keep you posted.
Thank you for being so patient.
Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.
This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!
Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.
Can't wait to read your posts!
~ daisy
As if spilling milk on, and thus breaking, a $50 keyboard wasn't bad enough, I'm about to lose another $50. The USB port on my phone (Verizon LG enV2) is now loose or otherwise damaged for what reason I do not know (no liquids were involved in this case). I've already ruled out problems with the battery, charger, or power supply by using alternates for all of these things; it's definitely the phone itself. It now takes a lot of jack wrangling to get it to charge correctly, and I don't know how long this will even work. My phone is out of warranty, but it's too soon for my "New Every Two" deal. Thus, I have the following options:
1. Wait and see if the problem magically fixes itself.
> Cost: Probable phone downtime, wasted money on a phone service I'm not getting the most out of, inevitable frustration or anguish caused by lack of a usable phone.
> Reward: I pay nothing now. I get $50 off my next phone purchase in Feb. 2010 as part of my "New Every Two" deal (which I plan to take advantage of).
2. Get the phone repaired.
> Cost: $50 (according to the Verizon phone tech support guy). Also, I can't be sure that this problem won't reoccur after repairing it.
> Reward: My phone is fixed, and I still get the $50 in Feb. 2010 to sorta balance things out.
3. Buy a new phone.
> Cost: Around $200, depending on the phone I get. Also, I may not have as good of a selection of Verizon phones now as I would in six months.
> Reward: A new phone with improved features. Don't have to buy a phone next year (hopefully).
I would like to stay with Verizon for the time being. The proof is in the coverage, and there are times I like to travel, so I can't be arsed to have a phone that doesn't get good reception. A new phone would be nice, but I want a smartphone, and it seems that a significantly better selection of phones will be released within the next six months (Palm Pre, Android-powered phone(s), maybe even the iPhone), so it would do me better to wait. Of course, I'm not completely sure about this, so if you know of any great phones, please chime in. In any case, unless I decide on a new phone to buy, or the problem magically fixes itself, I'm just getting it repaired (and soon).
The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Have a great weekend,
daisy, Team Vox
In my last Team Vox post, I let you know that we're aware that the Amazon conduit is broken and that we're working to fix it. Many of you want to know when it's going to be fixed and I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you about that sooner.
Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date to give you, but rest assured, the Amazon conduit will be fixed in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I'm about to finish my latest book and I could use a few suggestions as to what to read next, so... if you don't mind, let me know in the comments what's on your nightstand and/or what book you think I absolutely must read next.
Thanks! :)
Some of you may have noticed that right now you cannot add books from Amazon to your Vox library. Giving people a glimpse into what's on your night stand is important to many of you, so I just wanted to reassure you that we are doing our best to get this bug fixed. I'll keep you posted.
So sorry for the inconvenience.
Hope you have a great weekend!
daisy
First, a bit o' history. When I graduated high school in 2002, I was fried. Maintaining a high GPA in advanced classes burned me out, and I wasn't looking forward to another four years of taking notes and doing homework. Furthermore, I wanted to start a career and make money; I wasn't exactly well-off growing up and wanted to compensate. I decided to join some school friends in moving to Phoenix and attending a small trade school called High-Tech Institute. It was a big deal at the time, but mostly because I was now living away from my parents in a strange new state (Arizona). 15 months later, I got an A.S. and some programming certs. I returned to Cali and got myself a job making a comfortable amount of money. Well, I've been doing the programmer career for almost six years now, but I'm finally ready for a change.
Many times during my programming career I thought about eventually going back to college and getting a Bachelor's degree, but I never had a good enough reason to -- now I do. I want to make a career out of a hobby, and not just any hobby, but a creative hobby. You see, back when I was fresh out of high school, programming was new and interesting to me (and it was rooted in math and logic, which I like). However, I ultimately found programming to be cold and unrewarding; too utilitarian and "disposable" for my tastes. Meanwhile, over the years, I developed a hobby out of drawing, digital painting, and a bit of 3D modeling. To add even more, I took my love for VGM to the next level when I started learning to play the piano, compose many ideas for my own music, and start making progress with software like Reason. For me, I find few things more satisfying than completing a piece of art that I can feel proud of. It's clear that this creative output is what I want to do, and what I need to do, not just as a hobby, but as a career.
Going to school will benefit me twofold. It will strengthen my sprouting talents into substantial skills. It will also allow me to penetrate, fully prepared, into a career based on my creative works. While the economy may be sinking in deep shit, this is personally the best time to think about enrolling in a college/university. Within a year, I will finally be absolved of all forms of debt. Car: paid. Credit: paid. Old student loans: paid. I'll have extra money saved up, and I'll be ready to walk on the path to my "second adulthood" as it may be called (but probably shouldn't). It could happen as early as fall of 2010, so, over the next year, I will be gearing up in preparation for this event.
This is where I would like some assistance from anyone that can help. I need to look for the following things: a good school to go to, any possible grants or scholarships, low APR student loan(s), and finally, a way to fund my living expenses while I attend school (e.g. a job). My current criteria for the school are: Should be located in Southern California (I could make an exception, but I really don't want to leave), must be a well-established and respectable school (I don't want to attend another shady vocational school), and has strong curricula for music and/or art (especially in conjunction with technology). I want to focus primarily on music (specifically digital composition), but I'm also strongly interested in visual arts such as computer graphics, illustration, and even some traditional stuff.
I hate to end this journal entry so abruptly, but that's all I can think about saying for now. I really would like to start looking at schools, but I don't know where to start. If anyone has ideas, they would be greatly appreciated!
It's clear to me that Voxers are some of the most environmentally conscious and creative people out there, which is why I wanted to tell you about Six Apart's “Green by Design” contest. All you have to do to enter is create a Green Badge with an earth-friendly design and/or message.
In April, I told you about a few Green Badges we created for your blogs, and said that when the badges reached 100,000 impressions across the blogosphere, Six Apart would donate $1000 to The Climate Project. Well, as of June 1st, we surpassed that goal by nearly two million impressions. Needless to say, a check is in the mail!
When we realized how many of you were adopting the Green Badges, we thought it would be cool if we came up with a contest that allowed you to put your creativity to good use and make your own Green Badges.
Like the previous badges, the winning badge will link to the One Million Acts of Green brought to you by Cisco website. One Million Acts of Green is a collaborative environmental campaign encouraging everyone to go green. One act at a time. The goal? One million acts of green because, as we all know, we’re more powerful together than we can ever be apart.
Each weekly winner will also receive a one-year subscription to MailStopper, a junk mail stopper service provided by Tonic. Plus, we will donate $150 to a charity in the winner’s name. (For a list of charitable organizations the winner can choose to donate to, please see the contest rules.)
Two runner-ups each week will receive an honorable mention, as well as a one-year subscription to MailStopper.
Plus, when the badges receive a million impressions (and we know they will!), Six Apart will donate another $1000 to The Climate Project.
Here’s what you need to know in order to submit your design:
- The Submission must include a positive environmental message.
- The Submission must be in the JPEG file format.
- The Submission must be 160 x 90 pixels in size at a resolution of 72 dpi.
- The maximum file size of the Submission is 500 kilobytes.
- The Submission must be accompanied by an email address.
- The Submission and each element thereof must be the original work of Participant.
Please email your entry to badgecontest@sixapart.com and don't forget to include your Vox user name and your email address.
There's still time to get your entry in for this week's judging! We're accepting entries until end of day on Friday. If you aren't able to submit by this Friday, don't worry: There's another week left in the contest. The deadline for submissions is June 25, 2009 at 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Winners will be announced on Everything TypePad; however, if a Voxer wins, we'll also announce it here, of course.
View all contest rules here.
GOOD LUCK!
