See you in 2010!
First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.
The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.
When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.
It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.
Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.
As always, thanks for your patience.
But can you really believe her promises?
That is the idea behind "Liar" - the narrator of the book cannot be trusted. It's an interesting premise, but unfortunately it wore thin. Since we can't trust our narrator at all, its hard to stay engaged in the story, especially when you can feel she is lying to you. After getting to the second half of the book, I was tired of all her lies and misinformation - I just wanted to know the truth.
Which I think is the one useful thing about this book - it would make a great book discussion title for teens. Because we've all met people who make up stories about themselves (hopefully none to the psychosis-like extreme that Micah does, but we've all been lied to). It would be very easy to talk about her lies, her truths, and the "tips" she gives about lying.
Overall, "Liar" was just too long. Because you're getting the story in first-person from a pathological liar, Micah's reveals and re-explanations of things that happened to her start to just get repetitive. And I felt the ending was very odd and rushed, in unsatisfying.
2.5 stars.
Oliver Watson is the titular Evil Genius. He runs an evil corporation from his secret lair located below his parent's suburban home. When dwelling in his lair and plotting his world takeover, he is attending class at his local public middle school. In class and at home, Oliver pretends to be a below average student, skating by with passing grades and falling all over himself in the hallways. No one would suspect that he is the fourth richest person in the world.
From infanthood, Oliver has had nothing but disdain for his father. So when his dad talks about how one of the biggest milestones in his young life was to be elected student-body president, Oliver decides he will be class president - not because he wants his father's acceptance (because he denies that vehemently throughout the book) but to show his father that anything he did, his buffoonish son can do too, diminishing the value of the accomplishment.
If you like the snarky humor of "The Daily Show" (which the author works on) then you'll probably enjoy this book. Oliver mocks his fellow students, tortures teachers, and generally abuses anyone who works for him. While some of the jokes might go over a kid's head (will 7th graders know who Machiavelli was?), I think they will get a kick out of it. It might be good for reluctant boy readers who enjoy the antics of Stewie on "The Family Guy" since the book is full of satire and fart jokes.
A quick read that will make you giggle, even if the ending is a bit cheesy. 3.5 stars.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo introduced us to Mikhail Blomkvist, investigative journalist, and Lisbeth Salander, an intense young woman who makes her living in a less-than-honest way. While the mystery in the book is interesting, it is Blomkvist, Salander, and the rest of the characters that keep you reading (or, in my case, listening. Simon Vance is an AMAZING narrator.)
The Girl who Played with Fire takes those characters and puts them into much more immediate danger. The relationships they built in the first book are put to use and you find out more of their past.
Lisbeth Salander now ranks among my favorite characters from books. She is a bit crazy, a bit uneven, but there is something about her tenacity that makes her fascinating. I don't think I'd want to meet her, but I really like reading about her.
Be warned - this book has a MUCH bigger cliffhanger ending than the first one. And sadly, the final book is not out in the U.S. yet.
5 out of 5 stars. Wow.
Well, that's what Cameron wishes he could say. Instead, he's just found out that he contracted mad cow disease and doesn't have much longer to live. But one day while he's sitting in his hospital bed, an angel in combat boots with hot pink hair arrives and tells him he must go and find the scientist who has the cure! She gives him a magical Disneyland E-Ticket which will keep his brain from melting while he's out of the hospital.
Sound wacky? Well, it is. Going Bovine by Libba Bray is a ridiculous book. But it is also a very sweet story.
There is so much I want to say about this book but 1) it's way too hard to explain beyond the above summary without making this post TL;DR and 2) it's much more fun to discover the crazy world along with Cameron rather than know what is coming.
Though, in a way, you know what is coming pretty quickly. You sort of know where the whole story is headed. But as with any great adventure, it is the journey that matters most. And this journey has action, adventure, and really wild things. And even though it is a long book, I found myself missing the characters after that final page.
If you're in the mood for a story that is truly ri-donk-ulous, Going Bovine is a great read.
