sixwordstories
Whether you're in the mood for a creative challenge or you're short on time or attention span, this semi-addictive community is perfect for those who find flash fiction way long. Once you get the hang of it, you won't be able to stop. The prince turned into a frog. The girl ran home to mother. Tough to write. Easy to read. It's a double threesome of fun.

dailyfoodie
Delicious, ambitious, and occasionally nutritious dishes make for an eclectic, all-you-can-eat feast. Whether you're searching for recipes for your next dinner party or you're jonesing for a late-night brownie fix, your cravings are sure to be well sated. A warm and inclusive community that welcomes all orientations, from carnivores to vegans, from gourmands to junk-food junkies. Guaranteed bias-free, food-positive, and pan-epicurian.

While I was traveling on Saturday, I witnessed something that I thought should be mentioned.

I was at Rideau Centre, awaiting a Route 1 bus heading for Rockcliffe Park and a book sale, when a Route 7 bus came by. That route isn't quite as suitable for the destination, but I considered taking it instead. While waiting for passengers to get off, I became aware of some passengers squabbling. The shouting match quickly devolved into fisticuffs, with a woman flinging hot coffee and another fellow swinging fists.

At that point, the bus driver shut the front doors, with one party inside and the others (both the flinger and the other fellow) outside. After another awkward moment, the driver simply drove off, leaving other prospective passengers stranded.

My question, aimed at bus drivers as well as riders, is how often do we witness fisticuffs like this? And what could be done to make sure people are not more affected, other than the large red "shield" signs on each bus warning of the consequences of assaulting an OC Transpo employee? I do not necessarily blame the driver in that case, but an episode like that at an isolated stop can leave people waiting a long time for the next bus.

What do others think? As always, inquiring philosophers would like to know.

otherwise known as city city council, the transit committee and finally, OC Transpo...


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/These+people+simply+company/2198869/story.html

I am not going crazy!
 I was at Southkeys today,waiting for the 140 billings and checked both the printed schedual, which is up to date, and the screen schedual thing, and there was a 10 minute difference between them. For a bus that comes every 30 minutes that seems pretty bizarre. Is the screen one up to date on delays or traffic?

I know people running in front of our moving buses is nothing new.  Tonight I think I reached my tipping point.  The forth (right, 4th) person who did this to me came running out of the shadows just as I was pulling away from a service stop.  I let the 50ish year old guy on just to ask him if he thought it was worth the risk to his life.  He (of course) shrugged and said, 'well, I was trying to make eye contact...." BTW it was about 9:30 pm.  WTF is wrong with these people.  Of course, if I hit him, it's my fault so I take a rather personal view on this sort of bullshit behavior. Of all the selfish, stupid things one can do; these people don't think for a second, let alone consider the people on the bus who might get tossed around roughly when I need to hit the brake hard. Christ people can be so stupid.  Otherwise, still a happy man enjoying serving the public (honestly...mostly)

Please excuse my typing... I'm writting this from my blackberry on bus 6359. This bus, the 95 Orleans has been held up for almost an hour at Lebretton because of some emergency downtown. Something at Slater and Kent. Anyone have any info? Traffic is really bad as of now.

Cheers!

The empire strikes back

In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.

RSS feeds again

If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.

Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

c_s_i

If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.

Enveloped in postcards

Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.

Photos of the week

If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
( Read more... )

....for starting to hand out sanitizing wipes for the equipment, and bottles for hand cleaning to all drivers! Most of us have been trying as best we can to clean our work stations as much as possible and wash our hands as often as possible, but this is a great idea, and I thank management for doing this for us to make things much easier to try and stay healthy and not catch any flu or other viruses!

73.25 for a student pass? Wtf? Not like I have enough to pay for...I really don't like the city for this. *shakes head*

...then I watched Parking Wars on t.v.,man those people have it B.A.D.!!!!!!!!! Here Iam thinking we have it bad with people bitching about stuff that we have no control over, but these poor people have it worse than anyone...LOL! They couldn't pay me enough to work ANYWHERE for that company...meter maid=ass kicking daily, working in the office=dumbasses blaming everyone BUT themselves (like OC I think) for their own screw ups, AND the poor workers that boot the cars , man I can't believe they don't get attacked and/or shot at daily! Just when i thought my job could be bad, this show shows how mental some people can be and how defensive they can get while they are in the wrong!!!

I'm wondering who one contacts in order to complain about ads that are posted along the upper part of the bus. I see many numbers on the website but it is not clear which one to direct a complaint to (if OC Transpo is indeed the ones who should receive it).

The ads in question? Some Christian "Science" organization advertising a "safe and effective" way to avoid infection through the power of prayer. I generally have no issue with people's beliefs but I think it is ridiculous and irresponsible to have these ads up dissuading the gullible from seeking real methods of avoiding infection from whatever virus or illness that happens to be going around. I also find this especially hypocritical considering the stink raised about the "No God" ads this year. Does anyone read these before approving them?

aiyatheydidnt
The Chinese version of ONTD, AIYA is a dynamic international community that welcomes users who share a love of contemporary Chinese pop culture. Dedicated to celebrity gossip and entertainment news, you'll enjoy gorgeous photos and breaking stories featuring the glitterati of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

wendylady2
Designed to rescue fashion victims everywhere, this Brit-based community reads like a rag-ezine. Published once or twice weekly, you'll view bizarre highlights of the global fashion scene through captivating photos and delightfully snarky editorial. Sit tight for a virtual fashion tour from the runways of New York to Milan to Paris and back home again to London in homage to the adage: you can't buy good taste.

soldiers_heart
A passionate community for veterans of all ages (mostly American), plus families, friends, and supporters. View poignant snapshots detailing life in combat and back on civilian soil in the form of original artwork, personal narratives, poetry, and photos. Be forewarned that members don't shy away from describing their disappointments, disabilities, and struggles.

Which is most likely to be accurate? The screens, the printed scheduals, the travel planner or the phone number? Why arent they the same for my route?

I figured tonight while doing a west end run that the bus was held up about 30 seconds, approx. 25 times, by people who waited for my bus, boarded, and THEN looked for their pass/tickets/cash.
While this sort of thing obviously doesn't account for all delay reasons, it is significant.  These are probably the same people who wait 5 minutes in line @ Tim Horton's then go looking for their money to pay for their whatever.
Help yourselves out and have your passes/tickets/cash ready  mmkay?

I'm working the 18 and I was told that because I work that route I am "invited" to a training session for the new radio system. I know I was away for awhile but I haven't heard about a new radio. Another OC bright idea to spend money?

EDIT: If you're reading this, our maintenance is OVER! The problem was not found on our equipment, which means we'll have to work with our ISP to fix this small problem -- which also means another maintenance window in the future -- but at least we have eliminated our side.

Thank you everyone, and a special shout out to rekoil for giving me a great suggestion AND also the opportunity to feel like I've just called in to a local radio station.

Have a great day, night or afternoon wherever you may be.

---

Hi everyone, sorry for the late notice but I'm going to have to do some testing on 1 of our 4 internet circuits TONIGHT; Friday night or Saturday morning depending on which time zone you're in.

Most of us shouldn't notice any impact, though there may be some slowness or lag when I switch traffic on to our other ISP circuits and then another hit when I stop the tests. If a page won't load or times out, try hitting refresh 1 or 2 times and it should load then. If it doesn't work at all... trust me, I'll be typing really really really fast to try to undo whatever I just did. Hopefully you'll have some Halloween candy (if you're in the USA and celebrate that kind of thing) nearby to take away the bitterness of a small site outage. :(

Here's the handy-dandy Website That I Always Use to get a feel for when the maintenance will start in your area. Our site traffic historically dips on Friday afternoons until Saturday morning which is why we tend to pick this time for maintenance work.

( tech details )

status.livejournal.org will, of course be updated before and after the maintenance window. Or else marta will get mad at me. :D

bt

In response to user comments from last week, we want to let you know that we'll remain LJ cut-free for the next month in order to get more eyeballs on our evolving newsletter. As for product coverage, that continues to be our top priority. For more granular detail, however, we recommend you join lj_releases.

Super-tweak for Yandex search

Some of our beta testers expressed privacy concerns using the Yandex search engine. Here's why: Last week, when you ran a search, you could see the usernames (and only the usernames) of everyone who commented on an entry, even if that entry was switched to Private or Friends Only after it was originally indexed. You could NOT see the actual comments from Friends Only or Private posts. In response to your input, we've implemented a fix to keep all user activity currently marked Friends Only or Private completely hidden. If you'd prefer your public content not to be indexed by Yandex, click here and use the settings labeled Search Inclusion (this covers your entire journal) and/or Comment Search Inclusion (which covers comments only). To test drive Yandex search now, click here.

Postcards from the edge

Several years ago, we asked LiveJournal users to send postcards to help us decorate our dull, white-washed offices. Since a good idea warrants repetition, we're at it again (same issue, new address). We hope you'll surround us with LiveJournal love by sending your postcards to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. We'll post snapshots right here. Be sure to include your username, since we'll randomly pick 10 lucky recipients to win free paid account time.

Conquer Writer's Block

Here are some excerpts from this week's most popular question of the day:

If a friend or relative makes a racist or homophobic remark, do you tend to confront them or let it slide? Are you more likely to confront them if it offends you directly or someone else who seems reluctant to speak up?

1. I find it easier to stand up for other people, and i wouldn't let it slide if they made a rude or hurtful comment.
2. Usually if a friend makes a racist or homophobic remark, I tend to let it slide. I think that while i would not say such things myself, I have no right to censor those around me.
3. This happens all of the time. I confront some relatives, but I refuse to if they are drunk or watch Fox News.
4. I'd let it slide if it was just a private remark... As much as I despise bigotry and intolerance, I know that you can't change people-they have to change themselves ...
5. Confront! confront! confront! Politely, but without equivocation.
6. SPEAK UP. Always, always, always speak up. Letting something slide lets ignorance win. No matter if it offends me directly, or someone else, I will confront the speaker and let them know that's not ok.
7. I don't get offended personally. As an immigrant, woman, gay and person of color if I took every single potentially offensive remark seriously I wouldn't get anything done.
8. I punch them in the balls. With my mind.
9. I do speak up, but often very timidly because I feel that I'm white and therefore I don't really have any authority to lecture someone on what's racist and what isn't...
10. Generally speaking, I do not let this shit fly, because it reduces me as a person, to this non-person and it replicates the destructive discourse that makes sure that sexual minorities, racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, trans people and every intersection thereof into something other than human... And sometimes... I'm just too tired to deal with it, so I roll my eyes, make a sarcastic remark and hope the conversation moves on quickly.

For more daily questions and user comments, join writersblock. FYI, we don't want to invade your privacy, so we haven't credited individual users for their responses. We'd appreciate your feedback on this!

Spotlight community of the week

We can't resist making one last midnight trip to the ol' pumpkin patch. If you adore crazy costumes, fiendish festivities, and bottomless candy consumption as much as we do, this community has just what it takes to light up your jack-o-lantern.


halloween_fan

Photos of the week

We received so many incredible photos, we had to close our eyes and point. We uploaded a selection of awesome images at our new lj_photophile community. Please join and start posting (try to keep the width at around 625 for the sake of consistency)! We'd love for you to tell us more about your photos! You can help us select spotlight photos by commenting on your favorites. Once again, we thank you for making our online world more beautiful!

shutter	pancetta	ilya_gorokhov

Curtains

Thanks, again, for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you next week.