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Alls I gots to bring to Thanksgiving are pumpkin bread and cranberry sauce and they're just now done - so I have some time to loaf around till we hit the trough at three. Wanted to say you guys are the best and thank you for being my hoodies!

This seemed appropriate to the occasion. It's awesome regardless.

My apologies to whichever of you peeps posted this on Faceboob recently - I can't for the life of me remember who it was cuz I'm brain-decrepit like that.

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.

TypePad Micro

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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.

~daisy

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.

~daisy

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,

daisy

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.

~daisy

Blog Action Day

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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

The IG clan is all right. Cleanup has begun on my sister's house and my nephew never did make it home yesterday, but he stayed safe with friends through the worst of the flood. Papa IG was trapped in his condo by high waters but had the sense to stay put. My BFF and her husband lost power (no TV, no Internet) so they had no idea how bad the flood was until power was restored. I got an email update from them this morning snarking about President Arroyo's (lack of) response to the crisis:

"She didn’t even come out with any sort of announcement. NBN was broadcasting a high-level meeting in which government officials were defending their response time. They were exhibiting a chart showing how the US gov’t took 2-3 days to respond to Katrina and how it only took them 1 day! Of course, GMA was sitting there, indoors, wearing a shiny black raincoat!"

In my family it's been material losses only - floodwater damage to my sister's beautiful house, the death of my BIL's new car, several cell phones dropped in flood water...stuff like that. We've been lucky. Donya M. is very conscious of how fortunate they've been and grateful that she was in a position to shelter and feed refugees at her home in spite of everything.

Here are some pics I grabbed off Facebook this morning plus some information about relief efforts below. The Faceboob, I have to say, has been a real informational lifeline through this. Cell phones and landlines were useless yesterday, but some Filipino was always managing to post an update to Facebook...

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For mariser and the others who asked: here's what I've learned from the Pinoy network on Facebook about how to help.

RELIEF/SHELTER/DONATIONS:

Red Cross donation through SMS: text REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart) or contact your local Red Cross Chapters on how to Donate.

FRIENDS IN THE US AND CANADA WHO WISH TO HELP IN THE RESCUE/RELIEF OPERATIONS,YOU MAY DONATE THROUGH THE AMERICAN RED CROSS. CALL 1-800-435-7669. DONATE THRU THE RED CROSS RESCUE AND RELIEF OPERATIONS OR pinoys abroad they can DONATE THROUGH TXTPOWER'S PAYPAL! http://bit.ly/hQtKH

You may also deposit your donations directly to ABS-CBN Foundation's Banco de Oro account:
*Branch Name: BDO Mother Ignacia
Account Name: ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc.
Account #: 5630060113

Relief Goods can be sent to Caritas Manila Office at Jesus St., Pandacan Manila near Nagtahan Bridge (tel.no. 5639298/5639308). Relief goods can also be brought Radio Veritas at Veritas Tower West Ave. Corner EDSA (tel no. 9257931-40).

Aquino volunteers: contact Jiggy Cruz who is organizing relief goods collection and distribution. Or call Ms. Clare Amador at mobile no 09285205508 or Jana Vicente at 09285205499 for more details regarding Noy/Mar relief efforts.

Roxas volunteers: donations for flood relief can be brought to Balay, Expo Centro, Edsa cor. Gen, MacArthur, Araneta Center, Cubao.

Victory Fort is opening its doors to those affected by the typhoon. Call 813-FORT

Charo Limaco has posted a list of specific items needed and where to donate them:

Water, blankets, shoes, and clothes etc.. are being accepted at the Hillsborough Village chapel for families whose houses were washed out in the nearby sitios.
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Donations of any kind for Payatas communities affected by Ondoy accepted at ARANAZ stores in Rockwell & Greenbelt.
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TeamManila stores in Trinoma, Mall of Asia, Jupiter Bel-Air and Rockwell shall be accepting relief goods (Canned Goods, Ready-to-drink Milk, Bottled Water and Clothes) for distribution by Veritas to displaced countrymen due to Typhoon Ondoy.
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Caritas Manila Office and Radio Veritas (see above) appealing for the following goods: Canned food, rice, used clothes especially for children, milk
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From Kuya Ed Ramirez: SLBTFN is accepting donations already. Please drop it off sa Ateneo Cervini Dorm. Then we will work with groups around the area to assess w/c evacuation center needs help immediately. SLBTFN is Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Task Force Noah, a disaster response arm.

I tried a sample earlier this week (from a company in Texas) and I'm hooked.

Gooey Butter Cake