Big post - LJ, DW, Russians, with helpful links!

[elisi]

First of all - you can download your LJ:

BlogBooker

In days past there used to be something called LJ Book (which was free!), but it seems to have vanished or morphed into BlogBooker, which will cost you if you want to download more than a year. But at least it's an option! :)

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For safety, this is an excellent resource:

Encrypt the web: Install HTTPS Everywhere today.

Simple extension. Keeps you safe(r). ETA: Important caveat about HTTPS Everywhere: it cannot encrypt sites that do not have an https version. So this won't help anyone with LJ unless they reinstate their https. (With thanks to Promethia)

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If you want to make the leap to DreamWidth wholesale, here is an excellent guide:

How to Move to Dreamwidth and Like It

If you just want to back things up/cross post for now, simple guides under the cut:

To Import:

Go to Organize -> Import Content

https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/importer

Click 'Start Another Import' and follow the instructions. Literally as easy as clicking a button. Also quick.

To Organize crossposting:

Go to Organize -> Account Settings -> Other Sites

https://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/settings/?cat=othersites

Click on 'Add new Account' and sort out the different options. You can customise the footer that appears on the LJ f.ex.

Click Save and it's done. :)


ETA: Extra tip - if you name your DW icons the same as your LJ ones, the crosspost will choose the relevant icon.



Now, DW posted a news update yesterday, and they have had a large influx of new people (100,000!). But let's not forget that LJ is one of *the* platforms for blogging in Russia, and still is free and open for them. I wish I knew more about their side of it, how they are seeing the future. If they all want to go to DW or if they want to stick with LJ despite everything...

And this is probably as good a time as any to remind people of anniesj's story:

A Word to the Wise
Because of a (public) post ranting about the then President (Dubya - this was 2004) the Secret Service paid her a visit and she has an FBI file. And not because of snooping or google searches or anything like that, but because someone (on LJ) reported her.

Please read the whole post. It's increasingly relevant.

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Anyway, I'm gonna keep cross-posting for now. Being on DW wouldn't have helped anniesj any... (Not that it existed then.)

I wrote a post on LJ vs. DW last year (or 2015, rather). Although I have since found a new analogy for DW. It's from Buffy Summers Diary, a fic in the style of Bridget Jones where Buffy writes about her birthday party (S6, the one where they're all trapped in the house). And Xander & Anya bring a friend they try to set her up with:

'...Xander brought in Normal Richard at that point. Normal Richard pleasant and rather beige, like tapioca pudding or similar.'

So, Imma gonna stick with Spike for now, but keep Normal Richard on hand in case Spike does something unforgivable...

ETA: Other point - DW has no galleries. Yes I have a photobucket account, but LJ is about a million times easier and more convenient. (I use the old style which is far superior when it comes to images.) So that's a major stumbling block when it comes to moving... Hence, staying put for now, with caveats.

Comments

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The good news is in the US, they can't read your emails without a judge granting permission. That's what happened with Clinton -- they had to get a federal judge to grant them access to her emails.

That doesn't mean people aren't. I stopped sharing certain things by email ages ago. I sort of view the internet as - standing on a soap box in the middle of Times Square. Granted not everyone will notice you or pay attention, because of all the other far more shiny distractions, but hey you are standing in the middle of Times Square.

Not sure I want to know who SUP is associated with either. The article that I linked to above is a bit disturbing. Right now, I'm a little leery of lj. But to be honest, I've been leery for the last four years. Still crossposting for the time being. But I may not crosspost political posts.
Not that I'm doing any at the moment...

You write great posts

Thank you. I shouldn't complain about the lack of responses, I rarely respond to my reading lists posts. No time. Also, it's hard to know what to say sometimes.
I have to remind myself that just because a post doesn't receive a response doesn't mean people aren't reading. I read the posts on my reading list and don't respond. (shrugs)

I've been enjoying your posts as well, but equally, don't often have the time to respond to them.

[elisi]

That's what happened with Clinton -- they had to get a federal judge to grant them access to her emails.
I find it mighty ironic that her private email was never hacked (unlike the DNC). And she was accused on being unsafe!

I sort of view the internet as - standing on a soap box in the middle of Times Square. Granted not everyone will notice you or pay attention, because of all the other far more shiny distractions, but hey you are standing in the middle of Times Square.
LOL. I like that.

But I may not crosspost political posts.
Well, I reckon that ship's sailed for me! Goodness knows how many political posts I've made... It's sort of almost become a fandom. (In a scary way.)

Thank you. I shouldn't complain about the lack of responses, I rarely respond to my reading lists posts. No time. Also, it's hard to know what to say sometimes.
Yeah, this. I want to make thoughtful, intelligent comments, rather than just 'This is a good post' and then I end up doing neither... I think we're all in the same boat. :)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

1. Oh, Hillary's emails were hacked or rather her campaign manager's emails. They are still fighting over it on FB.
(Sigh).

2. The whole Time's Square thing is why I don't bother locking posts most of the time. Or worry too much about who is friending me. I haven't met most of the people face to face anyhow, and if I limited it to the people that I had, I'd have a very small readership and reading list.

One of the reasons I'm not fond of LJ right now -- is, it's not very user friendly. I don't know what it is like if you have a paid account. I have an upgraded one and adblocker on my computer - so I can pretty much block ads. But, comments are a pain. Every time I try to respond to a post on my journal -- it makes me log in or switch to myself, with all these weird social media options to post as or from. Then it provides an error message, because I don't have a header or title to the comment. Then, if I click again, it will post.

And that's just one problem. I think I was hunting an excuse to jump over and use it as a mirror site.

[promethia_tenk]

The posting dialogue with 9 different login options has been driving me nuts. I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve there, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to work.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You and me both. They've been doing it for the last three years now. Or so it seems. I think it's geared to the Russian users? I don't know. I don't want lj posts to appear on FB, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.

[elisi]

1. Yes, her campaign manager's, but not *hers*... Like I said, I just find that nicely ironic. ;)

2. Same here. I hardly ever flock anything, except photos. Which I post very rarely.

And your woes are not familiar to me, but I can understand why you'd want to move...

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

And your woes are not familiar to me..

Yeah, I don't notice this in your journal. Responding to your journal feels like responding to one in DW. How you managed to turn it off or avoid it, I've no clue.

On the email thing? I can't make heads or tails of it any more. Except it's gone beyond the level of absurd political satire...

Half the press believes her emails were hacked along with the DNC, the other half believes just the DNC. Personally? I think it's splitting hairs -- emails were hacked. The election was affected. Also, Clinton's emails weren't that bad, she just isn't very tech savvy. Most people over the age of 65 aren't very tech savvy. I know I work with them, they have trouble with email too.

[elisi]

Yeah, I don't notice this in your journal. Responding to your journal feels like responding to one in DW. How you managed to turn it off or avoid it, I've no clue.
I think it's journals that use the basic/free style on their comment pages? I remember a few weeks ago when posted comments wouldn't show up (when they were moving servers?) that it was only those affected. Paid journals with individual layouts were fine.

On the email thing? I can't make heads or tails of it any more. Except it's gone beyond the level of absurd political satire...
Totally. I mean, most politics ends up as a farce, but US politics is in a whole league of its own.

Most people over the age of 65 aren't very tech savvy. I know I work with them, they have trouble with email too.
I remember a conversation at work (before the election) where the topic of ages came up, and I could reveal that yes, it was Hillary's birthday and she was turning 69 and Trump was 70. The response? "Well, what are they doing, running for the presidency at their age?"

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

My parents were telling me that we'd survived far worse than the 2016 election. The 1968 election had tanks going down the streets of Chicago, fires city wide, and violent protests. And the Vietnam War which basically makes the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars look like a walk in the park in comparison for various reasons - Napalm, the fact that there was a draft and people didn't have a choice, and if you were poor or a minority -- you were sent, while the rich got to stay home. Today, people choose to go to Iraq and Afghanistan, they aren't drafted.

Also, several years later? We had the Republicans breaking into the Democratic Convention offices and stealing documents to derail the election between McGovern and Nixon, resulting in a lot of heads rolling. People didn't believe it immediately. My mother said at the time she didn't believe it was possible to get Nixon out and no one would pay -- his resignation came as a shock.

What's happening now is rather boring in comparison.

And I know why the election went down the way it did -- people on both sides, the far right and far left, hated Hillary. Even the moderates didn't trust her. Sanders and Trump were attacking her character last year, as were their supporters. The combination of Benghazi, fake news on the internet spread by both sides, and the email scandal cost Clinton the election.

My cousin is so upset about the spread of fake news that he has taken it upon himself to get rid of it wherever he locates it. So -- having done a bit of research? The following sources should always be fact-checked:

* altnet
* info wars
* Breitbart
* daily news (UK)
* daily kos
* huffington post
* salon
* slate
* ecowatch
* pretty much any blog on social media
* anything on youtube
* anything on reddit
* any site that clearly has an agenda
* editorials

Sites that are reliable for the most part?
* NY Times
* UK - The Guardian
* NPR
* PBS - News Hour
* BBC World News and Breaking News
* Washington Post
* The Atlantic
* The Wall Street Journal for the most part
* The Boston Globe
* The LA Times
* The Tampa Bay Times

To some degree...

* The New Yorker, The Nation, The Economist, The New Republic, and Harper's but keeping in mind that they have their bias
* Mother Jones - biased, so be careful, should fact check, but a step above the others, has actual journalists
* Rolling Stone -- tends towards entertainment, so caution required

To a lesser degree, with a tendency towards exaggeration:
* CNN
* Fox News (also has a tendency to be biased)
* MSNBC (the liberal version of Fox, also can be biased)

To take with a grain of salt and political satire, so do not quote as actual news sources:

* Comedy Central shows
* John Oliver
* Samtha Bee
* Talk show hosts
* SNL
* Stephen Colbert
* Anthony Borowitz
* The Onion

Fact checking sources -

* Factcheck.org
* Politico.com
* Snopes.com

The misinformation out there is so prevalent it's hard to tell what is up and what is down sometimes. It really is like standing in the middle of Times Square.

[elisi]

My parents were telling me that we'd survived far worse than the 2016 election.
Oh that's very true. But the combination of power & recklessness is possibly worse. And if he destroys the environment we're all screwed.

And I know why the election went down the way it did -- people on both sides, the far right and far left, hated Hillary.
Which is what comes of 30 years of continual misogyny.

My cousin is so upset about the spread of fake news that he has taken it upon himself to get rid of it wherever he locates it. So -- having done a bit of research? The following sources should always be fact-checked
Saw a similar list on Tumblr. People are getting wise. Well. Some of them.