PAR-TAY!

Ahh, we're going through a major snowstorm with whiteouts expected. And I'm sick. No reason to go out... so why not stay in and watch Fergie on TV and come chat with you guys in the meantime?

Who wants to party? Invite your friends over, if you're so inclined. Just type "USERNAME.multiply.com/notes/compose" and it will sent a PM that acts like a blog post -- and you can select all your contacts at once.

-Ze Baron

THIS ONE'S GOING OUT TO MY FAVORITE WENCH

Er, yeah. Anne has a thing about grammar, so I came across two things that might just tickle her fancy. First, of course, is a lolcat from icanhascheezburger.com. "Apostrophe Cat Iz Grammatically Correct."

The second is an article that combines the two things Anne is known for: her Wench status and grammar. Well, okay, she's known for her humor and intelligence, but just go along with it. Here's an article that just screamed "Wench of Aramink:"

"WHY DON'T YOU USE THE LITTLE WENCH?"

Grammar is a joy of life.

-Ze Baron

THE SNOW AND ICE BALL

Yes, it's party time! Welcome in. I hope you've got on your tux or dress, because it's going to be a rockin' party.

If you brought food or drink, please go to the buffet and drop them off in the comments first. You did bring HTML?

My suggestions for navigating the party is to open multiple browsers or tabs, and just cycle between them. The comments update automatically, and we don't have to deal with those nasty pages, it's all one slew.

My co-host, Giles Conway, did a remarkable job. Check it out here.

We'll be dancing later, so I hope you brought dancing shoes!

To go to the buffet, please click here.

To go to the lounge, please click here.

To listen to some select tunes, please click here.

-Ze Baron

THE LOUNGE

Come on in, have a seat!










This is where the main show is going to be!

MORSELS TO TICKLE YOUR FANCY

Welcome to the dining room. You should find yourself a place at the table!

Here's where we'll be sharing our lively banter. Who wants to sit at the head of the table?



Today we have a choice between filet mingon and chicken cordon bleu.
I'm having the chicken, the mingon is a bit bloody for my taste.

The lamb is looking rather tasty!

Gather around for desserts!

While we did have tiramisu at Jamie's baby shower, but I had to drag it out again. It's luscious!



If you'd prefer another neccessary evil...

="">

The illustrious chocolate fountain!

We'll see if the hot tub need be filled with chocolate.
I think I have some tubing, we'll run the chocolate fountain right into it.

How about some drinks?






And for those who'd prefer to stay sober, some milkshake things.

BENAZIR BHUTTO

I was in shock when I came home and saw that she had been assasinated. I've been following the whole Pakistani debacle with a mild interest, and now this. Well, a reflection:

I was discussing a few months back about the whole religion thing with one of my atheistic friends. They made some comments about how the worst thing the Romans did was exicute Jesus. They continued that if the Romans had simply chased Jesus and his buddies off into the hills where they'd die, the whole thing could have been done and over with. Well, I contested that, but it's beside the point.

Martin Luther King, Jr, was also killed.

Where does this come together?

Yes, it's a terrible day for Pakistan, the War on Terror, and the world as a whole. Musharraf alleges that he's pro-democracy, but he's exhibiting behaviors similar to those of our "democratic" friend Vlad Putin in USSR, *cough cough*, I mean Russia. So who's our friend, Musharraf, or the followers now-deceased Bhutto gang? That's a question we need to look long and hard at.


As much as I might like the Bhutto clan, I fear a coup... especially a bloody coup. Pakistan is in the nuclear club. Now, from my assumptions (yes, ass, you and me, I know...), Pakistan doesn't have the capabilities to make all sorts of nukes. Pakistan broke away from India,a nuclear power, so I presume they got some intel and some nukes. Of course, I could be totally wrong. That, plus even one nuke is dangerous in a deposition that could go any which way.

So, of course, now the anti-Musharraf movement doesn't have a face, a reputable face like Bhutto's. A face to rally around. A face to slap on posters.

Or don't they?

This brings me full circle, really. I believe that, as "Religion of Peace" tragic an event her assassination is/was, it could

wind up being a good thing for the movement. A martyr makes the cause "worthwhile," for lack of better word. Her death could be the best thing for the cause yet.

If Musharraf had a hand in it, then we'll never know what exactly went down, since his government is in charge of the investigation. I personally suspect that it was a psycho-supporter who took matters into his own hands, either with prodding from a higher-up on simply on his own accord. I doubt we'll see any major things come out of the investigation, though.

Presuming Musharraf did have a hand in it, this could be the worst thing he could have done. I think keeping her quiet, by whatever means (house arrest?), may have been his best move. Look what happened to Jesus. Look what happened to the Roman empire.

-Ze Baron

(I suggest looking at the Al Jazeera links and the second CNN one.)

Database:

Yahoo! News:
Bhutto target of many militant groups
Slain Bhutto's supporters take anger to the streets

FOX News:
U.S. Scrambles to Deal With Bhutto's Death, Repercussions on Efforts in Pakistan
Bhutto Killed in Homicide Attack (Photos) Warning: Graphic Images

CNN News:
Bhutto photographer: 'Gunshots rang out and she went down' (Video)
Officials: Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Bhutto killing

BBC News:
Benazir Bhutto killed in attack
Tense Pakistan set to bury Bhutto

Al Jazeera News:
Global outrage over assassination
Bhutto killed in suicide attack

JAMIE LYNN SPEARS

Apparently these starlets can't help themselves from getting knocked up. I wrote a post on the entire topic on my site, if you're so inclined, but I figured we could have a chat about it here. What do you think about Brittney's kid sister's pregnancy, and the ensuing media free-for-all?

-Ze Baron

TSK TSK TSK

Well, another starlet has gotten knocked up.

Yes, you've probably heard it. Jamie Lynn Spears, kid sister to our beloved Brit. Jamie Lynn is the star of "Zoey 101" on Nick. Jamie Lynn has most of her career based around her wholesomeness, much like the cast of High School Musical (Vanessa Hudgens, anyone?)

Not much of a deal, except that Jamie Lynn is only 16. I believe I have read that the age of consent in Lousiana, the state where the actors are from the and the, uhh, act was committed. Jamie Lynn's boyfriend, a Casey Aldridge, is 19. Yes, he's three years older... and an adult. This is statuatory rape.

I'm fascinated by this debacle.

I doubt that he is going to be charged with rape. The couple's been together for three years, and it takes two to tango. Another interesting prospect is that Jamie Lynn's chosen to keep the baby, rather than have an abortion.

Ms. Spears, the mother, or in this case, grandmother, had a book planned about raising two high-profile daughters. Bwhaha! Well, guess what, she sucks at it. Kinda reminds me of OJ Simpson's book, really. Don't people think anymore?

I have this odd feeling that Jamie Lynn's life is going to fall apart, like her sisters. It's really terrible. She's 16, she has her whole life ahead of her, and now she is a mother to this baby. Now, I'm not meaning to be condemning at all, but I would think that someone who's presumably making the money that she's making and has the career that she's making would make choices that would further the money and job opportunities.

I searched all my usual news sources for this -- Yahoo! News, Fox News, and BBC. I also get news from CNN and Google News, but I didn't feel the need to go that extensive. It should be noted that I regularly read Al Jazeera English, and I searched their site, and they have nothing on their site about this. Glad that someone's got their ducks in a line... even if they're from the Middle East.

-Ze Baron

More:

Yahoo! News 1
Yahoo! News 2
BBC
FOX

On a semi-unrelated story:
"Teacher Arrested After Offering Good Grades For Oral Sex"
I know people that could pass that class! (That's a joke, folks...)

-Ze Baron

GETTING MUSIC ON HOMEPAGE

Here's a step-by-step visual guide to getting music on your homepage.

The very first step is finding music that fufills these guidlines:

• It does not violate Multiply's ToS
  
• Fufills one of the copyright guidlines
• Copyrighted by you
• Has no copyright
• Copyright owner has given you express permission
• It is an Mp3 format.

Please be sure that the music you have selected is Mp3, not any other format, or this process will be fruitless.

Firstly, find your music module, and click the "Add Music" button.

Then, a screen will come up where you can choose files to upload. The red arrow denotes where you can choose between uploading to an existing playlist, or a new playlist. For this excercise, choose "New Playlist." Then, click the "Browse..." button marked by the blue circle. Be sure to select only Mp3 formatted music. Here, Multiply also reminds you of their music guidelines, which I've highlighted with green.

After you've chosen your Mp3s, you'll get this screen:

And now we wait... or, open a new window to keep browsing. Beware, doing so can slow down the uploading process.

I added a lot of material in crimson here, but it's basically the same as posting a blog. First, type in a title for the album. This is important, so put in a title you'll recognize later. Fill in your basic description. Pick what music you want in this album. Any music you've ever uploaded to any albums will be there, and even if those albums have since been deleted, it will be there. I have edited out my other music for the sake of cleanliness. It is my advice that you pick one song to put on your main page, so check only one song here. Fourth, choose your tags. The fifth and most important step, put this music to "everyone." This is a required step. Choose whether to allow replies. Note: If you have your material listed as network or contacts, and are uncomfortable posting to "everyone," choose to disable replies. Then save the album.

Now that that is done, check out the post. Notice that my album is set to everyone (blue arrow.) If want to edit or delete this post later, click below the module, where the yellow arrows are pointing. I have seen many questions about this in User Support. (Note: My background is Marilyn Monroe, not what it looks like from that small screenshot...!)

Remember that "Customize My Site" and "Promote My Site" have been moved to under your headshot. Choose "Customize My Site." The usual yellow boxes should pop up.

Click "Edit" for your "Welcome Box," denoted by the green arrow.

The "Edit Welcome Box" dialog should pop up. Notice the new option added below. Click where the red arrow is pointing to put a check in the box and add the player to your welcome box. Make sure you select the correct album, denoted by the yellow arrow.

Now, at the bottom of the welcome box, below your tags, you should see the player! Test it out, see how you like it.

Note that images were photoshopped and text edited for clarity.

If you still have questions, please here for more help.

-Ze Baron
Group Admin

JUST IN TIME FOR THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON...

The gift that every patriotic kid in America wants this season...



The new Al Gore action-figure!

Just pay shipping and handling, and we'll upgrade you to the new-and-improved action figure that spews hot air with the flip of a switch!

Text added by Baron JvK
Orig. post can be found here

-Ze Baron

JUST IN TIME FOR THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON...

The present that every kid wants! The new AL GORE action figure!

-Ze Baron

Text added by BJvK

Suggestion -- Pin Groups to Toolbar

The toolbar is great, I love it. There's one gripe I have with it, though. I'm a member of 16 groups, and I'm the admin of three. Some of the groups I'm in are MUDS, USG, Multiply Customized Themes, and Customize Your Multiply Profile, among other active groups. While I love being a member of these groups, and participating, of course, I would like to pin updates for only the three groups I admin to the toolbar. That way it wouldn't be flooded with posts from these other more active groups that I don't read "cover-to-cover," per se. I think it'd make the admin of all groups more effective, really.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

All I want for Christmas.

No silly -- the car.

I think.

-Ze Baron

TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW

Really. Post a general knowledge comment, and if I nor any other commentors 'know' it, then you get a point. There are two rules: One, it can't be something only you and your mom know, like your footie pajama fetish, and two, you can't lie saying you knew something that you don't.

Hmm. I'll let you guys fire the first volley. Hopefully this will improve our Trivial Pursuits scores.

-Ze Baron

Helpful Links and Groups

You're a member of Refugees, and that's an great thing. There's content and media here that the other groups can't touch. Our member base has both quality and quanity. Of course, you ought to also spread your roots a bit, get to know people, and experience the Multiply world. That doesn't mean you have to leave Refugees, on the contrary, you can stay here and contribute while keeping up to date with these equally important groups. The links are in the headings.

Multiply Terms of Service (ToS)

The Multiply Terms of Service, ToS, are the rules and legalise that govern Multiply. Overtly breaking these can get your account deleted, without warning.

Multiply Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

If you have got a question about Multiply, check here. It's very easily laid out and there is a plethora of information at your fingertips.

Multiply User Support Group

This group is an "official" Multiply group. After searching Refugees and checking the Multiply FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) you can come to User Support Group (USG).

How to use USG:
They have very extensive archives of questions, so click on any of the topics in the brown table at the top. If you don't find anything there, or you can't find a related tag, look below the table. There is a Google search box there, with two radio buttons. Make sure that the one for User Support is colored in, and then search in that box. You should find an answer to your question. Only after carefully checking for an answer by the methods I mentioned should you ask a question, since 95% of the time the question has been asked and answered. I hang out a lot at USG because there's lots of things to learn there.

Modify Your Multiply Layout

For those of you interested in customizing your page, either by building your own theme or implimenting one from someone else, this group can help you out. This group deals with the way that your page is set up, so if you have any problems with your theme or changing your page, ask them here.

How to use Modify:
To be clear, Modify is not a group to get new themes. It is a support group for themes and page customizations. If you have questions about your theme or CSS, post them here as opposed to at USG. Modify is a specially designed group for page customizations.

Multiply Customized Themes

If it's themes you want, it's themes you'll get. Multiply Customized Themes has over 80,000 members, so I would probably think it's the largest group on Multiply. I don't used Customized Themes (not yet, anyway) so I haven't spent too much time over at CT, but I can clearly see that there are themes of every size, color, and shape there.

How to use CT:
At the top, there is a bank of links there. I suggest you start there before just browsing themes. There are a lot of how-tos, there is a link on how to impliment your chosen theme, but first and foremost are the rules and the welcome message. Of course, read those first. They stress that this is a place only to share themes, not to request themes or to get help. Again, to get help, check out Modify.

The Official Multiply Blog

Remember on 360 how the 360 Team only wrote on their blog once every month or two? And on top of that, usually it was unimportant drivel about how you got your user ID or something, almost never about the product. Here, they are active. I suggets you keep up-to-tabs on the Multiply Blog. Usually there's lots of important stuff there, like warnings for scheduled maintainence, the unveiling of new products, and right now, give aways! As I blogged previously here (FREE STUFF), the Multiply Staff is giving away free webcams. Unfortunately, you can't add them as a friend, so put them in your bookmarks.

Other notable groups:

Administering Multiply Groups

If you are an admin of any group, I suggest you check this group out. There's lots of group-related info here.

Computer Help Desk

Got computer problems? Ask a question here at Computer Help Desk. This group also has extensive information, notably in the blogs section. I recommend you join this group.

How to use Computer Help Desk:
Be sure to post all questions in the notes section in this group. There is also a Google search box in this group, so search there for any questions you may have.

Multiply Newbie

This group, by far, has the most expansive help for a new user. If, after searching Refugees you don't find an answer, check out this group.

How to use Multiply Newbie:
In Multiply Newbie, just like most other groups, be sure to post in the notes with any questions you may have. First, check out the blog section, though. And if you've got a question, this group also has a handy Google search.

Customer Service

If, after all your searches through these wonderful groups, you don't have an answer, contact Customer Service. This is also how to report abuse, if need be. When reporting something, document it all and send what you can to Customer Service. Be sure to include URLs and explain the situation so they can draw good conclusions. There should be almost no reason to contact CS for help, unless someone in one of the above groups tells you that you need to contact CS.

Well, I think that's an important piece. Again, if some of your Y!360 friends are here at Multiply, encourage them to join our group.

I'm very excited by this post as I wrote all the links with some HTML I learned. If you hover over them, they should display a small box, and when you click, it should open new windows so you can read the rest of the entry.

-Ze Baron
Group Admin

Return to Top

BABY SHOWER!

Yes, well, as I've said before, traditionally, men don't go to baby showers, let alone host them... but this isn't an ordinary baby shower! This is the best of all baby showers combined!

I had first met my friend Jamie at the Historical Characters Ball. On 360, she was known as Aurora. She came as Marilyn Monroe, much to my delight! Oh, the antics of that ball...

As it happens, Jamie apparently has never had a baby shower, despite having kids prior this daughter. Kat and Momma Dish asked me, such as a Baron, to host one for our mutual friend. Despite having to cancel on some very famous people just to have the night to spend online (who am I kidding, I'm sick!), I readily agreed.

Kat and I discussed the possibility of a invitation. I thought it was a great idea, and Kat suggested I do it since she doesn't have Photoshop. After repeated reminders as the date drew nearer, I did some internet surfing for some basic materials and designed one myself. This is how it came out...

I was very pleased with how it turned out, as in the past, I haven't had the best experiences with Photoshop. Yesterday I plastered it on all of Jamie's friends pages (sorry) and I sent out PMs regarding this event and the Christmas Ball, so I'm glad to see you got the word!

Welcome to the shower. You'll find a nice place here to drop off your gifts for the mother-to-be. To drop off your foodstuffs and sample those brought by others, I suggest you come by this blog here. Of course, you can "Ooh" and "Ahh" over what everyone got Jamie, and then you can eat to your heart's content, but remember to come back here for the party!

(I figured that the notorious chocolate fountian might not be all that appropriate here... but it can be brought out if it comes to that!)

-Ze Baron

DELICIOUS FOODSTUFFS for Jamie!

If you brought food in the form of HTML, post it in the comments here! To starts us off, I'm sharing the most delectable dessert from far and wide... tiramisu! Tiramisu is a most delicious cappuccino flavored Italian dessert.

-Ze Baron

GIFTS for the MOTHER-TO-BE

Yes, yes, it's a baby shower tradition. Bring gifts. I suppose you all have your HTML gifts for her, and you're just itching to put them in the comments? Well, go right ahead! I bet you didn't know that Jamie even set up an Amazon.com account in case ya wanted to send her somethin' real.

My gift... well, I got her something she'll need. Let's face it. Her baby does NOT need 50 pairs of the cutest Christmas socks ya-ever-did-see. It can only wear one pair at a time. So I got her a blender.

We all know that babies just eat mushy stuff for the beginning of their career. A blender makes things mushy.

-Ze Baron

GIFTS for the MOTHER-TO-BE

Yes, yes, it's a baby shower tradition. Bring gifts. I suppose you all have your HTML gifts for her, and you're just itching to put them in the comments? Well, go right ahead! I bet you didn't know that Jamie even set up an Amazon.com account in case ya wanted to send her somethin' real.

My gift... well, I got her something she'll need. Let's face it. Her baby does NOT need 50 pairs of the cutest Christmas socks ya-ever-did-see. It can only wear one pair at a time. So I got her a blender.

We all know that babies just eat mushy stuff for the beginning of their career. A blender makes things mushy.

-Ze Baron

FREE STUFF

I was reading the Multiply Blog and I came across this. I found it another interesting thing that Multiply is doing.

Click here for... "Wanna Win A Webcam?"

Before anyone asks... no, I don't need a webcam, and no, I don't have a webcam so I can't endorse anyone.

Since I'm making plugs... if any of you have not yet joined Y!360 Refugees, my Multiply group here, you might find it very helpful. It has a bunch of experienced users (over 1900 at last count) and you can find updates about the goings on at Multiply (updates, new features, etc) there. HERE is the site. Check it out. Besides, I'm the mod! ;D

And also, regarding the PM I sent (I hope everyone got it), you can invite your friends to the party as well. Here's an excerpt from the PM:

Well, as it happens, Giles Conway and myself were talking about our Christmas plans, and he and I decided to co-host a ball this year. It is going to be December 28, 2007, at 9:00 PM EST. Everyone is invited, along with their friends. Please feel free to post this on your page and invite your friends, and their friends, and whoever wants to come. Traditionally these have been blowout parties, and those of you that have came before, you know what it's like.Now, of course, Giles suggested this be a formal ball, so men, find a nice tux, and ladies, grab your best evening gown. And of course, you can come with your virtual dates. Virtual dates aren't romantically involved, it's all good fun, so come with whomever you choose. I'm going to have to ask two favors from all of you.

Please RSVP at this link: http://zebaron.multiply.com/calendar/item/10003. If you RSVP and later can't come, that's fine, and if you don't RSVP and do come, that's fine too. The second favor is that I'd like you all to bring a food or drink. Go online, find a nice dish or drink, get the HTML for it, and then paste it into the special food and drink blog. Multiply is wonderful... you can add the HTML for your dish in a comment! We could never do that on 360. Plus, the comments update instantly, so we won't have to refresh all the time!

And ladies... I don't have a date yet! hehehe...

-Ze Baron

FREE STUFF

Don't you all run at once!

Yes -- Multiply is giving away free stuff, and you can get your hands on it!

Click here for... "Wanna Win A Webcam?"

Before anyone asks... no, I don't need a webcam, and yes, I'm waiting to endorse one of my friends, sorry.

-Ze Baron

HOSPITAL

Well, today I went to go see those wonderful hospital folk. The whole process was rather fine and dandy, and I got some stuff that'll make me sleep through the night (*wink wink*) You see, on Friday, I felt weird inside, and I figured I'd be sick over the weekend. No big deal because I had two days to recover, right?

Well, Saturday and Sunday I was warm, light headed, and coughing. Monday and Tuesday I practically coughed up my lungs, and it's rather annoying to the people who are actually trying to do stuff at work. I used a lot of cough drops that didn't really help. Yesterday I took a bottle of Aquafina FlavorSplash (I know, bottled water is a scam...) and I drank the whole thing throughout the day. I was taking this Tylenol Multi-Symptom stuff that sort of worked, but I still coughed.

This morning I was debating going in late or not going at all. It was really getting on my nerves. I decided I'd go to work and once I came home, I'd go to the hospital. After getting dressed, I decided to go to the hospital in the morning instead (and yes, there was some outside persuasion.)

Now, to be fair, it wasn't the emergency room. Frankly, it wasn't an emergency. I went to this sort of walk-in hospital type thing. Anyway, when I got there, I had to take a number and sit down. So I'm sitting there, reading The Odyssey (nothing like the classics) and I get called. I go over, register, and sit back down. I'm happily reading when, out of the corner of my eye, I notice someone in full orange come in. I thought, "Wow, he must be trying to make a statement!" I glanced over... and he was in handcuffs and there were two deputies with him. Lucky for me, I got called in just about then. I was thinking about asking him "
Whattaya in for?" but I figured that wasn't appropriate.

So I was in one of the rooms, and a nurse comes in, asks me questions, gets my pulse, listens to my lungs, and then declares that she thinks it's bronchitis. A few minutes later, doc comes in. He asks basically the same questions, and does basically the same tests... and he tells me I have acute bronchitis. He gives me a prescription for antibiotics and some high-speed chicken feed cough syrup. I drive out to Wal-Mart, hand 'em my prescription, and the lady says 20 minutes. I walk through the store, hacking like a chain smoker. Shampoo... *cough cough*... SoBe LifeWater... *cough cough*... Command hooks... *cough cough*...

I go back, get the prescription. The pharmacist wants to talk to me about them. She tells me I have to take two antibiotics today, and one each day through Sunday. *sigh* I hate pills. Then she tells me that this cough syrup has a narcotic in it, and it will make me sleepy, dizzy, and probably crazy (okay, I added that last one, but that's what she was getting at.) She suggests I take it in small doses when at home, maybe a little more before bed, but not before I go to work. On the way to the check out, I'm thinking, "Like hell I'm not going to take this before work. I've been hacking like an old man since Friday!" I made it through the rest of the day fine. I get home, it's been four hours since I took the initial dose of the cough syrup, so I take another dose. This one is slightly bigger because I'm at home. I lay down... turn on Fox News... watch the Republican Debate (another blog entirely) and amazingly, make it to the end. Then I fall asleep.

I woke up about just about an hour ago. One of my Royal Servants brought me McDonalds. That's another thing... all I'd eaten was Cheez-Its yesterday, and a banana and yogurt today (with the meds), so it's a good thing I ate a decent meal.

Now, the doctor also asked me if I had a fever. I haven't had a consistent fever, but I'll be fine, then I'll get really hot and start sweating, and then I'll get cold and start shivering. I know that is part of the process of the body fighting off the infection.

And my dear friend Ninjamommy wins today's prize... she and I were emailing, and she diagnosed me, over the Internet! But she, and a few other of my (mostly) female friends, insisted I go to the doctors or the hospital.

"Go to the hospital, Baron!"

"I'll think about it, maybe in a few days..."

"No, Baron, go today! Don't wait!!"

But anyway... I should be getting better. Although, according to Wikipedia, "Acute bronchitis usually lasts approximately 20 or 30 days." I don't want it to last 20 or 30 days!! So if you don't see me around a lot... I'm sleeping!

-Ze Baron

BABY SHOWER FOR JAMIE

I was approached by a friend of mine who said she wanted to throw a virtual baby shower for one of our mutual friends, Jamie (iowamom.multiply.com, Aurora on 360). Apparently, even after having a few kids, she hasn't had a real-life shower! Kat wanted to throw her one, even if it was just virtual. Alas, an idea was born... Kat (magickat.multiply.com) and Momma Dish (mommadish.multiply.com) and I are the hosts for such a glamorous event. Yes, I know, traditionally men do not attend baby showers, but this isn't a traditional baby shower! All of you are invited to attend. Please bring either virtual food or virtual gifts, in the form of HTML to put in a comment. If you feel so inclined, contact Kat about sending Jamie a real-life present! Jamie set up an account on Amazon.com that has some sort of wish-list shower-registry type deal, so presents are not a far-out idea!

I hope to see all you wonderful folk here... the specifics of the party are here:

Designed it meself! hehehe... And yes, it's a baby girl.

-Ze Baron

"Customize My Site" and "Promote My Site"

Wondering where they went to?

Earlier this morning, I had uploaded a song to a folder to play on my page. The song wasn't an mp3 (I didn't know this at the time) and it wouldn't show to be played on the page. So I looked for an mp3 version of the song. I found it, but got caught up in something else. I came back to it about 15 minutes later. I scrolled below my Site Title... and "Customize My Site" wasn't there! Neither was "Promote My Site!" I looked all over my page, and I couldn't find it. I sent a PM off to two of my friends. One replied in the next few minutes, telling me they had moved them.

This is a screenshot I snagged off my site. At the top, you see "Video," "Music," "Calender," and "Links." That's my Site Title. Notice the yellow arrow that points to where "Customize" and "Promote" used to be. The blue arrow points to where "Customize My Site" is now, and the green arrow points to where "Promote My Site" is now located.

-Ze Baron

IMPROVEMENTS TO MULTIPLY

It was announced in this group, User Support, and namely, the Multiply Blog, that new improvements were coming out. This announcement can be found here. I was out all night, but I arrived home now at almost 7:00 and noticed the new improvements. If you have any questions about the improvement, direct them HERE, on the USG blog. I/We are in no position to answer questions you may have as we heard about and received the upgrade with the rest of you. It certainly looks promising, though! Thank you all... keep being wonderful!

-Ze Baron

HE SHOULD GET TO KEEP THE MONEY

Remember "Pa-Paw" and the other post like that? Guess what!

Read this story. My opinion is that if his family and friends were stupid enough to buy into this, he should get to keep the $800k. Imagine the look on their faces when the government told them this is impossible... *sigh* People...

But here's the idea: We're going to have one of those posts where I start it with one setence and every person adds on setence. For those of you who didn't know me pre-Multiply, you missed out on "Pa-Paw" and the other blog which I cannot remember. Here, I'll start:

"Hey, Ma, Pa, guess what hunny told me! She works for the gub-mint!"

-Ze Baron

IT'S SNOWING!

I am like a kid in a candy shop! It snowed almost two days straight!! We have about two inches of the fluff! Our internet was down from about 1 o'clock until just a few minutes ago (3:00) so if I'm not around much today or tomorrow, that's why. Pictures to come!

-Ze Baron

Suggestion -- Groups Features

Granted, I haven't been a Multiply for very long (under 50 days) but I've really been thrown into the mosh pit because of how Y!360 Refugees took off. I don't know how the other group admins feel about what I'm about to suggest, but I know it would help me in so many ways. In no particular order:

• Folders in the links section. In Refugees, I thought of having a folder for reputable groups with good information, a folder for theme groups, and various other things. It would help organize things immensly.
• The ability to ban people from a group (block.)
• The ability to restric access to certain features (blogs, links, etc) for only mods.
• A second, lower tier of mods that can be appointed that would have powers such as delete and possibly customize the theme, but without powers like appoint other mods (or demote current ones) and delete the group.

And while I'm talking about second-tier mods, a "fan" feature would be good here on Multiply. The beauty of Multiply is that it is really community oriented. A lot of people like to get to know people before they accept. On Y!360, there was a feature called "Favorites." If I liked someone's material, I would put them in my favorites. I would receive updates on their content, I would have a link to their page (only viewable to me) and they would not be notified. That way, I could check out their page and get to know them (and have easy access to their page instead of having to find them.) The key feature is that this "fan" feature is that it's very flexible, ie, you can add it and remove it with ease. Secondly, the person who is being added as a fan is not notified.

If I haven't made it clear yet, let me explain in a metaphor. I am a Frank Sinatra fan. Let's pretend he's alive. I listen to Frank Sinatra's music and I have his CDs. I might know when he was born, if he lives in Beverly Hills, and some other stuff. Frank Sinatra does not know me.

I get the content (the CDs or the blogs), I get to know about them (learning about him or reading and commenting on blogs), all anonymously. But I still have the connection.

While this doesn't all pertain to Groups, the Groups features would be most handy to all us admin. The "fan" feature would improve the Multiply community. That's my two cents.

-Ze Baron

What? What? It's WORKING?

Take a looksee: Abbas shuts Hamas charities in West Bank

Things are moving along. Abbas, of the PLO, shut down these charities that were fueling Hamas, and Israel relesed some PLO prisioners. Believe it or not, an Hamas spokesperson said the closure of these facilities will lead to hunger in the West Bank. Well, unless those kids are eating RPGs and Katyusha rockets, they won't go hungry without that money. Who knows... maybe things will go somewhere. Maybe what's happening is futile. We'll see, but it's a start.

-Ze Baron

Y!360 HEADSHOT CONTEST WINNER...

Here are the official numbers for the Y!360 Headshot Contest poll:

With 13 votes, Entry 16 is awarded third place. This avatar was created by sunshines360. Congradulations!

With 14 votes, narrowly beating Entry 16, is Entry 2. This entry was designed by j-liz. Great job!

And our winner, with 26 votes... Entry 3! Entry 3 was created by seanymph3. Awesome finish!

If you have problems seeing the new avatar, try to clear your cache, cookies, and other information like that. This avatar will be displayed through December 17th. It is my intention to hold another contest early next year, so start thinking now!

-Ze Baron

PERSONAL CALENDERS

You know those calenders you have on your page?

Well, I don't like them very much. Right now in the right gutter of "My Multiply" I can see upcoming events, like a staff appreciation party for someone I've never met, a dentist appointment for someone I've never met, someone celebrating Nancy Grace's birthday, someone remembering George Harrison, and all sorts of odd and personal things.

If they're personal, I don't care, that's your personal information! You shouldn't be posting your dentist appointment on your Multiply site! Right now, I have one event from a friend I know, and a birthday of another friend. The rest I don't even know who they are. Why am I getting these? Why do I care? Who is posting such personal stuff?

Take care when posting in your calender. You don't know who's getting it.

-Ze Baron

EQUALITY

It's a good thing, right? Equal rights for women and minorities... equal this, equal that... well,:

Suppose you are trapped on a boat with no water other than what you have on board, and there is no opportunity for a while to gather more water (either from the land or from rain.) There are 25 on board. You have 25 empty equal-sized Nalgene bottle, plus large jugs that the water was stored it. It is not feasible to gather water, individually, on a needs basis from these jugs. Once they are opened, the water cannot be saved, it must be either drunk or put in the Nalgene bottles. You know, for sure, what each fellow traveler's needs are when it comes to water. That means you know how much that person needs to survive until more water is attainable. There is enough water in the jugs to fill the Nalgene bottles halfway. Be aware of the morale repercussions that will ensue based on how you fill these bottles. (See poll.) You cannot add circumstances beyond what I've outlined.

-Ze Baron

WE'RE A PEACEFUL RELIGION...

...and we'll kill you to prove it!

Click here to hear the story of the British schoolteacher.

Isn't it wonderful? A woman's elementary aged class votes to name a teddy bear "Muhammad," some of the parent's complain, and she get sentenced to 40 lashings. For those of you that may not understand, under Sharia law, an embodiment of Muhammad is punishable by the previously mentioned 40 lashings. Sudan is under Sharia law. Muslims took over the Sudanese government and are committing genocide against the native black popluation in Darfur.

People challenge President Bush for holding people in Guantanamo Bay without charges being brought against them, but why aren't they yelling and crying and wetting their pants that a British senior-citizen teacher is going to get whipped like a sailor over a damned teddy bear?

-Ze Baron

Music on Homepages

What are your thoughts on music on homepages? (If you go to someone's page, music automatically starts playing.) If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to my page and take a looksee. I'm anxious to see how this poll turns out since I have been debating over this since I came to Multiply. Usually, I just have a piece of music I like for a few days, then remove it until I do/don't find new music.

Groups

I was scanning groups in Multiply here, and came across some doozies:

United States Sucks

If you like criticizing the most powerful and hatred nation in the world, this is your place. Feel free to coment about foreign politics, military, government, people mentality and F*cking Bush!

Free Palestine

Our Goal: the Promotion of a two state solution, Peace and Human rights for Palestine and Israel. We also want to break the silence/ taboo and expose the many Myths on this conflict.

Bush is Stupid

If you can read this you are not the president.

Boycott Israel Campaign

People of good conscience have chosen to boycott israeli products and companies supporting the zionist entity. Their ethical purchasing decision however is frustrated by the lack of accurate information as to which companies to boycott.

We have carried out extensive research to identify the guilty companies. All our findings are provided here. Where ever possible, we have included full references for the source of our information so that you may independently verify its accuracy and understand exactly how each company is contributing its support to israel. We thank all those organizations who's research we have utilized.

Terrorism

Group dedicated to discuss all kinds of terror and aggression, such as:

1. Islamic terrorism
2. Israeli terrorism
3. American terrorism

“… Terrorists... terrorists... terrorists…” – Fragments from G. W. Bush’s discourses.

IRAN HAVADARANE PADESHAHI PARLEMANI

آینده از آن نسل جوان ایرانی است

Mow The Bush

Ever since that dreadful, god-foresaken day when George W. Bush was elected president of the United States of America, our country has plummeted downhill in an uncontrolable fiasco of unfortunate yet preventable events. This predicament stems from the various negligent manners Bush uses to solve problems. The sheer ignorance and stupidity exhibited by this man makes me ponder the question "why the hell is he in charge?" This man is clearly not qualified to make smart and effective decisions regarding the burdens and struggles weighing our country down. It seems as if the man is completely clueless on how to regulate the ever increasing calamity America is facing these days. But then again, the man can't even perform simple everyday tasks such as pronouncing elementary words, spelling his own name, and tying his own shoes. The miserable tragedy of it all is that the American people elected him for a second term. Good God, is it just me, or is this some perplex mysterious enigma that solely hardcore republican traditionalists can bare to comprehend?

LOVE YOUR LORD

ALL YOU LOVERS OF GOD COME IN PEACE.
This is the Group which spreads love and awareness of Allah,
so if you love him or want to spread his love around the world please come and join.
People of all faiths and religions are welcome to join, please feel free to witness the Love of Allah or God or whatever the name you call your God to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.
People of all faiths are welcome to post anything which promotes the love and awareness of God.

Muslim

A Multiply.com community welcoming everyone having an interest in Islam as a faith, Islamic cultures, issues
and topics for friendly dialogue, discussions, and exchanges of information, whether for promoting personal strength and belief or in search of a better understanding.

May we all be guided to the straight path...

NOTE: kindly, we request the members and the new members to know that group it has been created in order to showing the world that muslims are good and peaceful people and to publish the true thought of the way of the prophet Mohamed
(salla ALLAH alayihi wasallam), and the right way of his companions.
all ppl can register here and we welcome anyone from any place-religion-thoght of the world , with one condition,
respect our thoughts and our religion here and is prohibited publishing another any material without islamic sunna thought.

The Islamic Society

A place where muslims can meet and talk on Islamic issues

Al-Qur'an

This group collects the recitation of Al-Qur'an's Mp3. We hope you will also contribute the mp3's as well as listening to it. Hope this small efforts will get some benefits and counted as a good deeds towards Allah the Almighty.

Ahlul Bayt's creed of faith

As salaamo a’laikum,

Welcome to Our Islamic Discussion Groups.which mainly contains Teachings of Islam and shia belief. All are welcome to join, regardless of caste, religion or nationality.Our concept is Discuession's Teaching's and seeking knowlegde...

The aim behind this effort is to spread the Islam all over the world and to share with Muslim world news, current affairs, Qaseeda,marsiya, nauha, Majalis, sports , other topics of common interest etc. Posts are to be moderated but not to be dropped, edited or censored. The purpose of the group is to gain knowledge on all these subjects.

This is need of our today to keep in contact with the believers of distant area and tell them acquiring knowledge, constant rememberance of imam mahdi(a.f.t.s), giving charity of his behalf to ensure his safety increase our love and attachment to ahlulbaith(a.s). All are welcome to join, regardless of caste, religion or nationality. Qita, Nazm, Naat,qseeda , article etc.) can be written in roman English.

The views of the members posting's does not necessarily agree with the views of the moderator's. The author shall be solely responsible for his views as express by him in his post. I am sure the group shall soon prove a great center of knowledge.


Enjoy Your Stay and Share With Us Your Knowlegde

Admin

Some of these seem more malacious than others... ("USA SUCKS") but it's probably best to at least have them on our radar. -Ze Baron

Y!360 REFUGEES HEADSHOT CONTEST VOTING

Well gang, it's midnight here on the East Coast. That means that submission time is closed... but voting starts now! Since Multiply (as gracious as they are) only has polls with 10 options, max, I had to hunt down a HTML one that I didn't have to sign up for, didn't have to do this or that... blah blah blah... enough whining. I found this one, and it seems pretty good.

It told me that I set it so that you can only vote once per year... and I also chose that only I could see the results. Whether that's true or not, we'll see. It's pretty simple. Click on the button to see the submissions, vote, and be on your happy merry way. Results will be back in a week.

Which headshot should be selected for Y!360 Refugees?
	Entry 1
	Entry 2
	Entry 3
	Entry 4
	Entry 5
	Entry 6
	Entry 7
	Entry 8
	Entry 9
	Entry 10
	Entry 11
	Entry 12
	Entry 13
	Entry 14
	Entry 15
	Entry 16

-Ze Baron

MARS ATTACKS

This is the scene when the Martians first land. I gotta wonder why this movie didn't do better, what with the star-packed cast. I can pick out at least four well-known celebs in this clip. There's tons more, too. Check it out...

CALLING ALL PHOTOSHOP WIZARDS...

...and other Refugees!

Time to enter the Headshot Contest is running out! All entries will be due by Sunday, November 25, 2007 at midnight, EST.

If you need to know information about the timing of this contest, check out the calender. I outlined how the contest is going to be run, in terms of dates, so you should find it very helpful. I suggest that you change your view of the calender to "Month", as show here to the right, so that you can see how everything is laid out, as opposed to just day-by-day.

The calender can be found here.

To see the latest entries into the contest, go to this album. I have since disabled comments because people were hinting to which one entry was theirs, and that was strongly discouraged. I will be trying my best to upload new photos every night (realize it'll be late, though.) The entries so far are promising! I've already picked out the one which I think I'll vote for (unless a better one comes in!)

To review the rules, please go to this blog. Any entries that do not follow these rules are subject to disqualification.

All entries are at admin's discretion.

-Ze Baron

A NEW WORD

I think too much -- it's official.

I suppose this new word has been thought of already, but I'll throw it into the arena:

governmentality (n.) [guh-VERN-ment-AL-ity.] -- Mentality of politicians whose ideas don't translate well into the real world.

Beverly and I were discussing daylight savings time. See, I bought a clock that automatically changes itself -- not an atomic clock, though. I bought this clock a year before Congress changed the laws so that Daylight Savings Time was moved by two weeks. Now my auto-changing clock only changes two weeks after everyone else. I refuse to change the clock manually. I'll change it back, then two weeks it'll move back another hour, and I'll have to move it forward. That's not how it works!

Beverly and I came to the conclusion that Daylight Savings Time has outlived its purpose. It gets dark here around 5:00 PM... what a damper for your day.

-Ze Baron

LURKING

I don't know if any of you guys noticed, but when you go to a page, the owner of that page can see who all came to that page. They get a history, complete with headshots and hyperlinks. While this is typically benign -- I see that a bunch of people read this blog and didn't comment, or that or whatever. I suppose it's a harmless feature. The difference is that on 360 you could lurk with no consequence.

Some days when I'm out scoping people out, without commenting (I don't do it often,) I'll get a "Thanks for coming by my page" or a "You came by my page but were pretty quiet" comment. I HATE that with a passion and a fury!! If I wanted them to know that I came to their page, I'd've bloody said something! Sometimes I'm just getting music, sometimes I'm scoping out members of Refugees to see their pages, etc... it just drives me nuts. I don't care if they see that I've been there, but don't thank me for coming when all I did was look at the page.

Today I got the most rude invite... they said (paraphrase) "You came to my page for a download... at least you could invite" or something like that. I know for a fact that, unless they changed their music sections, I did not go to their page!

This really, really, really drives me bonkers. I don't hunt down every passer-by who stops in for a read. I don't think anyone should... it's almost like disrespecting people's privacy.

I think I've officially found my Multiply pet peeve.

-Ze Baron

LURKING

I don't know if any of you guys noticed, but when you go to a page, the owner of that page can see who all came to that page. They get a history, complete with headshots and hyperlinks. While this is typically benign -- I see that a bunch of people read this blog and didn't comment, or that or whatever. I suppose it's a harmless feature. The difference is that on 360 you could lurk with no consequence.

Some days when I'm out scoping people out, without commenting (I don't do it often,) I'll get a "Thanks for coming by my page" or a "You came by my page but were pretty quiet" comment. I HATE that with a passion and a fury!! If I wanted them to know that I came to their page, I'd've bloody said something! Sometimes I'm just getting music, sometimes I'm scoping out members of Refugees to see their pages, etc... it just drives me nuts. I don't care if they see that I've been there, but don't thank me for coming when all I did was look at the page.

Today I got the most rude invite... they said (paraphrase) "You came to my page for a download... at least you could invite" or something like that. I know for a fact that, unless they changed their music sections, I did not go to their page!

This really, really, really drives me bonkers. I don't hunt down every passer-by who stops in for a read. I don't think anyone should... it's almost like disrespecting people's privacy.

I think I've officially found my Multiply pet peeve.

-Ze Baron

Handy HTML Hints!

I've been messing around with HTML and I think it's pretty neat. No, I don't mean posting glittery graphics all over the place like a graffiti artist, but just to make commenting more efficent. For example, I can make text italics, bold, or underlined in a comment, because I learned some easy-to-remember HTML tips. Sometimes my blog formatting screws up but I just patch it together with some HTML and it looks good as new. I've even learned how to make a neat little button. Here's an example of that:

Isn't that just awesome?!? I probably sound like an idiot, being amazed at HTML, but it's really neat-o! I'm not going to go into details for tricky HTML, and I haven't even touched CSS, but I'll help you guys out. Realize this works best in comments since you already have the buttons in blogs, not to mention that you have click "Edit HTML" As you can guess, insert the text you are trying to change where it says "insert text here."

• If you want to make something bold, then type "INSERT TEXT HERE"

• If you want to make something italicized, then type "INSERT TEXT HERE"

• If you want to make something underlined, then type "INSERT TEXT HERE"

Sometimes when I compose a blog or a message, a line will break into two and then the third line will run off and off to the left instead of staying in a fixed area. I edit the HTML and use the
link as a line break to resolve this.

I will cover the button in a later post if everyone can grasp basic HTML!

Now, two standard reminders:

1. RESPECT the requests of page owners -- some people don't like pictures or any fancy HTML.
2. PLEASE post questions in the "Q & A" section. Blogs are for announcement type information only!

-Ze Baron
Y!360 Refugees
Founder/Admin

Neat Stuff (and a contest!)

I installed two site trackers on Refugees over the weekend, but I've since removed one. The one that you see there is "Site Meter," used for tracking hits.

I was reviewing the information for our group. I wanted to share this neat little graphic. It illustrates where our last 100 visitors have been from. We've gone international! There's a few from England, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, South America, and Pakistan but most are from the East coast of America.

If you are encounter problems here on Multiply, like things that don't work, I'd suggest downloading Mozilla FireFox. I use it strictly for viewing Multiply. It works GREAT. For my other internet-viewing needs, I use Opera. My Internet Explorer (7) crashes a lot. *sigh*

If you are having problems with your Yahoo! Instant Messenger, remove it from your computer. There is a service called Web Messenger available. It's your IM service, except in your internet browser! The URL is webmessenger.yahoo.com. You don't even have to download anything.

For Thanksgiving, I've come up with a contest that we're going to hold here. We initially started out here with the picture of the sinking ship, with Y!360's logo and an arrow to the ship. I photoshopped that picture, and it worked great, but as our needs changed, we needed a new logo. We had to get off the Yahoo! bashing and morph into a support group, a community group of sorts. A center for the transplanted community of ex-360'ers. I looked through my (extensive) pictures from the internet, and came upon this one. I think it's neat looking, but it doesn't necessary pertain to our group that well.

The contest is to either find a picture on the internet, take a picture, or photoshop a picture that will work for our group. The contest is starting now, and will end six days from today, November 18th, 2007. The ending time for submissions is 12:00 AM, EST. And yes, I'll be up until then! All submissions must be emailed to my email address, arrow.of.day@gmail.com. I will upload them the album titled "Y!360 REFUGEES HEADSHOT CONTEST" [link] upon receipt, or as fast as I can. All photos will be uploaded within 15 minutes of the ending time.

The rules are as follows. The logo cannot...

• ...bear Y!360's logo.
• ...bear Yahoo!'s logo.
• ...bear Multiply's logo.
• ...bear any advertisements, etc.
• ...be any overtly copyrighted material.
• ...be obscene.

The logo must...

• ...be received by the specified time to my email address with your Multiply username as the subject line.
• ...follow Multiply's uploading rules.
• ...be semi-group related.
• ...be submitted by a group member.
  

Please realize that all submissions are at the discretion of the admin.

Judging and selection for the logo will take place the week after the deadline for submission. A blog will be uploaded featuring a poll and either the pictures or a link to the albums. The logo will be chosen by the people! Encourage your fellow members to vote for yours, and get your friends who aren't here to join up and vote for you.

The logo will remain our group's official headshot for two weeks, at the minimum.

Currently, the album features Multiply's official logo. This logo is not going to be in the contest. The reason that photo is in there is because I could not upload a blank album. The current logo is also up for voting, so if you don't like any you see, you can refrain from voting or choose the current logo.

Thank you all for being wonderful. Keep it up.

-Ze Baron

BLAST FEATURE

There's been recent clamor about Multiply incorporating a blast, both in MUDS and in Refugees here. While the one on 360 is nice, I'd like to offer a potential counter-point.

First, I suggest you open up my Multiply page --> zebaron.multiply.com

Second, I'm going to give you some knowladge if you don't know what I'm going to talk about. A blast on 360 looked something like this... go HERE to my 360 page. At the top, the the brownish rectangle where I have information about my leaving 360 for Multiply, is the blast. This could be used for displaying your favorite quotes, telling visitors to your page a quick notice ("I'm leaving 360," "I'll be out of town," etc) or it could be used for directing people to an outside link. If a link to an Mp3 file were put in the link section a "Play" icon was displayed there. There is also a feature to reply to the user via a PM, though this could be turned off.

Blast updates were fed into your friend's "Home" page, an equivalent of Multiply's "My Multiply" area. While this was nice, in some cases, for receiving updates, it was usually bothersome because it forced blog content down. Some users only used their blast to advertise their page, which was very annoying.

Here on Multiply, we don't have a explict feature like that. However, if you go to my Multiply page (HERE), look where I have the American proverb. That is called the site title. Initially, I used the site title I used on 360, but I later abandoned that in leiu of this idea... using that area as a blast of sorts. To change it, you go to "Customize this page" below your welcome message, hit "edit" in that module, and then change it. I've found that it takes about the same amount of time to change that here as it did to change a blast there.

Some users have suggested using the "Welcome" area as a blast. On my page, that area is titled with "Willkommen" and lists the "About Me" that I moved from 360. This feature would be good for a blast as well, though I chose the above option because the site title is in a much larger font.

If Multiply wishes to accomadate the cries of the 360 users who want a blast, they could do that very easily. Instead of adding an entire new module to clog people's blogs (that rhymes!), simple changes to the site title could fix that. The easiest way to do that would be to add a box to user’s “My Multiply” page similar to the one on 360, shown to the right.

[This feature would enable you to edit your blast from your 'home' page, the equivalent of your 'My Multiply' page.]

That way, Multiply would not need to change any modules on our pages, saving the integrity and the streamlined look, while giving us a more accessible way to change our “blast,” per se.

I personally do not want Multiply to bend to everything requested. This is Multiply, not 360. We left 360 for a reason… if we try to mold our new home to look like our old one, what have we truly done?

I am ashamed that people would demand this and that and this on MUDS and Multiply Customer Service. A friend has told me about the goings-on in the posts of MCS. I implore you to please be decent and please, please, do not post another blog on the same topic at any of these groups if there is not a new one.

While we may be citizens of this community, we don’t have the right to charge in here and pretend we’re calling the shots. For now, try and implement my suggestions above, and if Multiply deems a blast a good thing, they’ll add it.

Personally, I don’t want a blast. While I liked having one, the way that the site title is set up works better, in my opinion. And, on the bright side, the site title accepts HTML, something 360’s blast did not.

If you’ve got any questions about my suggestions here, you can send me a PM or leave it in the comments. Please, though, don’t trash Multiply’s official groups.

The poll that has been posted at MUDS can be found HERE.

-Ze Baron

THAT'S SERVICE

Well... I'm amazed again.

I sent a letter a few days ago to the Multiply Customer Service (CS) asking them if they could help me out. I changed the logo for Y!360 Refugees a week or two back, but it still had not changed on the user's page to the new logo. After about three days (now today) I got a reply:

"Hi Baron,

We're having a look into the cause of this issue, and will let you know when it's been corrected. In the meantime, I'm sorry for any inconvenience this might cause.

If you have any further questions, please let us know.

Roy"

I was a little disappointed by this, and I sent a letter to the friend who suggested I contact CS. I said I was a bit disappointed, but at least they were looking into it. She told me to keep watching the problem and that it could be fixed soon. I went and checked on my page... and lo and behold, the new logo was there! Whoo-hoo!

Alexa.com is a reputable website that tracks the hits of other web sites, usually community-oriented pages. Right now, Yahoo.com is at the top of the leaderboard, where it's been for quite some time. Google.com, YouTube.com, Live.com, and MSN.com fall in behind it to round out the top five. MySpace.com, Facebook.com, and Wikipedia.org follow them. You can find the top 20 HERE.

I decided to check some things out. I went and looked up Multiply.com. You can find the results for that HERE.

Notice in mid-October, after a small decline, Multiply suddenly got a lift, and is continuing to lift. What happened in mid-October? The Y!360 Team blew us off with their apathy and announcement of 360’s closing. This is when the pe

ople started fleeing… myself included. The average user visited 15.4 unique pages whilst on Multiply.

This is the graph for yahoo.com. Realize that it is not the graph for 360.yahoo.com, since 360 is a portal of Yahoo’s and cannot be counted separately via Alexa. The page for Yahoo! can be found HERE.

Notice that there is a hump there in early- to mid-October where Yahoo!’s traffic slumped off. Yahoo! had a 1% decline in page views over the last three months. Multiply had a 3% gain. I doubt that the fleeing of refugees touched Yahoo!’s traffic, but it appears we certainly did Multiply’s.

It also says that 47% of visitors to Yahoo! go to mail.yahoo.com. 13% go to search.yahoo.com. 5% go to 360.yahoo.com. These are the top three portals, mind you! It’s also amusing: 1% of Multiply users go to customizedthemes.multiply.com. That must be one big group!

HERE is an article from techcrunch.com, showing page hits for social sites. It lists them in order of growth. Topping the charts is Imeem.com, followed by aim.com, digg.com, facebook.com, and flickr.com. Xanga.com is at the bottom. You guessed it: Yahoo! 360 is the second last, losing 51% of it’s traffic over the last year. In 9/06, 360 had 5,697,000 unique visitors. In 9/07, 360 had 2,774,000 unique visitors. That probably sealed it’s fate for Mr. Yang, even though 360 was the third most-visited portal of Yahoo!.

The Multiply team has announced a major upgrade for security/privacy. To read about it, go HERE. This should help people fix their settings sweepingly as opposed to doing it one by one.

Well, that’s all I’ve got to say – except, if you haven’t joined Y!360 Refugees, and you’re a refugee, I’d suggest you do so, pronto! There is plenty of help and a warm community of similarly displaced users. (Of course, who am I to tout it? I’m the founder!)

-Ze Baron