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Good Monday morning! I want to update you on a couple of features I've added. I tried quite a few new features that didn't work with our current module configuration. One of those was an autosave for our blog posts. It conflicts with one of our necessary modules, so that will have to be addressed a bit later.

The first feature is very simple and you might barely notice it. You may now subscribe to comments. You will see a little box underneath you comment. You will receive an email when someone replies to your comment.

I am doing my best to install an autosave feature for blog posts. Unfortunately, I'm not sure this is going to work. It is set to save every 10 seconds, but something either already installed on our server or on my computer is preventing it from functioning properly.

If you get a chance to write a sentence or two in a blog post, please look at the bottom of your screen where you should see a blue strip telling you your form has been autosaved. Let it sit there a while - long enough for Drupal to forget you're around - then try to post it. Please do not try this out with something you really care about losing.

Thanks. It will be nice to know if it is my computer or something already loaded on BlueNC.

Finally! We have our Recommended Diaries block back. We had some issues created by the new theme, but I think I've found a way to work around them for now. We used to have the block on the right sidebar. With all the ads and other lists, I thought we'd try our Rec list out in the top right box.

I have set the voting requirements very low so I could get a few diaries up with one vote. It is still set up to move a diary off the rec list if it is front paged.

Please remember to vote for the diaries you think should be rec'd. Three, four or five stars moves a diary into the running. If you simply give everything five stars (I've been known to do that) then we run the risk of running diaries off the list too quickly.

The owners of BlueNC are committed to sustaining a forum that fosters free and open exchange. Indeed, our simple standard for engagement is that members refrain from writing anything that is intolerably obnoxious. In the two years since that guideline was put in place, we have not banned a single user based on this standard.

Over the years, I've taken more than a few workshops from an organization called Landmark Education. What I learned there has had a big influence on my life. It led to my running for local office - and winning. It got me involved in partnership with my wife to help candidates and causes with fundraising. It transformed my ability to be effective in business development. And it gave me an awareness that I am fully responsible for the world around me.

In most of the courses, the subject of "upsets" is usually front-and-center. Upsets are the currency of life for human beings, so figuring out how to handle them is important. Especially how to end them.

James and I are excited to announce some changes at BlueNC. Some new front-pagers ... and a commitment to developing BlueNCtv.

Good Morning! You might have noticed that you are receiving a few more error notices over the past couple of days. That would be my fault.

I have decided to clean up all the spam user accounts that clog our database. Of course, I've chosen to do it the hard way - one by one. Some accounts look like they are set up by real people and I have to dig into their profile to see if there are embedded links to web sites offering free porn, free sex, free money, cheap drugs, fun at casinos or surprisingly enough are simply links to legitimate businesses.

Don't worry. I'm not looking at accounts where real people have actually logged in to BlueNC. I'm looking at those spam accounts that are set up by a machine, so they can't log in. They just sit there and clog up our database.

In 2006 BlueNC’s huge coup was to get DailyKos and MyDD to pay attention to Larry Kissell. The members of this site also dived in on local races and gave some much needed last minute attention and on the ground help to some smaller races and candidates. People here also shined a huge spotlight on the bad things Chuck Taylor had done. In 2007 the site built and built, becoming a focal point of policy discussions, putting some real pressure on the legislature, and participating fully in the efforts to pick a successor for Elizabeth “I live in Kansas” Dole.

So the question is, what do we want to be able to say we did in November?

How do you walk back into a room full of friends and acquaintances after you've stomped out and slammed the door?