This was too good not to link to. It’s gone viral today with no less than three people [in my acquaintance] linking to it by email or Facebook.

Yes, sometimes being a web designer is hell.

Update: And you have to see this crazy stuff! Awesome!

Jackie wrote about the Globe article which mentioned that in the Governor’s public online voting about the new Massachusetts coin, the Lowell National Parks make it to second place on the list of possible historic and natural treasures to be depicted on the coin.

Now, the LNHP was behind the Gloucester’s Fisherman’s Memorial by a very large margin. However, if you recall, I linked to and wrote about the voting and encouraged people to show some hometown pride and vote for our own National Park.

I would love to see the list of referring URLs on that particular page! Is this evidence of LiL’s burgeoning ability to (almost) affect the outcome of inconsequential decisions by the federal government?

There’s no doubt now, change has come to America.

While things are slow going on Left in Lowell 2.0, things do go. I largely have the infrastructure design built (a lot of it in my head, but also partly in the software) for the basic front-page/user-post system, and am working on a new website layout design as well. (When I get frustrated with my back end design, I switch to playing around with the front end, and vice versa.)

So LiL2.0’s initial features will have those two items - the functionality of the current blog in Wordpress, plus user posts - though I am forgoing a Recommended List in the first edition, since I want to wait to see just how much user-generated content we get at the start…a Recommended List would be moot if there were only a new user post or two every day or so. However, that’s also in the works in the future, with a ratings system that will be pretty damn cool in the end. Possibly including a “highest rated comments” list if I feel really ambitious.

I do plan on specifically inviting local arts organizations and other cultural groups to become user contributors, so that when something interesting is going on, like an event or fundraiser, art show or poetry reading, they can write about it themselves on the blog.

Some other awesome features I plan on building: a page which showcases recent posts via RSS of other local blogs in the greater Lowell area - I’m thinking right now that it’ll be in three tabs, a “From the Left,” “From the Right” and a “General” tab for those blogs like the CM’s blog, which are nonpartisan and informational. Maybe even an “All” tab if you like your feed all mixed in. This will perhaps pull only the title, post date, and maybe a bit of a teaser from the text and the blog it is from, so you’ll have to click on them to read them. I want to encourage people to visit these other sites, not steal their content for mine. (Heck, even if I’m the only one who uses it, I’ll be happy - much easier to keep tabs on new content for my own purposes!)

Another future feature I think I would like will be a Live Blog quick-post system. This will basically be a way for moderators to take any amount of users (including myself) and “attach” them to a live blog post, where they will then have access to posting to it in a live-blog situation. That will leave the use of comments for comments, and forgo the need to edit a whole post to post a live blog, which will hopefully be less unwieldy on handheld devices while out on the road. It will also show the name of the live-blogger, the time it was posted, and be in (probably) reverse chronological order, so that you can refresh a live-blog post and see whatever is new. (If I can really hack it, I might even show you using an indicator what is new, if you are a logged-in user).

So it would look like this:

City Council Debate Live Blog!

Mimi (8:54pm): OK, this thing is wrapping up. I can’t believe that Oscar even said that!

Lynne (8:46pm): Wow, strong closing from Big Bird. I thought the nesting reference was killer.

waitilnextyear (8:43pm): I’ve just wrapped up my list of promises from the city council candidates…I’ll post them later. To be honest, I think it’ll be a very tall order for this list to be even 50% fulfilled. Especially in this economic downturn - I mean, promising a solar panel on every roof is laudable, but really unrealistic.

Lynne (8:30pm): Oooh! Bert just got up and punched Ernie in the head!

And so on.

Anyway, thought I would give an update, and by the way, I will need beta testers! Probably not for a week or two minimum, but if you are a longtime reader I can trust, and you want to help me kick the tires on this thing so that I can work out usability and/or software bugs, keep that in mind. Be the first of your friends to see LiL2.0! You’ll be the envy of…well, not that many people, but maybe a couple.

And, if you have suggestions on features you’d like to see, or have an opinion on how a feature should work, contact me at my email, lynne at leftinlowell.com (replace the at with an @, no spaces).

I just got word as to what is happening with Blue Mass Group, if you have been trying to get that website all day. Apparently, SoapBlox, which BMG uses for hosting and running their site, has been seriously hacked. It looks very, very bad.

This follows the hacking and death of Journalspace, another popular blog site, which very recently went under due to the severity of its data loss. I suspect the two are not unrelated.

I’ve already offered what help I can to David, but it’s hard to know how quickly BMG might be back up, if it can get back up at all with its archives intact. Best wishes, guys.

Just doing some catching up on my news here - holidays and family stuff has me behind.

I’d like to belatedly welcome to the Lowell blogosphere occasional LiL commenter Cliff Krieger, a local Republican activist, whose blog is far less alliterative than this one though quite comprehensive (albeit from a different point of view). If you hadn’t seen the link from richardhowe.com, Cliff started Right-Side-of-Lowell over a month ago. (Which side would that be, the north or the south?! Kidding!) Apparently the local blogosphere is now no longer tipped completely towards the progressive side.

Cliff strikes me as the sort of person who is doing the work his party needs on the ground (butchering my name notwithstanding) so it should be interesting to observe where the local Republican party can get itself. Frankly, good competition is never a bad thing. Just, don’t be too good at it.

Unbelievable. Anyone who says George W. Bush is the Security President ought to have their head examined. Just more proof that it matters who you elect, folks.

(Again, tip o’ the hat to my husband.)

In case you missed some of the drama in the last couple weeks, both richardhowe.com and jackiedoherty.org, our two other worthy progressive Lowell blogs, were felled in connection with a bad server move.

Well, now they are back in one form or another, though you’ll note from their similar look that they have yet to restore their unique design templates.

Look guys, Left in Lowell might have been the only Lowell blog for a couple of years, but it’s much nicer to share the work load. Welcome back! Don’t ever do that to me again!

Since this topic, what is a blog, and what it means to be anonymous, and where do journalistic standards come in, has been getting some pixelspace lately on LiL, I found Ryan’s commentary over at Below Boston, “Some Serious Netroots Reform,” particularly apt and timely.

First, Ryan outlines a similar idea that I have:

But in Ritchie’s case, as I suggested in the diary, his only serious mistake was to confuse blogging with commenting. Unfortunately, it’s an all-too common situation.

As someone with some experience in local campaigns, I hear time and time again people talking about comments on WickedLocal and other community papers as “the blogs.” It’s a dangerous precedent that must be kept in check, immediately.

It’s easy to see where the confusion grows: most of the population’s never been to a blog; people just think any online commentary is simply ‘blogging.’ It would be nice if we could chalk this up to one big confusion, but by allowing this misunderstanding to take place, the reputation of blogs as useful tools is being sullied, all the while the real culprits are free from actually fixing the problem.

Follow me after the break, it’s a long post… (more…)

This weekend (June 7) is the Democratic State Convention, which is happening in Lowell. Exciting stuff, but even more exciting are the workshops after. Namely, a blogging workshop for delegates after the close of the convention that BlogLeft Mass and the DSC’s Communication Committee is jointly running!

Yup, us bloggers in pajamas get to meet the real world in a clash that is sure to be interesting. We have lots of bloggers and participants joining in to present, and it’s a two hour timeslot with the first hour being an overview, and the second hour going to breakout sessions for different interests and experience levels.

Here’s the basic outline of our training session:

Your Screename Please? - Navigating the Blogosphere

Presented by BlogLeft and the DSC’s Communication Subcommittee the team includes Lynne Lupien (Left in Lowell), Ryan Adams (Ryan’s Take), Kate Donaghue (DDemDispatch), John Bowes/Susan Haley (Below Boston), Steve Oewns (.08 Acres and a Donkey), Arthur Powell, Michael Forbes Wilcox and others. Through the magic of technology, BlueMassGroup’s Charley on the MTA will be part of the workshop.

From newspapers to local blogs, what was once a trend is now mainstream. From newbies to experts, this session has something for everyone. Topics include: geetting to know the culture of blogs - how can blogs be used to increase activism - strategies for campaigns - citizen journalism: covering events that the main stream media does not cover. The first part of the session will focus on blogging strategy and an overview of how blogs can be used by Democrats to pormote our shared values. Following the overview there will be three breakout sessions.

1. Netroots 101 - By the end of the workshop, you should be ready to log on and join the excitement.
2. Blogging: the “tech stuff” - Platforms, podcasting, video blogging, other netroot tools that can make your blog better and more.
3. Bloggers Round Table - Meet with experienced bloggers from around the Commonwealth. Share your experinces and learn from others.

So, if you’re a delegate at the convention this weekend, and you are interested in learning more about blogs, please join us! Bloggers and blogger participants out there, we would love to have you at our round table discussion. Training will begin at 3pm on June 7 or at the close of convention, whichever is later.