Greetings Open Salonistas, 

Now that we're a little more than a month into Open's "relaunch," I thought it might be a good time to take stock of how the site is (and isn't) performing and lay out some changes we have planned going forward. As you've probably noticed, the Most Recent… Read full post »

It's been a minute! Actually, it's been about an hour, but I'm ecstatic to report I finally have some meaningful updates to share.

First and foremost, I'd like to introduce you all to our sparkling new moderator, Melissa Noble. Melissa will be our inhouse spam blaster going forward, and judging… Read full post »

Hey Guys,

Just a quick note to let you know that Open Salon will be going down at 3:00 PM EST for approximately an hour so that our IT team can transfer the site onto a new server. This should help increase Open's speed, and generally make it less stress-inducing to… Read full post »

I've been holding out for a more substantive update, but this will have to do for now. As you well know, Open's been frozen for the past few weeks due to the massive quantities of spam currently choking the site. I physically can't update the cover or navigate new posts, much… Read full post »

I'm writing this open call from my parents' apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which is currently doubling as my personal Frankenstorm bunker, replete with dry goods, bottled water, the first season of "Homeland" and our family's odiferous but much beloved basset hound. As it turns out, m… Read full post »

Hey Guys,

I know it's been a while since my last note, but unfortunately, I haven't had all that much new to report. The site's still maddeningly slow, due in large part to the spam that's consumed the Most Recent feed (and the comments section, and Most Viewed, and the far… Read full post »

So I'm still picking the shrapnel out of my flesh from your responses to my last post, but here goes:

First, I want to offer a small correction. The disabled search functions I mentioned previously won't actually prevent spam from infiltrating the site. They should, in theory, allow Open to run… Read full post »

Even if he might not have any formal medical or computer coding training.

OK, so to state the obvious, the site's performance over the last week and half has been highly problematic. Many of you, your humble editor included, have had trouble signing on to the site, and accessing individual posts… Read full post »

Will have more to report. Know it's been a rough couple of weeks, and I hope to have some fixes. Stay tuned.

I recognize that I'm coming to this far too late, but I wanted to weigh in very briefly on the hate speech that's been flying around Open Salon recently. Quite simply, there's no place for it here. As of this afternoon, I've banned Right Wing Nut Job (or whatever truncated version… Read full post »

A very quick note to say that I haven't forgotten about you all, and I'll have more to say in the next day or so. Stay tuned!

Far be it from me to curb your authorial instincts, but for mine and Salon's purposes, it would be helpful if the titles of your pieces indicated what they were about. It lets me know right away what I'm reading, and it's useful for our social media platforms. Just want to… Read full post »

It's been almost two weeks since the shootings in Aurora, and we're only beginning to piece together the narrative of James Holmes' crimes. If Dave Cullen's "Columbine" has taught us anything, it's that it may be years before the whole picture finally emerges, and even then there's no guara… Read full post »

Open Salon-ers and Salonistas,

The good news is that the site appears to be back to its old self again, that is to say only mildly dysfunctional. The spam continues its ruthless assault on the Most Recent feed, but direct messaging and commenting functions look like they're running OK, and the… Read full post »

I know I owe you all an update on some IT-related issues, but in the meantime, I'm putting out an open call for Denver-based reporters who might be able to illuminate us on the shootings earlier this morning. Needless to say, our hearts go out to the victims and their families.

Be sure… Read full post »

Open Salon-ers, 

I'm ready to reapproach our IT team, but I want to make sure I have a complete list of user grievances. Based on discussion threads here and here, it looks like these are the major hiccups currently afflicting the site:

*The Most Recent feed has been devoured by s… Read full post »

To paraphrase the late DJ Mister Señor Love Daddy, the weather forecast for this afternoon (and most likely the rest of the week) is: HOT! How hot? According to a new study by the National Climatic Data Center, the United States is currently experiencing its worst drought in nearly 6… Read full post »

If you haven't had a chance yet to check out Andrew Leonard's essay, which ran on the cover of Salon this morning, I strongly suggest you do so. Ostensibly it's about losing your house to a fire, but like all compelling non-fiction, it offers a second narrative buried just beneath its glossy… Read full post »

It's still only July, but already the rough beast of election season has begun moving its slow thighs. President Obama recently rolled out a series of television ads attacking his Republican rival for sending US jobs overseas through his private equity firm, Bain Capital, while Romney has respon… Read full post »

This past Sunday, Salon published a compelling Q&A with author Michael Cobb, a professor of English at the University of Toronto whose new book, "Single: Arguments for the Uncoupled," explores how our culture marginalizes the unmarried and the unattached alike. Ultimately, how… Read full post »

Hope you all had a pleasant Fourth of July and that none of you are as disoriented as I am by the Wednesday holiday. My biological clock is telling me it's Tuesday right now, but I think I'll manage.

Before bidding you all farewell for the weekend, I wanted to throw… Read full post »

Earlier this week, Salon published a moving piece by Tobin Levy called "My sister's perfect life." From the title alone, you can probably see where this essay and my follow-up open call are headed. Whether you're an overachieving big brother or a black sheep younger sister, chances are that… Read full post »

Since becoming the editor of Open Salon, I've been nothing if not incredibly busy. Busy composing open calls. Busy crafting pithy captions for your stories on Facebook and Twitter. Busy scouring the homepage for possible crossposts to the main website. At times, this busyness serves as a pa… Read full post »

OK, so now that I've got my (and, apparently, Poppi Iceland's) more earnest open call for the weekend out of the way, it's time to have a little fun with what are fast becoming the only sure things in this life--death and Twitter.

Later this evening, Salon will be running an essay… Read full post »

As summer continues its slow, languorous march towards the Fourth of July, America suddenly--and rather improbably--has reason to celebrate. Yesterday morning, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the constitutionality of President Obama's health care reform, temporarily restoring our faith in humanity,… Read full post »