Hmm, search on LJ?

Here's the latest LJ news post: It seems that now full text entry and comment text, as long as the entry is public and the user allows their journal to be searched, has come to LJ. This is powered by the Yandex blog engine. IIRC Cyrillic LJ has had this feature for well, a long time. Next up is probably the "my guests" thing.

Also, they seem to be intending to change the newsletter to something much less useful, possibly even making it weekly? (not really sure whether this is what they're implying). They plan to feature all kinds of user-generated content, which personally... I am not interested in at all. I don't really care how people answer the QotD, and it seems that the LJ_spotlight comm handles comm suggestions quite well; the photo thing seems popular, but is it necessary for us all to see photo contests?

In other LJ news, Tupshin Harper, who was the director of engineering and operations will no longer be working at LJ. He was well respected by the support staff and volunteers at Livejournal.

Virtual Gifts can mean big business?

http://www.adnectar.com/press/release/adnectar-launches-branded-virtual-goods-on-twitter-and-livejournal/ Hmm, this perhaps explains those ugly vampire-themed gifts. According to this press release, LJ and Twitter are teaming with a company called AdNectar to sell "branded virtual gifts." (Their catchphrase seems to be: "turn consumers into brand advocates through the simple act of giving.")

The concept behind their business seems to be, according to Businessweek: "virtual goods are essentially social artifacts that people use to gain status among online peers. That makes them a better fit than traditional advertising on socially oriented sites."

So I am guessing, as a partner, LJ receives a cut of whatever the brands who advertise with AdNectar fork over? (Not sure how these things work...)