moving to blogspot
I've decided to stop using LJ, and use blogspot instead. This was not primarily because of SUP's recent action (firing 20% of workforce with no severance), although that certainly was a contributing factor. I suppose you could call it "the last straw." I had been considering ceasing my use of LJ for quite some time (for a variety of reasons, some of which I can't explain in a few words); and this last incident inspired me to say "enough."
Backed up my livejournal using this method. This will work on Mac, Linux, and Windows, provided that a working Python interpreter is present and available (comes with Mac, often comes on Linux distros, can be downloaded for Windows).
My new journal is at rwfranz.blogspot.com.
Blogspot uses the OpenID specification, so LJ members can post there also, if allowed by the blog owner. Blogspot also allows the blog owner to specify an author group, allowed to post, and for each blog to have its own member list. This is in many ways as flexible as LJ. It allows more control over who even views your blog.