Things don't seem to show any sign of slowing down. People are still steaming about their accounts. Below is another link to a brief article on the issue. FWIW, I apologize for not naming this thread more accurately. I should have called it "Warning for Hotmail Users" or something so people don't think it's a post stating my own problem with the service. I just hope any Hotmail users here aren't experiencing any problems and can take proper steps to back things up before something does ! Here is a link that might be useful: Digital Journal Article

Also, their formatting is having the opposite effect as well ... pictures that were formatted as smaller by using height= and width= are now showing up in their huge original size. For example, let's say I have posted 3 pictures side by side. The original size for the first one in pixels is 200x200, the second is 300x300, and the third is 800x800. Using formatting, I could have all 3 pictures show up as 200x200. Their new formatting is overriding the pictures and reverting them to their original sizes, so the 3rd picture is showing up as huge in comparison. Now, let's assume that 800x800 is the largest picture they will allow. If someone posts a picture that is larger than that, then it is automatically being resized down to their max of 800x800. As writersblock pointed out, that is making some of the pics too small to be legible. And they still have not fixed the font style. They still have it in this hard to read font. Can we please revert back to "do no harm" ? Tamara, where are you ?!?!?!?!

I think some of you are overstating the case. As I understand it, it's a software driven context review for ad placement and nothing more. It's the same as Google or any other search engine does when you do a search (look how the ads magically bear some connection to your search term and your location). It's what Gardenweb does when you're reading forums, the pages show ads triggered off of key words. You can't stop the machine analysis but if you don't like the ads, tack an ad-blocker on your browser. There's no geek with thick glasses reading your nasty email to your sister. There may be other things in the world invading your privacy but I don't think this is anything to worry about.

Well the former GW search wasn't great either, which was weird considering that GW was a goldmine of information and many newbies came here for info. The advanced settings were basically useless. And I would rather have the exact time stamp too, especially on the main discussions page. The "11 hours ago" "three days ago" stamps are annoyingly vague. The interface is stark and too white, and I really can't stand the menu bars at the top of the page, especially the one that keeps sliding down and up, which has zero to do with gardening. I'd rather see the title of the discussion! Such bars are appearing on a lot of websites and probably there for mobile users, but I primarily use a Windows desktop and Macbook with widescreen LCDs and keyboards (!) and the bar robs vertical space on the screen.