Alice in Dallas

FOX 4 wants your holiday pictures!

Post your photos of your house, your decorations, your pets, your kids-- in short, EVERYTHING good about your holiday!

Just upload 'em to your blog and we'll do the rest. Your photo might end up on FOX 4 news -- so don't delay, post today!

FOX 4 wants your holiday pictures!

Post your photos of your house, your decorations, your pets, your kids-- in short, EVERYTHING good about your holiday!

Just upload 'em to your blog and we'll do the rest. Your photo might end up on FOX 4 news -- so don't delay, post today!

Dear myFOXdfw Bloggers,

Since we launched the Community page in July, we've grown into a community of more than 4,100 people! That's a LOT of different opinions to share!

We want everyone to feel open to sharing their thoughts on this board. But with that opportunity comes responsibility on EVERYONE's part.

It's very easy to type something on the fly with passion—especially when responding to a comment or post you don't agree with. I am asking you all please, please do one little thing; you can call it an early Christmas present to me and my co-workers:

PLEASE COUNT TO TEN BEFORE YOU TYPE.

Please ask yourself: is it right to be childish in response to someone else's childishness? Someone called me a name – do I have to stoop to that person's level and return the gesture? Is this the response of a mature adult? And finally, would I be better off just ignoring this person?

The moderators will henceforth NOT penalize someone for being mean or disagreeing with you. We'll only penalize someone for breaking one of our rules, to which you all agreed. (To see them again, click "Blogging Policy" at the very bottom of this page.) If you spot someone breaking a rule like selling something on their blog, report it by all means. Otherwise, please let us concentrate on the reason we're here: to update the latest news and information on the rest of the site.

We need YOUR help keeping the calm in the blogs – and we can all start by keeping calm every time we type something.

Thank you, and please take time to enjoy some of the good things this holiday season.

Dear myFOXdfw Bloggers,

Since we launched the Community page in July, we've grown into a community of more than 4,100 people! That's a LOT of different opinions to share!

We want everyone to feel open to sharing their thoughts on this board. But with that opportunity comes responsibility on EVERYONE's part.

It's very easy to type something on the fly with passion—especially when responding to a comment or post you don't agree with. I am asking you all please, please do one little thing; you can call it an early Christmas present to me and my co-workers:

PLEASE COUNT TO TEN BEFORE YOU TYPE.

Please ask yourself: is it right to be childish in response to someone else's childishness? Someone called me a name – do I have to stoop to that person's level and return the gesture? Is this the response of a mature adult? And finally, would I be better off just ignoring this person?

The moderators will henceforth NOT penalize someone for being mean or disagreeing with you. We'll only penalize someone for breaking one of our rules, to which you all agreed. (To see them again, click "Blogging Policy" at the very bottom of this page.) If you spot someone breaking a rule like selling something on their blog, report it by all means. Otherwise, please let us concentrate on the reason we're here: to update the latest news and information on the rest of the site.

We need YOUR help keeping the calm in the blogs – and we can all start by keeping calm every time we type something.

Thank you, and please take time to enjoy some of the good things this holiday season.

Dear myFOXdfw Bloggers,

Since we launched the Community page in July, we've grown into a community of more than 4,100 people! That's a LOT of different opinions to share!

We want everyone to feel open to sharing their thoughts on this board. But with that opportunity comes responsibility on EVERYONE's part.

It's very easy to type something on the fly with passion—especially when responding to a comment or post you don't agree with. I am asking you all please, please do one little thing; you can call it an early Christmas present to me and my co-workers:

PLEASE COUNT TO TEN BEFORE YOU TYPE.

Please ask yourself: is it right to be childish in response to someone else's childishness? Someone called me a name – do I have to stoop to that person's level and return the gesture? Is this the response of a mature adult? And finally, would I be better off just ignoring this person?

The moderators will henceforth NOT penalize someone for being mean or disagreeing with you. We'll only penalize someone for breaking one of our rules, to which you all agreed. (To see them again, click "Blogging Policy" at the very bottom of this page.) If you spot someone breaking a rule like selling something on their blog, report it by all means. Otherwise, please let us concentrate on the reason we're here: to update the latest news and information on the rest of the site.

We need YOUR help keeping the calm in the blogs – and we can all start by keeping calm every time we type something.

Thank you, and please take time to enjoy some of the good things this holiday season.

Dear myFOXdfw Bloggers,

Since we launched the Community page in July, we've grown into a community of more than 4,100 people! That's a LOT of different opinions to share!

We want everyone to feel open to sharing their thoughts (and pictures!) on this board. But with that opportunity comes responsibility on EVERYONE's part.

It's very easy to type something on the fly with passion, especially when responding to a comment or post you don't agree with. I am asking you all please, please do one little thing; you can call it an early Christmas present to me and my co-workers:

PLEASE COUNT TO TEN BEFORE YOU TYPE.

Ask yourself: is it right to be childish in response to someone else's childishness? Someone called me a name – do I have to stoop to that person's level and return the gesture? Is this the response of a mature adult? And finally, would I be better off just ignoring this person?

The moderators will henceforth NOT penalize someone for being mean or disagreeing with you. We'll only penalize someone for breaking one of our rules, to which you all agreed. (To see them again, click "Blogging Policy" at the very bottom of this page.) If you spot someone breaking a rule like selling something on their blog, report it. Otherwise, please let us concentrate on the reason we're here: to bring you the latest news and information on the rest of the site.

We need YOUR help keeping the calm in the blogs – and we can all start by keeping calm every time we type something.

Thank you, and please take time to enjoy some of the good things this holiday season.

I've noticed several of our users have decided to leave the myFOXdfw Community pages, for a variety of reasons.

At least one blogger --and perhaps others-- felt the "delete" feature on comments was censorious of free speech. (i.e. I post an opinion, you leave a critical comment, I delete that comment because I don't like it.) While you can certainly do that, the feature was designed for another use.

Many bloggers across the country do not even allow comments on their posts --in fact, you can exercise that right in your settings page, although most people enjoy interacting with others.

The reasons are many: mostly it’s due to the unfortunate habit many people have of posting nasty, malicious, or intensely personal comments, or using another’s website (and bandwidth) for advertising. It’s a safety measure for our Community members who may be cyberstalked, or at least intensely annoyed by someone else. If there are big problems, PLEASE contact us so we can deal with the offender.

As more people interact through computers, it seems common decency falls by the wayside, and website providers develop tools to protect users. I’m not sure why so many users are so hateful online; perhaps it’s the anonymity. Or perhaps it’s due to the sheer volume of very young and immature users, but I’ve seen some adults behaving pretty shamefully, too.

So I'd like to reiterate: this is a public forum. Please play NICELY. We're doing our best to make this enjoyable for everyone.

And I hope you might rethink your decision to abandon our Community page.

Here are a few more tips to make your blogging more fun and enjoyable:

RESPONDING TO ANOTHER PERSON'S POST:
If you have a question or a remark about someone else's post, you should comment ON THAT POST. If you start a new post on the same subject on your own blog, chances are others may not see it.

For example:
A blogger named The Whole Truth had a question for Elizabethishere. Instead of posting that question on The Whole Truth blog, that person should find the original post from Elizabethishere, and ask the question in the comments section. (sorry, WholeTruth, not trying to slam you.)



HOW TO FIND SOMEONE'S BLOG OR OLDER POST:
From the community front page, there's a link at the top of each section that says "See All [section] Blogs" -- for example, the news section says "See All News Blogs". Click on that, and you can see ALL blogs posted from newest to oldest.

Note there are PAGES at the top- you can advance to page 2, page 3, etc. from newest to oldest. Looking for a post from a couple of days ago? Keep advancing through the pages until you find it.



HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF SPECIFIC BLOGS:
Want to keep track of a specific blogger-- someone you love to read (or love to disagree with?)

(1)Click on their NAME, which brings you to their entire blog. Every post that person wrote will be here.

(2)Now scroll down and look for Blog Links on the right

(3)Click on either "Add to Favorites" or "Subscribe to this Blog via email." The first option will link that person to your My Favorite Blogs section (bottom right of your own blog). The second option will send you an email every time that person posts something.



WANT TO BE ON TV?
Each Saturday morning from 8am to 10am, FOX 4's Baron James does four stories about our Community section. He features unusual ideas, topics with lots of responses, great photos and more!
The way to make it on FOX 4's Saturday morning newscast is to POST OFTEN, and think before you post! Differing opinions are welcomed to

Thanks for visiting!

Welcome to myFOXdfw's Community page! This is a great place to interact with neighbors, other viewers and FOX 4 personnel.

If you're new to blogging, here are a few tips to keep things smooth:

1. PLEASE DO NOT POST IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
This is like "shouting" in the online community and is considered a bit rude. It is also easier for the human eye to read lowercase and upper/lower combinations in longer posts-- people will stay to read your stuff!

2. Think carefully before you post.
Is the subject matter and language appropriate? Please note that inappropriate comments and posts can be deleted by the monitors.

3. Please play nicely.
While a vigorous exchange of ideas and differing opinions is welcomed, we ask that you be respectful in your posts. They call it "remember the human" in the blogosphere (world of blogs)-- so please treat people as you would like to be treated. Try to refrain from name calling, unnecessary snide comments, etc.

4. Double-check your post for spelling and grammar--it makes your idea so much easier to read! One hint is to write your post (especially long ones) in Microsoft Word or another word processing program, then copy it to your blog. These programs often catch spelling errors or typos.

Thanks for joining the myFOXdfw.com Community!

-Alice, myFOXdfw.com content producer

I worked in Houston when the Rockets won the NBA championship-- twice! The city went nuts both times; it felt like a Houston team was finally getting the national recognition given to other teams.

Ha.

Actually, the nation yawned. Of course, in 1995, another incident eclipsed the championship: OJ Simpson's murder charge. During Game 5 that year, the infamous "low-speed chase" in the white Bronco happened live at the same time as the game. (The NBC station decided to split-screen the action.) That year, OJ ended up on the cover of Sports Illustrated instead of the first-time champs. The Houston Who?

I wonder if it will be the same during this year's NBA finals between the Mavs and the Heat. Neither team is a "national" favorite. Both teams are in their first championship pairing.

But we've got Dirk and Avery Johnson. They just have a sometime-actor named Shaq.

A small donkey running loose on Interstate 45 in Ennis caused two large semis to collide in a fiery wreck that killed one of the drivers.

The accident shut down I-45 in both directions for several hours Monday.

One truck was hauling new autos, and the other was packed with frozen chicken parts. In the collision, the heat from the fire melted the cars and the trailer.