The AOL Hometown Team

The AIM team is happy to announce the launch of an updated version of the popular AIM service. The AIM 6.8 Refresh has several new features for you, including the ability to send pictures from the desktop to cell phone users.

That's right, from your computer you can now send images (JPEG or GIF formats) directly to friends on the T-Mobile network with cell phones that can send and receive pictures. Just drag a picture into the IM window or click on the Pictures button in the IM window to get started.

When a friend accepts your picture they can either save the image to their phone or send back a picture from their phone right to AIM on your desktop. No one else is doing this right now and we're hoping to roll this feature out with more carriers in the future.

We're also happy to tell you about two new plugins you'll find at the bottom of the Buddy List in the AIM 6.8 Refresh. We first launched this customizable AIM Plugins window in June and this new version of AIM has plugins for AIM Chat and AOL/AIM Mail.

Just click on the button with the orange and green talk bubbles to find and join an online chat right from AIM. Or, click on the envelope button to open up a preview of new email messages. Click on "View All Mail" to open up your entire AOL/AIM Mail inbox. For more AIM Plugins, visit the AIM Gallery.

We hope you like the new AIM 6.8 Refresh and look forward to your comments and feedback

Dear AOL Journals user,

As we wrote in an e-mail on Sept. 30, AOL® Journals will permanently shut down on Oct. 31. It's never an easy decision to shut down a feature, especially one like AOL Journals that some of our members have used for a long time. But with a decline in Journals usage, we have to look carefully at all of AOL's features to make sure we're providing as much value to our members as possible.

Though we know this might be an inconvenience, the good news is that we've partnered with Blogger.com to provide a smooth transition for your journal. Blogger is a free service from Google that makes it easy to share your thoughts with friends and the world. Blogger supports most of the features you've come to expect from AOL Journals, and it's easy to get started. If you wish to automatically transfer your journal to Blogger, they will move your posts, comments and photos to your new blog on their service. When you're ready, go to this link to get started.

Remember, it's very important to save your Journals content before Oct. 31. If you choose not to move to Blogger, you'll need to save your information manually (for example, by copying and pasting its contents into a word processor).

Again, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we make this transition, and we hope you enjoy using Blogger.com.

Sincerely,

The AOL Journals Team

Dear AOL Hometown and Journal's users,

We're sorry to inform you that as of Oct. 31, 2008, AOL® Hometown has been shut down permanently. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause

Thank you,

The AOL Team

Dear AOL Journals user,

We're sorry to inform you that on Oct. 31, 2008, AOL® Hometown has been shut down permanently. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sincerely,

The AOL Journals Team