I’m shutting down this blog. It’ll stay up for awhile, because there’s still stuff in there that readers are referring to, but I won’t be updating it anymore. The purpose for this blog doesn’t really exist (if it ever did!) anymore.

Here’s my story: With the addition of story comments to STLtoday.com, it has meant a slight change in the focus to another blog I’ve been keeping up for the past three years, the Talk of the Day blog. There, each day, we’ve framed a conversation around a “water-cooler” story. Now, with story comments, every story on the site can be a “talk of the day.”

Still, regulars on the TOTD like the community. So that blog will continue. But I can also incorporate new stuff onto TOTD. That blog can highlight interesting discussions that are happening elsewhere — both on STLtoday and off.

Basically, the kinds of things I liked to highlight here can move there.

See you on TOTD!

We’re very keen on hearing what readers have to say about the nomination of Barack Obama and John McCain.

So here’s my question: Will you be Twittering or blogging about the conventions? If so, would you mind if we linked to your updates from our convention page?

If you’ll be blogging regularly and you wouldn’t mind if I linked to your blog items, please send me the URL of your blog either in the comments below or by e-mail.

If you’ll be Twittering, would you please include the hash tag #stlpolitics in your tweets so we can find and point to them? You can read more about this from my colleague Adam Jadhav on STLtoday’s Political Fix blog.

And if you have questions or concerns, please post them here so we can have a conversation about them. My interest is in helping readers find the conversations that are happening out there.

And, by the way, you can follow my Twitter feed here, or STLtoday’s feed here.

On my site, Bob Rybarczyk writes about his excitement over receiving news about a mustache contest in his e-mail. He writes that in his latest Suburban Fringe column.

A reader of the column posts this comment on the column:

Clearly, as Mr. RYBARCZYK’s column contains no mention of the St. Louis-based American Mustache Institute, the only facial hair advocacy organization in the world - often compared to the ACLU - this piece and contest lack legitimacy. However, the AMI’s annual ‘Stache Bash is approaching on Oct. 25 at which, of course, we shall named a best mustache, as well as the soon to be launched “Mustached American of the Year” award. Carry on

Abraham Froman
The American Mustache Institute
http://www.AmericanMustacheInstitute.org

First of all, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a “facial hair advocacy organization.” Now I do. Second, if you need a break in your day, you must visit the site and listen to the song that plays from the home page: “I like mustaches how about you? I would like to grow one, too. If we all had mustaches it would be, oh it would be a beautiful world.”

And then, just to add the gravy to the mashed potatoes, please note the link from the AMI web site to St. Louis’ own ToastedRav.com, which featured the American Mustache Institute in a video 12 days ago. Sorry I missed it earlier!

Funny stuff, guys. Thanks for the break in the day.

Search worldwide and I got 46 tweets within just three minutes.

My favorite, so far, from St. Louis-area Twitterer andrewcareaga: “Good thing Twitter’s not down. Otherwise, where would people go to complain about Gmail being down?”

Oh, and yeah, mine’s down, too.

I’ve outlined more details about the story comments feature over here on The Editors’ Desk.

And regulars to the Talk of the Day are discussing how it might affect that blog — but so far, they like it just the way it is.

The Citizen Media Law Project blog reports here on new developments in the case — specifically, a group of advocacy groups that filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of Drew’s motion to dismiss the indictment.

A segment of the Law Project blog notes:

The heart of the government’s theory is that Drew criminally accessed MySpace servers “without authorization” or “in excess of authorization” because she violated the social networking site’s terms of service by creating an account with inaccurate registration information and engaging in hurtful speech.

As reprehensible as Drew’s conduct is alleged to have been, the government’s theory is deeply troubling because it would impose criminal penalties for ignoring or violating a website’s terms of service, something that probably millions of Internet users do every day, often without even knowing it. For example, Google’s terms of service prohibit anyone from using any Google services unless they are of legal age to enter into a contract, usually 18. The prosecution’s theory arguably could apply to any minor who uses Google’s search engine.

The latest is out today: Electing a U.S. President in Plain English.

I guess that means I don’t have to do anything with the three pending invitations I have to play a game right now. I haven’t been able to find the time — especially from the beach in Cape May County, N.J.

Glad to be back.

OK, I’m not really fishing. But I will see you when I’m back. Cheers, everyone.

So did Jen Heil. And so did her boyfriend, Tolga Tanriseven. They are among the founders of GirlsAskGuys.com, a web site that’s operated out of University City and has blossomed in popularity since its launch in March 2007.

The site requires free registration to participate. And the content? Well, it’s all generated by the readers who ask — and answer — each others questions. Two full-time moderators — the only paid staff — watch for abuse and keep the vile stuff off-line.

“You ask and answer questions and we’ve been very impressed with how our members are willing to help each other,” Heil said. “It’s a very caring community. It’s not a dating site per se, but it’s helping you answer how you’re navigating your dating life.”

So you end up with stuff like, “I think I may be pregnant by my boyfriend and I am p***ed off. What do I do?”

Within a half-hour, two answers are posted — one from a guy, one from a girl.

Since the site launched, it has gone from zero to 15,000 members, 200,000 visitors and 1 million page views a month. “What surprised me: We have over 100 questions a day and 600 to 700 answers,” Heil said. “People will be on the site for two or three hours a day because they enjoy it.”

The site breaks down its categories into Flirting, Dating, Relationships, Sexuality, Break-Up, Behavior, Style and Other. “One of the areas we’re changing: We’re trying to be a little more conservative in the sexuality area. Don’t want to go into details in the sexuality area. It’s attracting people we don’t want in that area.”

Who is using it? About 60 percent of the members are female, 40 percent male. Guys ask about 35 percent of the questions. Answers seem to be about even, Heil says. About 80 percent of the members are 34 or younger.

Oh, and the URL “GuysAskGirls.com” gets you to the same place, by the way.