the pod bay door

:: Weird things are happening, if at all, with Blogomania, the service that hosts my web sites, and Geoff‘s and Tony‘s, among many others. If you’re reading this, then something is working, but not everything is kosher, and I’m worried. I cannot reach the Blogomania site, the Blogmania Helpdesk, my website’s Control Panel, nor my e-mail.

A websearch revealed this post, advising that Christine, the Blogomania girl, has joined forces with Blogmoxie. The girls of Blogmoxie are here, including Christine. The thing is, I haven’t heard boo from Blogomania that this was in the works, and if so, what the implications were for BM customers. Are we being transferred to Blogmoxie? If so, check this out: Blogmoxie has suspended new hosting applications. Say what?

The Blogmania site isn’t working, as of 1631 hrs, MST. This is what you see when you try to reach the site, or Christina’s BigPinkCookie.com – not reassuring at all.

For the time being, i.e., the weekend, I’ve giving Blogomania the benefit of the doubt. I hope Christine resolves this within a day. Blogomania’s reputation, solid until now, doesn’t need a hit like this.

:: According to the Weather Network, this is life in Edmonton late next week.

:: Is there anyone out there who wants to Skype with me? Please?

:: Over the Christmas break, I had planned to begin purging my house of excessive “stuff”: papers, curios, objects, junk, magazines, clothes, utinsels, tools, whatever. I made minor progress in one of the three rooms upstairs in my house, albeit the one requiring the most work, my office. What I learned is that such projects take a long, long time to complete. I’d be sorting through said stuff, and inevitably take too much time to examine every single item, wondering “Do I want to keep this, or is it ok to get rid of it? Wait, what if I want to read it again in 13 years?” And on it went. A 1980 issue of Rolling Stone was in my filing cabinet, kept this long because it had a review of Gaucho, and an accompanying article on Steely Dan. Did I need to keep it another 25 years? I reread the two pieces, and passed it on to a friend, advising him not to return it.

I shredded enough paper to fill three blue bags, and boxed some magazines and papers, which I moved to the basement. I know, that’s not purging (it’s shifting, I suppose) but the room is getting spacious again.

What is hardest to admit is that there is much, much more to be eliminated. My plan is to try to finish the first sweep of this room, and then get to the other two upstairs bedrooms, which will not require as much work. In those rooms, the material to be purged will be mostly clothing, which will be recycled to Goodwill.

There is always too much to do. I have music to rehearse for an acoustic concert in February, a new tune to work on for the rock band, and I haven’t been to the Y in six days. My favorite TV shows are back on the air, and 24 begins 24 straight episodes starting this Sunday. Ack.

The very foggy view from Wayne Gretzky Drive in Edmonton, Monday, 3 January 2005, 2145 hrs, driving on the Capilano Bridge over the North Saskatchewan River.

:: Sick and tired of comment spam like everyone else? Jay Allen, creator of MT-Blacklist and Six Apart, have released tbe Six Apart Guide For Fighting Comment Spam, also available in PDF format

:The guide covers many of the concepts and tools available to fight comment spam and explains the strengths and weaknesses that we’ve seen of each. We also included our “best practices” recommendations for not only keeping spam off of your site, but making sure that you and your readers have the best possible experience. The document is intended to be a fairly comprehensive, living document which will change and grow over time to reflect the changing nature of the topic.

Jay’s brilliant creation, MT-Blacklist, is now embedded in the latest version(s) of Moveable Type. Since downloading and installing the newest versions in mid-November, 2004, MT-Blacklist has blocked 12,811 comment spam. We love Jay Allen.

:: Martha Stewart’s team fails to claim victory in prison decorating contest. Armageddon is near.

:: I have been off work since December 18th, with the exception of December 20th. I had planned to do some major house cleaning and purging, but have made it through part of one room only. I was back at work today, in the sub-zero, bone-numbing city in which I live.

Derryl sent a link to this short animation, Gotta Get My Stuff Done, which while funny, also illustrates in the simplest of presentations, how we can rationalize not doing the stuff that needs to be done.