“The best laid schemes…
o’ mice an’ men, gang aft agley.” Or, in slightly more modern parlance: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Or, perhaps more succinctly, (and slightly less profane than I sometimes feel) “Stuff Happens.”*
What bring about this measure of speculative reflection on ancient Scottish poetry? Quite simply, hosting woes. It is these woes that have necessitated my break from blogging. Although several co-workers and others have questioned whether I, as many, others committed blogocide.
I am still alive and kicking…but there are several important lessons I have learned:
– Data isn’t data until it exists in at least 3 places –
You wouldn’t imagine that a simple issue with hosting would take weeks to recover. Unfortunately, the blog template I utilize requires a strange combination of Blogger resources, imagery and links pointing to different servers, etc. Take a wild guess as to how frequently I back up data? Not frequently enough…
– Hosting has become an expectation…not a service –
In the past, I’ve discussed a concept I call “the assumption of connectivity.” The idea is that internet connectivity has become so prevalent that it is no longer a nicety, but an expectation. It is a powerful shift in the software space and is the reason that the concept of a Rich Internet Application exists. The assumption of connectivity means that harnessing local processing power while simultaneously leveraging “cloud based”** storage is actually a possibility.
For me, hosting is a similar assumption. I just assume that web-based storage is there and available. It was an odd experience looking for a new hosting provider. Not something I’ve done in a number of years and the options compared to several years ago have become quite extensive.
– The payment space is actually quite interesting –
I’ve had several calls, e-mails, etc from some folk who frequent the blog asking my opinion on topics that have cropped up over the past few weeks. Typically it is the sort of information that I would cover when the news item hit. This is a good indication that the information I discuss is of some value to a segment of the world. This, mandated, break has renewed my interest and vigour in blogging.
In any case, and perhaps as a summary, the single most important part of a blog is the readership. For those of you who have stuck around for the technology-imposed delay…many thanks! Be assured I’ll be back on a regular content cadence and looking forward to our continued interaction.
What’s your perspective? Agree? Disagree? Anything to add? Critiques? The comment form is below. . .
*The original quote is from Robert Burns in “To a Mouse” which also uses a statement I love to break out in moments of frustration…“tim’rous beastie”***
**I’m not entirely certain I like the term “cloud based” Does anyone have a better recommendation?
***http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/mouse.html
January 19, 2009