Something in my brain went a bit kerflooey in that last push to get the needed stuff done before getting out of town, so I’ve spent the bulk of this weekend just recuperating.  Some of that recuperation has happened by way of tinkering with web software and design.  I’ve now got fancy-schmancy expandable menus for my archives, visible at left (though they’re not exactly right yet; I’m still hoping for a way to nest the monthly archives by year, but am not sure that EE will let me do so).  And I’m at work on a new wiki that I’m using to draw together my research notes from the last few years; I’ll post a link to that when it gets a bit further along.

All this by way of simply saying, hey, haven’t disappeared; just enjoying the break.  Perhaps a bit more than I ought.

Just so you know.

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In my stats of late, I’ve noticed a rash (read: 2) of folks whose path through the site appears to indicate that they’re trying unsuccessfully to comment.  It may be that they don’t want to leave email addresses (which my commenting system requires) or that the CAPTCHAs system is somehow eluding them.  But there might also be some kind of error that I oughta know about.  I recognize the irony of asking folks who can’t comment for comments, though, so if you’re trying to comment and failing, would you email me?  (See “contact” above.)

This weekend, I discovered and zapped the first two pieces of this (dare not even to mention the name) that have appeared here since the migration.  I’ve zapped, as I said, and I’ve updated the blacklist.  But now that I know that they’ve found me, my basic peace-of-mind has been de-pacified.  I lie in wait, blinds drawn, peeking out on the moonlit front yard, listening for trouble, shotgun in hand.

I’ve thus far resisted the move to require registration for commenting, preferring whatever extra smidge of dialogue openness promotes.  But this current state of paranoia may be too much.  I’ll give it a couple of weeks and then decide whether to beef up the security system or not.

Updates to the blogroll, at left; probably no further updates today, as I attempt to rectify the not-working situation noted yesterday.  The fall looms.

More soon.

I’ve got about ten minutes of wi-fi left on yesterday’s nickel, so just a quick note about the book reviews I alluded to yesterday.  I’ll be dropping them over there on the right once they’re ready; that sidebar is its own separate blog, one of the special added bonuses of this migration to Expression Engine.  I’m going to try to rejigger this page so that comments to the sideblog appear in recent comments on the left.  And with that, it’s back to the beach.

Whew again.  Stage 2 of the migration is now complete.  You’re looking at the new (and, one hopes, improved) Planned Obsolescence.  Here’s what’s happened since the last update:

• Installed ExpressionEngine in new subdomain on new server.
• Futzed around with ExpressionEngine, trying to figure out how it works.
• Built new site in new subdomain.
• Imported old entries into new site.
• Tinkered with CSS.
• Went through all old entries (!) re-coding broken internal links.
• Tinkered more with CSS.
• Built new graphic, above.
• Fixed CSS where new graphic broke it.
• Ported the whole kit-n-kaboodle over to main domain.
• Created redirect for old “po” subdirectory.

And here we are!

Do note that my primary URL has changed:  since my previous hosting provider wouldn’t allow true subdomains (such as subdomain.plannedobsolescence.net), I had set Planned Obsolescence up in a subdirectory, anticipating the possibility of further site additions.  Now that my good friends at DreamHost have granted me way more subdomains than I’ll ever use, I’m able to put this page right up top, where it oughta be.  Please update your links and blogrolls accordingly.

Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated—and particularly any notes about broken spots.  I know that things are a little wonky in IE5/Mac, but frankly, if you’re on a Mac and still using IE, well…

Whew.  Stage 1 of the migration is at last complete (interrupted over the weekend by a trip to Vegas, about which more later).  For the interested, here’s how it went:

• Copied all relevant files as-was from the old host to the new.
• Switched the hosting information with my domain registrar.
• Waited.
• In the meantime, converted the BerkeleyDB I’d been using to MySQL (which I’d been meaning to do for some time, and which was easier than I’d expected).
• Did a MySQL export.
• Went to Vegas.  Ate and drank way too much.  Came home.
• Imported the MySQL dump into the new database.
• Logged into MT, changed the configuration info, and rebuilt.

All seems well—comments once again functional, etc.  Stage 2 begins tomorrow.

Am in mid-migration.  Desperately need a copy of mt.cfg in order to reconfigure mt for new hosting environment.

This would happen this week, after 6A removes MT 2.661 from their site…

Any help would be much appreciated.

[UPDATE, 5.20.04, 10.43 am:  Never mind.  I found it.  This move is making me a bit nutty, I think.  Here’s the current sitch:  site is partially migrated; I’ve changed the DNS hosting info with my registrar.  All good.  But said change has half-propagated—http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/po is still resolving to the old host, while http://plannedobsolescence.net/po resolves to the new one.  The new subdomains I’ve created resolve to the new host.  My mailserver is not to be found at all.  Is this normal?]

Thanks to all who have responded to my various technological pleas over the last few days.  My hosting provider’s waning is producing massive unreliability—my site’s been down more than it’s been up over the last week—and so I’ve done the poking around among the providers you recommended, and have settled on DreamHost (thanks, Andrew; I’ve attempted to be sure that you get credit for the referral).  They’re having a sale right now on their “Code Monster” package, which provides 1600 MB 2560 MB disk space, 40 GB 65 GB monthly bandwidth, hosting for up to 15 full domains and unlimited subdomains, and 75 shell accounts, for only $19.95 a month (which is half the usual price, and which price will remain in effect as long as I keep the plan).  This is far more than I really need, but I have some plans in the offing that may necessitate expansion, so better too much than not enough.  And the price is certainly right, and the ratings at webhostingratings.com are as well.

So, on tap, as soon as I finish my @$#*! grading, which I should have finished days ago, is a site migration and redesign.¹ I’m going to do some experimenting with Textpattern and WordPress as well, to decide whether I want to stick it out with MT or head in another direction.

In short: expect major wonkiness hereabouts, until the changes get sorted out.

[UPDATE 5.29.04:  I love these guys!  I’ve been with them for two weeks, and already they’ve upgraded disk space and bandwidth on my plan (in fact, on all plans) by 60%!  Plus, they’ve instituted a 20% discount for a 2-year prepayment, bringing the cost of this plan down to $15.95/month.  I’m adding a link way down in the left sidebar; if you’re in need of a hosting service, and you open an account with them, I get lovely referral discounts...]

¹Incidentally, anybody have any advice on the migration part?  Any lessons I can learn from your migration experiences?