Runester

Well, my blog has been down for just over two (2) days. It’s unlikely you noticed, it’s not a high traffic site. Still, it means something to me. I’ve got six (6) years of irregularly updated posts. I’d like something to show for all that!

The problem started, when on a whim, I decided to try adding a feature that GoDaddy hosting makes available – SSH access to the hosting server. SSH is “Secure SHell,” it’s an encrypted command line session with the server that acts as the web host for my site. I don’t really ‘need it’, I’ve done just fine all this time without it. In fact, I have a cool Perl tool installed that lets me simulate it. But, I use it all day at work, and thought it would be cool to add it here. Besides, who knows what trouble I can stir with this newfound power!

Well, the first thing that they asked me to do was come up with a stronger password. So, OK … I did that. Then they asked me to remove my database, as they couldn’t move my site with an existant DB. Huh … move my site? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! Well, it seems like they don’t allow SSH to just any web host, only a special super-secure web host. So, they have to move my entire site from it’s current, comfy home, to a new, secure location. I think this is where VP Cheney had been hanging out until recently.

So, I need to remove my DB. And, my DB is where all those six (6) years of posts live. So, I figure out how to login to the mySQL admin interface, save a copy of my entire DB as a SQL command file, and then I remove it. Easy enough! Six years to write, about fifteen (15) to remove. When it was finally done, I was free to enable SSH … which triggered the automated move, which took a VERY long time. That didn’t really finish until this morning.

So, now I’m sitting down, watching the Battlestar Galactica miniseries on DVD with my fiancee, and trying to get the DB reloaded and the WordPress site back online. The fact that you’re reading this, means that this worked – you sort of know the ending of this particular story. Long story short, I needed to create and delete, my database several times, with different options. I also had to update my WordPress config file with the DB host and password information. After the third or fourth cycle of deleting and recreating my DB, I actually took the idea seriously of throwing away the whole thing and starting again. I could choose new software, I could remove the wiki and everything else and finally start from a clean slate.

Of course, right about that time, I checked my site and it was back like nothing had ever happened. So, there you go. I was done but not out. I learned something about the GoDaddy systems and a little about WordPress. And, (guess what) I have SSH access to my hosting server!

Here, let me plagiarize myself. I posted the following, in part, to a thread in the Fear the Boot forums. The entire piece can be found here, and the thread title is What’s wrong / right with gaming podcasts?

Podcasts seem to be following the same acceptance path as blogs (as predicted by Dan in his Ennie MC’ing Dan’ecture). Which means, everyone and their mothers therapist will have one. But, the quality shows with meaningful listener-ships will be few and far between and stand head-and-shoulders above the riff-raff.

If I’ve learned anything about “new” marketing, web 2.0, and social networks … it’s that the “how” of content creation and publishing is fast becoming commoditized and the “what” and “why” now rule. Remember when having a web site was both expensive and required specialized knowledge? Now you can have a great website for $5/mo or less, and a free content management system that allows you to update, skin, and publish it with no special knowledge or skills. In this new modal, it’s not that you have a website, it’s that you have something of value on your website that draws visitors. Well, blogs are the same way, and so are podcasts. if we’re not there yet, we soon will be – total commoditization of the podcast hardware / software / hosting. The only thing that will matter is what you say, not the whiz bang that you’re in this new medium.

This means that gaming podcasts which do little more then drop a microphone in front of their friends and ‘gab’ for an hour, or who refuse to edit their episodes or add any polish at all, or regurgitate content heard elsewhere; will all fall into the well of no/low listener-ships, and will probably fade.

The other side of the equation, is that as sites & blogs became commoditized they also became mainstream, and were used as marketing tools of major corporations and celebrities. The total available audience went up, and those that were successful started getting unique visitors in the tens or hundreds of thousands, each month. if (when) this happens to podcasts, you can expect the phenomenon of the vanguard (those few who listen on their iPods or PC based podcatchers) to shift, and masses to begin subscribing in waves; podcasts will become an influential new medium. With adoption comes audiences, and successful shows will have a much larger pie from which to carve their share.

These sure are exciting times! But it means that getting in early (too late, for that!), building a brand (FtB has done an excellent job), and producing quality content will enable a podcast to ride the coming wave. if content and quality matter now, then they will become ever more important as this medium matures.

The “Dan’ecture” I refer to is available via YouTube, here’s the video as an embed.

So, this is what 2009 looks like? Not too shabby!

2008 was one hell of a year. There was enough drama, tension, tragedy, and upside-down-world level of change to satisfy me for a decade. I really, really need 2009 to be calmer and carry more good news then bad. Lisa & I are going to sit down and write out some of our goals for the new year. What do we expect to accomplish in our careers, personal lives, socially, and health wise during 2009. It’ll be interesting and I think it’ll get us both excited about the new year and all of the potential it represents.

I still have some more changes coming up, hopefully soon. It looks like we’re nearly done negotiating the short sale of my condo, so that should be complete in January. I start a new job at Boston College (as an independant consultant) on 12-January-2009, and I’m very excited about that. My brothers about to close on a new bar / restaurant in Michigan named Huck’s Blind Fish, and while I think there is some risk I think he is well prepared to deal with it and I hope this is the little money maker that he hopes. [I'd love to see it, the next time I'm in Michigan. That would be fun!]

There is a lot to be thankful for in 2008, not the least of which is that we survived it. Now, on to the new year!