I am in the midst of deciding which blogging platform is better–Blogger or Wordpress (yes, I’m ignoring some major contenders). It’s a tough decision. A Google of “Blogger vs Wordpress” yields a sizeable result set. Looks like WordPress is coming out a bit ahead.

I decided to go the self-hosted WP route, to get a bit closer to the PHP, dig into the database as well. A point made by some was that the plugins were more plentiful in WordPress, and there was greater SEO control. WP’s import features were convenient. The two blogs will be in sync for a bit. One of them will be retired, perhaps left as an archive, if the kind hosting powers that be permit it.

All in all, both are terrific CMS packages, allowing customization, convenience. They’re easy to use. The WP was a bit of a challenge to deploy, as there was a need to hit the command line for a good while to get things up and running. A GUI is preferable to me vs. a text editor–but it’s handy to know both. And sometimes, truly, you need both.

You are encouraged to comment here, drop a line. Tips on great widgets or plug-ins are welcome!

My fingers were a flyin’ across the ol’ Toshiba laptop keyboard. Fiercely concentrating on my work, it took some time for it to sink in: The faint smell of something like gunpowder. Gunpowder? “Have a look and a sniff around,” I told myself. Nothing found.

More typing, reviewing, and such. And the gunpowder smell returns. Hmm, maybe I’ll have a look over toward the right. Lo and behold, the adaptor is fried, and the fire is starting. This is my second PA3237U-1 ACA. They ain’t cheap either. A nice gaping gash right near the casing. Sparks, smoke, and a little bit o’ flame to wake me up and power down. Yikes! I ordered two PA3237U-1 equivalents online. I now need to be “adaptive” shall we say….

Luckily there’s a handy MacBook Pro lying around. Off to see a client, armed with my spiffy new Leopard installed. Some video on a DVD to convert and post. No problem. Inserted DVD. Not much of a response. The DVD is home-made. The video finally plays. Great.

Now I’m back home, ready to cruise on the conversion and upload, as there was much else to discuss at the meeting. We’re on our way. But wait a minute, I’m staring at a non-responsive system. Hmmmmm. Our video is still choking a bit, and actually now the whole computer is performing eratically. So it’s time to power down. Coincidentally, internet goes down.

I’ll restart. Hey, maybe I won’t restart. Yeah, I’ve got a BSOD variant, a GSOD! Yikes. Shucks, I can’t google it either. Hard copy documentation? What’s that? I haven’t picked up a pen in four months! Thankfully the dubdubdub returns, and I find a number of explanations on “MacBook Pro fails to boot”, etc., none of which seem to apply. Uh oh, toast. But let’s try the alternative, “eject dvd…”.

Ah, this is where people are getting solutions to the GSOD, other than “call Apple and return the unit”. Various possibilities–

• hit eject button while booting,
• hold down tracking area,
• stick credit card or switch blade in dvd slot,
• stick head between knees and kiss butt goodbye

One said that the computer booted while they were on the phone with Apple. Well being in another room on computer #3, I returned to find the MBP booting up. All on its own. Apparently there’s a 10 or so minute delay before what’s perceived to be a DVD boot disk is ignored and boot occurs from hard disk.

Gosh, I thought I had destroyed two computers in one day. Maybe next time?