Reading etc.

Things here in blogland have been a bit strange recently. 20six is “migrating to a new platform”. In the interim, we have been spammed and our home page has become a little, um, odd. I have been invited to join a weblog team called “banmysite”. IÂ’’m guessing that it is not legit. And the whole “migrating to a new platform” thing has spooked lots of people. The words “blog builder” have been mentioned and the non-technical among us are, frankly, nervous. And people are abandoning their 20six blogs like rats departing a sinking ship. And the fabulous Jojo who is paid to keep us happy has left and we could never love another nanny as much.

I chose 20six to host my blog because when I started blogging I went to this site. As you will see, it gives an alphabetical list of possible hosts and the combination of my terminal laziness and the fact that 20six was first on the list made it an obvious choice. If I had known a little more, I might have gone for livejournal or blogspot or blogger but IÂ’m really glad I didn’Â’t because I have become very fond of the online community that is 20six. I suppose it would be pushing it to say that it breaks my heart to see people like pog (or poggle as she must now be known) thinking about leaving and bobble, norah and jd actually doing so, but it does make me a bit sad.

When I think of all the people I know from here being dispersed across the vastness of the internet, IÂ’m sad, bloglines or no bloglines. OK, I realise that these are people I know that I would walk past on the
street, but theyÂ’re still people I know (yes, inter alia, hjb, minks, locotes, this means you too; stop pretending you donÂ’t know me). In fact, they saved my sanity. It’Â’s hard and a bit lonely being a mother of small children abroad, I can tell you. In fact, I think I have been telling you for some time.

Anyway, the “migration” is scheduled for mid-February. Until then, I intend to stay put in my bunker and see out the last days of the old regime. I trust that when the migration is complete, I will emerge
and see that at least some of my old friends are still about. And, if my blog disappears in mid-February
(my faith in the technical people is, as you see, boundless), it will resurface elsewhere. After all, it is saving my sanity.

Angela
(Homepage)
on 03 February 2006 at 13:33
Please be sure to keep us updated on your whereabouts!
jackdalton
on 03 February 2006 at 15:12
Ah ‘waf… you soppy old womble you. I didn’t know you cared so much about all us digital denizens …;-)
Locotes
on 03 February 2006 at 15:32
I can die a happy man after that mention. Funnily enough, you probably HAVE walked past me on the street on one of your far-too-rare homecomings. I was the tall studly-looking fella in case you were wondering…ps – didn’t know you had done a runner jack. Well, best of luck with whatever you’re up to. I’m sure you’ll frustrate any new colleagues just as much as your old 20six ones.;-)
poggle
on 03 February 2006 at 16:09
Even for you, this has been a long break, Locotes – Laughably Lazy is an understatement, Mister
Friar Tuck
on 03 February 2006 at 16:28
That’s probably why I don’t have a blog. It would aggravate my separation anxiety syndrome. The pain would be too much to bear.
DruidX
on 03 February 2006 at 16:28
Angela wrote: Please be sure to keep us updated on your whereabouts!
I second that motion. Even though I don’t do my blogging on here anymore [I’m here now], I still keep tabs on everyone I ‘met’ here, and I think I’d miss 20six if it did go.

belgianwaffle
on 04 February 2006 at 10:27
Oh Pog, the romance, the drama, “the boy stood on the burning deck when all but he had fled” etc.
Thanks FP, DruidX, worry not, I will force you all to read my new blog, if need arises.
FT, that is no excuse.
JD, Locotes, having you talk to me in comments without seeing your blogs, makes me feel a bit like I’m getting communications from the spirit world, I quite like that.

dmts
on 04 February 2006 at 11:09
and here am I having had to change my name because of this 3 letter rule – no more hjb.

belgianwaffle
on 05 February 2006 at 13:16
I know, Heather, it’s all very dreadful.
Bobble
on 05 February 2006 at 23:47
I am glad I can keep help you sane my dear Waffly.
I may have moved my inanity to WordPress but I do cross post the link to 20Six so anyone barmy enough to read it can… (and my wordpress is RSS so you can subscribe to it on bloglines if you want…)
Minkleberry
on 06 February 2006 at 18:49
I am not capable of leaving anywhere yet. I can barely type!!xx
jackdalton
on 06 February 2006 at 22:19
H: you will always be HJB to us and we’ll always have Paris and all that….
Minks, the trick then is to move to the mostly familiar
(Bobbs has moved out of the mortalsphere at this point but it’s all very, very impressive. Others have gone here-ish.)
[And ‘waf, thanks for this sub-let. :-X ]
belgianwaffle
on 15 February 2006 at 12:48
Don’t like the “yet” Minks. Quite Jack. Feel free to squat as long as you like.

“Unbelievable as it may now sound, that keyboard layout [QWERTY] was designed in 1873 as a
feat of anti-engineering.  It employs a whole series of perverse tricks designed to force typists to type as slowly as possible, such as scattering the commonest letters over all keyboard rows and concentrating them on the left side (where right-handed people have to use
their weaker hand).  The reason behind all of those seemingly counterproductive features is that the typewriters of 1873 jammed if adjacent keys were struck in quick succession, so that manufacturers had to slow down typists.  When improvement in typewriters eliminated the problem of jamming, trials in 1932 with an efficiently laid-out keyboard showed that it would let us double our typing speed and reduce our typing effort by 95 percent. But QWERTY keyboards were solidly entrenched by then. The vested interests of hundreds of millions of QWERTY typists, typing teachers, typewriter and computer salespeople, and manufacturers have crushed all moves toward keyboard efficiency for over 60 years.”

Two years yesterday.  Who would have thought that I would have the stamina?  To celebrate I had intended to change my decor, update my favourites and do a post explaining why my favourites are all fabulous with lots of links.  But it’s hard to do that with a baby in one or both hands.  Maybe not so much stamina after all.

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