Sometimes, it's them...

Don't fly away! This entry is about technology, but read it anyway...

One of the big themes I touch on in my work (technology training) is the pitfall of failure coupled with self-blame; whether it's the DVD player, our cell phone or a website, when something doesn't work, we often assume that we just didn't do it right.

Such has been the case with my first attempt at audioblogging (two postings earlier). I'd had a wonderful, easy time uploading my audio file and transferring it to my blog on Sunday night. I tested it on my testing blog, it worked, and I had every reason to believe that you'd be able to listen to my song on Monday morning.

Not so. One report after another dribbled in (for your entertainment, see the "comments" under that blog entry), and the message was the same every time... it was a no go. No sound, no "play" arrow, freezing computers, frustration. Sigh.

My response was to visit five internet cafes in three hours so that I could test the connection and see if it was a bandwidth issue. By Monday afternoon, my success rate in playing my audio file was zero; my failure was as profound as had been my victory just 24 hours ealier.

But here's the clincher: I couldn't access the website of the company that supports my audioblog, either. That's when I started to suspect it wasn't me, and that it wasn't you. Maybe it was them.

And so it was; after visiting a few online discussion groups, I learned that my audioblog company, CastPost, had found themselves overwhelmed with traffic on their little server. Coincidentally, this happened sometime early on Monday morning. They solved the problem last night (Wednesday), and voila! My audioblog is working!

The thing about technology coupled with failure and self-doubt is that it's self-defeating. Do your best not to go there. If you're frustrated with a gadget like your DVD player, ask a friend to give it a try, read the manual, sleep on it, and try again.

If it's website-related, it's a bit more complex, since you've got a lot of actors on the stage here: the web designer, the server that hosts the website, your browser, your internet service provider, even your own computer. Any one of these can have a bad day, and the results are borne out on your screen. Sometimes, the only solution is to walk away from the computer, go have yourself an espresso (or other drug of choice), and give it another try later.

So-- I want to thank those readers who struggled to make it work the first time, then returned to give it another try this morning. Thanks for not giving up, and thanks for adding your comments. And thanks to CastPost, a little start-up company in California, for offering their services for free-- it's exciting to be involved with such a new (free!) product, even though that means going through a few ups and downs.

If this is your first time hearing about the whole affair, fear not! Scroll down two entries, and you'll find a "play" arrow...

Meanwhile, I'm here in Tampa for the week, attending our annual TESOL conference (Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages). There are about 6,000 of us here from all over the world, including a bunch of tech-heads whose brains I plan to pick.

Oh, and about the butterfly (at top), it was just a lure for you visual types. I found this pretty little guy at the university, sitting peacefully on a plant outside my office. He flew away moments after I took this shot.

I'm off! More on Mexico in my next entry.