Boring, dull, tedious, tiresome, wearisome…
Had enough (synonyms)? I know I have.
But it had to be done. Promises must be kept and I -naively- made one from the very beginning:
To -gradually- transfer the old blog’s content.
Back then, I’d figured it would only take a few days, a week at worst.
Little did I know, I’d be working incessantly for an entire month… [started in early August and I’m not even halfway through yet!]

Sure, it seems easy in theory -and to some extend it is- but there will always be factors you didn’t take into account, things you only notice at a later stage and so on.
Like the platform compatibility.
After reading a few how-to guides and other relative articles, I realised the direct import of Blogger xml [xml documents contain all published posts & comments] into a WordPress site may not be the safest way.
Following the advice of more experienced users, I’ve registered for a free WordPress account and created an additional -private- blog serving as a *guinea pig*.
All editing, testing etc is done there.
From that point on, it’s just a matter of a few clicks: exporting a perfectly compatible WordPress xml file from the aforementioned temporary blog and then importing it here.
This method automatically eliminates any possibility of *side-effects* e.g. text missing, characters/paragraphs not appearing correctly etc.
It is, in essence, a migration within the same platform and as such 100% secured 😉

That, dear readers, was the easy part. The real mess begins when you have to check hundreds of files.
And I’m not referring merely to expired links. At least in that case the course of action is simple: Mark the links as dead and re-upload.
It’s worse. Even the ones currently active have to be tested ❗
You see, for a certain period [rough estimate: autumn 2009 to early September 2010 when I ultimately switched ISP] my internet connection was severely affected by a short circuit (or some other shite) resulting in corrupt uploads.
If there’s one thing I can’t stand, is having to answer the same question over and over again.
And that’s precisely what was happening during that time. Visitors who had never encountered similar problems, kept asking “the rar won’t extract properly, what should I do?”
I understand their frustration (what about mine?), so I made a commitment to replace all those files.
With the exception of iFile.it and Rapidshare.com which provide MD5 checksum information [an extremely handy feature: the uploader can confirm file integrity by simply comparing the hash values] all other archives must be downloaded first.
Insane, isn’t it? Downloading YOUR OWN stuff just to make sure they’re intact.
But that’s how far I’m willing to go in order to have some peace of mind (and for YOU to stop bugging me!)

By now you must have had a general idea of what has been going on the past few weeks, right?
Instead of ripping new CDs, I was correcting old posts and uploading throughout the day! Not my idea of fun…
Has anybody noticed though? Judging from the “When can we expect new uploads” sort of messages I’ve been getting, I’d say no.
Ironically, the bandwidth meter I’m using to monitor the internet connection/keep statistics etc, reports more than 68 GB of outgoing data [and the month isn’t over yet], exceeding the previous record by 25.
So have some sympathy, will you?
It’s probably escaped your attention, but every post from October 2009 to December 2010 [excluding one or two perhaps] has been transferred.
All you need to do, is click the archives button [drop-down menu] and select a month.
This is where I draw the line though, my schedule is hectic and time is limited.
I’ll finish up September 2009 and and that will be it.
More important issues have come up. First and foremost this bloody *404 error page* appearing whenever I try to edit/update a comment containing Rapidshare links.
Why does that happen, I have no idea. It as if it’s cursed 😯

And now, the moment you all have been waiting for:
Bands whose albums may be included in next month’s schedule.
As usual, the list can change at any time -excluding “Sweet trade” by The Poodles which has already been ripped.
Jani Lane sadly passed away recently, some Warrant is in order – double dosage too.
Judas Priest, Whitesnake and Firewind all appeared on (the same) stage last July and I’d like to start where I left off.
Dream Theater I missed, they too were here for a show, but I’ve already pre-ordered their upcoming album marking the post-Portnoy era, so I don’t think I’ll change that either.
Let’s see, there are still a couple of slots to be filled so shoot away 😉

In alphabetical order:
Airbourne
Beyond Twilight
Black Country Communion [x2]
California Guitar Trio
Dream Evil
Dream Theater [x2]
Electric Boys
Eric Johnson
Firewind
Judas Priest
Kens Dojo
Mattias Eklundh
Ratt
Slaughter
Tesla
The Michael Schenker Group
The Poodles
Warrant [x2]
Wig Wam
Whitesnake