Dang

by Slartibartfast

Well, I just wrote an entire post, previewed, and then (like an idiot, or someone who hasn't used the controls in over a year, or both) hit the back-arrow on the browser instead of the more subtle "Save" or "Re-edit".

So, it's forever gone.  Rest assured, though, that it was witty and informative.  I don't have enough time to redo it, so you're going to have to imagine what's going on in my garden, etc, and whether I'm ever going to post again.  Stay tuned.

Sad.  On the bright side, though, there's this:

Comments

[Catsy]

I suggest consoling yourself with some LOLCODE.

[ThirdGorchBro]

And in another strange quantum fluctuation, Slarti is simultaneously Moe Lane. ;)

[Jesurgislac]

I like your ideas for a triffid hedge, Slarti, but do you think the coriander and catnip lawn is a bit overstated? Still, it will ensure that unwanted callers and trespassing cats will no longer be a problem. The floral clock: brilliant.

On the downside, I was sorry to hear that your plans to become Evil Overlord of the next universe but one may interfere with your posting schedule here. Still, I wish you all the best. I assume you're fully acquainted with these sensible guidelines?

[farmgirl]

Oh. My. God. I am so glad I hadn't just taken a sip of tea, as it would be on my keyboard now.

Can I get that in a t-shirt?

[Bart Hinkle]

A visitor to my blog had a similar problem yesterday. After some back-and-forth the problem was found. It might be something you can avoid in the future with a simple tweak:

"I just figured it out. It's a setting in IE. "Check for newer versions of stored pages" was set to "Every visit to the page." So when I hit the "back" button, it treated it as another page visit and re-downloaded a newer (blank) version."

Just a thought. . . .

[Bill]

I recently had the exact same experience, and the world is a poorer place for not being able to enjoy the wit, insight and general brilliance of the masterful post I had drafted.

What I discovered is that, if you are using Windows IE as your browser, there is a setting that will prevent this from re-occurring.

Under Tools/Internet Options/ General tab, under "Temporary Internet Files", click "Settings". You'll see "Check for newer versions of stored pages." If this is set to "every visit to the page", change it. If it is set this way, when you hit the "back" button, it treats it as another page visit and downloads a fresh version of the page, thereby blanking out your work.

If you are not using IE, then this has been a waste of your time and I invite you to ignore it and forget that your life was temporarily diverted in the useless endeavor of reading my words.

[Donald Johnson]

Losing an entire post--that's impressive. My own blunders are mostly limited to triple-posting comments and turning entire comments into weblinks, but if I had my own blog maybe I could set my goals higher.

[Donald Johnson]

Shouldn't there be a vial of poison gas in there, btw?

[cleek]

the origins of LOLcats

[Gary Farber]

Well, I just wrote an entire post, previewed, and then (like an idiot, or someone who hasn't used the controls in over a year, or both) hit the back-arrow on the browser instead of the more subtle "Save" or "Re-edit".

So, it's forever gone.

Huh. If you did that with Blogger's compose page, all you'd have to do is hit "forward" again, and your words would still be there.

Actually, that's the case in commenting to ObWi, too, if you use Firefox, as it is in every case of entering text that I'm familiar with, with the sole exception that if one tries to comment here, and the comment is rejected, or if one gets the captcha challenge, enters it, and then goes back, the text you previously entered will revert to whatever state it was in prior to your last set of revisions. But it will still preserve even that.

To ask a really dumb question, and I hope it's not offensive in any way, but did you hit "forward" again to see if your words were still there, or did you just assume they were gone? Too late now, I know, but I'm just curious how this happened (using IE?).

If there's a danger of this happening, either cutting and saving a draft post prior to hitting "post," or composing it in other software, would seem to be a good idea.

I've seen the lolcat before, via Julian Sanchez, Jim Henley, BoingBoing, and elsewhere.
BoingBoing credits it to Kevin Steele. I'm guessing you didn't intentionally mean to present it as if it were your original creation, of course.

Whoops, I accidentally opened Julian's blog in this tab, rather than a new one, but when I hit "back," naturally my words were still in the compose box. Does IE not do that?

"t might be something you can avoid in the future with a simple tweak...."

Don't ever ever use IE?

[The Modesto Kid]

Hey Catsy, that LOLCODE link is great. I particularly dug the two pages worth of posts arguing over whether LOLCODE should have a GOTO equivalent SURPRISE ! and whether label syntax should be HERE or THIS IS COUNTRY.

[Gary Farber]

This is an open thread, right?

Has everyone seen how fond Don Young is of Florida?

[Gary Farber]

The Alaskan Republican Party has other problems, incidentally.

[Slartibartfast]

Oh, I love me an earmarks scandal, I do.