don't panic

if you're currently looking at my blog page and are looking at the message:

To make a long story short, Platial is unsustainable and cannot support itself any longer.

just know that it refers to the company that was hosting my yoga studio map, not me.

i've been using platial to keep track of all the yoga studios that i've visited for many years now, and the resulting interactive map is what i've been using as my website header for many, many years now. unfortunately, like many other businesses affected by these hard times, they found it impossible to stay afloat with the limited amount of income they were pulling in. thankfully, they've developed tools i can use to save and export all my map data into another format, so until i figure out what i'd like to do, please bear with the funky warning message until i put something else in its place.

at times, it seemed like both platial and i cross-promoted each other. my platial map would greet all my blog visitors as they visited my site, and platial would use my site as an example of how a blogger could implement a map. here's an excerpt i found in directions magazine, dated november 1, 2006:

PORTLAND, Ore.-Bloggers and Web site owners can start building maps with their community members in seconds by using a new MapKit from Platial.com. Users can sign up at http://www.platial.com/mapkit, cut and paste a snippet of code into the site, and in seconds they’re able to easily create and share places of interest directly with their readers. Because there’s no new programming to learn, the interface is simple, easy-to-use, and can be customized to complement any Web site. This new community-building map tool – once available exclusively at Platial.com – can be used on any Web site and most blogs.

More than 4,000 sites are already publishing Platial user-created maps, building community and generating content. The blogger behind the “The Accidental Yogist” Web site was one of the first Platial users to publish her map. Her community of yoga enthusiasts has created a map of 67 yoga studios in the Los Angeles area, and more are added every week. The map is also available on Platial, so visitors to Platial.com can benefit from this community’s work.

(you can tell how long ago that article was written; the last time i updated my map, i had over a hundred studios on it, with many more that i still had to add on!)

i'd like to thank the wonderful people at platial for going over and beyond in showing me how to get my map up and running, in resolving any issues that were caused by their feature enhancements or my "user error", and now, in helping me transition to another mapping application. it's hard to say goodbye to people who've always been there for me, at all hours of the day and night (or so it seemed)... tracy, jason, and everyone else on the team, i'll miss you all.

postscript -- i tried to update my blog template with a temporary fix, but even the blogger software is having issues today. ugh. must. remember. to. breathe...