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The Trinity, And Your Browser

Earlier, I wrote about a triune relationship which affects your access to your blog. That issue is of direct interest to you mainly if you produce a blog hosted on Google servers, but not in "xxxxxxx.blogspot.com", aka a Custom Domain blog. If you're not publishing to a custom domain, that issue still affects you, but indirectly.

But there's another trinity that affects you directly, if you publish any Blogger blog. That's the triune nature of Blogger, with respect to your browser.
  • The code for your blog, ie the posts, template, and widgets, on the Blogger server.
  • The Blogger scripts, on your computer.
  • The cookies, on your computer.


Your browser uses all 3 elements of this trinity, constantly, in helping you maintain your blog, and in letting you and your readers view your blog. When Blogger makes a change to their databases, they likewise produce changes that affect the content of all 3. Unfortunately, Blogger can't control all 3 effectively.

Why can't Blogger control all 3 elements in the trinity? Because they need to be stored on, and run from, your computer (your readers computer).

So what happens when Blogger makes a change to their database, containing your blog? For some period of time after a change is made, your computer, or a readers computer, may or may not request up to date content. It may or may not rebuild or discard a cookie. And if Blogger has changed any portions of any of the 3, and all changes aren't reflected on your computer (your readers computer) simultaneously, the script running on your computer (your readers computer) will come eventually to a point where the blog content and / or the cookies don't match the expectations of the script. On individual computers with this sort of problem, this would produce a Blue Screen Of Death.

Long ago with Blogger, this would have resulted in a well known, monolithic error
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are unable to process your request at this time. Our engineers have been notified of this problem and will work to resolve it.


After some persuading, Blogger started providing some details, when reporting an error.

You, or your reader will see a variant of
We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.

When reporting this error to Blogger Support or on the Blogger Help Group, please:
  • Describe what you were doing when you got this error.
  • Provide the following error code and additional information.
bX-sp4hmm
Additional information
uri: /2006/12/connecting-two-dissimilar-networks.html
host: xxxxxxx.blogspot.com

This information will help us to track down your specific problem and fix it! We apologize for the inconvenience.


That's all that a bX- code is. The Blogger equivalent of a Blue Screen Of Death. But it's one that, in some cases, your computer contributes to - and one for which you have to accept partial responsibility.

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