The first step for me in separating the technical blog entries from the non-technical ones is to create a new Data Source. This is a pretty straightforward process, and doesn't require and XSL knowledge. It's basically point and click.
The first thing to do is create a new Section to hold the information. To do that, go to Structure > Sections, and click on the Create New button. I used Lab for my title, but you can enter whatever you want in that field. Make sure the Comments and Date and Time Widget checkboxes are selected, and click Save. That's the easy part.
Next, you need to create fields that will hold the section data. To do that, go to Structure > Custom Fields. I just duplicated all the fields used on the Entries. My fields included a Intro and Body Textarea, a Select Box allowing multiple selects, and PHP, CSS, and JavaScript as options. I also created a Checkbox field named Publish to let me enable and disable Lab entries. Make sure that all the fields are associated with the Lab section, or they won't work. Once you've got all that setup, you're ready to move onto the next step.
The final step to creating a Data Source is to go to Blueprints > Controllers, and click Create New next to the Data Sources text. You'll probably want to name it the same thing as your Section, and select the Section you just created in the field named "Source". Tweak the settings for Publish to Yes, and make sure date, time, author::first-name, title, and all your Custom Fields are selected in the Included Elements box. Then, change the Sort Results by field to Descending, and set the Maximum Records field to 1. Click on Save, and you're done.
While this isn't particularily useful right now, it's necessary to storing the new information you want to work with. Next up, when I figure it out, is to create pages for this data.