“It was after this encounter that I decided it was time to make some real changes in my life. I started by burning down the trailer I lived in, along with my porn collection, my furniture from goodwill, and at least 2 weeks worth of trash. As I watched the oily smoke blanket my old neighborhood from my position across town, I surmised that this was the best new beginning I could have ever asked for. Never liked that dog all that much anyway.”
So I came into work this morning, only to have a co-worker mention to me that AdCenter, MSN, and Hotmail all weren’t working for him. I checked a couple things and the sites loaded up just fine for me, but when I tried to log into AdCenter I got a friendly message saying that they were down for the time being.
Curiouser and curiouser. Then my first tweet of the day appeared:
trodrigues: msn servers are down. thousands of young portuguese girls commit mass suicide.
Intrigued, I decided to start tracking instances of “MSN” through Twitter IM. Boy, was that ever a mistake! The messages - most of them not in english - began pouring in, and my IM window has been blinking like mad all morning.
Some of the highlights:
(matheusodorisi): gente, o msn naum entra de forma alguma! appocalipse now!
(s1mone): @kakah o MSN morreu! Vida longa o GTalk!!!
(pvdp): Kom msn niet op.
(jonviray): MSN down for anyone else? people here at work are getting piiiissseed……
(hdur): Supongo que MSN enfurece a los dioses de Pakistán.
(Hausdorff): MSN産経のページ，なめてんのかって位重い
(justinkeller): Adium users: is MSN giving you problems today?
(jcloop): what the fruit is wrong with MSN messenger AND Hotmail??
(agenteinforma): MSN fora do ar não só no Brasil: http://tinyurl.com/3a4qyr
(jaredavery): What a nice start to my day. Had to help mum get in to Hotmail because MSN Messager did not want to work for her.
(cl0): who cares if you can’t get on msn? chances are not many people will wanna talk to you lot anyway ;)
And tons more comments like that. Lots of suggestions to try Meebo or defect to Gtalk. None of them seem to have any concrete intel on WHY MSN/Hotmail/et al are down, or if they do I don’t know enough portuguese/spanish/insert-other-languages-here to make it out.
I would like to note, that from my end, MSN messenger (using Pidgin) worked just fine, as did visiting LiveSpaces. The home page of Hotmail loaded up but I didn’t bother trying to log in.
An man reported to have a bomb duct taped to his chest has taken two hostages inside the Rochester campaign office. Police are surrounding the office. No other progress has been reported as of yet.
Update: According to WMUR, the hostages were released at around 3pm. They now have video, as well as several witness accounts and area activity reports.
I came across an article in The Register a little while ago about one mom’s fight to keep a 29 second video clip of her son dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” up on YouTube.
In summary: The PA resident, Stephanie Lenz, had placed a 29 second clip of her dancing baby boy up on YouTube in order to share with family and friends. Universal (Prince’s label) contacted YouTube purportedly at the artist’s behest, citing the DMCA
Momma contacted the EFF and also filed a suit against the record label, Universal Music Group, to get the clip put back up as well as damages.
Current the clip is back up on YouTube, but as of the Register’s October 30th article, the lawsuit is still underway.
Without further ado, the “objectionable” clip.
I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on this. I personally feel like the artist and recording company have lost face with this action, and that the more public this becomes, the worse it will look for the two of them. The mother has nothing to lose but time, and possibly some serious lawyer’s fees. In my mind this is not a landmark case in terms of establishing laws, but in enforcing them. And of course the neverending “Corporate vs. Consumer” idea that pervades the culture these days.
Via Technoccult - Researchers in Japan have been grafting the chilled, severed heads of baby rats onto the haunches of adult rats. It’s been noted that the brain can develop as normal for as much as three weeks in this state.
Maybe lab rats have evolved into really big cyberpunk fans, and they’re hoping to get extra brains so they can stage a takeover. Bow before your multi-headed rodent overlords! My actual question is, why doesn’t the adult rat scratch off this foreign object?
I know I’d be a little put out by trying to run around with a baby head grafted to my leg.
“Hide Your Old Pills in Poop, Government Says” - That’s the title of the Reuters article. It includes tips from government officials on how to hide old, high-powered prescription pills in foul substances for purposes of disposal.
Use them or lose them, people. If there is someone you know of who might steal your old prescriptions either from your house or from your TRASH unless it’s smothered in cat shit, then maybe it’s time to have a talk with that person. Either that or call the police because someone’s rifling through your trash.
I’m not going to get into a big huff over how I feel about the War on Drugs - not today anyway - but I am going to point out a line which really highlights the absurdity of government solutions to social issues.
“Ferret waste, like nearly any other form of pet waste, can be effectively used to help prevent the abuse of unused prescription drugs,” SAMHSA spokesman Mark Weber said.
The world of those who love fantasy literature has taken yet another blow. Robert Jordan died yesterday at 2:45pm after a long battle with primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (cardiac amyloidosis). He is best known for his long running series of novels, The Wheel of Time. Jordan was working on the 12th and final novel during the period leading up to his death. No word has been given at this time on what will be done with that manuscript. Some of Jordan’s other work includes his installments on the Conan the Barbarian series of novels.
Just when you thought the day’s news couldn’t get any more ridiculous, New Haven, Connecticut comes through with the whopper of the day.
A couple members of the Hash House Harriers - “A drinking club with a running problem” - were charged with first-degree breach of peace, which is a felony.
Their crime? Siblings Daniel and Dorothee Salchow used flour to mark the trail for the group’s other runners for that day’s jog and party. The flour was used because it’s noticable and biodegradable. Read the rest of this entry »
Some kids play in the sandbox. We play in the.... litterbox??? The RKNet staff is pleased that you decided to stop by. Currently this is a 1 author project, with periodic guest posts. Contact giania [at symbol] gmail.com if you'd like to play here to.
