What does the population do when Twitter goes down? I’m not sure but hopefully they turn to blogs. This morning the microblogging service used by millions across the globe went down, and I’m not taking “Fail Whale” down.
The entire site is unavailable (as well as services that connect to it) so the best place to go at a time like this is the Twitter Status Blog:
Update (9:46a): As we recover, users will experience some longer load times and slowness. This includes timeouts to API clients. We’re working to get back to 100% as quickly as we can.
Update: the site is back up, but we are continuing to defend against and recover from this attack.
Thursday August 6th: “Ongoing denial-of-service attack – We are defending against a denial-of-service attack, and will update status again shortly.” Update: the site is back up, but we are continuing to defend against and recover from this attack.
Thursday August 6th: “Site is down – We are determining the cause and will provide an update shortly. Update: we are defending against a denial-of-service attack.”
Once they have the time to publish to the regular Twitter blog, updates will appear there as well.
The morning hours on Twitter are usually rich with hot news topics of the day, and many just getting into work and publishing updates such as “why did I even come in today” or “the line up at Starbucks is huge this morning”. In case you’re missing Twitter, try watching “Real Life Twitter” once again. It’ll still make you giggle and ease of pain of not being able to Tweet at this time (and maybe commenting on a blog post will scratch that itch).
Update: Here’s a bit more of an explanation about the nature of the outage (attack).
HowStuffWorks.com
A denial of service attack means that somewhere, somehow, an overload of computers is massively bombarding Twitter — making it impossible for them to manage regular traffic on top of this overload. This is similar to the attack notorious Canadian hacker Mafiaboy used to cripple Amazon.com and Yahoo years ago. Twitter is back up and running however services and programs that use its API (application programming interface) such as Tweetdeck, are having a hard time connecting. With the DEFCON hackers’ conference going on right now (and with Gawker, Facebook and Media Temple being other recent targets) fingers are pointing in all directions.
Social media experiments are popping up all over the place, from sales initiatives, to fundraisers and even selling houses through Twitter. Karen, a local wine blogger known to those on Twitter as Winebard, is conducting her own experiment for one of the most important days of her life.
“I am inviting vineyards in Napa and Sonoma to consider hosting our entourage of four on August 18, 2009 for our vows. We seek a very intimate setting surrounded by the glorious beauty of vines so alive and ripe with symbolism.” – Where Will Winebard Wed
Photo credit:
miheco on Flickr
She and her fiancé will be in Napa along with her dress, shoes, photographer, and all the wedding basics except for a venue. She’s started up this website to see if it can reach out to wineries and vineyards in the area and have them host her nuptials on their land.
On her wish list she’s included the following required elements from the host location (although she is flexible):
- Rose bushes at the end of the rows of vines
- Picturesque location for Wedding photos
- Can accommodate four people for about one hour on Aug 18th
- No staff, or event space required from the vineyard
- BONUS: Will hold a video camera for 10 mins or be our witness
If you are in the wine business in the Napa Valley and can accommodate this, be sure to contact Karen before August 14th. I’m certain your online exposure will grow (both on websites and Twitter) should you be able to host this event. Also, if you read about this campaign on Miss604.com, please be sure to let her know as I’d love to play a small part in making this happy day happen.
We’d head out to Derby Reach as a family on a Sunday afternoons cruising past farms on back country roads, in those years before Walnut Grove had a space station movie theatre.
Derby Reach is tucked away along the Fraser River between Walnut Grove (Langley) and Fort Langley, which makes it accessible and a great addition to my Park Series.
Metrics: 297 hectares / 733 acres with 9.5 km of walking trails, 4 km of horseback riding trails, and 4.5 km of cycling paths. The picnic shelter seats 60 and there are 38 unserviced campsites.
View Larger Map
How to Get There: From Highway 1 take the 200th North exit, and travel north to 96th Ave where you’ll turn and head East to 208th. Turn East on Allard Crescent and follow the signs to enter the park.
Features: The park circles around wetland, tree-covered trails, the Langley Bog (currently not accessible to the public) and cranberry fields. Aside from the trail network, there is also fishing along the Edgewater Bar, picnicking, camping, and leash-optional areas for dogs. It is also the site of the first (original) Fort Langley.
History: The 4km Fort-to Fort Trail begins at Derby Reach and runs from the original site of the Fort Langley trading post (1827) to the current National Historic Site (1839) next to the village [source]. The first fort at Derby Reach was the first permanent settlement and cultivation of land in the Lower Fraser Valley. The site was traditional hunting and fishing grounds for the Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations.
Notes: There’s a lot to see and explore in this park and what it lacks in shiny playground equipment or wading pools, it makes up for in its natural beauty and varied landscapes alongside the river with Golden Ears as a backdrop.
A few weeks ago at the Surrey Fusion Festival I cam across this advertisement for the Cloverdale Blueberry Festival and was immediately captivated by the sight of a giant blueberry riding a hot rod.
Turns out the image serves a dual purpose as the event next weekend will also include the Pacific Highway Show & Shine. On top of that, there will be a Blueberry Arts Festival at the Surrey Museum in Cloverdale, pancake breakfast, BMX stunt showcase, mini golf, talent search, and the obligatory bouncy castle.
Of course there will also be blueberries — in jams, in scones, by the handful, and in pie eating contests. Things kick off on Friday August 7th with the Party in the Parking lot at Lucas’ Place (in the Starbucks Mall) with a BBQ and performance by the Trailer Park Playboys.
Saturday morning at 9am the Pacific Highway Show & Shine begins as well as the rest of the festival at Cloverdale Village Square. The Blueberry Arts Festival at the Surrey Museum is from 10:00am until 4:00pm.
On Sunday August 9th it’s the Party on the Hill at Hillcrest Mall and throughout the entire weekend there will be a trolley service available between events and locations.
The West End Cultural Festival is taking place Saturday August 8th over at Gordon Neighbourhood House. Back in 2007 Keira and I went to the West End Block Party and had a really fun afternoon of exploring, playing games, eating snacks, and checking out garage sales. This year the community celebration is expanding.
The event for all ages will include a youth corner, childrens carnival, and seniors corner. The goal will be to gather the multi-ethnic population of the community and engage them in a cultural celebration alongside some of BC’s best athletes. The 2010 Olympic mascots will be around as well as activities to entertain and share the spirit of the Games. Festivities begin at 11:00am and will run until 3:00pm.
Gordon Neighbourhood House also organizes monthly multicutural lunches with food and community members from around the globe. The House is a non-profit, community service organization.
