Category: Tech

Steve and Leo chat on Security Now about Monday’s Facebook outage.

Facebook Engineering’s statement.

More details about the October 4 outage

This statement is telling, in where they feel the emphasis needs to be placed, on phones rather than PC’s. And shouldn’t it be “our” app?

“That’s where the information needed by your app gets retrieved and processed, and sent back over the network to your phone.”

Facebook’s collection of services is unavailable. Because the outage is being reported as worldwide, it’s undoubtedly a Domain Name Services issue. For the moment, a name server somewhere is responding with an IP address in Australia.


C:\WINDOWS\system32>tracert facebook.com
Tracing route to facebook.com [157.240.8.35] over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms <1 ms <1 ms Fios_Quantum_Gateway.fios-router.home [192.168.1.1]
2 4 ms 6 ms 8 ms edge-star-mini-shv-01-syd2.facebook.com [157.240.8.35]

Trace complete.

Maybe this is a valid name server entry, and maybe it’s not. Let’s check.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup -type=soa facebook.com
Server: Fios_Quantum_Gateway.fios-router.home
Address: 192.168.1.1

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to Fios_Quantum_Gateway.fios-router.home timed-out

Uh, oh. Can’t get an authoritative name server. The stopover in Sydney is unscheduled. Let’s make one final check.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup -type=ptr facebook.com
Server: Fios_Quantum_Gateway.fios-router.home
Address: 192.168.1.1

*** Fios_Quantum_Gateway.fios-router.home can't find facebook.com: Server failed

Oh, yeah. Zuck is stuck near Auck. I’ll share this on Facebook. Oh, uh, wait. Never mind.

For comparison, this is how the results should appear:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>nslookup -type=ptr dograt.com
Server: Fios_Quantum_Gateway.fios-router.home
Address: 192.168.1.1

dograt.com
primary name server = ns1.bluehost.com
responsible mail addr = root.box2395.bluehost.com
serial = 2021091401
refresh = 86400 (1 day)
retry = 7200 (2 hours)
expire = 3600000 (41 days 16 hours)
default TTL = 300 (5 mins)

Something for record playing loyalists to think about. Why spend more than $40?

“The Shure is an RXP3 body from Radio Shack, with a new, original Shure stylus. The AT85EP is new. The level of the turntable was checked with an Audio-Technica AT605.

Both the Shure and A-T cartridges play side 2, track 8 of the Hi-Fi News Test LP cleanly, without buzzing. The M92E is louder, at 5.0 mV vs. 3.5 mV. My Ortofon Super OM 20, mounted in a Thorens TD166-MKII, fails the same test.

The M92E is discontinued, but the AT85EP is widely available for only $40. Audio-Technica sells a $10 universal adapter for mounting in a standard tonearm.”

Uh, oh! I’ve slipped down to the bottom of page 5 on Google’s search results! At least I’m with the other Doug Pratt who still has LaserDiscs.

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Hey, I just remembered. Clapping worked to save Tinkerbell, so clicking should save DogRat!

I posted this 1-minute scene from “Taxi Driver” as a sort of in-joke for a friend. The reason I’m embedding it here is because in the process of uploading it I gleaned an insight into YouTube’s new monetizing practices.

The copyright check came up immediately, but it said the holder granted permission… with advertising. Now I see that the revised monetizing program is a good thing, because it gives copyright holders an incentive to allow content that would otherwise be refused.

Previously, if you tried to post something determined to have a copyright, you were given a “three strikes and you’re out” warning. Having the opportunity to see if a video passes a smell test, rather than being sent immediately to the penalty box, is definitely better. So bring on the ads! (Did I just mix sports metaphors by smell?)