What is YOUR Pizza?: 2009-06-21

27 June 2009

(Going to go ahead and toss the next couple of entries up while I'm checking e-mail. Hopefully should know soon enough if this is working. --6/28/09)

More proof e-mail works. More proof the Internet is a strange place, even post-5/6.

"To Whom it May Concern:

I am Matt D. Leethen, owner and founder of SubNet Ltd., a privately-owned ISP and website hosting service. Since May 6, we have turned to focusing on providing hosting for sites and developers whose hosts and/or servers were damaged in the attacks.

Subnet believes that one of the most vital services the Internet can provide in today's world is the means to remind us of that which was lost, including -- but by no means limited to -- accurate first-hand reporting of life in today's America. Therefore, we at Subnet make a special effort to provide help and support to sites falling into this category. Yours, obviously, was such a site.

We have noticed that your online account of life after the attacks has recently gone down. Perhaps you've noticed a similar problem amongst similar sites. We believe we know the cause of these issues, and SubNet can help you to get live once again.

Most importantly, due to the nature of your site and the purpose of SubNet, we wish to offer this support for free. Not free as in 'free trial' or 'free information,' but free as in 'service for the public good.'

I sincerely hope, personally, that you will consider this offer. I believe this will be of great interest and benefit to you. Should you be interested and/or have any questions, please respond using the e-mail address given below.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

--M. Leethen,
CEO SubNet Ltd.
(e-mail address removed)"

This is...good news? A bit convenient? Odd?

All of the above?

But hey, if you're reading this and it's the Future then I guess I took them up on their offer and everything panned out legitimately?

First

26 June 2009

First

So for whatever reason, my blog's been down. I'm e-mailing this post in on the off-chance it's still showing somewhere. Got no clue myself if it'll show or not. Hoping the site'll get back up soon and I can continue writing. It's become a bit of a routine; nice way to wind down after dealing with the absurdities waiting outside my apartment door.

Not that the writing's stopped -- said absurdities continue to provide fertile grounds for entries. If and when I figure out what's wrong, there'll be stories to share.

Still receiving e-mail, at least. Got a reply from Andy, albeit a short one: "When are you free?"

Guess I'll be talking to him on Sunday.

First

24 June 2009

First

Dammit. If you're reading this then at least e-mail updating still works. Can't access the blog online any more.

The hell's going on here...?

First

23 June 2009

First

Bananas!

The grocery store had bananas today! Crazy expensive though. $2.50/lb. Didn't keep me from picking up a couple of bunches, earning a slight raised eyebrow from the checkout operator girl. The guys are already faded beyond green into a solid yellow, but I figure I'll be able to down then before the browns dominate.

Payday's coming up, and after the success of our +'s ads, we all should be doing pretty well for a good while, provided there are no crazy market dives.

Anything's still possible, but some of the drama's gone. Things have definitely stabilized for me personally. Hard to tell if it's the same for the general populace though. Local news remains distant and impersonal, though the recent internet (semi)rescucitation has led to a bit more variety. The streets are still filled with idlers, but there's been a definite reduction in blatantly homeless people on the streets. A result of the curfew, I can only assume.

Been poking around the edges of the 'Net some more. Interesting results. Like I said, visiting the international pages of US-based news sites -- CNN, USAToday, etc. -- leads to sites that still exist but have fallen into disrepair. You know, like an abandoned Geocities page (remember those?). Broken links. Missing images. No updates since pre-6/5.

Overseas news sites can't even be accessed. BBC, for example. 404 error.

Suspect a lot of you have already noticed for yourself, but still. Tried being a little more sneaky? Looking up, say, overseas blogs? Can't find anything. Social networking sites have limited functionality, if any...not that the lack of myspace pimped-out pages is any great loss. Blogs (like this, obviously) are still viewable but they seem to be slowly dwindling. Like, I had a few I followed, but now only one or two are still updating. Some stop providing new entries, some 404.

I'm doing this mostly for myself, sure, but...I dunno. Hate to see all this go to waste. Plus...I'm still hoping to hear from others across the nation, get some feel for how things are nationally from individuals, not from news agencies. I mean, it's most likely nothing, just people having personal issues they have to deal with interfering with passtimes. Plenty of issues to go around nowadays. Just...hm.

Really need to talk to Andy about all this.

Think I'll e-mail him now actually.

First

22 June 2009

First

One oft-overlooked benefit that came about as a result of this whole mess is the death of spam.

Look, you take the small victories where you can.

Only, it seems those days are over. I present to you, The First Spam of The Post-5/6 Era!

Some things never change. Except the world, apparently.

THE WORLD HAS CHANGED

AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW MUCH

Forget Sept. 11. Forget JFK. Area 51. All the conspiracy theories you THOUGHT you knew.

If they were real, it no longer matters. Because of 5/6, the past has been ELIMINATED.

You are not being WATCHED. You are not being STUDIED. You are not being READ.

ALL are being done.

PAY ATTENTION. Next month will be a COUNTERSTRIKE. Their own TOOLS can be their UNDOING.

We will PATCH TOGETHER that which they have SEVERED.

DON'T BELIEVE THE WORST. THINGS HAVE GONE BEYOND EVEN THAT.

:-Net

Really? Really??

Wonder if the Prince of Nigeria still needs some help.

First

21 June 2009

First

So if you had told me that you could get my Internet access back, I'd have been thrilled, would have hugged you, may have even promised you my firstborn. Secondborn too if I were feeling generous.

But now, after spending literally all day poking and prodding at the edges of cyberspace, instead of utterly delighted I'm more confused than anything.

Instead of the ship-lost-in-the-Pacific vastness that you usually get wading through millions of pages of Google search returns, there's a visible horizon. Trying to surf off that edge doesn't lead to infinite blackness, or to a place where Here There Be Monsters, but just a wall. An edge.

Is it just me? I mean, safe to assume that a lot of damage is still yet to be repaired. And maybe it's a regional thing, maybe I'm going through the wrong hubs to get the wrong info. I don't know. As I've said before, not an IT guy.

The things you'd go after first, they're the ones that are hardest to come across too. No, not porn. That's still there aplenty (not that, ah, I would know...ahem). But national and international news is sparse at best. Mostly just rehashes of what the President has said or done. Internationally there's next to nothing.

Lots of speculation, little hard fact. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, really.

Still hunting to see what is and isn't available, but there's definitely significantly more available for perusal.

Which is fortunate, because with the curfew I'll be around my computer a lot earlier a lot more often.

First

27 June 2009

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