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Are Internet News Sites Ready for Major World News?

Posted by Cliff on from the handling-the-load dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "Heading says it all really - are Internet news websites ready for the next big world event? news.bbc.co.uk already switches format under heavy load (not sure if this is automatic or not) and i'm sure some other sites do the same. But should a major world event take place in the coming months/years, the Internet is going to be the primary news source for many millions of people, particularly those without access to a quality television news service. How will / can it cope?"

13 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. Uh oh by joyoflinux · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hopefully news.bbc.co.uk can cope with having it's link on Slashdot's homepage...

  2. Why... by aallan · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...are Internet news websites ready for the next big world event?

    Why? Are you planning one?

    Al.
    --
    The Daily ACK - Eclectic posts by yet another hacker
  3. Time to wake up. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "...particularly those without access to a quality television news service."

    Gee, that's pretty much everyone.

  4. I don't think they exist... by naasking · · Score: 3, Funny

    particularly those without access to a quality television news service.

    Isn't that a oxymoron?

    --
    Higher Logics: where programming meets science.
  5. Re:^^It's supposed to be funny!! by gowen · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you have to point out that something is funny, the chances are it isn't funny.

    --
    Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
  6. Re:What you need. by eam · · Score: 2, Funny

    What about those of us who work in the basement underneath heavily shielded MR & CT scanners?

  7. Unless... by cookiej · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... the headline reads, "Internet knocked out by multi-city EMP attack"

  8. Usenet Example: news.announce.important by shoppa · · Score: 5, Funny
    This was all settled years ago. A long neglected Usenet group, news.announce.important, is reserved for these global earth-shattering events. For Example:
    • (b) "The Internet is running out of IP addresses, please conserve your addresses and give any you are not using back to the NIC." Approved.
  9. Re:Slashdot is the answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    > Does a site resist under heavy /.ing? Well, probably it is ready for Global Thermonuclear War.

    Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess? -wopr

  10. Re:More tech issues in mainstream by Noryungi · · Score: 3, Funny

    To state the obvious, the major news sites would have to have not only leaner pages, but also have the infrastructure to withstand a slashdotting-with-hair-on-it.

    Slashdotting-with-hair-on-it?

    You mean... A horde of rabid Cowboy Neals attacking innocent news web sites???

    *shudder*

    I think I am going to be sick... ;)

    --
    The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
  11. Are Internet News Sites Ready? by Katz_is_a_moron · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes.

    I contacted them all and they said they're ready.

  12. In related news... by m00nun1t · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...CNN.com announces a new hosting deal with hotnakedteens.com to handle peak traffic periods.

    A spokesman for CNN.com said "after talking to several vendors including Sun, IBM and Microsoft, hotnakedteens.com won the business by showing they routinely handle traffic 10 times the traffic we received around Sept 11."

    --
    Read reviews of shopping cart software
  13. No quality television news by Infonaut · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...particularly those without access to a quality television news service.

    Damn, all of us in the US are screwed!

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ