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How to Handle an Internet Outage

canadian_right writes "Do you know what to do if your internet connection goes down? This article includes many helpful tips, including a functional use for AOL disks."

341 comments

  1. Be proactive. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Be proactive, people! Print off a copy of the goatse.cx guy so if and when the net chokes you can tape it to your monitor. You may not even remember that you're offline after a few hours.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Be proactive. by merlin_jim · · Score: 5, Funny

      Be proactive, people! Print off a copy of the goatse.cx guy so if and when the net chokes you can tape it to your monitor. You may not even remember that you're offline after a few hours.

      For increased realism, print out copies of slashdot articles... then when the internet goes out just paste a bunch of these together, and start writing on it in pen about how the editors are so lame for posting a bunch of dupes.

      Behind that page put the goatse.cx guy. Every now and then accidently flip up the first page to view the second. Gasp in horror and bitch about the trolls before hitting the back key (by which I mean, flip page one back down)

      --
      I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
    2. Re:Be proactive. by argStyopa · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why print multiple pages?
      Dude, this is SLASHDOT.

      Just print the same bloody article about 10 times, you'll swear you were reading them online.

      --
      -Styopa
    3. Re:Be proactive. by pklong · · Score: 1

      No, you should put the printout on the photocopier and boost the copies to the max allowed. When your internet goes down simply press start.

      --

      Philip

      Signatures are broken

  2. Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I go and read a book, or the newspaper. Maybe I'll go and have a cigarette, or a beer.

    Occasionally, I go back to work.

    1. Re:Easy by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      RTFA. It was a joke article, and it actually suggested reading "books".

  3. 9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by SMOC · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that /. slang for masturbation or something?

    --
    All errors in this comment are mine. Corrections are considered a derivative work, and punishable under copyright law.
    1. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by mrtroy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Palmala Handerson is her name!

      And she loves me!

      Occasionally I sit on her for an hour before, if I am interested in spicing things up. "The stranger" we call it....

      --
      [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
    2. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that /. slang for masturbation or something?

      The preferred term is "Fully-Functional Organic Animatronic Real Doll, Life Partner Version".

    3. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by musikit · · Score: 1

      well the article did say these would be the LONGest hours of your life. although for the /. crowd i would expect it to be LONGest milliseconds.

    4. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, that would have been a lot funnier if you didn't bold the joke. It's like the crack comedian who just has to explain all his jokes to everyone after he tells them.

    5. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by tgd · · Score: 1

      Yeah, because everyone knows you need a net connection to do that right.

    6. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      Is that /. slang for masturbation or something?

      How can it be? When there is no internet available!!??

    7. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by dipipanone · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's like the crack comedian...

      What's Darl McBride got to do with this? I haven't heard him explain *any* of his jokes yet.

    8. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by SMOC · · Score: 1, Interesting

      That's fucking great, from positive karma straight to terrible karma, because I post ONE funny comment (currently at +5)

      Hey Taco, did you ever realize that when funny mods do not increase karma, overrated mods should not decrease it?

      And the best part is, overrated does not go into metamod. Briliant. Just briliant.

      --
      All errors in this comment are mine. Corrections are considered a derivative work, and punishable under copyright law.
    9. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Not only do SOME of us have spouses, some of us even have kids.

      Note only that, SOME of us STILL get laid, frequently.

    10. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by EduardoTheBastard · · Score: 2, Funny

      Good for you! But it must be a lot of work to maintain a mistress. Most of us with kids don't have that kind of energy.

    11. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah but you do :( Porno mags are not doing quite so well (Hustler and Penthouse are considering ditching the print mags and going 100% online) and renting a porno DVD without access to the internet is hard :(

    12. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by JourneymanMereel · · Score: 1

      I think it means you need to go on a date with Miss Michigan.

      (Look at a map if you don't get it)

      --
      Life has many choices. Eternity has two. What's yours?
    13. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      someone with mod points and kids should mod this up!

    14. Re:9. Spend Time With Your Spouse? by pyr0 · · Score: 1

      Holy crap, you got screwed. Seriously...if I had any mod points right now I'd give you an underrated mod to help compensate. You got hit for 30% overrated and 10% flamebait on that one. I personally thought it was damn funny!

  4. Try... by beady · · Score: 1, Funny

    Watching TV, couldn't possibly try getting a life at all.

    1. Re:Try... by The_K4 · · Score: 3, Funny

      How can I watch TV with out tvguide.com to tell me what's on?!?!

    2. Re:Try... by dknj · · Score: 1

      no digital cable? and you call yourself a geek...

      -dk

  5. hehe... Take out the AOL CD and slash it against.. by Fallen+Kell · · Score: 1

    ...as a last resort, pull out an emergency AOL CD, the one with 910 free hours of connection to the AOL service. Take the CD in one hand...and slash it across your wrist! Suicide will probably be a better alternative than connecting to that service.

    Now that is just too funny. What else is there to do :P

    --
    We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
  6. Oh no! by bogusbrainbonus · · Score: 1, Funny

    You mean I might have to go back to reading books?

    1. Re:Oh no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hold on there. Don't talk crazy like that. Next thing you know, someone will start suggesting we go outside or something!

    2. Re:Oh no! by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I came back home the other day to find my house without Internet access. My housemates were sitting despondantly in the living room, watching TV. I asked them if they'd checked the router configs, and they said they had. I did it again anyway. They were fine. I next asked if they had tried rebooting the cable modem. They claimed it had never failed, so there was no point. In my last house, the cable modem had crashed about once a month, so I felt it worth a try. I unplugged it, and plugged it back in. Within a minute, the 'net was back up. Their faces once they realised that they could have done that at any point during the day were priceless.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    3. Re:Oh no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SNNNnnnnnnnnnooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

      Is your post over yet?

    4. Re:Oh no! by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1
      I often find I get a lot more done when I am away from an internet connection. It's just so damned easy to get distracted by even the most peripherally relevant links (including Slashdot, of course) that the net can waste a hell of a lot of time.

      Whenever I have deadlines to meet, I often find I have to close down my browser and email client and force myself to leave them closed while I get on with my work.

    5. Re:Oh no! by platipusrc · · Score: 1

      I find that the best way to force myself to not be on the net so that I can actually get some work done is to take my laptop to the Waffle House and do my work there instead. ;)

      --
      And the muscular cyborg German dudes dance with sexy French Canadians
    6. Re:Oh no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tee Hee.

      I mean no one GIVES A SHIT

    7. Re:Oh no! by outcast36 · · Score: 1

      one time at band camp.... I plugged my cable modem into

  7. At work... by Soukyan · · Score: 3, Funny

    I have games installed on my PC for just such occasions. The only problem: I'm a technical support rep. :\

  8. sad by fjordboy · · Score: 1, Funny

    I actually use one of those tips - for classes where I don't have an internet connection available here at college, I install games on my laptop that I would never play otherwise. I rarely play games while I have a network connection. I'm pathetic. Oh, and when the network in our school was down (freaking kids with their stupid viruses), my roommate and I definitely made use of our "modems" and connected them to our phoneline and used dialup.

    1. Re:sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      god forbid you actually go to class to learn!

      You don't pay for college, do you?

    2. Re:sad by The_K4 · · Score: 1

      Yes, i paid for college. However I wasn't paying for classes, for homework sets or even for grades. I was paying for that crappy looking 1 page of paper that validates my existance.....it's called my Diploma.....

    3. Re:sad by fjordboy · · Score: 1

      I do pay for college, and I do learn in classes. However, I'm pretty good at listening to instructers and playing a game at the same time. Alt+tab comes in very handy for taking notes. I'll admit, the games I play aren't all that great - generally just emulators and roms and stuff...nothing complex.

    4. Re:sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not exactly Ivy League material, are you? Your life, including college, is what you make of it. If you continue on with your pissant attitude, things are never going to get better. Here's some advice: you don't know everything, there are tons of interesting subjects (yes, even other than computing) that you would be well-advised to learn about. Please, don't just idly squander your one college experience. Do something with it. People like you really confuse me, I just end up shaking my head. Where did you go wrong???

    5. Re:sad by the_mad_poster · · Score: 1

      If you think college is for learning, you've obviously never even been there.

      --
      Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
    6. Re:sad by The_K4 · · Score: 1

      Actually I didn't squander it. I took alot of class (many our side of computers) including physics, psychology, philosophy, mech E, EE and many others. My point was that when I went to college by and large I wasn't paying for the lessons, I could have gotten those for the price of books (and in many places for the price of a library card and a few late fees). I know I don't know everything, no one does or even can, but I know that I don't have to sit in a class room and listen to a teacher drone on about a topic to learn it either.

    7. Re:sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your dick is 120 mm long? That's nothing to post about, below average even.

    8. Re:sad by equiraptor · · Score: 1

      The most important thing a person can learn is how to learn. One of the things I've been told is that piece of paper called a diploma is not considered proof that you know something. It's considered proof that you can learn at that level, and therefore proof that you can learn additional needed material. Learning to learn on your own, without an instructor, is more valuable than any single item an instructor could teach you.

    9. Re:sad by knobmaker · · Score: 1
      Learning to learn on your own, without an instructor, is more valuable than any single item an instructor could teach you.

      This may well be true in a philosophical sense, but it unfortunately is not true in a financial sense. I flunked out of college (sex, drugs, rocknroll yada yada) spent a glorious year in Vietnam, taught myself to be a pretty good potter, took up writing, published dozens of short stories and several novels, was translated into many languages (my novels were published twice in Russia). As a result my publication record is far more impressive than anything on the resumes of most creative writing instructors. And I've coached several once-marginal writers to publication, while participating in various writers groups, so I have some teaching skills. Am I ever going to be offered a job as a writing instructor? Noooooo. Not unless I go back to school, which at 55 is sort of a low-return investment.

      Stay in school. Get that paper.

  9. how sad by Horny+Smurf · · Score: 0

    if the internet goes out... do something else!

  10. How I handle internet outages by RLiegh · · Score: 1, Funny

    Go outside, spend time with family, flirt with women [and get turned down. :-/]

    Notice that none of these involve resorting to AOL...

    1. Re:How I handle internet outages by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


      flirt with women

      I always cry when I flirt with women. They all carry pepper spray nowadays.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    2. Re:How I handle internet outages by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 1

      What is this "Internet outage" the article is speaking of? Just switch to your backup provider if your primary is down. It talks about playing games... how the hell do you play games if your Internet access is cut off? Do they still make non-online-multiplayer games?

    3. Re:How I handle internet outages by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      "flirt with women [and get turned down. :-/]"

      But, how do you do that if you can't access AIM?

    4. Re:How I handle internet outages by whiteranger99x · · Score: 1

      I always cry when I flirt with women. They all carry pepper spray nowadays.

      That's nothing, some women take it a step further by carrying sprays made from habanero peppers. If that stuff gets on your face, you'll be red for like a week...not that *I* would know that ;)

      --
      Join the TWIT army now!
    5. Re:How I handle internet outages by AbbyNormal · · Score: 1

      Dang man, think outside the box!

      Wear goggles! Chicks dig em!

      --
      Sig it.
    6. Re:How I handle internet outages by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or if you can't find any women (like at my school), you can always get drink heavily and go vandalize things.

      Of course, I've personally NEVER done that.

    7. Re:How I handle internet outages by Pyrosz · · Score: 1

      Funny video... related!
      http://www.thedierks.com/allowe/video/Wh yMenDontAs kDirections.mpeg

      Watch for spaces in the url. Stupid slashdot bugs.

      Video Direct Link

      --

      An optimist believes we live in the best world possible; a pessimist fears this is true.
    8. Re:How I handle internet outages by Hentai · · Score: 1

      This is funny until it happens to you. Then it's only funny to everyone else.

      --
      -Hentai [in vita non pacem est]
  11. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by krisp · · Score: 3, Informative

    Perhaps you should have read the article.

    10. Use Your Emergency AOL Disk
    If you find that your connection to the Internet is going to be longer than you can possibly stand, as a last resort, pull out an emergency AOL CD, the one with 910 free hours of connection to the AOL service. Take the CD in one hand...and slash it across your wrist! Suicide will probably be a better alternative than connecting to that service.

    This article is satire. You must be one of the people referred to in Step 8.

  12. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by pvt_medic · · Score: 2, Funny

    only thing i use aol cds for is putting them into the microwave.

    --
    30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
    Score:5, Troll
  13. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by mrgreenfur · · Score: 1

    rtfa, he says to use it to slash your wrists, becasue death is better than aol.

  14. Re:Grog isn't fictitious. (Socre: 5, Troll) by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 0

    Step 3: Profit ? :-)

  15. Re:hehe... Take out the AOL CD and slash it agains by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Now that is just too funny. What else is there to do :P


    Wait a few more minutes and then go towards the light...

  16. Of course it was for medicinal purposes only by davmoo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Last time my net connection went down I had such bad withdrawl symptoms that I had to smoke some weed to aleviate the pain.

    --
    I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
    1. Re:Of course it was for medicinal purposes only by NineNine · · Score: 1

      Just one note... be careful not to smoke weed *while* you're online. You'll post all kinds of bizarre stuff to message boards and get banned.

    2. Re:Of course it was for medicinal purposes only by PetWolverine · · Score: 1

      What a coincidence--me too!

      But then, the last time I went to class, I had to smoke before hand to alleviate the pain of listening to a physics lecture. The last time I watched a movie, I had to smoke first so I could remain interested throughout. And the last time I went to bed, I needed to smoke first so I could fall asleep--but I was all out of pot, so I didn't get to sleep until 7 a.m.! Oh, woe is me...

      --
      I found the meaning of life the other day, but I had write-only access.
  17. Don't bother by cybermace5 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I RTFA. One word: Lame.

    --
    ...
    1. Re:Don't bother by SamSim · · Score: 1

      Agreed. This counts as "News for nerds, stuff that matters"? Unforgivably unfunny.

    2. Re:Don't bother by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was it the "pasty white skin" comment that struck a nerve? Truth hurts, doesn't it.

    3. Re:Don't bother by phritz · · Score: 1
      Yeah, this article completely fails it.

      Ever notice how any site which bills itself as "The Internet's Funniest x" or "Canada's Source for Internet Humour" or what-have-you is automatically unfunny? That sort of thing needs to be done with a straight face (e.g. The Onion) otherwise it's the comic equivalent of some idiot prancing around in his underwear.

  18. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i see you didn't RTFA

  19. Or for subscribers.... by LilJC · · Score: 2, Funny
    Call 55S-LAS-HDOT for the latest news, delivered to your snail-mail inbox on CD!

    If only the last-mile solution was as dead-nuts reliable as the power grid, then it would never fail... uhmm...

    Okay, so maybe we should investigate solutions for last-mile internet serving as backup electricity, and the power grid serving as last-mile for redundancy?

    --

    The only thing more dangerous than a file named -rf is renaming it -rf\ /
    1. Re:Or for subscribers.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One problem though - how can one ever hope to get a FP! with a latency of about a week.

  20. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by fjordboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    oh man, a couple of years ago there was a contest on the internet to make creative things out of aol disks. I called up AOL using a number I found deep on their website and asked if I could get a bunch of cds shipped to me. The guy was like: "sure...how many?" I was a little surprised that he actually offered, so I ended up going with a low number of 250. I got a big bag of them in the mail two days later. My friends who were involved in our little project and I realized that we needed at least twice that many cds, so I had one of them call...they called the same number, said the same things I said, and couldn't get more than two cds at a time! Several other friends tried, and they got the same results. I tried again, and the guy would only send me one! I don't know how I did it, but I did get a huge bag of AOL cds (unfortunately, not ones with the dvd cases).

    We never did finish (or start) our project, so now I have a big bag of aol cds under my desk at home, and I've been increasing the pile over the last couple years - all my friends send me their cds and neighbors too. The pile is huge, and I've probably got at least 400 now....when I finally make something with them, it's gonna be epic.

  21. Wardrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah you go wardriving and find an open Wifi connection. That always takes care of the essential internet connectivity.

    1. Re:Wardrive by shockwav1 · · Score: 1

      But what about when the whole Internet goes down? What then? You know it happens all the time!

  22. Laptops by bazik · · Score: 3, Informative

    This Article is missing that you can always grab your WLAN enabled Laptop and go War-Driving if your connection is down :)

    --


    --
    One by one the penguins steal my sanity...
    1. Re:Laptops by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Or, just use your bluetooth / GPRS mobile phone, although at around 2 quid / MB it's a bit expensive. Mind you, you could always try forwarding the bill to your ISP...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Laptops by _xeno_ · · Score: 1
      Metered wireless internet access? What's that? I finally can lord something that my US Cellphone does better than European ones! Since no one over here uses their phones for Internet Access, the Sprint plan I got has unlimited internet access through the phone for just $10/month.

      Although I just checked my plan and it turns out that they cancel your plan if you actually use it for Internet access. Fooey. (It also says I can't run servers on the phone itself. So much for my Apache midlet, I guess.)

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
    3. Re:Laptops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get GPRS internet access with a 2GB monthly traffic limit (that's fairly generous) for 16 euros/month...and I'm actually allowed to use it. ;)

    4. Re:Laptops by Kesh · · Score: 1

      Try T-Mobile. It's $20 / month on top of your voice plan ($29 / month seperately), but it's unlimited internet through your web-enabled phone, GPRS card or PDA. I'm considering ditching my land line for this, since I can't get cable right now and the price is about what I'm paying for local phone + dialup service now.

    5. Re:Laptops by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 1

      Verizon Wireless now offers 3G CDMA EVDO service (500K-2M, generally) for $80 a month. It drops to 80K-144K (still technically 3G) when you leave the (relatively small, at least for now) EVDO coverage areas.

  23. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the net has to go down in order for you to spend time with your spouse, you are sunk anyway, and she's prolly got the divorce papers drawn up, and can't get enough face time with you to get a signature.

    it depends, maybe she is getting her kicks on the side and simply milking you for money...

    have you really looked at the kids lately...Interetsing how the youngest looks like the pool guy?

    maybe you should install hiddent webcams in the house and make money on the internet?

  24. You Know you have a problem when by fine09 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You have your ISP Service Desk on Speed Dial.

    My old ADSL connection had the habit of going down more than i would like. I had it down to a rythem. I would reboot the router, reboot the modem .... call the help desk to see what the problem is.

    I thought this was normal until my girlfriend pointed out that the only two numbers i had on my speed dial were her and my ISP

    1. Re:You Know you have a problem when by merlin_jim · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You have your ISP Service Desk on Speed Dial.

      RoadRunner is on my cell phone's voice dial list. I just pick it up and say roadrunner.

      I navigate the menu to get to roadrunner level 2 support by pressing
      1,3,1,2,3, which means: 1 (english), 3 (existing customer / high speed internet), 1 (road runner), 2 (I do not want to refresh my converter box), 3 (the scripts for options 1 and 2, which are rebooting the modem and rebooting the computer respectively, did not solve my problem)

      Needless to say, roadrunner in my area is not incredibly reliable.

      Actual, more accurately, AVP2 has a documented problem with it's network stack and the Toshiba cable modem. For the curious, a NATting firewall fixed it. D-Link DI 614+ is I believe the model I got.

      --
      I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
    2. Re:You Know you have a problem when by dlc3007 · · Score: 1
      I thought this was normal until my girlfriend pointed out that the only two numbers i had on my speed dial were her and my ISP

      Was the problem with her or your ISP?

    3. Re:You Know you have a problem when by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stop calling your sister your girlfriend, sicko.

    4. Re:You Know you have a problem when by b!arg · · Score: 5, Funny

      My old ADSL connection had the habit of going down more than i would like

      Now only if you had that same problem with your girlfriend, then there'd be no need for broadband.

      I'm really sorry. It was just there for the taking.

      --

      Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful
    5. Re:You Know you have a problem when by adamfranco · · Score: 2, Funny

      I navigate the menu to get to roadrunner level 2 support by pressing
      1,3,1,2,3


      It depends on your phone, but I was able to program in pauses between numbers so that my phone would dial, then navigate all the menus automatically (waiting several seconds here and there for the prompt to get the appropriate place). Isn't technology great!

      --
      "When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind." -- Bill Moyers
    6. Re:You Know you have a problem when by merlin_jim · · Score: 1

      You just use the comma as a half-second pause right?

      Is there a way to get it to wait for the phone to pickup... that part is variable (3-7 seconds in my experience)... if there was some character to do that I'd program it in...

      --
      I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
    7. Re:You Know you have a problem when by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >>> I had it down to a rythem. I would reboot the router, reboot the modem .... call the help desk to see what the problem is

      When I was with AT&T I started by calling support! I was always on hold 30-45 minutes (up to 90 on a bad day) so plenty of time to reboot, try to hack the modem.

      When nothing helped after 15 minutes of support they would say "Oh, I just noticed, we are doing maintenance in your area".

    8. Re:You Know you have a problem when by dswensen · · Score: 1

      No, I work tech support for an ISP, believe me when I say, you're hardly the only one with the ISP on speed dial.

    9. Re:You Know you have a problem when by allism · · Score: 1

      I agree, I had Qwest's service desk along with the appropriate codes to get to repair on my cellphone so I could do one-touch repair calling while driving - much safer than trying to punch in codes while driving.

      But then my cell phone died (not kidding) - five times.

    10. Re:You Know you have a problem when by adamfranco · · Score: 1

      I think the wait for pickup feature might depend on your phone or your provider, but I just put in the longer amount (in your case 7 sec) since there is usually enough drivel at the begining of the recording to allow for the sequence to start after a small delay.

      --
      "When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind." -- Bill Moyers
    11. Re:You Know you have a problem when by daeley · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm really sorry. It was just there for the taking.

      Now, that's no way to talk about his girlfriend! ;)

      --
      I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
    12. Re:You Know you have a problem when by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sorry m8, i gave my last mod point to your descendent lol - was v funny tho

    13. Re:You Know you have a problem when by Minwee · · Score: 1
      Now only if you had that same problem with your girlfriend, then there'd be no need for broadband.

      Wait a minute, what is that anyway, something like 36? Does that INCLUDE me?

    14. Re:You Know you have a problem when by Brandybuck · · Score: 1

      I would reboot the router, reboot the modem .... call the help desk to see what the problem is.

      If they are anything like my ISP, you've missed quite a few steps.

      Argue with ISP. Disconnect router, since they don't support it. Argue with ISP. Reboot out of superior OS and into Windows. Argue with ISP. Hunt for cheesy ISP software CD. Install cheesy ISP software. Argue with ISP. Run rebranded PPPoE software with banner ads. ISP finally informs you, "I'm sorry sir, but our service is temporarily down in your area."

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
    15. Re:You Know you have a problem when by Fizzl · · Score: 1

      RoadRunner is on my cell phone's voice dial list. I just pick it up and say roadrunner.

      Hmm.. Wouldn't it be appropriate if you had to say: *meep! meep!* :)

  25. Easy... by SomeGuyFromCA · · Score: 2, Funny

    Heh, I know exactly what to do... wait for my SMC Barricade to realize the drop and dial out on the modem fallover line.

    Behold the power of technology.

    (Yes, I did RTFA, I know it's not serious... but I wanted to brag. ^_^)

    --
    if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
    1. Re:Easy... by jwbozzy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Heh, I know exactly what to do... wait for my SMC Barricade to realize the drop and dial out on the modem fallover line...
      (Yes, I did RTFA, I know it's not serious... but I wanted to brag. ^_^)

      You're using an SMC networking product. That's not bragging, that's a cry for help.

      --
      perl -e 'printf("mmm %x\n", 3735928559)'
    2. Re:Easy... by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 1

      I'm using an SMC product currently too. When I get my first paycheck from this job, it's gone. Worst money I ever spent.

    3. Re:Easy... by pebs · · Score: 1

      You're using an SMC networking product. That's not bragging, that's a cry for help.

      True enough... I have an SMC wireless router that I got for free, and I don't think its worth what I paid...

      --
      #!/
    4. Re:Easy... by plastid · · Score: 1

      Funny... had a power surge at my house last night and the only thing to get fried was my SMC Barricade. Second time it's happened. So, yeah, those SMC products are really great for preventing Internet outages...

    5. Re:Easy... by hetairoi · · Score: 1

      I've found that SMC products fall into one of the following two catagories:

      1. works great
      2. sucks ass

      I've got nearly the same router the OP linked to (8 port instead of 4) and mine is catagory 1, I feel like I won the lottery.

      --
      you're all figments of my deranged imagination
    6. Re:Easy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been using SMC products in small projects for quite a while, since the first Barricade. In my own experience, they work well. (Their 7004FW has been particularly excellent, at four customer locations so far - two of which were locations that wanted cheap IPSEC VPN between each other.)

      In fact, I deploy SMC more often than Linksys or Netgear, which I used to use exclusively for projects this small.

    7. Re:Easy... by MrEnigma · · Score: 1

      I got mine a looong time ago, but yet it has features not on newer routers. It lets me assign ip's to certain mac addresses, load dyndns, run SNMP, do packet sniffing..all for a $50 router..that I bought probably 3.5 years ago.

      I hacked it, and loaded the newest firmware, works even better now...

      SMC7004BR

      great router.

      --
      GeekWares - Buy and Download Today!
    8. Re:Easy... by SomeGuyFromCA · · Score: 1

      What hacks &c did you do to it?

      --
      if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
    9. Re:Easy... by SomeGuyFromCA · · Score: 1

      > You're using an SMC networking product. That's not bragging, that's a cry for help.

      I actually tried a couple others before settling on this.

      Rock solid stable, lasted 2.5 years now, no problem.

      --
      if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
    10. Re:Easy... by MrEnigma · · Score: 1

      Just a firmware upgrade. Sorry I don't have more information...

      Basically there is european firmware you can use (not released in the US for some reason..for the same router)...

      And there is also other firmware made by other manufacturers, that use the same chip...this involves putting the router into diagnostic mode and loading the firmware, then a series of reboots...after which you should have new firmware (some people have problems with lockups then however...which is why I havnt' done that).

      --
      GeekWares - Buy and Download Today!
    11. Re:Easy... by SomeGuyFromCA · · Score: 1
      Just a firmware upgrade. Sorry I don't have more information...

      Basically there is european firmware you can use (not released in the US for some reason..for the same router)...


      Sweet! Thanks!
      --
      if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
  26. having recently moved... by fitten · · Score: 1

    I'm experiencing an outtage at the moment. I just fired up the XBox/PS2/GameCube and caught up on some games that I hadn't played.

    1. Re:having recently moved... by beady · · Score: 3, Funny

      I, for one, welcome our new capable-of-posting-to-slashdot-whilst-not-having-a n-internet-connection-and-also-simultaneously-play ing-console-game masters

    2. Re:having recently moved... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      I'm experiencing an outtage at the moment.

      ...and posting on /. using telepathy.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    3. Re:having recently moved... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Overlords goddamnit!

  27. 7. Read by botzi · · Score: 0

    Nice. I hope that it's acceptable to read even while your connection isn't down though....

    --
    1. No sig. 2. ???? 3. Profit!!!
  28. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RTFA... really... You'll find one more thing to do with an AOL CD.

  29. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by DrEldarion · · Score: 1

    for the most part, geeks without internet are geeks who suddenly shed their reclusive behaviour and gently stretch, as they crawl out from their stagnant dens of computing supremacy.

    Actually, I find that geeks without internet don't change much. They just find non-internet activities to do like single player gaming which just makes them LESS social. At least the internet gives some sort of human interaction.

  30. Just go online and look up this artice ! by Space+cowboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Simple :-)

    Simon.

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
    1. Re:Just go online and look up this artice ! by jasoncart · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Don't you just hate ISP technical support hold messages that tell you to check thier website for frequently asked questions and the like?

      I CAN'T DAMMIT! My ISP is down!

    2. Re:Just go online and look up this artice ! by fafaforza · · Score: 1

      You'd be surprised how many people think their ISP is down since they can't get their mail via Outlook.

  31. Do you know what to do if your internet connection by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Do you know what to do if your internet connection goes down?"

    Look at the pr0n on my harddrive instead of the pr0n on the TGP sites?

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  32. Cry..... by vwjeff · · Score: 1

    that's what I did. Last week my network connection in my dorm was disconnected for four days. They disconnected it because they claimed we were running a web server. It turns out that their "filtering" software makes PS2 traffic appear as requests for a web server. With two papers due the next week and both requiring some sources from the internet, I had to go to the library. Guess what? You can find relavant information in the library. If I lose my network connection again, I know where I will be going.

    1. Re:Cry..... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Funny
      Guess what? You can find relavant information in the library.

      Yes, you use the open-access PCs...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  33. judging by the state of the server at the moment.. by monkey_jam · · Score: 1

    ..i'd say they're about to find out what to do when it does go..

  34. Hurtin' for content to publish by morelife · · Score: 1, Insightful

    thetoque.net -and- Slashdot

    I can't believe that was actually put on the front page as "news". That's an unbelievably stupid story which goes a long way towards diminishing my trust in mankind.

    1. Re:Hurtin' for content to publish by NiTr|c · · Score: 1

      I would hope that you didn't take it seriously. You should have gathered from #1 "Panic" that the article was meant to be humorous. I'll give the editors more credit than to actually think they considered it "news".

      --
      Try actually thinking for yourself. It's quite refreshing.
    2. Re:Hurtin' for content to publish by morelife · · Score: 1

      Poor attempt at humor then, waste of time and bandwidth, and as others pointed out, plaigiarized.

  35. Back in college.... by tekiegreg · · Score: 5, Funny

    4 guys living in a dorm together, 2 computer majors, 1 engineering major, and one ag major who was also a geek....

    Me: "Net's down..."
    Roomie #1: "Yeap..."
    Me: "Simpson's?"
    Roomie #1: "Yeap..."

    I never really saw what the problem was...

    --
    ...in bed
    1. Re:Back in college.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who is Simpson? And was it his or her net that was down? If not, what was it that belonged to Simpson that related to the outage?

      I'm sorry, I just don't get it.

  36. ASR motto: by LordAlpha · · Score: 0

    Down, not Across.

  37. What to do when the Internet goes down! by TheMidget · · Score: 3, Funny

    Work!

  38. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by TopShelf · · Score: 0, Funny

    Perhaps you should have read the article.

    Are you kidding? If he did that, he wouldn't get modded "Insightful"!

    --
    Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
  39. I think I will ... by nfsilkey · · Score: 1

    pray. :)

    Jokes aside, the Internet offers a sheer inumerable amount of entertainment value with its dizzying count of leisure activities. When it goes down, and I need a leisure activity to eat up my time, what is there to do?

    -TV
    Laugh. If socialization to banner ads has taught me anything, its that I can learn to ignore ad placement within content. BUT I CANNOT DEFEND MYSELF AGAINST 16 MINUTES OF DIRECT MARKETING AN HOUR! AHHHH!
    -Books
    You win that one. The problem is I have read everything I enjoy. And that whole acquisition of new books thing is a bit of work. Just eBook it... oh wait.. nevermind.
    -People
    Give me a fscking break. This _is_ /. ;)

  40. Slow news day, huh? by automatic_jack · · Score: 1

    The subject says it all, really...

    --

    -- Have you ever noticed that at trade shows, Microsoft is always the company that is handing out stress balls?

  41. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by Mirk · · Score: 1
    Well, OK, I admit, you've got me interested.

    What actually is your project?

    --

    --
    What short sigs we have -
    One hundred and twenty chars!
    Too short for haiku.
  42. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by dolo666 · · Score: 1

    "Perhaps you should have read the article."
    If I did that, I'd slit my own wrists!

  43. backups by und3rscore · · Score: 1

    I am continually downloading the "internet" to my expensive hitachi array just in case the internet goes down.

  44. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by lysander · · Score: 1
    When I first read this, I read "AOL Dicks".
    Perhaps jerkcity can save us from the aol dicks.
    --
    GET YOUR WEAPONS READY! --DR.LIGHT
  45. At My School... by crass751 · · Score: 1, Interesting
    I go to a small technological university in Northern, New York. We're almost really in Canada. Needless to say 75% of the school is dorks, we have few women, so one of the few things we do have is a very shaky internet connection. Downtime is usually a daily thing, and can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

    There exists a non-school supported forum for members of the campus community. It's part of a network of sites, called the Daily Jolt. (What geeks do when they're bored) It's really nothing more than a place for all us geeks to hide behind our monitors and bitch anonymously.

    When the network gets fritzy, we all try to get to the forum and bitch about how much we hate our Office of Information Technology (OIT) here. If we can't get to the forum, we bitch to someone in person, usually a roommate, until we can vent on the forum. After an outage, the first page of posts is usually all OIT-related.

    Wow, in just typing this I realized how sad my life really is.

    Where's that AOL CD?

    1. Re:At My School... by thoughtcrime · · Score: 1

      If I want to read a poorly written bulletin board full of losers who couldn't figure out Usenet, I'll go read FARK.com. And DailyJolt could use to get their damn stickers off the purty brick facing of the CII already.

      --

      ____ _______
      Duty now for the future!
    2. Re:At My School... by Octorian · · Score: 1

      It's amazing how often I randomly and indirectly notice RPI folk posting on /. ;-)

    3. Re:At My School... by Lifewolf · · Score: 2, Interesting
      When the network gets fritzy, we all try to get to the forum and bitch about how much we hate our Office of Information Technology (OIT) here. If we can't get to the forum, we bitch to someone in person, usually a roommate, until we can vent on the forum.

      When I was in school, Internet access was provided by a bank of 2400 baud modems and a terminal server. Every few days the terminal server would lock up, and we'd be cut off. Waiting for IT to correct the problem was painful: a 24 hour delay, minimum.

      Soon though, we discovered we could fix the problem ourselves. Throw enough characters at the terminal server, and a buffer would overflow causing it to reboot. I kept a "C" battery by my keyboard just for the purpose of weighting a key in times of Internet outage. By the time my microwave popcorn was ready, the terminal server was back up, and I could return to MUDing.

      Shortly before I graduated, the school rolled out 10Base-T to the dorms. Speedy downloads and graphical web browsing were finally ours, but network outages were longer and more frustrating. Sometimes, there are advantages to crude technologies.

      --
      "Be Happy or Die." -- AoN
    4. Re:At My School... by pebs · · Score: 1

      Dude, I feel really bad for you. When you said you had a few women, I didn't realize how bad it really was.

      --
      #!/
    5. Re:At My School... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I was in school, Internet access was provided by a bank of 2400 baud modems and a terminal server. Every few days the terminal server would lock up, and we'd be cut off. Waiting for IT to correct the problem was painful: a 24 hour delay, minimum.

      Not to mention the busy signals trying to connect when the modem pools got overloaded. That was before I went to college though, I had an account at the local university when I was in high school.

      When I went to college (UF), they only gave 15 hours a month of dialup access! I had to subscribe to a local ISP for my internet access, and I lived in the dorms, too! There were some nice labs, though, with zip drives.

      Of course, after I left, they got campus wide ethernet to the dorms. And now they got wireless over the entire campus.

    6. Re:At My School... by pirho666 · · Score: 0

      As a fellow clarkson alum I know your pain. I vaguely remember through the beer filled haze of my mind a land where the men are men the women are men and the sheep run like hell.

      Plante 99

  46. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by fjordboy · · Score: 1

    I don't know now. At the time we had a couple of plans going. My plan was simple and useful - I wanted to build a cd holder out of the cds - one that sits vertically on the floor and has slots to hold jewel cases or dvds. However, both of my friends decided the best way to win the contest was to build a scooter (those razor scooter things were cool at the time). We drew up plans on autocad or something and I think we could have made it work (thought the thing would have been extremely heavy...), but we never did it. With all the cds I have now, I'm thinking about building a house.

  47. Hope they have a printout of that list... by JBark · · Score: 1

    because as of right now, I can't load the page.

  48. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfair modding at it's best. *sigh*

  49. Why I like DSL by jchawk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have DSL service at home, because it runs over the phone line which does not rely on the same source of power that my house uses, I can stay connected to the internet through power outages. I have my computers, switch and dsl modem plugged into UPS backup power supplies. . . If the power goes out, my network is still online and running.

    Thankfully my internet service provider is rock solid and so is the network they operate on. My remote has had about 30 minutes of down time in the past 2 1/2 years, and it was a scheduled upgrade to the remote. :-)

    1. Re:Why I like DSL by sisukapalli1 · · Score: 1

      Mine is the other way round... Phone line is via vonage. If the net connection goes, I would be in a bit of a trouble.

      S

    2. Re:Why I like DSL by Eponymous+Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How is DSL different from dial-up or cable? You can plug any modem into a UPS. So yeah- if the power goes down, you are still able to go online, but the clock is ticking...

    3. Re:Why I like DSL by reiggin · · Score: 1

      Get a cell phone.

    4. Re:Why I like DSL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh yeah?... Oh yeah?... Well, my dad's internet connection at work is faster than your dad's and he has three computers on his desk. So... so... shut up ok?!

    5. Re:Why I like DSL by Algan · · Score: 1

      What happens if the power goes down on your entire block? That means your cable distribution box outside your building will be down too... phone lines usualy run all the way to the CO.

      Anyway, if the power goes down at my place I just read a book. Or go pester my friends.

      --
      If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
    6. Re:Why I like DSL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hear ya, man. DSL is a godsend compared to cable. It's funny, the local cable provider is advertising a 2MB connection for less than SBC 768k DSL service (which shitty 128k upload), but I'd take the slower DSL ANY DAY than the fast cable connection that is down 50% of the time.

      There was always excuses why my connection was down, usually blamed on me, but never solutions. SBC doesn't make excuses, they just give me reliable service. Heh, I never thought I'd talk favorably about the phone company!

      Just because I'm not a business user doesn't mean I don't want a good, reliable connection.

    7. Re:Why I like DSL by FrostedWheat · · Score: 1

      UPS is sweet .. infact my computer is running from one now. They've installed a new generator for this building but seems it dosen't work to well.

      Lets hope power returns in 5 minutes cause the monitors are the only light sources at the moment :)

      (It's night-time in the UK now)

    8. Re:Why I like DSL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That more depends on the company than type of service, as well as the neighborhood. Up in here in Vancouver, I use cable internet and it's always up, whereas I've heard some horror stories about the phone company's DSL being down for days.

      In the end, both types of service have the potential to stay up constantly, it's really up to the particular service provider who's responsible for implementing things properly.

    9. Re:Why I like DSL by danielsfca2 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that's true. I had DSL for two years, and there were occasional irritations and the connection would just go out for hours at a time. The braindead support reps would just keep feeding me this script for re-installing Enternet 300. That damn $#%@& Enternet 300. It was flaky, but it wasn't ever the real problem. They're just using that to waste my time while they try to find who accidentally kicked a router's plug out of the wall somewhere between here and Texas.

      Switched to Adelphia Power Link after the 2-year contract with SBC ran out, and, now that connection easily get 400KB/s downloads, and it goes down about 1/4 as much. I am very pleased with Adelphia and their support, and would recommend them to anyone.

      Based on that experience, I chose Comcast's cable Internet service when I moved in at San Francisco (for college). Not as good. Dropped out for ten minutes last night for no known reason. That, and SBC's being the last ISP to flip off the RIAA's unconstitutional subpoenas makes me want to give them a try again.

    10. Re:Why I like DSL by AllynM · · Score: 1

      unfortunately this is not always true, as the cable node is usually powered from the neighborhood power grid, where the phone system uses its own seperate power source, even at its nodes.

      --
      this sig was brought to you by the letter /.
    11. Re:Why I like DSL by Penguinshit · · Score: 1

      Wait a minute.. did you just use "SBC" and "reliable" in the same sentence??

      That's either "+5 Funny" or "-5 Deluded".

  50. easy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    watch DVDs and/or play my GameCube(tm) and/or get
    some food and/or finally get to read the dead-tree
    news. easy.

    more interessting would be:
    "how to handle a blackout?"

    1. Re:easy! by forrestt · · Score: 1

      Totally off topic, but your "dead-tree" news made me think. Will anthropologists 2000 years from now call that rolled up newspaper used to smack some poor dog on the nose a "dead-tree-scroll"?

    2. Re:easy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      more interessting would be:
      "how to handle a blackout?"
      Power is always restored within minutes here.
      Used to be differend, until a little incident with me, A power company managers desk and a chainsaw...
  51. I think our parents... by adun · · Score: 1

    ...used to handle outages by reading a book.

    1. Re:I think our parents... by Inda · · Score: 3, Funny

      Being born in September, I can tell you that they didn't read books.

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    2. Re:I think our parents... by halo8 · · Score: 1

      i dont get this?

      your parents concived in january? prolly new years eve?

      internet access? books? please explain

      --
      The More Knowledge you have the Luckier you Get- J.R. Ewing
    3. Re:I think our parents... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      So, let me see if I get this joke.

      You were born in September. Meaning, if you weren't a preemie or anything, you were conceived in January or late December. This implies something to do with the event of the new year.

      You are also implying that your parents didn't read books, possibly implying that they (A) were generally stupid, or (B) were ignorant of some relevant fact, or (C) preferred copulation to reading.

      (A) makes little sense. It doesn't relate at all to the rest of your statements, although it might explain some things about yourself and why you posted what you did.

      (B) can make sense, if you consider the possibility that your parents may have been trying to conceive a New Year's baby on New Year's Eve. Ignorance of the the full term of a human fetus's development would be implied by the purported claim that they didn't read books.

      (C) is a little too obvious to be relevant. Anybody (with the approporiate freedoms and means) would prefer copulation to reading. It's an enjoyable activity, providing base stimulation compared to the higher level of stimulation that reading can involve. Maslow might like this explanation, but I have no idea how good his sense of humor was, so his opinion is out.

      So, I say your joke is based on (B). Hey now, that's very funny!

    4. Re:I think our parents... by ElGanzoLoco · · Score: 1

      I think he meant power (not internet) outages, and more specifically referred to the big power outage of the-very-cold-winter-can't-remember-which-year (was it 1979?); urban legend has it that 9 months after this big power outage, the birth rate in the affeted zones (NYC, methinks) raised by more less 40 % (cause people were trapped at home w/o TV, and were cold, and therefore passed some time by copulating...)

      Unfortunately, this urban legend is just that, a legend (no, no need to fry your house's electrical system just to get more sex from your girlfriend)

      --
      Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
    5. Re:I think our parents... by halo8 · · Score: 1

      any joke that needs explaining isnt funny

      still.. thanx for explaining it..

      original poster might have wanted to include his age so i (we) could have googled january 1979

      --
      The More Knowledge you have the Luckier you Get- J.R. Ewing
  52. AOL Disks by Moblaster · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Best use of AOL disks: coasters for your chilly ice drinks. Sometimes during power outages, I take some ice cubes out of my dark freezer, use them to chill a glass of apple juice from my dark refrigerator, and I sip it all very slowly and comfortably knowing that until the power comes back on, I can have a few moments of freedom from my internet addiction. The sure knowledge that the AOL disk below my glass is protecting my computer desk from certain water damage goes a long way towards calming my frayed nerves. Sometimes I even get contemplative and philosophical in those quiet times before the lights come back on and I'm dragged back into the matrix.

    1. Re:AOL Disks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
      Please shut the fuck up. Everything after you first sentence is redundant. Everthing before that is cliche. Next time you want to post, think to yourself: "Wouldn't I rather put a revolver in my mouth?"

    2. Re:AOL Disks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bravo..
      Now if we could just see this applied to slashdot - or indeed, the internet - as a whole, the world would be a far better place.

    3. Re:AOL Disks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      everything after being posted by an Anonymous Coward is redundant. Next time you want to post, think to yourself "Shit, is it normal I see flies fying around my head ?" Shit is the right word.

  53. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by simong_oz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Perhaps you should have read the article.

    normally yes, but in this case, trust me - you are much better off not reading the article. That was 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

    --
    "Because it's there." - George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Mt Everest, March 18, 1923 (New York Times)
  54. Step outside ... hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Been playing lots of CounterStrike, but the bullet proof vest is at the dry cleaners, so I ain't stepping outside till Mario delivers it to my door. What was that about installing a "single" player thingy?

  55. Turned down so quickly? by TWX · · Score: 1

    You get turned down flirting with women? Wow, that's bad. Normally I don't get turned down until I ask them back to my place so I can show 'em how to use a joystick...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  56. That's kind of sad by heironymouscoward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Surely you all have dual redundant Internet links? My company has _three_, all through different providers. One is just a simple ADSL.

    But sometimes I wish the Net would just vanish and we could return to the good old days of a 9 to 5 job, before these thing called "productivity", "always-on", "emails from other timezones", and of course "unlimited porn", the carrot that makes it all feel worthwile now and then.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  57. No brainer... by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

    Just watch something on TiVo...you'll still be using Linux!

  58. I found this article a couple days ago. by foxtrot · · Score: 1

    Sure enough, last night, my internet connection went out, so I went to go read the article, which I'd thoughtfully bookmarked just in case...

  59. Business plan by TWX · · Score: 1

    "1. No sig. 2. ???? 3. Profit!!!" (from signature)

    Wow, that looks to be as good of a business plan as Caldera has...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  60. I have a project to work on... by mseeger · · Score: 1

    .... designing a fail safe internet connection.

  61. Lame, and a ripoff by dreadpiratemark · · Score: 1

    Not only is this not very funny (why is it on /.?), I'm willing to bet that the person who submitted it first saw it via bbspot (under 'What Should You Do'). bbspot as a satire/humor site periodically can throw up the clunker of a dumb link, but why is slashdot choosing this as the best of humor/news for nerds on the web?

    Whatever. Give credit next time when you see a link on another site and then submit it here.

    1. Re:Lame, and a ripoff by back_pages · · Score: 1
      Go to your preferences and decline articles posted by Michael. You'll no longer get unfunny "funny" articles, lame "interesting" articles, completely erroneous "technology" articles, or half-cooked editorials.

      I'm only here because I was bored and saw the foot icon. Ah, Michael must have posted a non-funny. I was right.

  62. That guy must be a ... by doublesix · · Score: 1

    ... Telus customer!

    Ba-Da-Dah! Thanks, I'll be here all week.

  63. Obligatory Simpson's Pointer by mykepredko · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Remember "Marge vs. Itchy and Scratchy"? When the kids lost the cartoon, they discovered all the wonderful things they could do outside and together...

    Being adults, we should be proud of ourselves if we can remember this example and at least keep from sitting in a corner, rocking and drooling.

    myke

    1. Re:Obligatory Simpson's Pointer by thuh+Freak · · Score: 1

      Remember "Marge vs. Itchy and Scratchy"? When the kids lost the cartoon, they discovered all the wonderful things they could do outside and together...

      Being adults, we should be proud of ourselves if we can remember this example and at least keep from sitting in a corner, rocking and drooling.

      no no no. u've got it all wrong.

      correction: Begin adults, we should...remember that simpsons episode, and be reminded to watch our iLegally acquired simpson archives.

      --
      I wish that I was a catfish.
  64. Well... by Decameron81 · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Do you know what to do if your internet connection goes down?"


    I repeatedly click on the "connect" button until it starts working again?

    Diego Rey
    --
    diegoT
    1. Re:Well... by The+One+KEA · · Score: 1

      That only works for Windows users. For Linux users, you sit at a root console and repeatedly type:

      pppd call adsl

      or, if you have a cable modem:

      ifdown eth0 ; ifup eth0

      If the modem isn't even working right, THAT'S when you consult the list. Especially the part about the AOL disk.

      This guy has the right idea: http://www.powerlabs.org/cdexplode.htm

      --
      SCREW THE ADS! http://adblock.mozdev.org/ Proud user of teh Fox of Fire - Registered Linux User #289618
  65. outside by SubtleNuance · · Score: 1

    When the internet is down, i go outside and work in the vegetable garden.

  66. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by SamSim · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Perhaps you could put them towards a worthy cause.

  67. I think your parents... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...used to handle outages by ... you know, because you are.

  68. Not amusing by brsmith4 · · Score: 1

    What's funny is not the story, but the fact that there really are people that are like that. Sad. Just sad.

  69. colossal waste of time by DevCybiko · · Score: 1

    really, havent we seen enough of this type of "top ten list"? how did it make it to the slashdot home page?

  70. Posting the article on /. by Mordaximus · · Score: 1

    Demonstrates what to do if you want your internet connection to go down.

  71. Re:The author forgot by kfuq · · Score: 0

    How in the hell is this a troll ?

    --
    iF yOu WAnT to C YOUr iP agaIn gAThEr tWO MilLIon dOLLArS IN Non - cONsEcuTivE TweNtY's AnD AWaiT FuRThER iNstrUctIoN
  72. Re:Do you know what to do if your internet connect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    heh heh. It's funny cause it's true.

  73. the irony here is by Adler · · Score: 1

    obvious, if your internet is down, how can you read the guide on what to do if your internet goes down?

    --

    Everybody denies I am a genius--but nobody ever called me one!

  74. The problem with modems by whizzzo · · Score: 0

    When this emergency does occur and dial-up is the only email fix available you'll have probably upgraded your system / reinstalled the OS since the modem was last used and, having lost the floppy years ago, realise that you can't just connect to a website to get the driver. D'oh!

    At least now I can get email on my t610.

  75. Re:hehe... Take out the AOL CD and slash it agains by The+Evil+Couch · · Score: 1
  76. If the Internet goes down?? by ed4fa0c8 · · Score: 1

    "No one knows when the Internet will fail."

    Yes, one day very soon, people everywhere will be unable to connect to the Internet because, of course, the Internet will be down!

  77. Simple. by ozonator · · Score: 1

    The neighbors' wireless network.

    Where I live, several of my neighbors seem to abhor the idea of access control on their wireless routers. Interestingly, they all seem to prefer 'default' or 'linksys' for their ssid, too.

  78. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by colinleroy · · Score: 2, Funny

    That was 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
    Wow, you read slowly.

    --
    blah
  79. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  80. Whew, glad there's a FAQ for this! by Quixadhal · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. Panic!

    Ok, I can do that.... now what?

    2. Find a telephone.

    What do those do? I think you used to order pizza over them before you could get it from the internet...

    3. Use your back-up computer.

    Ummm, they're all on the same LAN, and the internet is down... how would this help?

    4. Install a Game.

    Good idea! Ok, installing.... needs a patch via the web... DAMN! Ok, online registration? DAMN! Ah, finally got it installed with no patches... now to find players on the net... DAMN!

    5. Perform Routine Maintenance.

    Sure, why not? Checking for new security updates... no connection to internet. DAMN!

    6. Turn on a television or radio.

    Hmmmm, no radio reception because of all the computers. I can watch cable TV though... I have a cable modem, it's down... so is the television! DAMN!

    7. Read

    Ok. http://slashdot.org/..... nothing there to read, it's still down. DAMN!

    8. Go Outside.

    I did. The cable is still physically connected to the house, and to the pole. Didn't help.

    9. Spend Time with Your Spouse.

    I'm supposed to meet here online for a private chatroot with web cam??? DAMN!

    10. Use your Emergency AOL Disk

    Ok, I put my coffee on it instead of directly on the desktop. Network is still down. What now?

    1. Re:Whew, glad there's a FAQ for this! by burns210 · · Score: 1

      what you should do is run a 10-100 gig web proxy, and have a crawler/updater to keep the newest versions of slashdot etc available...

  81. I know what to do it. by Bendebecker · · Score: 1

    Play video games. Maybe even explore that mysterious region nown as outside. I have even heard that the world does not end beyond the view I get from the window, that in fact it goes beyond the limits of what I can see. I of course do not believe this but you never know...

    --
    There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
    most of us won't be able to afford it.
    -- Lemmy
  82. panic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... then curl up in the fetal position in my room and commence thumb sucking

  83. Use for AOL disks by TLouden · · Score: 1

    well, you can try frisby but they aren't that good. You could use them to set drinks on but they look ugly so a failed burn is better there, or you could make them be the wheels on your newest robot but they don't get good traction there.

    --
    -Tim Louden
  84. Your spouse? by Call+Me+Black+Cloud · · Score: 0, Troll

    9. Spend Time With Your Spouse
    ...WARNING: These will probably be the longest hours of your life.


    Sorry, your spouse is unavailable, for when you've been hooked up to the Internet, I've been hooked up to your wife. You think I'm kidding? You'd be surprised how many wives appreciate a little attention and how much she can get away with right under your nose.

    1. Re:Your spouse? by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

      +1 informative
      If I had mod points this week.

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
  85. This is easy! Run for the hills! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get liquired up, get some rifles, a good floppy eared hound dog, a few of your survivalist buddies together, and head out in a humvee or a pickup truck with the gun rack loaded up for a cabin in the wilderness. Make sure to also stock up on plenty of liquir on the way out. By the time you run out of liquir (perhaps next day) and head back into town to get more, the crisis should be over, and you can resume a normal internet connected life once more!

  86. Obligatory The Onion article by Patik · · Score: 5, Funny

    48-Hour Internet Outage Plunges Nation Into Productivity
    (a mirror, since theonion.com didn't archive it)

    1. Re:Obligatory The Onion article by brsmith4 · · Score: 1

      Shit, that article is better than the lame ass one that was posted on /.

  87. DSL is provided by the phone company.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    which has HUGE battery banks and redundant power supplies to keep things up and running if the power company craps out. That's why non-cordless phones still work in a blackout.

    CATV systems rely on utility power to run all the line amplifiers and associated equipment on the poles. When the grid takes a dump, the cable company is dead in the water.

    1. Re:DSL is provided by the phone company.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but the point is - what about your god. damned. computer. ? IT would still have to be running on a UPS, which means the clock is ticking...

      moron.

  88. Thank you, Slashdot! by MrHanky · · Score: 2, Funny

    A friend of mine lost his 2 Mbit ADSL connection a couple of days ago due to a fuck-up at the ISP (they had some fantasy that he hadn't paid the last bill). His connection won't be back before monday. This guy is a complete internet addict, even though he doesn't read Slashdot. I'll be sure to send him the link on ICQ.

    Or maybe I'll just print it.

  89. Unintended use for article: by El_Smack · · Score: 1


    The webmasters can read the local copy of the article, while waiting for their bandwith usage to get below 100%. 'Cause nobody going to be doing any surfing from that connection for the next couple of hours.

    --


    There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
    1. Re:Unintended use for article: by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

      I went to very nicely named site yesterday and heard an interview between Commander Taco and the webmaster. Breathless webmaster (who does actually sound as if he is performing a one handed typing class over the exposure to such greatness) asked what the main cause of a slashdotting was.
      It turns out that most of the time bandwidth isn't the problem, its the CPU time needed to create the page and the multiple threads needed to feed the images. CmdrTaco suggested that hosting images on a separate machine would be the single most effective thing to reduce /. effect, and proper caching of pages.

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
  90. Most Pointless Post by mc_barron · · Score: 1


    Most retarded post, ever.
    </comic book guy>

    RTFA...incredible waste of my time. Dated jokes that weren't funny when they were written - note reference to SimCity and Flight Simluator, two games that were very cool about 5 years ago.

    1. Re:Most Pointless Post by reiggin · · Score: 1
      note reference to SimCity and Flight Simluator, two games that were very cool about 5 years ago.
      Hey now. Don't you be knocking my out-dated love of SimCity.
  91. Backup Plan ... by RayOfLight · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As a backup solution we always have a dial-up connection ready ... Coupled with scripts which automate the switch from Cable Dial-Up Internet Access, the perfect solution to still have at least communication going at all times.

  92. Best use for AOL discs... by Cyno01 · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you own a dremel, and most nerds should, the large sanding drum bit is the exact size of the center hole of a cd. DISCLAMER: i will not be responsible for death and/or maiming, wear saftey goggles!!! Depending on your model, you can rev it up ienough that the cd will explode in a shower of plastic and foil. Its best to hold the cd paralell to yourself as it explodes outward in the direction its spinning. I have a cordless model that only goes up to 10k RPMs, but with a lttle practice you can shake the CD off the bit while its spinning and te cd will peel out and shoot off along the ground. The force these move with is incredible, i had one shoot down the hall and explode when it impacted the radiator, a good sized chunk flew striaght back, cut my pants and my knee. Good times...

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    1. Re:Best use for AOL discs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Or better yet, hold the disc close to your fat fucking face as you crank up the speed and do us all a favor by committing suicide.

    2. Re:Best use for AOL discs... by tedtimmons · · Score: 1

      Good god. You are only one internet outage away from winning a Darwin Award.

    3. Re:Best use for AOL discs... by SeanAhern · · Score: 1

      yes, i was planning on sitting here listening to emo and crying all day, thank you very much

      If I had to sit all day listening to Elmo, I'd be crying, too.

      What? "Emo," you say?

      Nevermind...

    4. Re:Best use for AOL discs... by iantri · · Score: 1
    5. Re:Best use for AOL discs... by Cyno01 · · Score: 1
      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  93. Re:Do you know what to do if your internet connect by RetroGeek · · Score: 1

    pr0n on my harddrive

    No way. I want FRESH pr0n.

    Otherwise my hard drive gets all sticky.

    --

    - - - - - - - - - - -
    I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
  94. backup copy by stopbit · · Score: 1

    This is why my boss asked me to download a backup copy of the internet for him!

    --
    ~insert tech sarcasm here~
  95. #2 - Find A Telephone by mikewren420 · · Score: 1

    2. Find A Telephone
    Do you have access to a telephone line?


    Great... glad I dumped my landline for Vonage :)

  96. Other stuff on the same site's not bad by revividus · · Score: 1
    I liked this article....

  97. I know! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get Earthlink, and win those auctions! And don't use KDE, either!

  98. Do what I'm doing right now... by nicwolff · · Score: 3, Funny

    wardrive around your apartment until you can get on some random neighbor's open 802.11 network...

  99. NO! by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1

    Oh, god, NO!

    I hate technical support! It's the most miserable time of my day, every day!

    Why? I'M the guy you'll be calling!

    Oh, the humanity! Not again! Please, please, please, let the NT4 server not crash again! Please!

    1. Re:NO! by DarkSarin · · Score: 1

      Well, I hate to put you out of job, but the problem is that you are using an NT4 server...

      --
      "We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully,..." Wherry, R.J. Personnel Psychology (1995)
    2. Re:NO! by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1

      I don't have any control over what the company runs (except for my personal workstation, which I brought in from home.) ... Until last week, the NT4 box worked pretty much flawlessly for over a year.

  100. solution: by 1eyedhive · · Score: 1

    when net goes out: 1. fire up xterm, or cmd window (depending on which box i'm on), ping google, if response: :) 2. if no ping reply, ping router, if no reply, reboot router, if reply... 3. fire up SSH to router, ping isp dns, google. if reply, check other lan settings for failure, if not... 4. reboot modem (power down for 90s, power down router (modem is picky) if solution doesn't work: 5. open MPC, play Xvid movies til net comes back. in the event of power failure, all workstation consoles are deactivated and the router and servers left to feed off what remains of the UPS supply, at that point, it matters little if the net is still active.

    --
    Logistical Chaos Officer http://www.slagg.org - LAN Gaming in Sarasota FL,USA
  101. *WARNING SPOILER* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i thought it was +5 funny. Especially the part about slitting your wrist with AOL CD's.

  102. Re:Do you know what to do if your internet connect by halo8 · · Score: 1

    whats a TGP site?

    or is one of thoes freak fetish things?

    --
    The More Knowledge you have the Luckier you Get- J.R. Ewing
  103. Re:Do you know what to do if your internet connect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Heh, heh. Acting like you don't know. That is so funny.

  104. How I survived The Crisis by evalhalla · · Score: 1

    Last time I've had an awful 3 weeks internet downtime, and since it seems I've survived I feel right to share my experience with other people who may face the same danger.

    At first, when I saw that the connection went down and didn't return in a couple of minutes, I've panicked, then called tech assistance and waited for the presumed end of the (known and probably caused by ill weater) problems.

    When, a couple days later, they told me that all problems had been solved and my connection still didn't work I've spend the remaining time doing the following things:

    • panicking
    • calling "tech" assistance, following their suggestions such as "download the new firmware for your modem" (without connection???) or "buy a new modem, that one is gone" (I did, it was a chance to buy a better one, but later tests showed that they were wrong...)
    • panicking
    • but most of the time: building a full chess set out of cernit, featuring penguins and other free software mascottes against windrones (and folders, and clippy)

    When I had almost finished the last thing the connection did return, but with an amazing feat of will I did manage to complete the set, and even playing a match or two :)

  105. When Slammer first appeared... by BigDish · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I live on a college campus with a high number of geeks. Last year when Slammer first reared its head, it brought our network to it's knees. We couldn't even do anything on the local LAN, much less get out to the Internet. It was so strange, because everyone came out of their dorm rooms and seemed bored that evening.

  106. What to do if your connection goes down. by mindstrm · · Score: 1

    Use the backup.
    You have a firewall or other setup that lets you switch to a backup at most at the push of a button, right?

    If not, you deserve those AOL disks.

  107. Relevant Simpsons moment by JstSumSchmuck · · Score: 1

    Speaking of the Simpsons, this reminded me of one of my favorite moments from the show.
    TV anchorman announces that the station will go off the air and says not to panic, but warns, "Do not attempt sexual relations, as years of TV radiation has left your genitals withered and useless." Chief wiggum looks at himself under the covers and bemusedly says "Well, I'll be damned."
    Always liked that one.

  108. Re:Do you know what to do if your internet connect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thumbnail gallery post or thumbnail gallery page

  109. Set aside an internet survival kit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have a stash of survival materials in the event of outage. Porn DVD's and stroke mags.

  110. Depends on your setup and what's left. by Alpha27 · · Score: 1

    For example, I worked at a job where we waited for 3 weeks before the T1 was in place. In the meantime, I used a dial-up AOL account, networked all the machines using a small hub, and ran proxy software off of the machine conected to AOL.

  111. holy crap! I haven't seen this in a while by Savatte · · Score: 4, Funny

    An early post that mentions goatse.cx and is modded up to +5! You, sir, are a god among ants.

  112. I need this! by Stackster · · Score: 2, Funny

    My internet line went down yesterday, will not be back up again until next week (upgrading from ADSL to VDSL, lame ass ISP, disconnecting the old service before sending me a new modem). Posting this at work.
    I am experiencing fear, loneliness and boredom. Will probably experience stress tonight, if I try hooking up the old POTS modem...

    --

    There are 010 kinds of people. Those who understand octal, those who don't, and 06 other kinds of morons.
  113. Aww! by op00to · · Score: 1

    Did they come up with this all by themselves? I've NEVER seen anything like this before. How original!

  114. Prepaid Internet Card by Dr.+Mu · · Score: 1

    Prepaid internet cards, like prepaid phone cards, can be used while travelling or in an emergency. A search on Google garnered a large number of hits. Many have nationwide local dialup numbers. Be sure to pick one that can't expire before the first time you use it and which has a long expiration time afterward.

  115. Ironically.... by Robmonster · · Score: 1

    ...their web page has been /.'ed

    I hope they are following their own instructions!

    --
    I have no sig yet I must scream.
  116. Fool Proof Method!!!!!!!! by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 3, Funny

    1. Power Cycle your cable modem 2. Restart your computer 3. if that doesn't work call your ISP's tech support 4. Listen to the pre recorded message saying there are no known network problems. 5. Wait 6. wait 7. by the time you reach tech support, do the 'Broadband Dance', your internet connection should be back up Broadband Dance - first tier tech support telling you to power cycle your modem, clear your internet cache, restart your machine, asking you how much RAM you have, blah blah blah.

    1. Re:Fool Proof Method!!!!!!!! by dswensen · · Score: 1

      You forgot the rest...

      8. ISP tells you to call Qwest (or whomever provides your DSL lines). 9. Call Qwest's number, 10. start over from step 4.

    2. Re:Fool Proof Method!!!!!!!! by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 1
      Actually if you want to bring DSL into it (I used Cable in my example, but I have DSL at the office). 8. ISP calls COVAD

      9. Covad Claims it's a DSL modem problem

      10. ISP sends you a new modem

      11. x=x+1

      12. if x = 1 goto step 4, else goto 13.

      13. ISP tells COVAD it's the DSLAM

      14. Covad calls Verizon

      15. wait 16. wait 17. wait

      18. verizon and ISP can't decide where the phone line is installed

      19. Verizon attempts to troubleshoot the copper.

      20. wait 21. wait.

      22. Verizon gives up and just switches you to a new line.

      23. ISP says the line is still down

      24. You use the internet for a day or so

      25. ISP says the line is down

      26. Tier I says "hmm that's funny, I can't ping your connection

      27. You say "I'm running my DSL router in bridge mode, and have disabled the ping on the WAN side of my NAT/Firewall Router

      28. Tech says cool, you say cool, the world is at rest

  117. Cool, I'll bookmark this for when I need it... by barfy · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is great stuff... I bookmarked it for when I need it later!

  118. MOD PARENT DOWN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Joke doesn't make sense.

    1. Re:MOD PARENT DOWN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no, you're just a moron.

  119. Bad advice on the AOL CD's by mwa · · Score: 2, Informative
    Everyone knows it's "down, not across". (See 5.4)

  120. "emergency" dialup ISP by dpilot · · Score: 1

    On a slightly more serious level, I've had cable for several years, and other than obnoxious TOS am reasonably happy with it.

    But sometimes it goes down, and sometimes I travel out of towm.

    I'd really like to have dialup capability for travel and emergencies, but have NO desire to pay a monthly fee for it. (My cable ISP has dialup, but that's separate from the cable access.)

    Anyone have a reccomendation for a pay-as-you use dialup that has decent access even in the Economic Backwater (and usually like it that way) of Vermont?

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  121. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see *you* didn't use the TPS report.

  122. Actually... by Pac · · Score: 1

    My routine is more like UP key + Enter (with "adsl-start" as the line being repeated).

  123. I rarely notice when my DSL goes out by swillden · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Linux box that acts as my router is configured to automatically bring up a dialup connection if packets stop flowing over the DSL. Of course, my dialup provider is the same as my DSL provider, so it's certainly possible that both could go out at once, but it hasn't happened yet. They don't seem to be able to keep the DSL up as reliably for some reason.

    Anyway, every few months or so I'll notice that my network connection is slow, and when I check the router I notice that ppp0 is up. The most common way that I notice DSL outages (which seem to happen every other month or so) is when my cellphone rings. My office phone is set up to automatically forward to my home office and then to my cell (if I don't pick up the home office line), so I notice the DSL outage by observing that my cell phone rings first, since the phone line is tied up by the dialup connection.

    --
    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    1. Re:I rarely notice when my DSL goes out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use cable and have never had a drop out. No exaggeration. Certainly had variable speeds tho.

      Thankyou cable. *smoootch*

    2. Re:I rarely notice when my DSL goes out by wowbagger · · Score: 1

      How are you detecting a drop? Are you just keeping both interfaces up and letting the metric decide, or do you have a script that detects the fault?

    3. Re:I rarely notice when my DSL goes out by swillden · · Score: 1

      How are you detecting a drop? Are you just keeping both interfaces up and letting the metric decide, or do you have a script that detects the fault

      I have a script that detects the fault. It's pretty stupid/simple, but it works. It tries to ping a few remote hosts and if they're all timing out, it brings up the dialup. If ppp0 is up, it continues trying to ping through the DSL and when that has been working for a couple of minutes it switches the default route back (since DHCP changes it when ppp0 comes up) and shuts down ppp0. The script gets run by cron every minute, so it takes almost two minutes for the dialup to come up when the DSL goes down.

      There's probably a more elegant way. Instead of running it from cron, I could definitely substitute a monitoring daemon, and there's enough network activity from my house full of computers that I could probably detect the drop without generating additional traffic (maybe by watching the rx counter), but... it works.

      It would really be cool to use something like diald and somehow configure the routing tables to start trying to use the diald pseudo interface when the DSL goes down (determined somehow). Not sure how that would work, but it would be cool if it did.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  124. Liar! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are a liar. /. readers have no girlfriends.

  125. Um, beer? by theonetruekeebler · · Score: 1

    If the refrigerator is working, and the TV is working, and the Internet is not, it's time to pull out those Simpsons DVDs, crack open a Duff or two, and get to drinkin'!

    --
    This is not my sandwich.
  126. Work by peterpi · · Score: 3, Funny
    I find that "Getting some real work done" keeps me occupied for a few hours.

    Couldn't do it all day though

  127. I GOT IT! by haxor.dk · · Score: 1

    11. PROFIT !!!

    Oh, wait....

  128. how to handle an internet outage by dougdonovan · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    nobody's blaming microsoft or bill gates in general? wow, must be flu season & people aren't thinking.

  129. This is important.. by robsteele · · Score: 1

    ...because I'm down right now. Btw, what time is it?

    --

    Consequences ensue.
  130. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by tc9 · · Score: 1

    Ahh THe old question of Heredity vs Environment. Don't you know that if the kid looks like you it Heredity, and if the Kidd looks like the Pool Guy,its Environment?

  131. DSL ROX! by Lodragandraoidh · · Score: 1

    If I lose my internet connectivity at home, I merely switch my activities to improving my LAN; I write code, I do remote sysadmin work on my daughter's linux box (i.e. snooping the logs for questionable activity :) ), and I write.

    Since initiating DSL service over 3 years ago - I have never had a complete outage as a result of the service provider:

    Outages - several which have all turned out to be my Linksys router locking up or the crappy job I did crimping the RJ45 connectors onto the Cat5 cable...(I bought the wrong connectors for the type of cable sheathing I have).

    Routing - Telco blocked a route to a particular (large) subnet; I provided the content of a traceroute which identified the name of the box in question for the technical support engineer, and it was corrected within an hour.

    I haven't used a modem in 3 years.

    --

    Lodragan Draoidh
    The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
  132. YEAH, WHAT'S UP WITH THAT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dude, that really sucks. That does seem like a major bug...

  133. some bad ideas by cparisi · · Score: 1

    There are several bad ideas in this list. Calling 911 and slashing my wrists won't help!

  134. Reminds me... by jargoone · · Score: 0

    One of my favorite jokes:

    Q. What has two teeth and six tits?

    A. The night staff at the Waffle House

  135. I'll have to read it later by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My internet connection's down at the moment.

  136. Absolutely by ronmon · · Score: 1

    The phone system almost never dies, while power outages are common here in Key West. If I'm watching TV when the power goes out, I just go and reload slashdot until cable comes back up.

    That's good for two hours, minimum.

  137. Re:hehe... Take out the AOL CD and slash it agains by Handpaper · · Score: 1

    and slash it across your wrist
    Down, not across.

  138. Hey, we're slashdotters! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We KNOW what to do when an internet connection goes down. What takes us totally off guard is when our girlfriend goes down!

  139. Already covered by The Onion by mnmlst · · Score: 1

    The Onion-America's Finest News Source recently covered this topic. It was discovered that there was a huge surge in office productivity during the Internet outage triggered by the Detroit to NYC blackout a few months ago.

    On second thought, it sounds like not enough people had a contingency plan and were left with nothing to do but work. Better to have that contingency plan...

    --
    In principio erat Verbum.
  140. Crucial technical error in article by swordgeek · · Score: 1

    "Take the [AOL] CD in one hand...and slash it across your wrist! Suicide will probably be a better alternative than connecting to that service."

    Terrible advice here!

    As every good systems admin knows, it's "down, not across."

    --

    "People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
  141. whoa, no one has mentioned: by GregoryD · · Score: 1

    I sort my porn... now is that bukkake or just peter north? whoa peter!

    1. Re:whoa, no one has mentioned: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I multitask. I sort my porn at the same time I d/l it (through usenet, obviously). Just in case, tho, I always have a few gigs worth of jpgs lying around for sorting :)

  142. That's right, kids... by allism · · Score: 1

    make it count!

    If I had time, I would steal the image and change the razorblade to an AOL CD...but since my internet connection is UP right now...

  143. Play quake outside by Xtravar · · Score: 1

    Usually when the internet goes out, I take my handgun and go play Quake outside with the neighborhood kids. I am very good at it because my trackball mouse is shaped like a revolver.

    --
    Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
  144. I am your worst nightmere! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My apple IIe wont connect to roadrunner! Im not going to leave you alone till my appleIIe gets a connection! And my commadore 64 needs to be on there too! And if you say anything i dont like ill complain to your manager!

    1. Re:I am your worst nightmere! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hehehe

      I haven't had anything that bad, but my manager once took a call from someone who was still taking a bath...

  145. wardrive around your apartment? by Wakkow · · Score: 1

    You might tear up your carpet trying to do that..

  146. Tips by Ratbert42 · · Score: 1
    1. Help your neighbors install wireless. When my connection goes down due to ISP dumbness, I can often just connect to a neighbor's WAP. Sure beats dialup.
    2. Write down some phone numbers. I throw out my phone books, so I need to keep some important numbers handy, like the ISP, pizza places, etc.
    3. Find a modem. Half the time my connection dies, by the time I've dug out a 56k modem and got it working, the connection is back.
  147. That's not gonna kill you! by naitro · · Score: 1

    Take the CD in one hand...and slash it across your wrist! Suicide will probably be a better alternative than connecting to that service.

    Hey! It's along the lane, not across the road, kids!

  148. Question... by phorm · · Score: 1

    Which number was first on the speed-dial, hers, or the ISP.

    I don't have my ISP on speed-dial, but I am quick on the draw to call them if something goes funky... kind of a necessity when one runs servers though.

  149. there are two kinds of slashdot reading.... by fishboy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    i think, sometimes, that the key to reading slashdot is knowing when to read at +3 and when to read at -1. this, for instance, is entirely enjoyable at -1. geekdom is hanging out at -1, no-holds-barred. really, surfing at +5, as i am in the bad habit of late, can be depressing sometimes. i think slashdot should move toward a system that tracks my changes to the threshold comment scores and display future stories based on my past prefs. and imagine the bitching over the system! more perpetuated wither slashdot hand-wringing, it would be great. anyway, palmela handerson, /. can be funny.

  150. Easy by Wolfier · · Score: 1

    for (;;) {
    if (Internet.Up()) break;
    bed.sleep(3600);
    }

  151. Obligatory Simpsons Quote by bmalia · · Score: 1

    And Lord, we are especially thankful for nuclear power, the cleanest, safest energy source there is. Except for solar, which is just a pipe dream.

    --
    There's no place like ~/
  152. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I second that.

  153. and slash it across your wrist by ooglee · · Score: 1

    What?!?!

    "Down, Not across!"

    It is a well known fact that if you slash "across" your wrist in attempted suicide you will not die. One must slash parallel to their blood vessels and not across otherwise the vessels will clot and close up and the end goal of death with not be achieved. With the across technique all that will be achieved is a brief loss of consciousness due to blood loss, but as soon as the vessels close up the body will recover.

    Very ineffective.

  154. Reminds me of.... by biff-mo · · Score: 3, Funny
    ...a game we use to play called DANGER NUT.

    Materials Required:
    • Beefy screwdriver.
    • Steel Nut of choice.
      1. Deadly (1" nut)
      2. Destructive (3/4" nut)
      3. Dangerous (1/2" nut)
      4. Get Down! (1/3" nut)
      5. Fun (less than 1/4" nut)
    • 700psi air connection.
    • Relatively tight quarters (We were on a submarine).

    Instructions:
    • Place nut through beefy screwdriver.
    • Put nut+screwdriver combo next to high pressure air outlet.
    • Throttle air to spin nut up.
    • Watch and listen as nut gets to insane speeds.
    • Shut air valve.
    • Throw nut from screwdriver.
    • Take cover!

    Hours of fun, as I'm sure you can imagine.
  155. simple by ShadowRage · · Score: 1

    I switch numbers.
    one advantage of dialup.
    if one number goes down.. just switch to another, that and my isp is pretty stable.
    and if all fails.. I just do some misc. work or play a game, or go outside!

  156. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by Atragon · · Score: 1

    What I want to know is what was the phone number? (I have some...uses for mass quantities of CDs)

  157. Re:Do you know what to do if your internet connect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And just to clarify, thumbnails aren't a fetish, they're just scaled-down version of pictures for preview.

  158. I know! I know! by c4ffeine · · Score: 1

    I didn't RTFA of course, but I'm going to guess what it tells me to do: Take one AOL disk, sharpen. Open your window, throw disk at random person. Repeat. I've been doing that for years...

    --
    "73% of quotes on the Internet are made up" -Ben Franklin
  159. Exercise in curiosity... by ca1v1n · · Score: 1

    We should try taking down the net for a few days, and see if we get a baby boom 9 months later. I bet we would.

  160. Easy way to get more AOL cds by hetairoi · · Score: 2, Funny

    Go to WalMart (or any place that has those big displays with free AOL cds) and just grab as many as you can hold.

    I do this every so often just to see the look on the security guys face. He looks like he wants to stop me sooo bad, but can't think of any reason why he should. They are free after all.

    There are endless uses for those things. I use them mostly as coasters and for throwing at people.

    --
    you're all figments of my deranged imagination
  161. iSleep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The last time my connection went, I went to bed. Then I got up every 4 hours to check if my connection had come back. I missed 3 days of work.

  162. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by adeyadey · · Score: 1

    "Hello? Is that AOL? I am phoning on behalf of Crappyshite College, we want to offer our students an on-line connection. Could you send a quantity of CD's? How many? Oo, well we have 500 students at the moment.."

    --
    "You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
  163. Re:Use AOL? Are you nuts? by fjordboy · · Score: 1

    That's what I had my friends do...actually, they claimed they were sending out a mailing and wanted to include cds, but they said it was against policy or something. Meanwhile, I didn't have to come up with any fake story - they just asked how many.

  164. What to do? by blankmange · · Score: 1
    Make your own Internet -- didn't the plans leak out onto the Internet on how to do this?

    Man, isn't that redundant?

    --
    ...we are from the government - we are here to help...
  165. Panic is correct by Mr_Cheeky · · Score: 1

    Remember the movie Airplane!? "Alright everyone, assume crash positions!"

  166. Re:The author forgot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because there is no choice for -1, Fuckhead

  167. Re:holy crap! I haven't seen this in a while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    An early post that mentions goatse.cx and is modded up to +5! You, sir, are a god among ants.

    I think the difference here is that the parent poster wasn't trying to trick people into going to that site, rather just providing the address. Big difference.

  168. Connection down? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously, my connection never goes down. And if it does, its usually because my modem has to resync (someone working on line, or maybe line errors, not sure exactly).. but it will resync in about 30 seconds. If it ever goes down for longer than that, its usually a backbone that is going down, and is usually at 3AM. Even then it comes back up within a minute or two at the most. My service is through PacBell (SBC) and I have had my service since they started offering it in my area (around '98). About 3 years ago I even tried to order cable modem service (while keeping my DSL active) through Comcast (AT&T for awhile) and the service would go down for 5 minutes at a time, numerous times a day. Granted, they might have been working out kinks in their system, the service still sucked and wasn't worth the 40/mo I was paying. In my personal opinion, DSL is much more stable than cable modem service is, atleast in California.

  169. Re:Forgot #1.5 by phillk6751 · · Score: 0

    "Over/Underrated" - The lamest mod choices ever. If you think a comment needs moderation, you better have a reason.

  170. When my net connection goes down... by QueenOfSwords · · Score: 1

    Standard Operating Procedure is to sit in the corner and whimper.

    --
    -- INTX Grouch. http://www.midnightblue.net
  171. Re:The author forgot by kfuq · · Score: 0

    nice coming from someone who doesn't even have the balls to create an account or be bothered to login.. i guess Anonymous Coward is a good description huh ?

    --
    iF yOu WAnT to C YOUr iP agaIn gAThEr tWO MilLIon dOLLArS IN Non - cONsEcuTivE TweNtY's AnD AWaiT FuRThER iNstrUctIoN
  172. On a serious note by Insipid+Trunculance · · Score: 1

    How robust is the last mile connection to our homes?When there is a calamity i.e. when we might depend on the internet most what is the likelihood of its going down? if there is a hurricane or an earthquake or flooding is it likely to be of any use?what might be done to raise it to the usefulness of say ham radios in emergencies.

    --
    Wanted : A Signature.
  173. Wait a minute... that's not funny. by robotpants · · Score: 1

    Man, I knew Canadians didn't have a sense of humor, but I didn't realize that it was that bad. I've read funnier things in a Dave Barry column.

  174. Re:Masturbate. by thetaikung · · Score: 1

    mod parent up!! it isn't offtopic at all!! what the hell is wrong with all of you??

    there goes what little karma I had....fuck it

    --
    P226 .40cal
  175. What I do by 00RUSS · · Score: 1

    What I do when the internet goes down, Call over some friends and play Dungeons and Dragons, you still get the same geeky feel.

    --
    +-+-+-The folowing statement is true. The previous statement is false.-+-+-+
  176. the way to weather internet outages by oregonnerd · · Score: 1

    Dam' AOL disk didn't work. Any suggestions?

    --
    oregonnerd...a nerd in Oregon, of course
  177. AOL Disks by chaoticset · · Score: 1
    That's easy.
    1. Place the AOL disk on the table.
    2. Place your glass of ice and alcohol on top of the disk.

    Your table is now protected while you fritter away the hours doing the only thing that will prevent complete and total nervous breakdown while your net connection is severed -- Heavy drinking.
    --

    -----------------------
    You are what you think.