UPDATE 8/6 8.04am: It appears to be a Denial of Service attack that Twitter is currently combating.

Back when Twitter was still just a method for geeks to spout off about whatever, seeing the Fail Whale was quite commonplace.  Multiple times per day, Twitter would get overloaded and the system simply couldn't keep up.  Post venture capital, it's finally come around that everyone from celebrities to the stiffest of corporations to your Mother is tweeting...and the system has been rock solid 6-9 months.

Until today, it would seem!  It appears that around 6am PST, the system simply stopped responding.  We have not even been blessed with the appearance of the Fail Whale, just a Page Not Found error.  <gasp>  What are we to do with ourselves??!

About 40 minutes ago (6.30am PST), Twitter posted that the site is down and they're trying to resolve it.

Denial of Service?  Catastrophic Crash?  Hack?  And you thought the Twitpocalypse was bad...  <grin>  Good luck enjoying a Twitter-free couple of hours!

It will be interesting to see how long this lasts, and how this affects Twitter's reputation as a reliable communication tool, instead of just a Social Network.  The good news is, massive outages such as this usually lead to improved infrastructure to combat such issues in the future.  My guess is that will be the case, and Twitter will live to not die another day (well, until the next major system outage...)

All this lack of Twitterness reminded me of this video, quite hysterical even for those of us who use Twitter regularly!  Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself...right?  The Fail Whale ending is classic... 

A while back I Dugg a story about how astronauts in space took a photo of this volcano in the midst of an eruption.  As it turns out, they took a bunch of photos and someone morphed them into a video.  Granted, the video gets a little crazy with it’s repetition, but you have to admit it’s a cool snapshot in time of this event. 

Hit the HD button and go full screen… Enjoy!

This is one of those videos that compares how things used to be, how they are now, and where they're going...

This is one of those videos that staggers the mind with sheer numbers... 

This is one of those videos that can make you feel a little old... (but it's great to know we're living through such an accelerated time)

This video has a slight bent on technology, and I think you should watch it!

In one of my previous articles prior to the election, I made mention of whether or not the great business leaders of the United States would step up to the governmental plate and bring this country back on track.  Whether or not you like his views, political stance, experience, background, or anything else about him...you have to admit that President Elect Obama knows how to rally a people.  This man certainly knows how to get his ideas out there, spread the word, and communicate with the world at large.  This type of communication alone has the ability to attract the attention of those with the abilities to bring stability back to this country.  Anyone that knows me knows that I'm cautiously optimistic about many things of this magnitude, but this alone is a great first step.

Below is the first of (what will apparently be) a weekly video address via YouTube:

Every four years I have the same moment of bewilderment.  It's that moment when I go on line (or digging through my mail) to figure out where it is I'm supposed to vote.  Every time, I'm told the same thing: "Some Random Person's Garage".

In this day and age, in a world full of technology...I'm awestruck by the fact that we still commandeer thousands of garages across the nation in order to cast the vote of millions of United States Citizens.

Ya know what?  I LOVE THIS.

Every time I say that I'm going to sign up for an absentee ballot the next time, but I don't.  Every time I say to myself that we'll have technology in place that will allow us all to vote on-line next time around, but we don't.  The fact is, I may never choose these quick-and-easy options because I love walking 0.2 miles to my neighbor's garage to cast my vote for the next President of these United States.  To me, that is an amazing thing.  The fact that these votes all get gathered, organized, tallied, and slapped up on our TV screens within such a short period of time is equally amazing.

There's something about this grass roots voting process that brings me back to my youth, to the days of crayons, neighborhood gatherings, doing things manually, and getting the community together to rally around something so monumental.  We still do this.  A nation of 305+ Million people.  We vote in garages.  We vote in VFW's.  We vote in apartment lobbies.  We vote wherever we can find a willing host with room for voters.

Amazing.  Now run to your local garage and cast your vote!

I was sparked by a couple things over the past few days, and they're ultimately the reason for this post.  In fact, I think the "Read, Listen, View" concept of this post just might end up being a recurring theme for my blog.  A good read, a good listen, and a good view...all on similar or related topics.

First...I'm NOT a fan of politics.  Frankly, I'm amazed I'm even writing about it.  <grin>  Don't get me wrong, I vote religiously.  More clearly, I should likely say that I'm not a fan of politicians.  There are plenty of reasons why, but I won't bother you with that here!  However, I will share one core belief I've held for a number of years now: 
Business(wo)men should run the country, and politicians should run their campaigns. 

While I may or may not have agreed with their stance or capabilities, I've been happy to see the likes of Ross Perot, Steve Forbes, and other successful businessmen run for the presidency over the years.  I wish more would do so.  This country is a complicated machine, moreso than the majority of companies out there, and just like any successful company it deserves a solid business mind at it's helm (and throughout it's Executive Branch).  I believe the recent talk of a CTO position being created for the United States is discussion in the right direction.  Do I believe it's the right thing to do?  Will it induce unnecessary or useful insight and/or regulation?  Too early to say.  Conceptually, however, I believe it's on target.

Our country is in a world of hurt and we need the best and the brightest available to help us right things.  Whoever takes office next year, I truly hope they're able to bring a team of proven individuals together that can steer this monstrosity of a ship.  I think one of the bigest questions might be, are the best and brightest willing to sign up?

Below is a read, a listen, and a view that I've tagged over the past week.  I felt they should be shared...which is the main reason for this post:

• READ:  CIO Magazine discusses who might be the best CTO for the USA.
• LISTEN:  This American Life has an audio discussion full of interviews and insights into what really has caused this sub-prime meltdown.  It's a really insightful listen, and well worth it.  There are things going on that most of America has no idea even exists...and these unknown and unregulated activities are exactly why we're in this mess today.
• VIEW:  ...and finally, remember the days of "Whhaaaasssssaaaaaaaap?!"?  It's been 8 long years...see where they are now (an entertaining video, to say the least).  You can see it below.