Ever since version 2.6.29 of the Linux kernel was released I’d been having problems with Windbringer crashing on shutdown. After triggering the system shutdown applet in Gnome X would terminate, sometimes I’d see a debug message from NetworkManager as it tried to shut down the network interfaces (and sometimes the ALSA sound drivers, oddly enough), sometimes I wouldn’t see anything. The end result, however, was that Windbringer would have to be manually powered off, thus forcing a (lengthy) file system check the next time I booted up.
Telerama, one of the first Internet Service Providers in the world has finally jacked the big black, but somehow managed to pull off a miracle as it flatlined. Telerama (referred to as Teletrauma by ex-employees) has dropped offline a couple of times in the past because they couldn't pay their bills, management vanishing, and suchlike. In the net.community they're notorious for some of their business practices (such as outsourcing IT to the country of Brasil and running their tech support entirely off of IRC), which has probably contributed to the ISP's decline in the past nine years or so …
Around 0000 EST/EDT today (just before going to bed) we lost power for a couple of minutes. The UPSes in the apartment took up the slack, but it's always worrisome when it's cold as all get out and the power dies. It came back on a few minutes later but not everyone was so lucky around here - over 120,000 homes are still without power due to the ice storm last night. MAT (Maryland Authority Transit) has shut down for the day due to the ice.
I can see out of my office window that at least one school …
