It all started earlier today, as a part of my morning routine, I was checking my websites for updated content. And lo, I noticed something particularly odd while refreshing my Twitter feed via iPhone. The site seemed to time out. Repeatedly. Thinking it just a API glitch or something of the sort, I moved on to the Facebook app. Oddly, this would not refresh either.

It seemed a bit strange that both sites would be in-operational simultaneously, so I reset the phone. This did not help. Clearly, I deduced, this must be the fault of AT&T’s, for we all already hate them. Yes, to them must go the blame.

No. All the other sites I tried worked fine. What? How could this be? I checked my home’s WiFi connection. It was operational. And I began to realize the serious, and disastrous reality befallen us this 6th day of August in the year of our Lord, 2009.

Twitter was down. Facebook was down. Together. But how? How could this happen? And I realized… the Internet Apocalypse has commenced.

The sad irony of this tragedy is that we are unable to share the news of the sites being down with the rest of the world due to the sites being down. It is a vicious circle of grief and sadness and evil.

What shall become of us? Without our precious social networking sites available to us society may revert back to its archaic primitiveness pre-dating the Web 2.0 book. It will be like we’re back in 1999! Or worse – we may have to start using MySpace again! ::cue terrifying music::

Let us hope and pray to the Internet gods that they restore our beloved Web 2.0 sites, and with haste. Until then, MG Siegler has compiled a list over at TechCrunch of 15 Alternative Things to Do while Twitter is down.

See you soon. (I hope).

And even if you don’t repost it, it’s quite a catchy little song.

Here’s his story (from YouTube):

In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United: Song 1 is the first of those songs. United: Song 2 has been written and video production is underway. United: Song 3 is coming. I promise. Follow me at http://twitter.com/DaveCarroll . Video Produced by Curve Productions of Halifax, http://www.curveproductionsinc.com.

And here is the full, detailed story from his blog: United Breaks Guitars.

It was also a celebration of big companies spending way too much money in order to convince you to spend your own money to purchase their products. And this is what brings us here today. The Superbowl commercials are, according to some, just as big a deal as the Superbowl itself. There are many who watch solely for the commercials. I didn’t get to see the entire Superbowl yesterday. We arrived at a restaurant with a TV in the 3rd quarter, and so I’ve been watching the things I’ve missed online today on Hulu. On a side note… Hulu, why are we forced to watch short ads before we watch… more ads?…. anyway.

First, a commercial that is not really a commercial. I don’t include this in the “top 5″ since it’s not really selling a product, but more to promote a movie. Yeah, it’s the trailer for Transformers 2. I saw this one while watching the game last night, and I have to say it made my inner geek smile.

Ok, and now my top 5 favorite Superbowl XLIII commercials, in ranking order from 5 to 1:

5. Universal Studios Park – Inner Hero

I’m not sure what it is… I think it’s the part of the commercial when the kid is on the building “flexing his muscles” and the man in the office does the same. Maybe it’s the look on his face as he embraces his “inner hero.” Something about it just compels me.

4. Pepsi – Refresh Anthem

I love how it shows how different yet how so exactly the same things were back during Bob Dylan’s time and today. It’s amazing to think about how our story as a people have been progressing for so many thousands of years, yet everyone, no matter when or where they live, are looking for the same things… peace, love, happiness, fulfillment.

3. Hulu – Alec in Huluwood

I loves the Hulu. And this commercial just made me laugh. Also, I like how, when so many companies try to be serious and protect a professional image, that Hulu can make a commercial saying that they are aliens and want to eat your brains. And Alec Baldwin is great.

2. Budweiser – Clydesdales/Generations

Budweiser always brings it with their Superbowl commercials. They had many ads featuring their trademark clydesdale horses, all of which were good, but this is my favorite. The classic Braveheart music in the background, the humor of the horse trying out different jobs…. just really clever marketing.

1. Coke – Heist

My favorite for this year. Coca-Cola always does really creative, sometimes odd, ads. I loved the concept of the insects coming out and heisting the bottle of Coke from the unsuspecting picnicker. I love the way they captured the little mannerisms of the different insects and the happy overall feeling of the spot. Pure brilliance this year… made me want to go get a Coke right away.

So there we go, my top 5 commercials from Superbowl XLIII. What were your favorite ads? You can watch them all here. Leave a comment.

I have many friends who keep asking me about getting Macbooks as their new laptops. Well, anyone considering it, HOLD OFF.

Apple confirmed rumors today and announced that on October 14, 2008, at 9:30am PST they will have a special announcement concerning notebook computers. There have been many rumors of what these new Macbooks will be like, but of course it’s all unconfirmed until Steve is on stage and holding it in his hands for all the adoring public to see.

But anyway, now is not the time to buy a Macbook. Wait the 5 days for the announcement to take place and then go get one of the new ones.

Click here for the MacRumors.com article on the early software release and for a download link

I’ve installed the 2.0 software, which worked without a hitch. The upgrade does restore and reset the phone, so be sure to backup your data before performing the upgrade. My phone is all restored and reactivated and now I’m copying my music and videos and NEW APPS over to my iPhone.

But that’s not all… This is according to Gizmodo, but apparantly the iPhone 2.0 is jailbroken already before the software is even released into the wild. It only took the iPhone Dev Team a few hours to do the same job that took them months just a year ago. This is totally crazy.

Click here for the Gizmodo article about the iPhone 2.0 Jailbreaking

I’ll post some more once I finish the upgrade and restore of my phone and really get to play with my new apps and the new software.

Bill Gates was one of the founders of Microsoft way back at the start of the computer revolution in 1975. Much of the reason the technological world is the way it is today is due to Bill Gates (and a few other revolutionaries) and what they did some 30-odd years ago. Gates announced, about a year or two ago that he would be retiring from full time employment at Microsoft, though he still remains Chairman of the Board. He will be pursuing philanthropy and working with the various charitable organizations he is associated with.

Windows XP was first introduced to the public in 2001 and has become, as so many versions of Windows before it, the industry standard for computing operating systems. In early 2007, Microsoft released their most current version of Windows, called Vista, and thus the countdown to the end of the XP life cycle really began. Microsoft announced that they would end the general licensing of XP on today’s date. While you may still be able to buy a copy of XP from stores, Vista is now the main focus of Microsoft and XP will slowly fade to complete retirement by April 08, 2014.

And so, within a week of each other, two major players in Microsoft have finished their part in the company’s unfolding story. Ray Ozzie has replaced Bill Gates as Chief Software Architect and Vista has completely (in the eyes of Microsoft) replaced XP as their operating system. Microsoft is working on some exciting new products and technologies, and I’m excited to see where the computer industry goes from here as we end what really has been the first era of the technological revolution and begun another.

Bye Bye Bill.

Two teens killed, two others hurt in fiery Newark crash

Two teenagers were killed in Newark early this morning when the car they were traveling in at 100 mph flipped off a ramp, hit a wall and caught fire, authorities said.

The victims, both 17, were southbound in a 2008 Toyota Solara, on Routes 1&9 from Jersey City when the vehicle flipped off the ramp and onto Raymond Boulevard…

Click here to read the fill article on NJ.com

Please pray for the families of the teenagers that were killed and for the well-being of the two who were injured. One of the teens who were injured yet survived, Holly, is a party of our youth program.

Almost exactly one year ago I posted the following:

Baseball 2007 is officially underway and the Mets won their season opener by beating the Cardinals 6-1!

Let’s go Mets!

Fast forward to today… well, technically yesterday as it is 1:44am…

Baseball 2008 is officially underway and the Mets won their season opener by beating the Marlins 7-2!

Let’s go Mets!

And let us hope that, while their season openers are quite alike, their season endings will be quite unalike.

Yesterday started just like every other Sunday… tiring and early. My church does three gatherings every week and I oversee the tech stuff for all of them. It’s actually pretty rough. I’m looking for people to put in charge of the different services so I don’t always have to be everywhere all the time and can take some time to relax every now and then. Overall, though, while it’s hard work and I’m exhausted by the end of the day, I must say that I do enjoy it.

Anyway, we go through the 3 gatherings, the last starting at 5 and ending between 6:30 and 7… right in the middle of the Superbowl. We kind of expected it, but attendance was a bit low due to the game. Afterward all was said and done and the people had gone home, we cleaned up and closed down the building. Normally we go get something to eat directly after as it’s a long day for everyone and it’s not uncommon for a few of us to go the whole day without food due to sheer busyness. This day was no exception. The only rule that was stated in selecting an eatery was that there must be a TV present as some of our party wanted to see what was happening with the game.

We tried a few places before finding our destination. And so, my evening was spent ’round the bar at Friday’s with Carlos, Jenn, and Sarah and several drunk (and some not so drunk) NY Giants fans with a decent amount of New England Patriots fans (Sarah being one of them). On some level I wanted the Patriots to win since they did have the perfect season and there hasn’t been a complete perfect season since the 1972 Dolphins, 36 years ago. I thought it would be nice. On the other hand there is that loyalty you must feel for the home team. I mean, the Giants play about 20 minutes from my house. As stated earlier though, I’m not much of a football fan, so while I didn’t particularly care who won, the back and forth of the 4th quarter was enough to put anyone on edge. There were constant cheers from both Giants fans and Patriots fans. Each team had a “superfan” present at the bar to keep us entertained with their over-excitement and friendly trash talk. Everyone was on edge, though, right up until Tom Brady was sacked in the final seconds of the game and the Giants’ victory was all but sealed.

I was so tired from the day that there was even less excitement on my behalf for the outcome than there normally would be. I don’t even know if I spoke at all during the night. I was that exhausted. I thought the strength I would need to muster to vocalize anything too high a cost. It was bad. I enjoyed the Friday’s bar though. The fans were super in to the game, but no one got stupid or mean about anything. And while there was rivalry back and forth between the fans, it was all in good fun. Patriots fans shook the hands of Giants fans while uttering, “You got that. You deserve it,” and Giants fans ordered rounds of drinks ’round the bar.

I don’t remember much else from the night. I ended up home and in bed pretty quickly. And I slept good, let me tell you….

In other news, I learned last night that there is a group in Boston who subscribe and listen to The Sanctuary podcast on a weekly basis. I didn’t think there were people outside Elizabeth who even cared about it. It’s pretty cool when you discover that there are people you don’t know who enjoy something you do. Learning this did make me feel a little bad, though, as I missed getting the podcast up last week due to being busy. No worries, though, as I got both last week and this week published tonight. How do I know of these New Englanders who share our conversation every week? A few weeks back I received an email about the podcast in reference to an original song they heard on it from Kevin Becker. I replied to their message, helped them find some things they were looking for, and gave them Kevin’s Bridge email address for further information. Apparently they contacted him and told him and Sarah that they really enjoy the podcast and it’s touched their lives and even brought one of their friends closer to God. Who knew?!? They even came down to this area a week or so ago and met with Kevin and Sarah. It’s stories like this that really make me love the Internet.

And that is all I have to say thus far. I take my leave. Good night, all, and may peace be with you.

I hate going to brick and mortar stores. That’s one of the reasons why I love Amazon so much. It’s so much more convenient to shop from home and have it delivered to your house. You can even have your items at your door the next day via Amazon Prime (though, I don’t personally use the service at this moment). And what’s even better is that Amazon is pretty price-competative. You can find some great deals on there. I actually have a package in my closet sitting and waiting to be a birthday gift for someone later this year. It’s been in my closet since November. I got such an amazing deal on it that I had to buy it right then and there and just hold on to the package for the many months until I could deliver it. Very, very good deals. And they have practically everything. And once more, they recently opened a new Amazon mp3 Store which ofference nice competition for iTunes. Lots of really cheap and quality content there. I wrote a full review of the Amazon mp3 Store a few months back.

I use Audible.com all the time. In fact I subscribe to them and receive 2 audiobook credits every month. Audible really is responsible for taking my book-reading level from practically 0 to at least 24 full books per year. I know some people say that it doesn’t count since I’m not reading a physical book, but I’ve always learned more by hearing and/or seeing things rather than just sitting down and reading text. And I love that I can be out anywhere and be consuming a book while going about my normal business. Currently I’m reading CS Lewis’ “Miracles” and next on the list is George Orwell’s “1984.” If you want an Audible referral, just comment me here with an email address and I’ll send it right along.

So, I know Amazon is a great company and that Audible has been a great resource for books… I look forward to seeing what they can do together. It’s pretty clear that there may be some new happenings with the Amazon Kindle featuring better audiobook support in the near future.

The one thing I have to wonder about, though, is iTunes. For years Audible has supplied iTunes with its audiobooks for the iTunes Store. I assume that current contracts will continue, but what may happen in the future since iTunes and Amazon are direct competators in the digital music, and now audiobook, market? I suppose we shall have to wait and see.

Read the full press release here.