Did Freepers witness a test takedown of the Internet in preparation for War?

Self | 02/18/03 | acnielsen

[acnielsen guy]

At 4:15am EST a strange thing happened on the Internet. Two Freepers were posting pictures and communicating with each other, one in Spain and the other in Florida. Suddenly all logos and pictures filed to appear on the separate sites although the text did. Up to that time the refresh time was two to three seconds. A single server going down or a photographic site disabled is common and would not be a cause for concern. But when servers in two different countries are affected at precisely the same time with only graphics involved then we have a very unusual phenomenon.

Checking sites in different countries produced the same results, text showed immediately but logos and pictures were blank. In about six minutes everything was back to normal.

1. Server failures or takedowns last longer than six minutes and do not come back up in synchronization.

2. All hosting sites do not fail at the same time.

3. Servers in different countries do not have the same unusual problem at the same time.

My conclusion is that this could only have been an engineered failure.

America and Britain run the Internet, for them to practice a takedown without anyone being aware of it could be accomplished in just the manner that it happened at 4:15am this morning.

A picture failing to show is a very common failure because of the host site being serviced; ones own server having a glitch it could be caused by an overload or for many other reasons. No one would even give it a minute’s thought. People working in isolation would not realize that anything strange was happening. In all my time on the Internet I have never known all logos to disappear on all sites and yet the text still show. That failure is itself a rare anomaly. I understand that all graphics are on separate directories and accessed independently, so a block could easily be placed on them. The success of the block would be a sufficient test of a takedown of the entire Internet.

Why would anyone do it? The answer, in my view is simple, to save the Iraqi oil wells. It does not take a genius to think you can fire 8OO rockets and then take over wells rigged with explosives. They must be taken over before anyone knows the war has started. The take over must be accomplished quickly and everywhere at the same time without warning, all communication must be cut, both in the country and around the world. Satellites and the Internet have to be temporarily silenced.

Does that make sense of the strange happening at 4:15am this morning?

[Grut]

Add to this strange incident that Mrs. Dawgg lost two socks...

But did she not bark in the middle of the night...?

[bert]

...I think we have a disturbing trend developing....

When reporting disturbing trends, please be thorough and accurate.

Did the socks match, or one each of two pairs?

[2oakes]

There's pictures on the net?

[Cicero]

If I tell you, I'll have to kill you.

[acnielsen guy]

Yes, but they arrive separately or haven´t you noticed.

[js1138]

I'd say you two caught something from unsafe browsing. Either that or Big Brother took a momentary interest in why you were exchanging picture files at 4:15 AM.

[spunkets]

" That failure is itself a rare anomaly. I understand that all graphics are on separate directories and accessed independently, so a block could easily be placed on them. The success of the block would be a sufficient test of a takedown of the entire Internet.

Not really. A pic is just a file. Could be anywhere. I leave pics all over the place and it took a long time before I ever created a directory named, "images." I still have my Christmas decorations up. So if they want to take down the internet, let 'em have it. All they can say is, "All your mess are belong to us."

[stainlessbanner]

That's classic!

[DainBramage]

take over wells rigged with explosives. They must be taken over before anyone knows the war has started.

I live in Texas and have to date never seen an oil or gas well with internet service.

[MineralMan]

If internet text is showing up, but not images, suspect your browser or graphics engine on your own PC, not the internet. I noted that the other person in question found that after she rebooted, everything worked fine.

Without knowing browser name and version, along with OS name and version, there's little else I can contribute.

However, there's no selective way to block graphics from the web on an internet-wide basis.

If you have more details, I'll try to help. Otherwise, it sounds like a fairly common glitch on the PCs end. A reboot apparently fixed it, and nobody else noticed such a thing.

[acnielsen guy]

We are not talking about your directory - your are not the center of the universe.

[Redcloak]

4:15 EST? That's usually when the Internet's big rubber band winds down. It takes a few seconds to wind it back up. Nothing series.

[Revolting cat!]

My sympathies, AC. In the future, in order to be taken seriesly, make sure to post a disclaimer, something to the effect "not related to Leslie Nielsen!" Otherwise, we're all going to die while discounting your dire warnings!

[angkor]

Whenever there is a performence problem on the Internet, it is useful to visit http://www.internettrafficreport.com/main.htm and check through the stats.

In particular go to the North America page and look for routers to which you might be connected (they are organized by state).

There are more tests (like traceroute) that you can employ, but usually Internet hiccups are easily explained by misconfigured or broken core routers, bad Ethernet cards in those routers, software bugs, and less often to denial-of-service attacks.

By the way, Winn Schwarteau has been banging the "cyberwarfare" drum for 12 years now and there's yet to be anything that's lasted more than 24 hours (usually 12). Most if not all of that has been the work of juvenile delinquents.

[SpeakLittle_ThinkMuch]

Uh-oh, Mrs. S.L._T.M. FOUND an extra sock in the dryer this morning! Teleportation or cohabitation?

What color were they??????

[acnielsen guy]

Did you get the part where two computers in two different counties would have to the the problem as you suggest and start and stop at the same time.

Now that would be a really something to talk about.

[McGruff]

This thing has pictures?

[Doomonyou]

[ofMagog]

Code 234%5d has been changed to Code 234%5c, effective immediately due to the seriesness of the situation. FReepers need to take note and change rings ASAP.

[acnielsen guy]

I glad it is not taken seriouly otherwise it would be pulled and then where would you guys have fun.