May 2003 Archives
A little excitement in an otherwise dull day reminded me that data can be a fragile thing that occasionally runs the risk of total evaporation, even when every system is in place to ensure its safekeeping.
Case in point: The web-servers that hosts this site (and a few others of varying importance) caught on . The details are below. I am glad nobody was hurt. I'm glad all is well with the servers. And I'm glad I have the opportunity to back-up my data.
support 28-5-2003-2:22NOTE: IF YOU ARE ON SERVER TRUEMAN AND ZARYA, YOUR DOMAINS WILL BE UP ANY MOMENT AS NAC IS WORKING TO RESTORE POWER ON THIS LEVEL. PLEASE READ MORE FOR INFORMATION.
Dear Valued Customer,
Most of the web servers hosted at www.nac.net appears to be up again. However server zarya and trueman appears to be still unavailable and they are expected to be online again any moment, if your web site(s) is not working then its likely you are on these servers.
The datacenter faced fire incidence hence the service was unavailable for few minutes. The guys at nac.net handled the situation very professionally and it appears most of servers are up again. Here is what we have official response from NAC.
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EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION from NET ACCESS CORPORATION
We are still gathering information, but it appears there was a small fire in the 3rd floor DSR room, which resulted in a loss of power. Our FM-200 fire suppressant worked as planned and immediately kicked in. The entire building has been evacuated at this time and the fire department is onsite.We are very fortunate that no one was inside the DSR room during this event. Net Access Corporation will continue to update this page as more information is gathered.
===================Most of your web sites and servers appear to be up and working fine. We thank you for your cooperation in this regards.
My favorite time of day is the witching hour, the time when all are asleep and peace meets your day at last. For me, its usually falls between 11:00PM and 1:00AM and if I'm lucky, all inclusive, although that never really happens. I am invariably stirred from my peaceful moments - time with my mac - time to write - time to look out the window and reflect on the days ahead and those in recent past.
The season finally started, for me anyway. After a rained out practice on March 30th, a circle-jerk practice April 6th where three teams tried to share two fields, a canceled exhibition game April 15th because the lights were broken & the umpire didn't show, and another canceled game April 23rd because it was supposed to be played on the same field with the broken lights which still weren't fixed, the Fordham Pikers finally got a start tonight May 1st at 8:30PM on Randall's Island.
I played Right Field. While it is not exactly a prestegious start, I'm lucky to be filling a spot in the too-many-players-not-enough-teams league known as the Yorkville Sports Association Leagues who sponsor play in Central Park (and the many surrounding fields like those on Randall's Island). Plus, as it is Fast-Pitch Softball, I am lucky to be playing at all as I walked on with zero fast-pitch experience. (Turns out, they don't throw that hard.)
So tonight, in the warming weather and setting sun - a backdrop for the too-dim glow of stadium lighting - I took my place on the field, adjusted my cap and popped my well oiled glove with my throwing hand in a "Here, batter, batter, batter..." sort of way I learned years before. It was great.
By the time the game was finished I hit 2 for 4 with 2RBIs & a RUN. This was marked by a lead off single in the second inning, later scoring a RUN, a fly out (infield :-p) in the 3rd, a ground out RBI to tie the game in the 5th and a RBI single in the 6th.
As for fielding I made an ERROR when I slipped on the damp grass and didn't catch a fly ball that I was surly capable of fielding. But that was soon over looked when I threw to a play at the plate resulting in an OUT and later a play at 2nd, which didn't. But it held the runner.
We won the game 23 to 17 - its a hitter's league, apparently. I had fun.
Today's Wall Street Journal tells us to say "Shut Up!" when we are shocked or amused; or just want to hear more. Column writer, Shelly Branch says that thanks to many sources (I personally remember Elaine from "Seinfeld") "Shut Up!" has become the new and preferred way to say "Oh my God!", "Get out of town!" or "No way!".
This change from negative associations to a more accepted and passive meaning over time is called amelioration. It seems like the phrase has altered its meaning so drastically and widespread that the New Oxford American Dictionary is considering a new entry for "Shut Up!" in its next edition whereby possible entries might include: "used to express amazement or disbelief" or "oh, so true!".
Branch offers a few other examples where this has happened in the past:
"nice" meant "stupid" up to the 13th century
"bad" during the 80's
and "dope".
All I can say is that's some "stupid fresh dope" slang. "Shut Up!"
