Millions of Skype users were left stranded last week for over two days.

Rumours of hackers-at-large or “software updates” have been circulating throughout the IT community; but the truth is simpler than you can imagine:

… the disruption “was triggered by a massive restart of our users’ computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update,” Arak wrote.

Microsoft Corp. released its monthly patches last Tuesday, and many computers are set to automatically download and install them. Installation requires a computer restart.

“The high number of restarts affected Skype’s network resources. This caused a flood of log-in requests, which, combined with the lack of peer-to-peer network resources, prompted a chain reaction that had a critical impact,” Arak wrote.

Arak did not blame Microsoft for the troubles and said the outage ultimately rested with Skype. Arak said Skype’s network normally has an ability to heal itself in such cases, but a previously unknown glitch in Skype’s software prevented that from occurring quickly enough.

via Wired.com

S**t happens..

You don’t have to be big to be loud..

Anglo-saxons invented “Common Sense“.

Whereby you simply do not partake in certain activities because, well, something deep deep down within your soul intellect is perpetually analysing the current situation and sending back recommendations to your cortex.

Well, at least that’s the way it works with the above-mentioned anglo-saxons – with an emphasis on the word “anglo”, as in “England”, possibly Oz and, definitely, not the “New Continent“.

Because the latter is the home for people like Bubba and his cousin Virgil, delicate proof that it IS possible to be productive in a trailer park, on a steamy Friday night, while the said-cortex is in a not-so-temporary bootleg gin-induced coma.

While “us British” are driven by an innate need to keep a “stiff upper lip” (which is scientifically nothing else than the expression worn by a human being torn between doing the “right thing” and ordering another pint), Bubba and Virgil literally screw up any attempt to launch a product without having spent 60% of the R&D budget on Risk Assessment.

And here are are couple of examples:

Exhibit #1: a chainsaw. Pretty obvious, you might say?

Virgil actually tried that out once: he will never play the harpsichord again.

Product Managers actually try to fend such individuals off by, literally, informing them that, lacking reading capacities, they shouldn’t even attempt to use their products:

Bubba would surely have complied had he known how to read..

I must admit that the constant ISO-urge may lead to exaggerations:

Would YOU even contemplate sticking one of those pointy things into your..thingie? C’mon, Bubba has a Dog, “Gemorinmo” (named after a famous Red Indian chief), and he takes dang care of him:

No driving around Trailer City on Virgil’s tractor when he’s ill: NO WAY, CASEY!

And while we’re on driving, do you REALLY think that this was appropriate?

Bubba doesn’t even know anyone named Augusta!

But if he did, and would ever manage to complete the 50 meters from the liquor store to the post office in one piece, he would remember to sweet-talk her, in the manner of an anglo-saxon mobile user, thanks to SonyEricsson’s simple message:

Posted nearly a year ago:

When we purchased our house two years ago, it came with a beautiful fig tree bearing one solitary fig.

Last year it sprouted a couple more (apparently fig trees are very sociable plants which enjoy seeing a human every now and then), but, due to climatical considerations, we didn’t really expect it to offer more than a decorative addition to our garden.

Maybe we gave up too prematurely, though: this is what we found today..

Yeaah! Only three more and everyone will get a taste!

Finally, only two more actually made it, so Pina and I waited until the kids were in bed, sneaked out into the dark night and literally gorged ourselves in hidden silence (sorry girls!).

We will never know if they found out about our escapade, but I suspect foul play as, this year, our tree is behaving as if it was on steroids:

Two of 30+ fruit

We are so overwhelmed with figs that we are seriously considering holding a “Fig Party” for the entire neighbourhood (minus our ghastly neighbours of course).

I wouldn’t quite compare them to the one’s Pina brought back from her South Italian saga a month ago: ripe they look, but rather more an “acquired taste” than an “oozing sugar” one.

But if I may exceptionally quote the Bible (this will be the only time, promised!): “each man under his own vine and fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25) has been used to denote peace and prosperity.

We’re pretty peaceful at the moment; so I guess the rest is just around the corner..

Most people falsely believe that a major part of the difficulties encountered while flying is due to weather and the correct interpretation of forecasts.

Pilots are like lawyers: in there own protectionistical way they speak in code and try to complicate even the most easiest snip of information in order to keep us common mortals in an eternal state of dependance.

Take a simple weather forecast, a.k.a. METAR as published within those closed circles:

METAR LBBG 041600Z 12003MPS 310V290 1400 R04/P1500N R22/P1500U +SN BKN022 OVC050 M04/M07 Q1020 NOSIG 9949//91=

And all that to (allegedly) inform one that it’s snowing…

Well, forget about all that. This is how they REALLY do it: