DISQUS

VentureBeat: Michael Jackson is a test. He is only a test of the emergency broadcast system

  • Jeffrey McManus · 5 months ago
    You are confused about the difference between TMZ.com and "The Internet".
  • mawkus · 5 months ago
    what a clever contribution...(sarcasm). How about Google news being innaccessable? Major delays or failures on many news properties as well as Twitter (where many now turn for their news)? During SXSW in Austin, iPhones were rendered nearly useless, simply because there were more people in the area than usual.

    I think there's a good point to be made that we all expect real-time data and, more and more, access to "the cloud" all the time, but the network is not fault-tolerant. Expectations need to be revised across the board.
  • Jeffrey McManus · 5 months ago
    Google News is also not "the internet". You also appear to be confused.
  • mawkus · 5 months ago
    Oh another zing. Apologies, I guess I missed the part where Dean wrote "Michael Jackson broke the internet." Will dutifully re-read.

    If the services that people use the internet for are not accessible, telling them "hey dummy, the internet isn't broken" is one of the most helpful responses I can think of....
  • 10things.me · 5 months ago
    Dean. The internet did not fail, in fact, you rarely hear about large-scale communication failures (even on my remote island, where a fishermen repeatedly cut the fiber wires). It's the web that fails to be real-time. We need new solutions for the real-time web, and new ideas for the web in general. Maybe we should distribute content a-la- peer-to-peer, but most probably it's going to be some new technology
  • Nathan Lands · 5 months ago
    @Deantak , Kind of disturbing to think how a global war or some other major news could do to cripple the internet ecosystem. Unfortunately though the news of Michael Jackson's death was not a test. Lets hope he was innocent of any past charges and that his last moments were peaceful.
  • disoka · 5 months ago
    In this age, it is surprising to see the web sites like TMZ and LATimes going down for a surge in load. As igniguy mentioned it, it is the issue with the Websites not the Internet.
  • John · 5 months ago
    Actually, its a GOOD thing that the resilience of various servers out there is periodically tested by something as trivial as the death of a celebrity (if you don't think its trivial, ask yourself how many children died today... any idea? And why is that less important? Shouldn't it be more?). We need more celebrity deaths, heck - a planeload of them needs to go down at the same time - maybe even with some politicians mixed in for good measure.
  • authorityseo · 5 months ago
    It doesn't surprise me in today's culture that it takes a celebrity death to bring down sites.

    I believe it wasn't till you could get tweets from celebs that Twitter took off
  • runescape money · 5 months ago
    Michael Jackson was a very good singer and I loved all his music.
    I wish I could have met him in person.
    I would have loved to shake is hand.
    I will mist him very much.Rest in peace Michael.
  • Duncan Riley · 5 months ago
    Dean, I can't help but think that you're confusing networks and servers. What we saw today was certain sites under-catering/ not being prepared for demand as opposed to any great break down in the internet. That Twitter was among them is hardly a surprise given their history, but the problem is still one of servers and catering for demand because the network itself didn't go down. We of course know the solution, and there's no serious fundamental at play besides the cost of throwing some extra servers and load balancers into the mix.
  • georgiaimc · 5 months ago
    You should stick to covering video games... you clearly don't understand the "The Internet"
  • rudyv · 5 months ago
    Maybe you guys should read "The Web Creaks as Jackson Fans Mourn" (http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/200...). What Dean said is accurate, and his headline is not misleading in any way.

    The point is that if "the internet" creaks from the loss of a celebrity, what would happen during the course of a national disaster?
  • georgiaimc · 5 months ago
    Can't you read? Why don't you go back and read the article you just sent me in that link... Specifically, read the note under the graph in that article. I've pasted it below, notice how it is referencing the "Major News Sites"

    "A chart from Keynote Systems showing the increase in response time (blue line) and decline in availability (red line) for ---MAJOR NEWS SITES--- after the death of Michael Jackson earlier today."

    Again... he should stick to reviewing video games, and you should never jump into a conversation you know absolutely nothing about, it makes you look worse than the video game reviewer!
  • Peter Antypas · 5 months ago
    And who is going to pay for all the excess, idle capacity necessary to accommodate 10x spikes in Internet traffic?
  • catina prevost-hinson · 5 months ago
    My heart goes out to the entire family. Janet I know it must be very hard for you. I lost my brother in 2006. Only time can heal that kind of hurt. It is a lot of hurt to idure. God bless the family and may Micheal Jackson rest in peace.
  • Jester the Slacker · 5 months ago
    Go back to playing video games, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
  • Name · 5 months ago
    I know what you mean!
    What happens if there's a nuclear war and I can't get access to the net or email!
    lol
  • promotionalproducts · 5 months ago
    Lieutenant Fred Corral told CNN Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26pm (7.26am) local time after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest, but not a heart attack.
  • UbiquitousA · 5 months ago
    Umm....what do you think a cardiac arrest is??? It's a HEART ATTACK.
  • meowcow · 5 months ago
    No, it's not. Thanks for playing.
  • dingobait · 5 months ago
    Maybe it's time corporations and their sponsoring regimes showed some leadership regarding energy efficiency and innovation. Otherwise the situation is going to get a lot worse. As Neil Postman said, we're 'Amusing Ourselves To Death'.
  • jeffjohnjeff · 5 months ago
    Talk about "out ya butt" reporting. The Internet was built in the 60's to withstand a nuclear attack? Says you! I get this sense that you believe that the Internet resides on a REALLY BIG server somewhere in Palo Alto; that it is the property of the United States; and that the ISP in place needs some better data management in place.

    That traffic increased during a particularly interesting news story, and that all but a few jiggle sites handled the load without a problem, is not news. Stick to what you do best. How about find out why there is no SSX for XBOX 360 - that would be news!
  • 10things.me · 5 months ago
    it's funny how a reference to a pop idol attracts comments from people totally outside the audience of this blog. now i understand how techcrunch works
  • jock1 · 5 months ago
    Internet does slow down, so did the telephone when Kennedy was shot.
    So does traffic when theirs an accident.
  • johny5 · 5 months ago
    Rest in Peace Michael... My heart goes out to Janet and the rest of your family, friends and fans around the world. I caught some truth in your article--questions about what would happen in a true calamity. However, the issue is with individual websites, not with "the Internet" itself. In addition, I heard the news of Michael's tragic death within seconds of TMZ posting it (I was on the site already) and continued to follow it on Twitter, as I follow a number of celebrities close to his circle... I experienced NO difficulty whatsoever during the hours upon hours I spent on Twitter, Google News, Facebook, MySpace and CNN.com. Therefore, I would venture to say that your "evidence" is mostly anecdotal.
  • sarathatcher · 5 months ago
    I found this Michael Jackson Discography if anyone's interested: http://zoomtorrents.com/?file=Michael_Jackson_F...

    We love you Michael!
  • Facebook User · 5 months ago
    The same exact thing happens with the cell phone system, so I don't think particular internet services are unique in that regard.
  • edwardcraig · 5 months ago
    It would have been nice for commercial radio to notice that day.
    Wikopedia got the update before commercial pop radio stations woke up.
  • Bob · 5 months ago
    Michael Jackson died?
  • LuckyStiff · 3 months ago
    One other dude said it below, but I'm just reading right now doing some work, and I have to comment. Dude, the internet wasn't built for that purpose at all. I know, I know, its a cool story, and I believed it for a while, but I also don't do blogging without fact checking. Read up on what the internet is, why it was built, THEN say something in passing like everyone should know that already.
  • ugguk · 3 weeks ago
    peaceful..It has become bailey button ugg clear that we’re never all going to agree.But I'm glad to see that you finally enabled comments on here, although I doubt everyone will be 'nice' for long... see