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Amazon's payment systems go kaput, taking Kickstarter with it
Were you planning to be the brave soul to bring Camelot Unchained's Kickstarter project to its goal? You might have missed your chance. Amazon Payments, the system which Kickstarter uses to accept pledges from browsers, started having trouble earlier today, meaning that several Kickstarter projects have run into trouble attracting more pledges or processing pledges for otherwise successful funding. That's bad news for anyone looking to make the last few dollars on a project before the project ticks over the last deadline. There's currently no ETA on service restoration; quite notably, the payment service is currently the only Amazon service listed as having difficulties. Camelot Unchained is put into a particular pickle with this development, as the project is still more than $200,000 away from its goal with less than two days remaining. Hopefully the service errors will be cleared up before several projects start to feel the sting. [Thanks to Mark for the tip!]
Comcast internet down in the midwest, DNS servers to blame again
Deja vu all over again? Not quite -- this time it's Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana feeling the pain of no Comcast internet, according to a bevy of tipsters and a series of official ComcastCares tweets. As before, the fix is fairly simple, assuming you know how to manually switch your DNS -- just point your computer to a public domain name server (like Google's at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, but there are plenty of others) and things should re-route themselves in seconds flat. Friends don't let friends go without a connection, so if you know someone who's likely affected but won't find out what's wrong until it's too late, why not shoot them a text message or something to share the fix? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Comcast internet down across parts of the eastern seaboard, fix on the way
Twitter's abuzz with angry Comcast customers tonight, as internet service is down in Boston and parts of the eastern United States, a situation the company's since confirmed at its official Twitter account. Comcast's calling it an unexpected outage and says that "engineers are finalizing the correction" as we speak, though it's admittedly been a couple of hours since that tweet. Meanwhile, Twitter at large seems to have figured out it's a Comcast DNS issue, and have had some luck switching to alternate servers like Google's at 8.8.4.4. and 8.8.8.8. Let us know if those work in comments after the break... assuming you manage to find this post in the first place given the present state of your connection. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Peek experiences permanent outage for older devices, vows to replace with free Peek 9
Thinking of upgrading your Peek or Peek Pronto to a shiny new Peek 9? You may no longer have a choice -- following an epic fail when migrating to a new network provider, loads of older devices were reportedly fried. Normally consumer outrage would run rampant at this news, but Peek CEO Amol Sarva has a plan -- he's offering brand-new Peek 9s to existing customers, free of charge. It's not clear what will happen to the older units at this point, but a Peek customer service rep says that while fried QWERTY candybars are no more, the unscathed Peeks might possibly be turned back on. "We are currently waiting on T-Mobile to decide our fate," the rep wrote, "There is still a CHANCE that the sky is not falling and older devices will continue to work." In the meantime, Sarva has an amusing instruction for affected customers looking to get in on the deal: "Just check your email." [Thanks, standingup]
Worst Phone Ever chronicles dropped iPhone calls
I don't know exactly how useful this site is, but I'll let you check it out and decide for yourself. Worst Phone Ever is a site that purports to try and track all of the dropped calls being racked up on Apple's devices and AT&T's service. The idea is that you upload your dropped call log file, then they'll flip through it, and add it to the data they've already compiled. As of this writing, the site has already parsed over 1.5 million calls, and claim that 5.52 percent of them were dropped, costing users over $154,448 (you can see more about how that's all calculated on their FAQ page). Now, the paranoid in me has to warn you against actually sending them any logfiles -- while the FAQ claims that no "personal or uniquely identifying information" is in the files, they do say they're tying them to your email address, and I find it hard to believe that there aren't at least area codes in there for Apple's information. Their FAQ, again, admits that they're "going to do everything we can" with the data, and I can't really recommend you give them something from your computer under that agreement. But if nothing else, the site might turn out to be a nice compendium of information on just how many calls AT&T is dropping. If these averages from earlier this year are any indication, it might be just as high as frustrated customers think it is.
UK mobile operator O2: iPhone apps are hurting our network
Everyone knows about the struggles US mobile phone company AT&T has had with keeping its network up to speed given the huge bandwidth requirements of the popular iPhone. Well, they're not the only mobile carrier having issues. In the UK, O2 has been having problems with the huge amount of data being schlepped around the network by iPhones. O2 CEO Ronan Dunne told the Financial Times that performance of the O2 network had been disappointing since this summer and that the company was trying to cope with the increasing number of mobile apps running on devices such as the iPhone. TUAW reported a multi-day data outage that affected O2 users just a few weeks ago. Most of the issues have been confined to London, so the company is installing 200 additional base stations to support the increased levels of traffic. Dunne also noted that the company is working with Apple, RIM, and other handset manufacturers to learn more about which applications are causing the heavy demands on the O2 network. O2 has been working with Nokia Siemens Networks to modify the network infrastructure to better handle the combination of voice and data traffic. While trying to iron out these issues, it appears that O2's parent company, Telefonica, is making moves that could place further demands on the network. Telefonica purchased mobile VoIP company Jajah to add to O2's portfolio of services, and VoIP services are notorious devourers of bandwidth. In the United States, Verizon can smirk about AT&T's network issues, but O2's problems point out that no mobile operator is immune from the bandwidth-eating apps that are popular on the iPhone platform. [via Techworld]
Listen to the WoW Insider Show today with special guest Mary Varn
Yes, our podcast is back again this afternoon at 3:30pm EDT, and this week we're welcoming Mary Varn, the creator and artist behind NPC Comic, a webcomic about a girl and her two cats who all play World of Warcraft. She'll talk with us about her work and her own characters, and since we'll also have Kelly "Cadistra" Aarons of the new Byron the Tauren Rogue comic on again, maybe they'll be able to share some insight on putting WoW-related cartoons together. Turpster and I will make sure it's not all about drawing comics, though -- we'll be answering emails and talking about the most popular posts from the last week, including what's going on with patch 3.3 and when it might drop, what's up with all of the outages lately, and what it takes to get all of the achievements. All of them. Should be a great show -- you can tune in over on our Ustream page at 3:30pm Eastern, or just head after the break. See you then.
Battlegroup outages tonight [Updated]
We are getting multiple tips that some realms are down. Blizzard says that the Whirlwind and Emberstorm battlegroups are down and that they are currently investigating the matter. We'll keep you posted should anything change. In the meantime, enter to win some real life and in-game loot. Or log on to Zangarmarsh and join the WoW.com guild so you can party with us on Wednesday night. If you are unsure what battlegroup you are in, please consult this listing. Battlegroup listings are after the break. Update 1:16am: Zarhym says the problems were due to a complete power failure. The power is back on and they are trying to bring the realms up now. The party is still raging on Zangarmarsh. Update 11:37pm: They have discovered the source of the battlegroup issues, but still no estimate for when they will be back up. We're having an impromptu party on Zangarmarsh if you would like to join us. Update 11:12pm: I was just able to login. No word yet on the down battlegroups. Update 10:56pm: An official response: they are working on it. Update 10:49pm: Many, including me, are having connection issues. There is a huge forum post on the issue, but no blue response yet.
World of Warcraft in the 'net's traffic patterns
Arbor Networks is a company that continually monitors the Internet and its usage -- they keep track of Internet outages and site visits on a global scale. They just recently released a report of when traffic peaks in the evenings around the world, and at least one of their results is about the game we're all playing, none other than World of Warcraft. In terms of just general consumer traffic online, the numbers tend to peak, according to the report, at around 8-11pm -- the time right before bed when most Americans are done with dinner, and have a little free time to jump online and browse around. In terms of what they're doing when online, simple web browsing makes up most of that traffic (52%), what's the rest of it? Gaming, including WoW.More than any other gaming service (they also take a look at Steam), WoW's chart is extremely interesting -- it peaks solidly at 8pm every night, and then falls back down just as sharply around 11pm. In other words, the biggest audience for WoW (during this time period -- this is over ten days in July of this year) is raiders, who show up on time at 8 and end the raid around 3 hours later. In other words, if you want to avoid the crowd, show up after 11. Or even better, raid in the mornings. Interesting stuff -- certainly Blizzard has much more detailed information on when people log into the game (and where they go when they do), but as an overview of traffic patterns, Arbor's research all makes sense.[via Network World]
Blizzard gives out a day of compensation for the downtime
Blizzard's been on shaky footing this week with all the downtime, from their forum issues to in-game mail problems, and even their main site has had trouble. But there's good news for those affected by the outages (everybody?): we're all getting an extra day of playtime. Tyren says that they believe the problems are now fixed, and that players will recieve a free day of gameplay sometime within the next two weeks.Personally, I wasn't affected much, but free gametime is free gametime. The real test will be this evening and this weekend -- if Blizzard can keep their realms up even under the pressure of so many people checking out the expansion, it'll be a feat. But odds are that, considering how many players are likely to try checking out Northrend in the next few days, the shakiness is not quite over.
How Blizzard mishandled the BlizzCon ticket situation
As you may or may not know, we here at WoW Insider are not an official Blizzard fansite. There are a few different reasons for that, but one of them is that within the Fansite Program Code of Conduct, there is a clause that states, "fansites should present content that is supportive of World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment." We don't disagree with that clause -- fansites are run by fans, and they should support Blizzard. But our status as an unofficial site leaves us completely free to talk indepth about situations where Blizzard has messed up big time. And as many players already know, the BlizzCon ticket sales process that took place earlier this week is definitely one of those situations.Blizzard is, of course, a game company. No one expects them to put on events like WWI and BlizzCon -- they do so to serve the community that's grown up around their games (and, let's be fair, market and advertise their products to the core of their fanbase). And the community loves those events, both hearing about and attending them. Which is why it was a surprise to no one (except maybe Blizzard themselves) that when the ticket sales kicked off Monday morning, it was a nightmare -- the site was hammered by fans trying desperately to buy tickets, the Failoc was a familiar sight, and within a few hours, even Blizzard.com's main site was down.Everyone could have predicted that there'd be problems like that -- when a fanbase of 11 million tries to buy 12,000 tickets, of course you're going to have technical problems. But Blizzard's mishandling of the situation didn't happen on Monday morning -- anyone can suffer from server outages. It happened over the next two days, days full of frustration, endless page refreshing, and a lack of useful communication from Blizzard about just what was happening.
EDGE down
Lots of annoyed iPhone users today in the central US. Apparently, the servers responsible for running the EDGE network for AT&T are down, depriving many iPhone users of their normal connectivity.This outage is affecting users from Chicago to Kansas. If you're part of the affected customer base, let us know in the comments. According to poster BBuehner at the Apple Support discussions forum, AT&T says the problem should be fixed by the end of today but could go as long as February 5th.Thanks Rick Kaczanko
Xbox Live lawsuit is worth 'pennies'
Remember that class action lawsuit last week that claimed $5 million in damages for Xbox Live downtime? It was filed by 3 Texas residents, but is the monetary figure justifiable? Gaming Steve did the math to determine that, at $50 a year for Gold service, one day of outage is worth approximately 13.7 cents. For about six days of outages, that's 82 cents, or $2.46 for the three who filed the suit. Punitive damages aside, the $5 million would cover 36.5 million Xbox Live Gold users who were hit with outages. Of course, all the math is moot when you read the Xbox Live Terms of Use, specifically clause 16, which begins "We Make No Warranty: We provide the Service 'as-is,' 'with all faults' and 'as available.'" Just be happy you're getting a free game, fellas. As for the disheartened lawyers, don't fret, they can now spend more time trying to monetize the missing Halo 3 pixels.
Charter hit by second fire in Malibu area
For the second time this season, Charter Communications and its Malibu, California-area customers are dealing with outages stemming from wildfires. Granted, one's cable service is the least of our worries when dealing with situations such as this, but a whopping 12,000 feet of the operator's primary fiber optic cable was recently torched and will have to be replaced. The cable also provides feeds to homes in Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Hidden Hills, and while the firm is working to provide service to those affected, it's having to wait for power crews to sweep through first. Notably, Charter was already in the process of constructing a "redundant path to make the company less vulnerable to fire damage," and the latest word is that it's still a few weeks away from being completed.
Counter-Strike shooting slowed by actual shooting
At around 7 p.m. on Monday, ISPs around the country experienced a period of slowdown, which seemed inexplicable until workers discovered that fiber optic lines in Cleveland, Ohio -- reportedly owned by Level 3 Communications -- had been the target of sabotage... by gunfire. Anders Olausson, a TeliaSonera AB spokesman, said that the company had lost the northern leg of its network, and when technicians pulled up the lines to inspect, it was apparent that, "Somebody had been shooting with a gun or a shotgun into the cable." The damage was spread out over nearly two-thirds of a mile along the lines, and the effect was felt across multiple networks. Cogent Communications warned customers that they would be experiencing outages, and blamed the disruptions on "cut lines," and Keynote's Internet Pulse Report showed that the provider was experiencing significant latency. As of now, the saboteurs remain anonymous and their motives unknown, but undoubtedly scores of WoW players wait in fear of their next attack.
BlackBerry email outage ruins relationship
Okay, so maybe the writing was already on the wall and the recent BlackBerry email outages aren't solely to blame, but still, being the proverbial straw to break the camel's back deserves a portion of the censure. While we already knew that most fellas would undoubtedly choose a hot new gizmo over a foxy new lady, this mentality probably changes once you're already committed, and in the case of Rafael Paz, the recent email glitches cost him the latter. In another story hampered by horrific timing, Paz and his SO suffered through "a really bad argument" shortly before the breakdowns began, and after writing her man several emails and getting no reply, she cut the cord on their relationship for good. Of course, Rafael received the notes hours later, but apparently, his lady isn't "falling for" the so-called BlackBerry outages excuse. So while your business plans or daily routine may have been momentarily on the fritz, we're fairly sure the mass failure was kinder to you than it was to Mr. Paz.[Via Fark]
WoW Server Problems Under Scrutiny
If you're a WoW subscriber and you're reading this, there's a good chance that you're either at work, or unable to log into the game. Ok, that's taking it a bit far, but it's no secret that the WoW servers have a pretty bad reputation for reliability these days, and although the problem has seen improvements in some respects, overall, I think most players would agree that the issues don't seem to be improving at a steady enough rate, especially with all the problems that have followed the last two patches.ZDNet has an article on the problem, spurred in part by the outages of this past weekend. The article contains statements from both gamers & industry professionals who cast some light on the challenges faced by Blizzard in the face of overwhelming subscriber numbers & a market with basically zero competitors on the same playing field, and by frustrated players who just want to use the service they pay for.Personally, I sympathize with Blizzard to a degree, but I sympathize with my wallet more...
