Rachel Blackman

Engineer and photographer in Seattle. Also @Packetdancer - if you are looking for @Packethost or @Packet_tel, you took a wrong turn in Albuquerque.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@Alyssa3467 Cool; I have metal in my hand now so choose to believe this means I'm a cyborg, and apparently I'm also a memetic virus for social media feeds.

And this isn't even my final form! ;P

(Also, been a while; I don't use Twitter much anymore, and this account even less!)

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

Apparently having your hand in a cast for 6 weeks is a great way to go stir-crazy. Can't write code, can't play my usual games, can't tinker with electronics, can't go do photography...

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

I just realized it’s been almost exactly a year since #CenturyLink disabled everyone’s internet for non-payment after their payment processor crashed.

Now I wonder if today’s Seattle outage is an impromptu anniversary celebration…

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@MizDanaClaire Yeah, that’s definitely a thing that hits home.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@BrandonLive @CenturyLink @CenturyLinkHelp Still out here in North Seattle.

I saw that ETA of three days on service restoration, then gave up and clocked out for the day.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@MancTonyLupton @RavennaBlog It isn’t where I am (right by North Seattle College); #CenturyLink fiber dropped out about two hours ago here.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@MizDanaClaire 😬

I have no answers, only the pain of a Seattle native.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@MizDanaClaire As your friend, I'm happy for you.

As a Seattlite and Mariners fan, I'm giving you the stink-eye.

:P

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@MizDanaClaire Remember, Dana, you can only parp for two hours at a time. Otherwise you need to feed the parping meter.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

This is horrifying security... and horrifyingly common.

Even the bit about Internet connectivity doesn’t surprise me; you need to validate payments somehow, and people are lazy. Why come up with a secure solution when you can just put Windows on WiFi and call it a day?

[carfucar @carfucar]

Interesting mistake happened to me yesterday. I was checking out of an Airbnb(like) room and was going to hang around the city until 2pm but my check it was 10 am. The place had lockers similar to this one. Electronic access. Cost was $6 each time you used a locker. 1/

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@annathepiper My general rule of thumb is that I do a full clean install at least every other major OS revision; this is for *any* OS, not just macOS. So I'd make sure you have the backup accessible and then do a clean install, myself.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@Cdsfrog @mls515 @CenturyLink Haven’t gotten the page to load even once yet, but I’ll keep trying.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

Home sick today, supposed to be resting. Instead, trying to track down what’s going on with the massive #CenturyLink outage and how to get it resolved; housemate telecommutes, but the account’s in my name.

Not how I planned to spend my morning…

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@Forgotten_Man__ @CenturyLink They cut off everyone, not just you. I don’t know if the billing message is mistaken (some said it is) or if autopay just failed for everyone (as others said). But *anyone* who had billing due today is cut off.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@CenturyLinkHelp The top tweet on your timeline right now is about “all services restored” (from January 10). A pinned Tweet like “We’re aware of reports of widespread billing issues and service outage; we’ll update when the technical folks get us answers.” might help reduce panic! (2/2)

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@CenturyLinkHelp First off, I’m sure you are all having a terrible morning; my sympathies. I imagine you’re inundated and have little you can do to help (and probably no authority to post details of the outage hitting many of us).

However, may I make one suggestion? (1/2)

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@tony_damiano @CenturyLink Yeah, I feel like someone—or several someones—are having a real bad day trying to untangle that right now.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@tony_damiano @CenturyLink Probably the same thing as everywhere else. Their automatic payment system evidently crashed, and apparently they promptly shut off everyone’s internet for non-payment? Customer service site has crashed under the load, phone hold times are 90-120 minutes.

[Rachel Blackman @packet]

@MathnSkating 1) That is the best experiment.

2) "Science Princess Girl" would be an *excellent* band name, and I'm totally using it if the Rock Band franchise ever comes back.

3) Everything you said is 100% accurate.