By Paul Thomson :: 9:46 PM
Gmail and other associated Google cloud services like Google Drive and Google Calendar are currently unavailable for many users.
Tonight’s outage, which began around 8:00 PM Eastern time is the second Google cloud failure today. Some of Googles services were also down for a short time early in the morning today.
Outages seem to be sporadic, and affecting both web-based logins as well as app-based access.
Google’s apps status dashboard acknowledges the current outages, but does not provide an expected time of resolution.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 9:58 AM
A series of images and videos posted to the news aggregation site Reddit over the past several hours allegedly show numerous health and safety violations at Golden Corral restaurant locations.
The image above, one of four shared by Reddit user GCWhistleblower, who claims to be an employee of Golden Corral, shows the condition of the kitchen and dishwashing area of a Golden Corral location. Dishes and trays can be seen stacked pell-mell across the counters and floor, trash is overflowing out of the rubbish bins, the floor is caked with a greasy sludge, and food is spilling out of broken boxes.
If these photos aren’t enough, another Redditor has also posted videos (below) to the site that show improper food handling and storage procedures at different Golden Corral establishment in Port Orange, Florida. The video shows food intended for patron consumption stored outside of the restaurant, in the parking lot near the dumpsters.
Prepared hamburger patties, ribs, and other food on trays and racks is shown piled next to the restaurant’s garbage compactor and disposal facility. The restaurant location allegedly wheels the food out during required health inspections, and then brings it back in for the employee who shot the video to cook.
“I don’t want to cook this food, I don’t feel safe with it,” employee Brandon Huber says as he narrates the second video. “Now, my management is going to wheel it back into the coolers after the inspection like nothing ever happened.”
Watch the two videos below.
By Gilbert Falso :: 12:37 AM
If you head to the Google homepage today, you’ll be greeted by an alien visitor piloting a UFO through the New Mexico night skies.
Fear not, this little green man means you no harm – he’s just a Google Doodle game, created to recognize the 66th anniversary of the Roswell, New Mexico UFO sighting.
Hitting the “Play” arrow on the Doodle launches an interactive game, where you need to help the alien retrieve the three missing parts to his spaceship that were lost when he crash landed on a farm.
You can use your mouse to click on the areas of the Doodle where you want the alien to walk to. You’ll need to pick up some objects along the way to help your martian piece his ship back together.
Google’s creative little game marks the 1947 Roswell UFO incident, when an unidentified airborne object crashed on a farm near Roswell, New Mexico. Many theories abound about what happened that night, but the most famous theory is that the object was a spacecraft containing extraterrestrial life.
Since the 1970s, the Roswell incident has been the subject of much controversy and conspiracy theories about the government covering up evidence of extraterrestrial life.
The United States government maintains that the debris recovered from Roswell were parts of an experimental high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to what was then a classified military program.
By Paul Thomson :: 2:58 PM
Reports are coming in that a passenger plane has crashed as it was preparing to land at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
The photo above shows the aftermath of the crash, posted to Twitter by Krista Seiden, who was boarding a plane at the airport when she witnessed the crash.
The plane, a Boeing 777 belonged to Asiana Airlines, and was arriving at San Francisco from Taipei.
Crash survivors have been seen using the plane’s emergency exit slides to escape the aircraft, and emergency crews have arrived on the scene.
The crash occurred about 2:30 PM, Eastern Time, and the airport is closed indefinitely while crews deal with the accident.
Video below, shot from the terminal, shows the aircraft lying adjacent to the runway, with the slides out, and smoke billowing from the side of the plane.
By Paul Thomson :: 11:07 PM
Officials have confirmed that at least 18, and possibly 19, members of a firefighting crew working on the Yarnell Hill fire on the outskirts of Phoenix have died.
The Arizona State Forestry Division had earlier lost contact with the group of 20 firefighters, but a water dropping helicopter spotted one survivor from the group.
Firefighters are working to contain what has been called the Yarnell Hill fire, a blaze which broke out two days ago on the northwest side of Phoenix. The fire has blackened 1,300 acres, damaged at least three homes and forced residents in the nearby communities of Peeples and Yarnell to flee their homes.
Several dozen other firefighters have been taken to nearby hospitals this evening with moderate to severe injuries, according to hospital officials.
As the fire continues to burn through the night, the Arizona Department of Transportation has closed a roughly 15 mile stretch of AZ State Route 89.
On Twitter, follow the #YarnellHillFire hashtag for continuing updates.