Xbox Live, Zune services down today

So for the life of me I couldn't get my "picks" to update. Maybe I'm the only one, or maybe it hit just a few, but maybe the extended maintenance on the Zune side has something to do with this?

And, yes, I do understand the concept of cum hoc ergo propter hoc...

But conspiracy theories are so much fun! I guess it'll be single player Viva Pinata: TIP or Too Human(I love the game, so sue me!) tonight... I'm really happy the Zune Software uses podcast RSS for distribution instead of storing them all in the Marketplace. I'll be able to get fresh podcasts tonight for tomorrow's commute to work without having to worry about the downtime.

"Behold the power of the Microsoft Entertainment Division. XBox Live and Zune Services go offline and the stock market drops." As does Apple's....I guess when competition goes away, shareholders get scared. ;)

Plays taps for the U.S. Economy, Xbox Live, Zune Services, Apple's stock price and the Republican party. Wow, what a freaking day! I'm glad I don't depend on Xbox live or Zune services. I just hope Microsoft does make it up for the Xbox live and Zune users. I understand the need for maintenance but this just doesn't feel right. On an off topic note, $777.68 Stock Market Drop. Unbelieveable.

subzero Realistically, although today's being tagged as "Biggest Point Drop Ever!!!" in big headlines, it's still a less than 7% drop. And it's percentage that counts.

whiplash It was the Democrats who created the bi-partisan compromise bill and the House Republicans that killed it. I do enjoy, however, watching the most partisan group of politicians in the last 30 years (the post-Reagan Republicans) continue to say "Bi-partisan means we say what to do and you do exactly what we say" even after their days of power have ended...

I guess I do have to interject that the Democrats have majority in the house and Senate, and if they wanted this bailout passed they could have done it last week. And from what I see, a huge chunk of Democrats voted against this bill. So it's more of a bipartisan alliance defeated a lousy corporate bailout and stopped a federal takeover of the finical system. Thank God! let the market drop and flush out the riff raff. The real value of the market will be revealed and then we can go forward. / I am sooooo sorry for going off topic!

Master3 The Democrats don't have a 60+ majority in the Senate so nothing can pass without bipartisan support.

So watching the economy fall apart is the solution? Allowing the credit markets to fully seize up is the answer? Oh yeah, lets just watch 1929 repeat itself and all the hardship and misery. Yeah, thats the answer the voters want to hear. Sorry, I would rather put a band aid on it and keep working for deeper reforms and new regulatory laws as part of a deeper package. Thats how it works. We stop the bleeding, make the repair or rebuild, and let things heal. Not just watching the markets tumble.

Why rush into the largest bailout in American history? I realize that something needs to happen, but to socialize the financial system is not the answer. I won't pretend to know the answer...I'll leave that to Mike Galos...after all, he has the answer to everything. I like the idea of giving us, the taxpayers, a stake in it. If they are going to take $3,000 - $5,000 of my cash to pay for it, I want a return on that investment. Too many corporate execs get golden parachutes...why shouldn't we? Heck...I'd take half of what this guy got for 17 days of work - http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/09/22/daily55.html @SacredCow - sounds like you're a Republican...better watch out...Mike and the Canadian will be checking your spelling. ;-) --tayme

Idea - Lets get some of those elitist actors and professional athletes to foot the bill. Or take Warren Buffet's advice...pay fair market value for the failing banks, instead of the inflated "hold to maturity" price. --tayme

One thing to keep in mind, this will not mean 700 billion out of the taxpayers (our kids) pocket. Much of this is a guarantee of loans which are mostly sound. The vast majority of mortgages are being paid on time even the "sub-prime" ones. This "bail-out" is being proposed to stop a panic in the world financial markets, bail-outs in the past, such as Chrysler in the early 80s actually netted a profit for the government. Most of this money will be made back in time and frankly a major economic collapse is going to cost the government and taxpayers far more in the long run.

Two things: The Bush gov't would take a major stake in the companies that they plan to bail out, as is part of the agreement. That means that a good percentage of the taxpayer money collected would (and I would bet on it) easily be earmarked for their own pockets. They stand to profit by the rebuilding of a market in which they caused to collapse. (On a side note - that's the current theme of Prison Break....coincidence?!) You'd think the American public would've already learned that Bush is doing the same thing with oil stocks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Second, the market failed due to lack of regulation over companies that were approving over-inflated mortgage loans for homebuyers that couldn't afford them. How the he11 do you think those are going to be paid back quickly?! The gov't is bailing out the companies with taxpayer money. So who bails out the homeowners that couldn't afford those loans in the first place?? Those same taxpayers??? Seems to me this is a Band-Aid on a multiple amputation from an industrial accident. (Doc should like that analogy) This isn't just a slap in the American public's face by the Bush gov't - it's like Cheney got trigger-happy with the buckshot again.

Waethorn, when was the last time a bin laden tape was made? I certainly haven;t heard or seen of one in a long, long time. Even so, by the time it gets to Al Jazeera, it will have changed hands many times, making it hard to track. As for a single Al Jazeera station? you do realise they're quite a large news company, don't you?

"Waethorn, when was the last time a bin laden tape was made?" Not that long ago. Something like a few months ago another Al Sahab tape was made. "Even so, by the time it gets to Al Jazeera, it will have changed hands many times, making it hard to track." Even so, they'd still be able to weed out several layers of Al Qaeda members and associates. "As for a single Al Jazeera station? you do realise they're quite a large news company, don't you?" Most of the tapes (both video and audio) came into a single station from Al Sahab (Al Qaeda's media group).

From the same article: "Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits."

No Mike that was the NY Times talking point in *1999*. There certainly is plenty of blame to go around, and only a true partisan would believe otherwise.

@Dip - Remember, Mike is right...you are wrong...he will be victorious at any cost...even if he needs to make things up along the way. Regarding the blame - you are right...there is plenty to go around. Including the people who went out and took loans that they could not afford, whether or not they were offered. Personal responsibility has got to come into play here... --tayme

Seriously It was a bit pathetic for the GOP to say about 9/11, "We've only been in office for 1/6th of a term so despite being warned about this by the transition team and every intellegence agency, it's not our fault" but to say about the financial crisis, "We've only been in office for 1.9 terms so it's not our fault" is probably a new record for pathetic.

tayme "You are like a spoiled little kid that has to get the last word in, right or wrong and will NEVER admit when he is wrong." Let's see. Who is it who dropped to name calling and personal attack when disagreed with rather than discuss an issue? Oh, right...

@Sacred Cow, I don't believe government isn't the answer for everything, however I do believe government action is necessary before the credit markets completely freeze up. Ron Paul is partially right, but deconstructing the Federal Reserve system is wrong and I completely disagree with Congressman Paul on this point. The conservatives always cry let the free markets work with out government interfering. They've had that for 7 and half years and look where we are. Its clear that the markets, Wall-Street, and Washington is hopeless broken. However, just standing around and walking into the next recession or depression is not the answer. I think this attitude of just let these institutions fall is completely flat wrong. It will lead to a colapse of the credit system, job losses, and a greater tragedy. The reason we are living beyond our means is because of the Republican philosophy of the Ownership Society. They deregulate and allow these chief financial officers of businesses to have insane salaries. They don't offer any oversight or regulation to provide check and balances on the financial system. I think the last 8 years are proof that tricke down, no regulation economics DOES NOT WORK! I'm not happy with bailing out these banks, but leaving them with these toxic mortgages is not the solution. Instead of no action, which is what happened in 1929, we need to act like FDR did in 1933. We saw this from 1929-1933, when President Herbert Hover didn't do anything sustantive to fix the economic situation. All of the people screaming no bailout, are ignorant of history and what happened when we let institutions fall. They are ignorant of what happened when government let the market correct itself. It can't. The situation has gone too far. We need some sort of goverment action, regulation, oversight, and checks with balances to rebuild the financials in a responsible way. So with all due respect, I disagree with you 110%. I will let history educate and remind you of what happens when the ignorance of mainstreet and Republican philosophy interferes with what should be done.