Earlier today several competing social networks banded together to fight the DDOS attacks on their respective properties. Google and Facebook were able to keep the effects minimal while Twitter and others suffered periodic outages and severe slowness through out the day.

Max Kelly, chief security officer at Facebook, explained that the attack specifically targeted Cyxym, and was directed toward websites which he frequented or on which he held accounts, including his LiveJournal, where we find the first suggestion that there was a big target painted on his virtual back:

Cyxymu's LiveJournal page wasn't accessible, but a cached version showed that it was updated on Thursday with a message about the denial of service (DOS) attacks on his accounts on the US-based sites. "Now it's obvious it's a special attack against me and Georgians," the message in Russian said.

There is no word on exactly who was behind this attack and Kelly declined to speculate. But we wonder: Did Cyxym have a Gizmodo commenter account too or was the DDOS attack on Gawker Media an entirely unrelated coincidence? [CNET]

Since Orwell spent some time as both journalist and teacher, I suspect he may have found the idea of blogging his journals intriguing, on an educational level. As for what he'd have thought of our society, it's impossible to tell, though perhaps the proliferation of surveillance cameras (making "Big Brother is watching you" seem ever truer) would've struck a chord or two with the man.

I have a sneaky feeling he'd have disapproved of the Giz, though. Consider this guideline for good writing, one of six from his book Politics and the English Language: "Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." [Orwell Diaries via Laughing Squid]

It holds my laptop vertically, so it doesn't bend against the curve of my hip, and it doesn't bump into pedestrians when I hustle through crowded sidewalks. The corduroy lined laptop sleeve is built-in, has a velcro fastening strap, and its bottom is positioned slightly off the bottom of the actual bag, to protect your computer from shock. The bottom is rubberized, and the ballistic nylon shell is water-proofed from behind. The smaller pocket has room for business cards, pens, gadgets, and a red ribbon which I keep my RSA SecurID dongle on, with my keys. I trust it to keep Mr. Macbook from harm.

One complaint: I get thirsty running around press junkets, and could have done with an external sidepocket for holding a water bottle. Hit the jump for a picture of the inside of the smaller pocket. And if you have a comment account, let us know if you've come across any noteworthy bags.– Brian Lam

Blogger Bag[Timbuk2]