Our own account looks fine—we were shipped something on Monday and Tuesday of this week—but that's just anecdotal. Our own call to Blockbuster communications to check on the situation went unanswered. How does yours look? Keep in mind that you not getting something shipped in a timely manner could also mean they're throttling your account, which is especially true if you've been shipping stuff in and out really fast lately. [Thanks Michael!]

Apparently the outage affects 1/3 of their customers, to whom Netflix is trying to figure out the best way to refund some cash. They're still not sure what the root of the problems are, so in essence, they have no idea how to fix it. Be prepared for a few more days of outages, unless it turns out that it's a super easy fix that's much harder to diagnose than to repair. Your Bernie Mac marathon will have to wait. :( [CNBC via Valleywag - Image Credit]

So is anyone picking up the 901? [Newegg via I4U]

Seriously, how does this happen? I know a lot of shipping is automated these days, but was there not a single person along the way who noticed that a package was going out with only a bag inside? Rush, no less! And how many times do things like this happen? It's probably not an isolated incident if a writer from a prominent Apple blog happened to be on the receiving end of it. If you're wondering where all those surcharges on your AT&T bill are going to, consider it a "We're a poorly run company" tax to pay for garbage like this. [TUAW]

As I said before, the problem with shipping tiny objects in large boxes has very little to do with the extra cardboard included in the box, which is easily recyclable. While sometimes these boxes are full of Styrofoam peanuts or some other environment-raping material, the real damage being done by this shipping method is in the transit itself.

When a company like Dell or Amazon is shipping out thousands of small objects in large boxes every day, it takes up room on UPS and FedEx trucks. Clearly, many more trucks need to be on the road, consuming gas and pumping CO₂ into the atmosphere, to get these to where they need to go. If padded mailers or more appropriately sized boxes were used, it would allow for many more to fit in each truck, cutting down on the greenhouse gases emitted every day by shipping companies.

What we need are promises from online retailers that they'll start being smarter about how they send things. I don't expect there to be a perfectly sized box for every item you sell; it's never going to be perfect. But with electronics getting smaller and smaller, it just makes sense to have small boxes on hand that can fit things like thumb drives, memory, cables, CDs and other such products. Oftentimes, padded mailers can be used for items unlikely to be damaged during transit, such as thumb drives.

Who will be the first retailer to make a strong commitment to responsible shipping? One that will take this problem seriously and not just provide lip service while they continue to fill gas-guzzling UPS trucks with boxes that are 90% empty? It's a problem that demands attention. Even if it's not the most glamorous or exciting thing in the world, having a company who ships as many things as Amazon or Dell commit to a more responsible practice would have a serious impact on the amount of gas being consumed and CO₂ being pumped into the atmosphere. Let's make this happen.

Thanks to everyone who submitted shots to the Hall of Shame!

Such idiotic shipping practices also waste space on trucks and planes, requiring more trips, therefore more fuel used and more pollution. And it's not like this is something that we haven't seen Dell do before. Think about it: how many thumbdrives could fit in a UPS truck in boxes like these? What about if they were in boxes that were sized more appropriately? There would be a huge difference. And with most online retailers shipping like this, it's a problem that could be easily solved.

Let's shame them into changing. Next time you receive a tiny object shipped in a gigantic box, snap a picture of it and send it to me. Nothing helps change harmful policies like a healthy dose of bad press. [Consumerist via Treehugger]

"The rear wheels of their forklift hit the raised surface at the entry door of the warehouse, causing the forklift to rock, and subsequently causing the server to rock," says T.R. Systems in court papers filed last month. So far, so fuck-up by T.R. Systems, no?

"As a result of the rocking motion, the base of the pallet and the crate broke and the crate fell onto the curb, damaging the server packed inside," it continues. Er, you said "Packed," didn't you? Admit it, it's down to your own clumsiness.

Er, no. The company goes on to claim that "the damages sustained by T.R. Systems was due to the poor workmanship and/or defective packaging design and methods used by IBM." In short, the palletized crate was not "strong enough to support the substantial height and weight of the server." And to add insult to injury, IBM refused to send technicians to repair the seven-figure piece of kit, or take back the damaged server.

IBM has vowed to defend itself "vigorously" during the case. [InformationWeek]

No word on if this was packaged by the same people who made the Mommy Furniture.– Ben Longo

How not to ship a plasma TV [Geekologie]

The big launch event will be held on November 30 at the NASDAQ Stock Market in midtown Manhattan and the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will reportedly be there, and it was unconfirmed whether he would be jumping up and down wildly, screaming and yelling.

Since we all love XP so much, this Vista thing is bound to be even better. Spread the love, spread the love. – Charlie White

It's official: Vista and Office 2007 to launch November 30 [ITWire]

Product Page [Apple]
iPod Shuffle v.2 to hit shelves any day now [MobileMag]

Not much to say that we haven't already said about the slim Samsung SGH-i320 Smartphone, except that it's now about to be unleashed, ready to hit the streets and get up in the face of the Motorola Q for a Battle Royale of the Alpha smartclones smartphones.

A near-clone of the Motorola Q, it has a 2.2-inch LCD, 1.3-megapixel camera and a microSD slot, and its 11.5mm thickness exactly matches the Q, too. Heck, from spitting distance, you might think someone was holding a black Q. That must've been the general idea.

Although the SGH-i320 missed its Q2 ship date announced at 3GSM in Barcelona in February, it will surface in parts of Europe this month, with the rest of Europe and Southeast Asia getting it shortly after that. Samsung's not telling when it will be available in the United States. – Charlie White

Samsung SGH-i320 Smartphone Gets FCC Approval [MobileMagazine]

"First deliveries started late last week. It's gradually becoming available across the globe," Pekka Isosomppi, spokesman for Nokia's Enterprise division, told Reuters.

So that's good to know. Anyone out there had an "in-the-wild" sighting?

Gizmodo E61 Coverage
Nokia starts shipping BlackBerry rival [Reuters]