> I could not reach www.cypress.com, slashdot.org, newsforge.com,
> www.foxnews.com.  Trace routes to these servers gets a ways and then times
> out.  Anyone else seeing this?
>
> It is a curious thing to me when these things happen.    A site that
produces
> close to real time status of the net, outages and such, would be
interesting
> to look at.  Is there such a place?

You can try
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/main.htm

Usually *BIG* outages, like those involving backhoes, trains or planes that
cripple hundred of fiber strands, are mentioned on the NANOG mailing list.
http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/

Smaller outages (you know only a few hundred thousand users) aren't usually
'announced' anywhere -- usually just a handful of technicians enjoy that
sinking feeling in their stomach.
If you get crazy, you can try some of the public routing 'looking glasses'

http://www.traceroute.org/#Route%20Servers
telnet://route-server.colt.net
http://eng.nac.net/lookingglass/
http://lg.above.net
http://lookingglass.wcg.net
telnet://route-views.oregon-ix.net (this is very nice)
http://www.traceroute.org (lists a lot of looking glasses)