CNET reports that Facebook has confirmed that they were also dealing with a “denial of service” attack, and Gawker experienced server problems earlier this week. Daily Intel smells a rat. The San Francisco Chronicle is calling it a national security issue. So what actually happened? We’ll let CNET’s expert explain:

DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks typically come from a collection of compromised computers called a botnet, said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Internet security firm Sophos. The botnet computers can inundate a Web site’s servers with communication requests, legitimate or malformed to cause extra trouble.

Or, for those pop culture savants who are less technically-inclined, botnet = the Death Eaters, your computer = Hogwarts, and Twitter = Dumbledore. At least temporarily.

And for the non-converted who are rolling your eyes right now, check out PC World’s piece on Why This Twitter Outtage Matters. In short: “The outcry over the Twitter outage is indicative of just how far the social network has come in terms of overall reliability, and also illustrates just how many people depend on Twitter as a source of information, or entertainment, or communication.”

If you’ve ever seen or even heard of a reality show on Bravo known as NYC Prep, then you will appreciate this video. Camille’s big head and hairline are spot on. Keli is hysterical (especially when PC slaps her across the face). PC is… himself. Jessie’s characterization is a little mean, but still a riot. Sebastian’s intonations and hair-adjusting are just right, and poor Taylor is just boring, per usual. Make sure to stay tuned for the celebrity cameos at the end.

Related link: NYC Prep Meets Yearbook Yourself

1. District 9 (August 14)
We have to admit, we wanted to see this one just to figure out exactly what the hell is going on in that trailer. Lucky for us, it seems as though our curiosity is well founded. Variety reports, “Though compelling throughout, ‘District 9′ never becomes outright terrifying, largely because Blomkamp [the director] is less interested in exploiting his aliens for cheap scares than in holding up a mirror to our own bloodthirsty, xenophobic species.” Sounds deep. And with Peter Jackson’s name attached as a producer, we’re guessing this one will do well.

2. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (August 7)
Shockingly, Cinemablend is reporting that G.I. Joe is receiving relatively good early buzz. Is it possible? If this is true, and the film isn’t going be a total flop, then the person who made the trailer should be executed. We think we’ll wait until after the opening weekend to buy our tickets, but there’s no telling if all this heartland marketing noise will work or not. In the meantime, we suggest you watch this G.I. Joe instead.

3. Inglourious Basterds (August 21)
After Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 double feature, Grindhouse, disappointed at the box office by taking in $25 M domestically, he (and apparently the Weinsteins) really needs this film to do well. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they should be nervous: “The film is by no means terrible — its two hours and 32 minutes running time races by — but those things we think of as being Tarantino-esque, the long stretches of wickedly funny dialogue, the humor in the violence and outsized characters strutting across the screen, are largely missing.” But then there’s also Brad Pitt, who managed to rake in over $100 M playing an old man baby. This one could go either way.

4. Julie & Julia (August 7)
This film, about TV-cook and author Julia Child, and Julie Powell, a woman who many years later decides to recreate all 524 recipes in Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, looks sure to delight. And we’ve been reading it about everywhere. However, according to a review published yesterday by the Associated Press, we may be a little disappointed. “The Julia parts are a delight, but the ones about Julie? More like an annoying distraction,” reports the AP. Darn. We’ll have to think hard about spending $12 to go see only half of a good movie.

5. The Time Traveler’s Wife (August 14)
Although there are no reviews yet available, we think this one looks promising. The book was a bestseller (and Oprah approved!), which is a good indicator, and there hasn’t been a big romantic flick for adult females so far this summer. Plus, we’re Eric Bana fans, even if he doesn’t have the best box office record. Hopefully this turns out to be more of a Star Trek than a Funny People…

So, we’ve gathered the contenders and presented you with the evidence. What movie do you think will be August’s biggest hit?

• If you’re in New York: Don’t miss the premiere of Comix’s new show, “What’s So Funny?“  The show features comedians, who sit on a couch after their performance, and get “analyzed”  by comedian/psychologist Mark Bellace, PhD.

• If you’re in Los Angeles: Get a sneak preview of the new documentary about screenwriting, Tales from the Script, which features many prominent and successful screenwriters talking about their successes, failures, and the untold stories behind some of the greatest screenplays ever written.

• If you’re in San Francisco: Check out Ratio3 Gallery’s new exhibition, Safe Word, which is hosting some of artists Danny Keith, Amanda Kirkhuff, Takeshi Murata, Francine Spiegel, and Anthony Viti’s responses to the production and representation of extreme kinkiness.  

• If you’re in Chicago: Go catch Wooden Wand, James Jackson Toth’s most lively work to date, in which he spikes each turn with a different folk-rock element, be it a moody, rumbling chorus or an unexpected burst.

• If you’re in New York: Check out a screening of Je, Tu, Il, Elle, a 1974 film by Chantal Ackerman, who also stars as part of writer Sarah Schulman’s Queer/Art/Film series.

• If you’re in Los Angeles: Celebrate the release of NextAid’s charity CD, Funk Aid for Africa, compiled by DJ OBaH, by dancing the night away at Afro-Funke’s weekly Afro-boogie extravaganza.

• If you’re in San Francisco: Check out Pearls Over Shanghai, a revival of the first musical production of San Francisco’s gender-bending troupe, the Cockettes.

• If you’re in Chicago: Go see folk-rocker Josh Ritter perform with Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons. Ritter, who meteorically rose to fame with his 2002 album, Golden Age of Radio, has been compared to the greats Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

An article published by The Wall Street Journal reports that Stephen King and his publisher, Simon & Schuster’s Scribner, will sell 1,500 signed, special edition copies of his new novel at a whopping $200 each. If the rumors are true, this means that King will pocket about half of the profits.

On a side note: Check out the official plot synopsis for Under the Dome, taken from King’s website, below:

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens —t own newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing — even murder — to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.

Is it just us, or does this sound a heck of a lot like The Simpsons Movie? You can order that online for just $15.98, and we found a signed, first-edition copy of Song of Susannah-the Dark Tower VI for just $100. That leaves you $84.02 to go crazy with.

* Actually, the more we look around, the more we’re starting to think this could be a chance for you to make some money. Most of the the signed, first-edition, hardcover Stephen King books we found online retailed for around this amount, and we’re assuming these will do even better because of the relatively small quantity. Does anyone know how something like this would appreciate?

Friðgeir Helgason's "Economic Slide," courtesy of Gallery Skart

This photograph is part of Friðgeir Helgason’s current art show, Nordic Mood which is up at Gallery Skart through the end of this month. Nordic Mood takes the viewers journey through Iceland, Helgason’s birthplace and native land, which emphasizes the vastness and loneliness of a place that most of the world knows little about.