OpenDNS not properly resolving ask.mefi?

September 19, 2009 12:48 AM

It's late and maybe I'm not thinking this one through enough but all of a sudden ask.metafilter.com redirects an ip that seems to be owned by opendns hosting a page that looks an awful lot like the google homepage: PING metafilter.com (174.132.172.58): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 174.132.172.58: icmp_seq=0 ttl=111 time=81.331 ms
PING metafilter.com (208.69.36.231): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 208.69.36.231: icmp_seq=0 ttl=54 time=71.790 ms
Is this just me going crazy behind my gritty contacts or has anyone else had this problem tonight?
posted by mce to Bugs at 12:48 AM (34 comments total)

I noticed that the entire site was down earlier for a few minutes. Maybe you're seeing lingering DNS issues that have yet to have been resolved on your ISPs servers?

Please also never rule out the possibility that you have indeed gone crazy. Since you're crazy your capacity for judging that you're crazy has been incapacitated so you'll need to be sure to rely on our judgment. At any rate go try ipconfig /flushdns then ipconfig /registerdns.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:52 AM on September 19, 2009

The status page noted a planned half-hour outage at 11pm Pacific time; that might have led to OpenDNS being overly helpful & leading you to a search page.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:53 AM on September 19, 2009

Ah, that is much more likely.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:54 AM on September 19, 2009

It's very possible that you've got your dilithium crystals interfering with your chakra. Set your midichlorians detector back to zero and put the crystals in a Pack of Endless Pockets (try the AH in SW. PST if you need gold).
posted by eyeballkid at 12:57 AM on September 19, 2009 [3 favorites]

Whatever you do, don't cross the streams.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:03 AM on September 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

I used one of my chakras as an emergency derailleur when my bicycle lost the Force. I just left it there because I was already one with the universe anyway.
posted by Burhanistan at 1:07 AM on September 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Don't cross the streams. You wouldn't like them when they're cross.
posted by aubilenon at 1:13 AM on September 19, 2009

Whatever you do, don't cross the streams.

Agreed. The back spray is terrible.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:13 AM on September 19, 2009

AskMe, Mefi, & MeTa are all currently at 174.132.172.58, & 208.67.219.230 is google.navigation.opendns.com. Re-reading what you posted, they sent both addresses, & your computer automatically went to the second when the first didn't work. In order, clearing your DNS cache, restarting your browser, or rebooting should resolve this.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:26 AM on September 19, 2009

No, Pronoiac is wrong. Totally wrong. Don't follow his advice. You are going crazy and probably need to reset your brain. If you think too fast, your brain starts to overheat. This leads to a swelling in your brain neurons due to a sudden influx of sodium through heat stressed voltage-gated ion channels. In order, putting an icepack on your forehead, drinkubg some whiskey, and then reseating your brain stem to better fit your spinal socket should resolve this.
posted by Mister Cheese at 1:48 AM on September 19, 2009 [3 favorites]

Just in case you didn't get this, 'drinkubg' is not an error. It's actually an archaic Germano-hispanic command for 'consume a dollop and a half of.' I've been reading some books from the late 1700's and it just slipped out.
posted by Mister Cheese at 1:53 AM on September 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: You are going crazy and probably need to reset your brain.
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:25 AM on September 19, 2009

Wait! Are you trying to read Metafilter without having a trepanation first?

Quick, grab a drill before your head asplodes.
posted by qvantamon at 4:29 AM on September 19, 2009

It's very possible that you've got your dilithium crystals interfering with your chakra.

Please ignore this terrible advice. Your chakra is infinite and incorruptible, and the idea that dilithium crystals could have any effect on it whatsoever is contemptible heresy.

Anything that might lead opendns to route you to a search page rather than MetaFilter is only a slight disturbance down there on the physical plane, and will be quickly fixed by the apparent forward flow of time. Rest assured that the site is eternal and pure.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:25 AM on September 19, 2009

Rest assured that the site is eternal and pure.

Unfortunately, the only way to access it is with these filthy, filthy fingers, which are made of meat.
posted by felix betachat at 6:30 AM on September 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you construct a pyramid and put your computer under it, it will protect your computer from random tachyon rays that may inadvertently redirect you to the wrong IP address.

Or it won't rot.

One of those.

Either is good?
posted by elfgirl at 6:32 AM on September 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

We did a windows update during the slowest MeFi time which was Friday evening. It went pretty much according to plan but there may have been a hiccup resulting in this. Everything is OK now?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:12 AM on September 19, 2009

RESPECT THE OUTAGE!
posted by blue_beetle at 7:44 AM on September 19, 2009

* hiccup *

Oh, sorry.
posted by yhbc at 7:44 AM on September 19, 2009

Huh weird, so OpenDNS sends their known reported IP, then always sends their own as a backup. Anytime you hit a site that is down or doesn't exist, you get a generic OpenDNS page. We were down for a half hour or so, so that's the time you hit it.

Interesting to find out how they always send people to their generic placeholder page, I always wondered how that worked.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:54 AM on September 19, 2009

> Everything is OK now?

Aside from two useless wars, deepening class divide, ever-worsening schools, for-profit prisons, a pathetic health care system, continuing racism, sexism, and homophobia, and my personal lack of sufficient income, yup, everything's hunky-dory!
posted by languagehat at 8:02 AM on September 19, 2009 [8 favorites]

For some values of everything.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:18 AM on September 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is why you should not use OpenDNS.
posted by Nelson at 8:20 AM on September 19, 2009 [6 favorites]

I used one of my chakras as a favorite.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:21 AM on September 19, 2009

I just left it there because I was already one with the universebagel anyway.

Common mistake. Same shape.
posted by loquacious at 8:52 AM on September 19, 2009

Yes, I have the discipline of a drunken cat.
posted by loquacious at 8:52 AM on September 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Reporting problems you get from your use of OpenDNS is the networking equivalent of saying "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." Well, don't do that, then!
posted by grouse at 9:47 AM on September 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

For me it's OpenDNS or Comcast DNS. Or I suppose I could use MCI's public DNS servers... 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.1.. but..
posted by iamabot at 10:13 AM on September 19, 2009

aside from opendns being more reliable than my current provider's name servers things do seem to better. Crisis averted, yay!

Oh, oh god - one other thing... what does one do about these filthy, filthy fingers made of meat?
posted by mce at 11:13 AM on September 19, 2009

Oh, oh god - one other thing... what does one do about these filthy, filthy fingers made of meat?

Please prepare a nice tikka marinade in a ziploc bag. Tie the bag around your hands. I'll be by in the morning to take your fingers.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:39 PM on September 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

Or I suppose I could use MCI's public DNS servers... 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.2.. but..

Please do! They are the lowest-latency public-facing servers you are likely to have access to.

OpenDNS is neither Open nor DNS. Their servers are ridiculously high-latency (Comcast's are somewhat slower when accessed internally), they aren't geographically distributed at all, and they are peered exclusively with the slowest and least-connected Tier-1 (NTT/Verio).

On top of that they poison DNS for profit. I hope their heads fall off.
posted by blasdelf at 2:57 AM on September 20, 2009 [3 favorites]

Their heads are made of meat, also.
posted by flabdablet at 6:13 AM on September 20, 2009

sam says:

Just so you know those backbone addresses are for the Go-mint and the copses. You will all be pushed to these select IPs for DHCP so they can track you moves. True DHCP will die. Static IP and select (read traceable) DHCP is the way of the future.
posted by flabdablet at 6:20 AM on September 20, 2009

DHCP? I think you mean DNS.
posted by oaf at 6:53 AM on September 20, 2009