I remember those words from my childhood: "We are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by." The words were usually accompanied by a test pattern, and hopefully after a few minutes the station would "resume regularly scheduled programming."

Well despite our technological advances over the last thirty years, we still experience "technical difficulties" from time to time. At least the graphics have improved:

Aw, isn't he cute? The Fail Whale, as he's commonly known, shows up whenever Twitter is over capacity. Expect to see more of the big guy during the World Cup.

As adorable as the whale is, I don't quite get the accompanying message. "Too many tweets?" Yes, I know that means too many Twitter users at once, but the picture suggests the opposite problem—not enough "tweets."

"More birds! We need MORE BIRDS!"