I finally got a subscription to CNN Pipeline today so I could stay updated on the Virginia Tech shootings. A friend of mine from high school is a grad student there. I knew she was okay as of 11:45. I couldn’t get in contact with her directly since obviously the network down there was very overloaded. I did get in contact with another friend who had talked to her though. She was in lockdown in her office until 1:30 when the police came through her building and released them. At first they were saying this is the worst school shooting in US history, but as the numbers kept getting higher, that has been changed to say that this is the worst shooting in US history, period. I remember being in high school when Columbine happened and all the tvs were set to watch CNN in the classrooms there. That seemed unreal at the time, and this seems even more unreal, despite my knowing someone there. I can’t even imagine what this will do to her memories of college later.
Just as a plug for CNN Pipeline, you can download their “premium player” to watch right from your desktop. It also has a “mini mode” that shrinks the video a bit and keeps it on top of your screen so you can work and watch simultaneously. $25/year is not bad at all. I don’t know why I never got it before since I am definitely an online news junkie. I don’t get a newspaper or watch tv or listen to the radio so this is the only way I get information, and I usually check CNN’s website about 10 times a day any way.