US government shutdown kicks NASA and other agencies off the internet

As the US federal government furloughs an overwhelming number of employees, the websites they manage are going dark as well. The FTC, USDA, NASA, Library of Congress, and other agency sites have been turned off completely, and others are being updated periodically or not at all. With all non-essential personnel off duty, there's almost certainly nobody home to man the sites, and redirecting to a splash page doesn't take much work. But the stark, mournful notices are effectively a protest as well, creating an online graveyard reminding us of what's no longer running. We're sorry, but we will not be tweeting or responding to @ replies during the government shutdown. We'll be back as soon as possible! — CDC Emergency (@CDCemergency) October 1, 2013 Some sites have opted for a simple sentence or two explaining why they're not running. "Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available," says NASA. Others let you know exactly what you're missing: the FTC informs visitors that they can't file consumer complaints or register for the Do Not Call list. If you send a FOIA request, the FTC can't process it. The Library of Congress is closing everything except, perhaps ironically, its legislative information sites THOMAS and Congress.gov.