I was having issues reaching any of the roots, and any of the TLDs for .com and .net. I tested them directly, and had no luck. I was merely looking to see if anything was broken elsewhere in the world to see if it was just my network so I could diagnose things a bit better. XO's problem eventually got fixed (relatively), and I was suddenly able to get answers from the roots/TLDs again over Verizon Business/UUNET/MCI/WORLDCOM/whatever, and Qwest after about 45 minutes. I have found no explanation for the loss of connectivity as of yet. I found it strange that I had issues reaching the name serves even after shutting off XO, so that's why I asked... Some of NANOG folks have been helpful and kind, some not, but I read NANOG a lot, and I'm not surprised. :) Thanks....I guess. Erik Amundson