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Skype Outage Hassles Millions of Users
Multiple sources are reporting that Microsoft's popular messaging and voice chat application Skype has been hit by a severe service outage.
The problem seems to be a bug in the application which affects users from seeing each other. Microsoft has stated that they have found the cause of the problem and is slowly working to restore service, however at the time of this writing it seems that a number of global users are still affected.
Link to official Skype status: Skype Heartbeat.
I've been planning to move away from Skype for a while, but its popularity is making it somewhat difficult (akin to the Facebook dilemma: everyone uses it, why switch?) and this outage has underscored the need for redundancy, especially for some things that users view as essential for connectivity. What other similar applications can Soylent recommend?
AWS knocks Amazon, Netflix, Tinder and IMDb offline in MEGA data collapse
Amazon's Web Services (AWS) have been hit by a monster outage affecting the company's cloudy systems, bringing many sites down with it in the process.
The service disruption has hit AWS customers including Netflix, Tinder and IMDb, as well as Amazon's Instant Video and Books websites.
The outage may also explain Airbnb's current service woes. Airbnb is an AWS customer.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday September 22 2015, @06:23AM
What other similar applications can Soylent recommend?
Every iPhone and every Android comes with a face to face video calling capability. So why add Skype?
Even Facebook has video chat.
I don't know a single individual that uses Skype.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Tuesday September 22 2015, @06:38AM
We need a mod +5 old ;) I kid, sorta... I still know some people on skype and I log on about 1x a month to say hi, but otherwise its a dying platform that microsoft is trying to suck dry.
~Tilting at windmills~
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 22 2015, @08:17AM
It may be news to you, but there are people who don't use a smartphone (and anyway, can an iPhone user communicate with an Android user using the built-in face-to-face functionality?)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 22 2015, @08:40AM
Or someone on his/her laptop? Most folks I know use skype (and Google+, and a couple of other similar services) for work calls occasionally when away from the office.
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Tuesday September 22 2015, @01:55PM
ORLY? I have an Android phone SG3, care to enlighten me on the video calling app?
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday September 22 2015, @06:43PM
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/video-chat-in-android,news-21297.html [tomsguide.com]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Tuesday September 22 2015, @08:04PM
Link does not support your claim.
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Tuesday September 22 2015, @08:07PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday September 22 2015, @08:27PM
"Comes with" implies if you go to the store and buy and android device it will come with Google Hangouts pre-installed.
There was a time when there was a different app available to do the same thing, (it was called Google Talk) and the article
was written at the time of transition.
But today, you would be hard pressed to find an Android device without that app. And if you want to put every Google app in some kind of quarantine you won't buy and Android device, and might have to use Apple, or a dumb cell phone. But then if you have that mentality, you would also put Skype in quarantine because it is already back doored both to Microsoft and the NSA.
So you would end up just calling your friends to maintain privacy, and give up the idea of video calls. Oh wait... That won't work either. Stingrays!
So your mind set can't tolerate any of these chat solutions, and you have no business posting on this thread.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Wednesday September 23 2015, @06:08PM
And your comment was written yesterday.
Wow, forget to take your meds today?
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday September 23 2015, @07:09PM
And your comment was written yesterday.
Why yes, yes it was, and there is no need to download anything, because every Android and IOS smartphone sold today, or yesterday, comes with a video chat application pre-installed. Its been this way for well over a year.
Wow, forget to take your meds today?
Yes. Yes I did forget. Thanks for reminding me. My blood pressure does tend to rise when suffering fools.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by DutchUncle on Tuesday September 22 2015, @04:10PM
... and I bet you were using Skype *before* it was cool.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday September 22 2015, @06:47PM
I was using skype when it was Estonian.
Now that the NSA bought it for Microsoft, I just don't see the point.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Qlaras on Tuesday September 22 2015, @06:55PM
So when I have a Windows Phone, you've got an Android and Bob over there has an iPhone...how do we all talk since FaceTime and Google Hangouts are proprietary and only available for their OS? So we all have to live within someone's walled garden ecosystem to communicate, and to hell with 'choice' of phone manufacturer...
(Yes, I know Skype for non-Android Linux has kinda died off...its about the only exception to the "runs everywhere" mantra of Skype)
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday September 22 2015, @07:08PM
Hangouts is cross platform.
Facebook video chat is as well.
There are others, but they are less well known.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.