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?
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: 2) by frojack on Tuesday September 22 2015, @06:39PM
Please, if these were hacking attacks the companies would be falling over themselves to proclaim "SEE IT WASN'T OUR FAULT."
I've actually never heard any company make that claim, because everybody knows its STILL their fault.
But I've seen many companies be very circumspect about outages, and the reasons for them, and then fess up months later that they were hacked.
This is the third ground stop American has had this year alone.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.