# Is the Amazon AWS outage affecting you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663 "2021-12-07T20:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/61 "2021-12-08T07:43:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How hard is it to imagine some truly _life-threatening_ results of over-reliance on this kind of technology, when an outage like this happens? Have any serious horror stories been reported?   I don’t see any life-threatening results being reported, but a coronal mass ejection event could take down most of the internet for months, as well as damaging the GPS system and electric power grids. > **[A Bad Solar Storm Could Cause an 'Internet Apocalypse'](https://www.wired.com/story/solar-storm-internet-apocalypse-undersea-cables/)** > > The undersea cables that connect much of the world would be hit especially hard by a coronal mass ejection. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/62 "2021-12-08T12:47:52Z")
> In my house there’s this light switch that doesn’t do anything. Every so often I would flick it on and off just to check. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman in Madagascar. She said, _‘Cut it out.’_ ― Steven Wright ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/63 "2021-12-08T14:54:34Z")
Way off the OP topic, but when I was in college (late 80s) in NJ, I worked part time at a liquor store in a sketchy part of town. There was a separate NJ Lottery booth in the way back corner of the store. One night I was working the front register and a brand new hire was working the lottery booth. It was late and there were no customers in the store when two police officers came bursting in with hands on their holsters asking me if we were being robbed. I said no, there were no customers at all at the moment. One of the officers replied that someone had hit the silent alarm button multiple times. The woman working the lottery booth shouted out, “Is that what that button does?” The manager had not explained the alarm to her and in her boredom she just pressed it a few times. The officers were not amused. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/64 "2021-12-08T18:11:04Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > One of the officers replied that someone had hit the silent alarm button multiple times. The woman working the lottery booth shouted out, “Is that what that button does?” It’s too bad the silent alarm button doesn’t ring an annoying bell or something. What? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/65 "2021-12-08T18:26:13Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > It’s too bad the silent alarm button doesn’t ring an annoying bell or something. If all stores had a sound just _like_ an alarm that automatically went off every 5 minutes, the actual alarm would not need to be silent, because it would sound the same and the crooks would not know it was going off. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/66 "2021-12-08T18:31:45Z")
I couldn’t listen to my book through audible online yesterday. Thankfully I had a copy downloaded on my phone already. Other than that, no issues, Google provides all of my work services. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/67 "2021-12-08T18:42:09Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > If all stores had a sound just _like_ an alarm that automatically went off every 5 minutes, the actual alarm would not need to be silent, because it would sound the same and the crooks would not know it was going off. And the staff would be driven to madness hearing an alarm 12 times an hour for a whole shift. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/68 "2021-12-08T18:43:42Z")
Ok, every 10 minutes then. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/69 "2021-12-08T18:48:34Z")
Not funny. Trust me, retail environments are quite noisy and stressful enough without blaring noises DESIGNED to elicit adrenaline over and over and over… ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/70 "2021-12-08T22:17:30Z")
I wonder if that would be better or worse than hearing “It’s a Small World After All” every four minutes… ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/71 "2021-12-08T22:43:14Z")
I just checked with the major of [Manaus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaus) and he has told me the Amazon has just been flowing as always for the last days. It’s the end of the dry season and very humid. Nothing to see here, move on. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > So I would have had to turn each one off individually. There is a thread about first world problems you should report this to. > [@Riemann](#): > > If all stores had a sound just _like_ an alarm that automatically went off every 5 minutes, the actual alarm would not need to be silent, because it would sound the same and the crooks would not know it was going off. My neighbour had a car like that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/72 "2021-12-09T00:03:45Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > There is a thread about first world problems you should report this to. That was uncalled-for. Anyway, I didn’t say it was a problem; I was simply describing the way the Amazon AWS outage affected me, per the OP’s question. [![](https://c.tenor.com/v-RjQDM5XeEAAAAM/really-straight-face.gif) ](https://c.tenor.com/v-RjQDM5XeEAAAAM/really-straight-face.gif) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/73 "2021-12-09T04:55:19Z")
I remember this story. SFW > **[2,600 Crank Phone Calls Traced to Oil Heater](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-08-mn-54702-story.html)** > > For six months, Donna Graybeal of Billerica, Mass., waited for the phone to ring, and every 90 minutes, day and night, it did--no fewer than 2,688 times. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/74 "2021-12-09T08:17:37Z")
My apologies, I did not mean it like that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/75 "2021-12-09T19:17:36Z")
Ok. 🤓 ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/76 "2021-12-09T21:24:55Z")
I’m guessing those calls came from the company’s [**boiler room**](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/boiler-room) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/77 "2021-12-10T00:16:11Z")
Ba-dump! ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2021, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/78 "2021-12-10T06:12:25Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The manual switch obviously still worked. What i didn’t think to check is whether the buttons on the Alexa app on my phone still worked to control things, did you try that? Mine’s back online now, so too late to check. Unplug your router, so you still have Wi-Fi but no internet, and check? Tbh, I think it would be a terrible design choice to make internet access mandatory for such basic services… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/79 "2021-12-14T01:48:35Z")
AFAIK, Echo has just enough smarts to recognize “Alexa” – the rest is internet magic. I have noticed a noticeable lag with Alexa’s responses, not just in controlling the lights, when the internet connection is spotty. OTOH, I believe the Gosund app is strictly local – if my phone and the lamp still have a WiFi connection, I can control it through the app. I switched the bulbs from FEIT to Gosund when after an app update, the FEIT app would no longer connect with the bulbs, and Alexa couldn’t control them either. There were a slew of complaints in the Google store with the same complaint and after three weeks of email back and forth with FEIT and nothing helpful, I switched them out, threw them away, and for a while afterward would sharpie _Do not buy - app sucks_ on the boxes of bulbs in CostCo where I’d bought them. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663/80 "2021-12-14T21:20:34Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > AFAIK, Echo has just enough smarts to recognize “Alexa” – the rest is internet magic. The only exception I know to this is that alarms are stored locally on the device, which is a good exception to have, since I use my Echo as my morning alarm… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-amazon-aws-outage-affecting-you/955663.md?page=5)