‘I’m having a great day’: AWS outage offers some a brief glimpse of a tech-free existence
Workers were sent home, exams were delayed, coffee machines had to be turned on manually and language app users feared their hard-won progress was lost as a result of the global outage of Amazon Web Services on Monday, as some made light of their briefly tech-free existence.A glitch in the AWS cloud computing service brought down apps and websites for millions of users around the world affecting more than 2,000 companies, including Snapchat, Roblox, Signal and language app Duolingo as well as a host of Amazon-owned operations.Many of the sites were restored after a few hours, but some experienced persistent problems throughout the day.By Monday evening, Amazon said all of its cloud services had “returned to normal operations”.But amid the chaos affecting vital services around the world, some more unexpected consequences arose.
Amazon workers posted videos of themselves on TikTok relishing a slower work day, with some dancing in quiet warehouses, while others told CNN they had been sent home.“Working for Amazon Flex we’ve been sent home due to their systems not being able to check us in or release us with pay.Because of this outage there’s no telling if the 80 of us here are going to be paid,” James from Texas told the network.Tiffini in Florida said she was hoping to start her Amazon delivery route at 3.30am but the systems were down.
“I submitted a ticket but there has been no confirmation that we will get paid for the blocks that we missed due to Amazon’s system issues this morning.”Other social media users described facing delays to medical and vet appointments, while some customers using Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, faced issues with their smart homes.“I use Alexa-enabled smart plugs to control the lamps in my room,” Christina, who uses crutches to get around, told CNN.“During the outage my smart plugs became unresponsive.Before I realised why the plug wasn’t working, I tried unsuccessfully to reset one of them.
Now I can’t get it to work at all,”Some Alexa users, however, were quick to make light of the outage,“Due to the Amazon outage, Alexa wasn’t working this morning, so I had to stumble out of bed in the dark, find my way to the kitchen, and turn the coffee-maker on MANUALLY,I can’t live like this,You guys go on without me,” one X user posted.
“I had to turn on my light by hand without Alexa’s help.Rough start to the day,” another posted to Reddit.Some avid users of Duolingo, which records how many days in a row a customer has practised, known as “streaks”, were beside themselves with anxiety about their progress.Some threatened to “riot” if their streak was lost, others complained their 900+ day streak had reset to zero, while one poster on X took aim at Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos.“If I lose my 1,300-day Duolingo streak because of the pissing AWS [Amazon Web Services] outage, I will personally throw an egg at Bezos’ bald head.
”Duolingo reassured customers on Tuesday their streaks would be safe.PSA: your streaks will be saved! thank you for your patience 💚🔥 #awsoutage pic.twitter.com/tYvfLwzikJFor some, meanwhile, the outage of web services such as Canvas – an education tool – was cause for celebration.“Can’t grade on Canvas because Amazon Web Services is experiencing an outage.
I love not being able to do my job lol,” wrote one BlueSky user.“My midterms are inaccessible,” wrote a Reddit user.“I’m having a great day.”
Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk’s chair and six other board members step down
The chair of Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk, Helge Lund, and six other board members are stepping down in a surprise shake-up, after a row with the company’s majority shareholder.The Danish manufacturer of the blockbuster anti-obesity jab, and the diabetes drug Ozempic, said Lund, the vice-chair, Henrik Poulsen, and five independent board members would quit at an extraordinary meeting on 14 November.The move comes after Novo Nordisk ousted its chief executive, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, in May.The pharmaceutical firm has been battling a slowing rate of profit growth and a drop in its share price, after losing ground to its US rival Eli Lilly, which makes the Mounjaro and Zepbound injections. Clinical studies have shown that Mounjaro is more effective in causing weight loss than Wegovy
Why thousands are queuing for hours in central Sydney to buy gold
Prakas buys a bit of gold every year, always on a Saturday, for the Hindu festival Diwali. This year, thousands of gold-hungry Australians and a record-breaking price surge got in the way.“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he says. “Maybe I’ll just buy a smaller version … if I can’t afford [it] … just to fulfil the tradition.”The Nepali Australian man made the hour-long trip into Sydney’s CBD on Saturday to buy gold – then turned around when he saw the 400-person queue snaking across Martin Place
Salesforce’s CEO backtracks after saying Trump should send troops into San Francisco
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host and editor, Blake Montgomery. What I’m watching this week: South Park’s caricature of Peter Thiel and his obsession with the antichrist. Read our reporting on the show’s inspiration: Thiel’s bizarre off-the-record lectures on the subject. And now, let’s get into things
UK women in tech: we would like to hear from you
The Lovelace Report 2025 in collaboration with WeAreTechWomen has found that between 40,000 and 60,000 women leave the UK’s tech sector every year, costing the economy an estimated £2 billion to £3.5 billion annually.They either exit the industry altogether or move to a new tech employer. An estimated £1.4 billion to £2
Louis Rees-Zammit recalled to Wales squad after NFL experiment
Louis Rees-Zammit is in line for an international comeback for Wales next month, 21 months after abandoning the sport to try his luck in American football. Rees-Zammit, now 24, is among 39 players named in the first squad to be picked by the new national head coach, Steve Tandy.The British & Irish Lions wing, who won the most recent of his 32 caps at the 2023 World Cup, made the switch to American football in January 2024 but ended up not featuring in a competitive NFL game. He returned to union in August when he joined the English Prem side Bristol.Rees-Zammit has missed his club’s past two games with a foot injury but he is not expected to be a long‑term absentee
Jack Nicklaus wins $50m verdict in defamation case over LIV Golf allegations
Jack Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion, has won a $50m verdict in a defamation case against his former company, bringing an end to one of golf’s most bitter business feuds.A jury in Palm Beach County, Florida, found that Nicklaus Companies – the firm he founded and later sold – defamed him by spreading false claims that he had considered a $750m offer to become a public face of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League and that he was no longer mentally fit to manage his business affairs. The six-person jury ruled that the company’s actions damaged the 85-year-old’s reputation and exposed him to “ridicule, hatred, mistrust, distrust or contempt”.The verdict came after four and a half hours of deliberation. Nicklaus embraced family and friends in the courtroom after the decision
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