TECHNOLOGY: Our old friend “network load balancers”

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15210077/reality-internet-meltdown-amazon-aws.html

The alarming reality EXPOSED by the global internet meltdown… and why Amazon’s crash is only the beginning

By HARRIET ALEXANDER, US SENIOR FEATURES WRITER

Published: 15:37 EDT, 20 October 2025 | Updated: 08:35 EDT, 21 October 2025

*** begin quote ***

By 11:43am ET on Monday, over eight hours after the first sign of trouble, Amazon sounded optimistic that the end was in sight.

‘We have narrowed down the source of the network connectivity issues that impacted AWS Services,’ the company said. ‘The root cause is an underlying internal subsystem responsible for monitoring the health of our network load balancers.’

They said they were deliberately slowing some services ‘to aid recovery’ and were still ‘actively working on mitigations.’

*** end quote ***

 Having once ran an IT tech support group for AT&T PBXs, I sympathize with the poor souls with an impossible task.  Six 9’s is the standard   —  .999999 reliability — that’s about 3 seconds of downtime per year.  Sometimes you just need to lucky.  And, you better have a fantastic testing strategy since every change that’s introduced into this tech version of Jenga has the potential to bring down the whole shaky stack.

End Users need to plan for those outages which as in this case can last for hours.  

Hopefully we never have one of those Carrington Events (an intense geomagnetic storm on September 1, 1859) which could cripple our civilization.  

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ConspiracyTheories: Was Malcolm X killed by the NYC PD?

Sunday, July 30, 2023

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12342955/Malcolm-X-assassination-witness-claims-never-interviewed-cops-heard-police-ask-gunman-saw-supporters-beating-him.html

Malcolm X assassination witness claims he was never interviewed by cops and heard police ask if gunman was ‘with us’ after they saw supporters beating him

  •     Mustafa Hassan, 84, on Tuesday told a press conference in Manhattan for the first time how he was present when Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965
  •     Hassan said he was never interviewed by police, despite confronting the man who pulled the trigger – Talmadge X Hayer
  •     Hassan said he leapt on Hayer, who later admitted to the murder at trial, and heard a group of NYPD officers asking: ‘Is he with us?’ 

By Harriet Alexander and James Gordon For Dailymail.com
Published: 02:08 EDT, 27 July 2023 | Updated: 03:44 EDT, 27 July 2023

*** begin quote ***

A member of Malcolm X’s security detail on Tuesday spoke for the first time since the civil rights leader’s assassination 58 years ago, and claimed he heard NYPD officers ask if the man convicted of the murder was ‘with us’.

*** end quote ***

On my “Conspiracy Theories” meter I’d rate it “4. Plausible”.  

I remember in 1965, that Malcolm X was regarded badly in the press and political world.  He was (imho correctly) pointing out the flaws in society (e.e., liberal meddling; the drug war; Viet Nam; racist police; and black poverty).

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was targeted by the powers that be.

Not that I agreed with all that he espoused, but he was an icon.

This assertion, while it MAY be true, comes 58 years too late to be credible.  Again imho.

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INTERESTING: Didn’t anyone think about tructural fatigue from repeated trips?

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12228753/Underwater-survival-expert-says-materials-used-Titan-sub-tried-simply-didnt-work.html

Underwater survival expert reveals OceanGate’s biggest ‘red flags’ and says the unconventional combination of materials used to build its doomed Titan sub was NOT innovative because ‘it’s been tried and simply didn’t work’

  •     Rachel Lance, a Duke University biomedical engineer and underwater survival expert, on Thursday said OceanGate was using technology proven not to work
  •     Lance told CNN that the carbon fiber hull was already widely discredited, despite OceanGate’s CEO hyping it as innovative and safe
  •     She said some of the vessel’s design materials ‘were already large red flags to people who have worked in this field’ 

By Harriet Alexander For Dailymail.com
Published: 22:44 EDT, 23 June 2023 | Updated: 03:57 EDT, 24 June 2023 

*** begin quote ***

He also said in 2020 that the hull had ‘showed signs of cyclical fatigue’. 

Carbon fiber is prone to delamination, the process whereby a material fractures into layers while put under pressure.

Cameron said: ‘The way it fails is it delaminates. You have to have a hull, a pressure hull, made out of a contiguous material like steel, or like titanium, which is the proven standard.’

*** end quote *** 

When I first heard about the disastrous failure and that they had been running “tours” since 2021, I immediately wondered how they were dealing with “material fatigue”.   Anyone, who has unbent and recent a paperclip know that suddenly the clip just fails breaking apart.  When dealing with the tremendous pressure (i.e., the weight of the water above you pressing down), the material must flex every time it goes down and back up.  

Surprising it didn’t fail sooner.

Requiescat In Pacem.

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BIGOTRY: Time “Top Chef” was “Chopped” for Religious Bigortry

Monday, December 12, 2022

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11514361/Christian-group-reservation-cancelled-TV-chef-Brittanny-Andersons-restaurant-hits-back.html

Conservative Christian group whose reservation was cancelled by TV chef Brittanny Anderson’s restaurant hits back at ‘stunning’ display of ‘religious discrimination’

  • Family Foundation of Virginia booked a table at Metzger Bar & Butchery, a German-themed restaurant in Richmond, Virginia, for November 30
  • The restaurant is co-owned by TV chef Brittanny Anderson, known for her shows Top Chef and Chopped
  • An hour and a half before their reservation time, they received a call saying they were no longer welcome
  • They said that staff would be made ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘unsafe’ by the presence of the pro-life group, which rejects gay marriage
  • On Wednesday the CEO of Family Foundation of Virginia condemned the Metzger owners and management for ‘religious discrimination’ 

By Harriet Alexander For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:03 EST, 7 December 2022 | Updated: 00:36 EST, 8 December 2022

*** begin quote ***

The head of a conservative Christian group whose reservation was cancelled at the last minute by a Virginia restaurant, citing their views on abortion and LGBTQ issues, has accused the owners of ‘religious discrimination.’

Virginia Cobb’s group, Family Foundation of Virginia, intended to dine on November 30 at Metzger Bar and Butchery in Richmond, Virginia – a German-themed restaurant co-owned by TV chef Brittanny Anderson of Top Chef and Chopped.

Yet 90 minutes before their reservation, a staff member called someone on Cobb’s team to say they were no longer welcome – forcing them to scramble to find an alternative venue for the 15-20 people to gather.

*** end quote ***

How come when a baker won’t make a gay cake or a web designer won’t make a gay website, they wind up in the “legal system”?

Now, as gun owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I have no problem with people discriminating.  Folks do it all the time.  It’s “heuristics” aka “rule of thumb”.  

I do have a problem when the Gooferment gets involved.  Hence some discrimination it politically incorrect and gets punished.  Other peolitically correct discrimination goes under the radar.

Perhaps, “We, The Sheeple” might want to use the “invisible hand” of the marketplace to weigh in on the decision.

Wasn’t this a “breach of contract”?

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RANT: Finally somebody is DOING something and it’s not taking forever and costing billions

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11107887/We-wait-longer-Arizona-Governor-Doug-Ducey-starts-building-6m-makeshift-border-wall.html

‘We can’t wait any longer!’: Arizona Governor Doug Ducey starts building $6m makeshift border wall using barb-wire topped shipping containers that will be completed by NEXT WEEK

  • Arizona spans more than 370 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, and has seen 430,342 migrants detained so far this year in their two sectors
  • The Yuma sector of the border is the third-busiest for migrant crossings: only Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio, both in Texas, have seen more arrivals 
  • On Friday, the Republican governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, who is running for re-election in November, announced he was building a makeshift border wall
  • Ducey said that his state had run out of patience with Washington DC and was taking matters into their own hands, with a wall of 60 shipping containers

By Harriet Alexander For Dailymail.com and Associated Press
Published: 01:10 EDT, 13 August 2022 | Updated: 06:49 EDT, 13 August 2022

*** begin quote ***

Arizona began moving in shipping containers to close a 1,000-foot gap in the border wall near the southern Arizona farming community of Yuma on Friday, with officials saying they were acting to stop migrants after repeated, unfulfilled promises from the Biden administration to block off the area.

‘Arizona has had enough,’ tweeted Doug Ducey, the Republican governor of the state, who is up for re-election in November.

‘We can’t wait any longer. The Biden administration’s lack of urgency on border security is a dereliction of duty.’

*** end quote ***

I feel for two groups of people.  OK maybe three.  First, the poor people of the USA who are competing for job with illegal aliens and suffering from the crime wave that comes with them Second, the poor people of the world trying to come to the USA illegally and are risking their live and paying the Cartels a small fortune to be smuggled in.  Third, and finally, “We, The Sheeple” who are paying for the politicians and bureaucrats to grandstand and all the social costs of illegal aliens.

Argh!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The SWAT team searched for key? Are you serious … …

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10857101/Texas-school-shooting-cops-restrained-parents-trying-save-kids.html

Harrowing footage emerges of desperate parents being restrained by cops while school shooter was inside locked classroom with their kids for up to ONE HOUR while SWAT team searched for key

  • Salvador Ramos arrived at Robb Elementary School at 11.30am on Tuesday morning after crashing his truck 
  • A school resource officer at the scene failed to stop him from making his way inside and barricading himself
  • He locked himself in a fourth grade classroom where he shot dead 19 kids and two of their teachers 
  • It took police at least hour to breach the classroom to shoot him – and it’s now claimed they needed a key to get into the room 
  • As they struggled to get him inside, desperate parents were held back from the school by cops with tasers
  • In new video, police are shown restraining one frantic man who asked them why they weren’t in the school 
  • ‘We’re taking care of it!’ yelled one officer who was holding parents back from the scene 
  • One law enforcement official anonymously revealed cops took so long to get into the classroom because they needed a key 
  • It was only when a staff member found one for them that they got inside, according to NPR 

By JENNIFER SMITH, CHIEF REPORTER and HARRIET ALEXANDER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 08:40 EDT, 26 May 2022 | UPDATED: 10:17 EDT, 26 May 2022

*** begin quote ***

Timeline of a massacre: How events unfolded in Uvalde, Texas
11:32am Gunman arrives at the school after shooting his grandmother. She survived and called 911, telling them he had fled.

At the school the gunman encounters a school resource officer.

It’s unclear if he tried to shoot him but the gunman was able to make his way inside and barricades himself into a fourth grade classroom

11:43am: Robb Elementary School posts to Facebook that the campus has gone under lockdown due to gunshots in the area.

Parents rush to the scene

12.17pm: The school posts on Facebook that there is an ‘active shooter’ on campus

1.06pm:The Uvalde Police Department reports the suspect is ‘in police custody’ after police broke into the classroom.

By then, 150 cops had descended onto the scene but it took 90 minutes for them to get to the shooter and stop him

Shocking new video has emerged showing Texas cops restraining parents as they tried to rescue their kids on Tuesday after a gunman unleashed terror inside the elementary school, as questions grow over why it took so long to get to the shooter after the first 911 call.

Salvador Ramos, 18, arrived at the school in Uvalde at 11.30am, crashing his car into a ditch.

A school resource officer was at the scene but he failed to stop him from making his way inside.

Two other cops also rushed to the school at that time – Ramos had just shot his grandmother in the face at their home less than five miles away. She survived and called the police.

When they arrived, Ramos is said to have shot at them then ran into the school, where he barricaded himself in the fourth grade classroom and shot 19 kids and two teachers dead.

It took another 90 minutes from that point for police to declare the shooting over.

*** end quote ***

The “fog of war” seems to have begun to clear.

I’d like to read an “after action report”.  Seriously, “waited to find a key” sounds like “the dog ate my homework”.

I still am waiting to hear if the young criminal was on SSRIs. 

In any event, why was it so easy to get into the school. And, I thought that Texas was one of the States that armed teachers. 

The “school resource officer” was not very helpful.  

As painful as it will be to the parents, I hope someone is seriously looking at the video and taking note what could be dome NOW to prevent the next copy cat.

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