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Tell HN: Azure outage

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Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#671

Post by fy20 »

tcmart14 wrote: post #411
david422 wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC, the grocery chain I worked for used to have an offline mode to move customers out the door. But it meant that when the system came back online, if the customers card was denied, the customer got free groceries.

Yea, good old store and forward. We implemented it in our PoS system. Now, we do non PCI integrations so we arn't in PCI scope, but depending on the processor, it can come with some limitations. Like, you can do store and forward, but only up to X number of transactions. I think for one integration, it's 500-ish store wide (it uses a local gateway that store and forwards to the processors gateway). The other integrat…

In many places it's also possibly just a left over feature from older times. I worked at a major UK supermarket in the mid-00s, and their checkout system had this feature. But it was like that because that's how it was originally built, it wasn't a 'feature' they added.

Credit card information would be recorded by the POS, synced to a mini-server in the back office (using store-and-forward to handle network issues) and then in a batch process overnight, sent to HQ where the payment was processed.

It wasn't until chip-and-PIN was rolled out that they started supporting "online" (i.e. processed then and there) card transactions, and even then the old method still worked if there was a network issues or power failure (all POSes has their own UPS).

The only real risk at the time was that someone tried to pay with a cancelled credit card - the bank would always honour the payment otherwise. But that was pretty uncommon back then, as you'd have to phone your bank to do it, not just press a button in an app.

Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#672

Post by vachina »

bethekidyouwant wrote: post #661
foresterre wrote: post #464

It still surprises me how much essential services like public transport are completely reliant on cloud providers, and don't seem to have backups in place. Here in The Netherlands, almost all trains were first delayed significantly, and then cancelled for a few hours because of this, which had real impact because today is also the day we got to vote for the next parlement (I know some who can't get home in time befor…

You are not getting more 9’s rolling your own

At least I get to control when the 0.01 happens.

Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#673

Post by heroic »

vasco wrote: post #562
tempestn wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electronic voting and mail voting are very different things though.

They both share the fact that you don't see your vote enter a ballot box.

In India we have electronic voting and we get to see our vote going in the ballot box.

Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#674

Post by wodenokoto »

DontBreakAlex wrote: post #480
conductr wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is voting there a one day only event? If not, I feel the solution to that particular problem is quite clear. There’s a million things that could go wrong causing you to miss something when you try to do it in a narrow time range (today after work before polls close) If it’s a multi day event, it’s probably that way for a reason. Partially the same as the solution to above.

In europe, voting typically happens in one day, where everyone physically goes to their designated voting place and puts papers in a transparent box. You can stay there and wait for the count at the end of the day if you want to. Tom Scott has a very good video about why we don't want electronic/mail voting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3_0x6oaDmI

We do mail voting from embassies or consulates when abroad.

Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#675

Post by ehnto »

Sammi wrote: post #626
speakfreely wrote: post #623

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Voting seems like one of the few problems that blockchain is actually the solution for.

Nope. Blockchain has no anonymity.

You don't have to attribute any name to the transaction, just a voting booth ID and the vote. The actual benefit is just that it is hard to tamper and easy to trace where tampering happened.

But I still prefer the paper vote and I usually a blockchain apathetic.

Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#677

Post by edoceo »

vasco wrote: post #562
tempestn wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electronic voting and mail voting are very different things though.

They both share the fact that you don't see your vote enter a ballot box.

Is it possible to trace your own vote after? There has to be a technical solution to ensure that your own vote was counted

Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#678

Post by vitorgrs »

christkv wrote: post #541
jfengel wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, hours-long lines are routine. Not everywhere, but poorer places tend to have fewer voting machines and longer lines. We've been closing a lot of polling places recently: https://abcnews.go.com/US/protecting-vote-1-5-election-day-p...

Voting machines slow down voting from what I understand

At least in Brazil, that's not the case. You get there to vote, and it doesn't take longer than 5 minutes to leave the place.

Re: Tell HN: Azure outage

#679

Post by bobro »

peanut-walrus wrote: post #537
iso1631 wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd think that Starbucks execs would be held accountable for the fragile system they have put in place. But they won't be.

Why? Starbucks is not providing a critical service. Spending less money and resources and just accepting the risk that occasionally you won't be able to sell coffee for a few hours is a completely valid decision from both management and engineering pov.

Or maybe we should throw them in jail.
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