Tech
Microsoft suffers outage across US
Published
3 months agoon
By
Ekwutos BlogSeveral Microsoft services are down across the US, leaving Americans unable to check emails, chat with colleagues and perform other work-related tasks.
Downdetecor, a site that monitors online disruptions, shows issues began around 11am ET and are largely impacting Outlook.
Microsoft acknowledged the outage on social media, saying it identified ‘identified a potential memory management issue which may be responsible for causing impact.’
‘We’re obtaining memory dumps and logs from Outlook client telemetry data for analysis to determine our next steps,’ Microsoft 365 shared on X.
While the tech giant reported the issue was isolated in Europe and only to Outlook, users have shared that it is not.
‘It’s not exclusive to Europe, neither Outlook New: have seem issues with OWA today, with loading errors or things just breaking inside the page. What seems to minimize it is to clean the browser’s cache/cookies,’ an X user commented.
Downdetector’s website shows outages across the US, including New York City, Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
Approximately 91 percent of reported problems to Downdetector cite Outlook as the main issue, followed by server connection and login.
‘Outlook being down and glitchy on a work day is crazy,’ a user posted on X.
While another shared: ‘outlook is down everybody cheer.’
Thursday’s outage is the second to hit Microsoft in a month.
The last struck around around 7:50am ET on September 12 and was not confirmed by Microsoft until 11am ET.
The company attributed the cause of the issue to ‘a change within a third-party ISP’s managed-environment.’
A third-party ISP is an online service provider that is independent from the company that hires it.
By 10am ET, more than 90,000 users reported Microsoft service outages to Downdetector, a site that tracks online service outages.
But this is probably an underestimate, as not every affected user may have submitted a report.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform also said that they investigated customer reports of a potential issue connecting Microsoft’s services from AT&T networks.
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The wheels of an aircraft continue to spin and move immediately after takeoff.
Tech
The wheels of an aircraft continue to spin and move immediately after takeoff.
Published
6 hours agoon
January 4, 2025By
Ekwutos BlogThe wheels of an aircraft continue to spin and move immediately after takeoff.
Depending on the diameter of the tires, they may continue to spin between 1,500 and 2,000 rpm.
The captain must stop this rotation before the tires settle into the box, a task that is accomplished by different systems depending on the level.
Here is a brief explanation of how the wheels of an aircraft stop spinning
Most modern aircraft have automatic braking technology and devices to stop the wheels from spinning after takeoff, eliminating the need for pilots to use the brakes, as the automatic braking system works immediately after takeoff.
Passengers can feel the resulting vibration if they are sitting in the front and hear some intermittent noise immediately after takeoff.
Tech
Telcos push 100% tarrif hike, await NCC approval
Published
1 day agoon
January 3, 2025By
Ekwutos BlogNigerian telecommunications companies said they proposed a 100 per cent tariff hike to the regulator, the NCC, across voice, data and digital and are awaiting approval.
The proposal, which has been submitted, aims to address rising operational costs, including inflation and increased service delivery expenses.
The disclosure was made by the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday.
However, the CEO said that it remains uncertain whether the Nigerian Communications Commission will approve the proposal.
According to Toriola, the proposed tariff hike is necessary for the sustainability of the industry, which has been facing significant financial pressures due to rising operational costs.
“We’ve put forward requests of approximately 100 per cent tariff increases to regulators. I doubt they’re going to approve that quantum of increases because they are very, very sensitive to the current economic situation in the country,” Toriola said.
Despite the challenges, Toriola expressed optimism that regulators would make the right decision, taking into account the realities of the sector.
The CEO emphasised that the focus is on ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry, rather than short-term profitability.
“I believe we’re all on the same side, the policymakers, the regulators, our Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, and the industry. We’re united because we share concerns about a few fundamental issues. First, human rights, are critical to driving any economy. Without a sustainable industry, the broader economy and the well-being of the people will be negatively impacted.”
Tech
Top secret lab is developing the UK’s first quantum clock
Published
1 day agoon
January 3, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog- READ MORE: Google’s quantum chip can perform ‘impossible’ tasks in five mins
A top secret lab is developing a super-precise ‘quantum clock’ that could revolutionize British intelligence.
This super-accurate timekeeping device, to be rolled out by 2029, will allow more precise navigation and surveillance on Royal Navy ships and RAF planes.
It will also ‘enhance the accuracy of advanced weapons’ like guided missiles and give British computer boffins the edge over online adversaries like cyber criminals.
The clock’s precision will be so refined that it will lose less than one second over billions of years, allowing scientists to measure time at an unprecedented scale.
It is the first device of its kind to be built in the UK and will be deployable on military operations in the next five years, according to Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).
‘This first trial of advanced atomic clock represents a significant achievement in the UK’s quantum technology capabilities,’ said DSTL chief executive Paul Hollinshead.
‘The data gathered will not only shape future defence effort but is also a signal to industry and academia that we are serious about exploring quantum technologies for secure and resilient operational advantage.’
Quantum clocks use quantum mechanics – the physics of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic scale – to keep time with unprecedented accuracy by measuring energy fluctuations within atoms.
Quantum clocks are even more accurate that the ‘atomic clocks’, of which there are approximately 400 already in operation around the world.
The UK already has an atomic clock at the National Physical Laboratory in London, but this quantum clock will be the country’s first.
Nick France, CTO of Sectigo, told MailOnline: ‘A quantum clock is a type of atomic clock – essentially a super-accurate timekeeping device.
‘Atomic clocks work by measuring the resonant frequency of atoms, whereas quantum clocks measure very small energy changes (‘quantum fluctuations’) in these atoms, leading to increased accuracy even over super-accurate atomic clocks.
‘Atomic clocks currently are incredibly accurate anyway, but a quantum clock has accuracy levels where only a single second is lost in billions of years of operation.’
The British quantum clock will be ‘the first device of its kind to be built in the UK’, said the UK government in a statement, but it will not be a world first.
Back in 2010, the University of Colorado at Boulder developed a quantum clock with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.
However, key barriers to deploying quantum clocks are their size – current models come in a van or in a car trailer and are about 1,500 litres in volume.
Potential of quantum clocks
- Enable more precise and independent navigation systems, reducing reliance on GPS satellites, which are vulnerable to jamming or destruction in conflict scenarios.
- Secure communications systems, such as encrypted military networks, which depend on highly synchronised timekeeping.
- Enhance the accuracy of advanced weapon systems, like guided missiles, which rely on accurate timing to calculate trajectories and coordinate attacks.
- Allow Armed Forces to gain an edge over adversaries in timing-critical operations, especially in areas like cyber warfare, where milliseconds can make a difference.
Source: DSTL
Just like most quantum equipment, quantum also have sensitivity to environmental factors such as heat and air molecules, limiting their transport between different places.
‘Quantum clocks are not small like watches or alarm clocks,’ France added.
‘These are devices that in current implementations can be large, even room-sized devices.
‘However, improvements in technology will decrease the size of these devices making them more portable.’
Apart from just ultra-precise timekeeping, quantum clocks could transform global navigation systems by helping satellite communications and aircraft navigation.
According to DSTL, their quantum clock will enable more precise and independent navigation systems, reducing reliance on GPS satellites, which are vulnerable to jamming or destruction in conflict scenarios.
It will improve communications systems, such as encrypted military networks, which depend on highly synchronised timekeeping, as well as boosting the accuracy of advanced weapon systems like guided missiles, which rely on accurate timing to calculate trajectories and coordinate attacks.
What’s more, British Armed Forces will get an edge over adversaries in ‘timing-critical operations’, such as cyber warfare, where milliseconds can make a difference.
Cyber warfare refers to the actions by a nation-state or international organization to attack and attempt to damage another nation’s computers or information networks.
France told MailOnline: ‘Super-accurate timekeeping is important to governments and militaries to enable accurate navigation (using GPS or similar technologies) of planes and ships, but also guidance of weapons systems such as missiles.
‘Equally important to the military as well as civilians is secure communications.
‘Much of the secure communications for governments and the military relies on accurate time sources to function.
‘But equally these accurate clocks are useful for more civilian applications and general internet security, even securing your personal data as it’s transmitted around the internet.’
Companies and governments around the world are keen to cash in on the huge potential benefits that the spooky effects of quantum technology could bring.
Google last month unveiled a new quantum computing chip it said could do in minutes what it would take leading supercomputers 10 septillion years to complete.
Eventually, such a chip could power a ‘commercial’ quantum computer that could be purchased by members of the public and used in labs, offices and even homes.
These ultra-powerful machines, which use the spooky effects of quantum physics, could do everything from speed up AI, solve climate changeand discover lifesaving drugs.
WHAT IS THE ATOMIC CLOCK?
Atomic clocks have a timekeeping mechanism that use the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the excited states of certain atoms.
The devices are the most accurate system we have for measuring time, with consistent standards applied.
They are the primary standards for international time distribution services, and uses to control wave frequency for TV, GPS and other services.
The principle is founded in atomic physics, measuring the electromagnetic signal that electrons in atoms emit when they change energy levels.
Modern versions cool atoms to near absolute zero by slowing the atoms down with lasers. With temperature of atoms driving their accuracy.
Every few years a ‘leap second’ is added to atomic clocks, by effectively stopping them for a second, to keep them in line with Earth’s rotation speed.
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