Always strive to learn something useful. --Sophocles

Now, I have to admit that I didn't know there was such a thing as smart beds. I'm not in the least bit surprised, but I didn't know it.

First, the problem. Amazon Web Services, AWS, had a DNS problem that clobbered a whole bunch of systems around the world that relied on processes running within their cloud services. We had problems at work in the library Monday and Tuesday, though those seem to be clearing up. The data center that had the problem is one of Amazon's oldest, and it's had serious problems before in 2020 and 2021.

(In short, DNS translates domain names, such as Amazon.com, into internet server addresses, such as 192.68.25.1, and sends data requests to the correct server. If it gets borked and you're a data packet, it becomes a lot more difficult to get where you need to go.)

This is why I'm an advocate of not having your IT system relying on cloud systems! But management likes to think they're saving money by putting stuff "in the cloud" where people have little direct control over things and security risks multiple. But whatever, as long as management is happy.

So, these "smart beds". They're made by a company called Eight Sleep. Not only do the beds cost $5,000, you pay $200-$500 annually for this bed to be connected to the internet so it can adjust its position, temperature, "provide soundscapes and vibrational alarms", etc.

GAH!

Whatever. I guess if you have the cash to throw $5K at a bed, go have fun. I'm not going to do it.

ANYWAY, when the DNS problem happened, and the bed could no longer talk to the spymothership, the beds freaked out (probably along with their owners), including some folding themselves double. Apparently Eight Sleep's programmers never considered a scenario where the beds lost connectivity and didn't design a fail safe mode for the bed to, you know, just be a bed. The CEO of the idioticsmart bed company said "...engineers were racing to build an outage-proof mode in the event of a future outage." Livestock, meet barn with open doors.

"Sorry, boss. I was late today because someone unplugged my bed."

I am going to laugh my butt off if this company goes bankrupt and all of those beds freak out or die when the servers get unplugged.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/cloud-computing/smart-beds-flipped-out-during-the-aws-outage-and-so-did-their-sleepy-owners/ar-AA1OYol8

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/22/1347211/smart-beds-malfunctioned-during-aws-outage

My first thought was 'AOL is still around?' Turns out that yes, it was. They had a terrible merger with Time-Warner, then were bought out by Verizon then are now owned by Yahoo? But they still exist. And until the end of September, will still have modem banks that people can access.

Modems? Modems are still made? I can't remember the last time I saw a modem in a store, much less connected to working hardware.

Apparently dial-up internet is still sort of big in rural areas, which makes sense. Not having DSL, much less fiber, dial-up is the best that can be managed. After AOL shuts down its modem banks, dial-up will still be available from Earthlink, Juno, MSN, and NetZero, and probably other smaller, local ISPs.

https://www.tomshardware.com/service-providers/network-providers/aol-will-end-dial-up-internet-service-in-september-34-years-after-its-debut-aol-shield-browser-and-aol-dialer-software-will-be-shuttered-on-the-same-day

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/10/0626249/aol-finally-discontinues-its-dial-up-internet-access---after-34-years

In a variation on swatting, you can now go online, ask if people live in a particular city, and offer money to enact revenge on particular targets. $3,000 for tire slashings, throw bricks through windows, etc. Typically a slogan is shouted so the victim knows why it's being done. You need to arrange for someone to video you doing it so the buyer knows they're getting value for their hard- (and probably illegally-) earned money. Probably need to arrange for a getaway driver, too.

Lovely world we're evolving in to, eh?

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/09/violence-as-a-service-brickings-firebombings-shootings-for-hire/