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October 2025: AWS Outage, Explained

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On October 20, 2025, a major outage affected Amazon’s cloud service, Amazon Web Services (AWS). This outage created service interruptions on a global scale, impacting companies including Spotify, Zoom, and Canvas. Here is a recap of the AWS outage:

When did this outage start?

The AWS outage started at around 3 a.m. ET. (~1:28 MDT), after Canvas identified an issue “caused by an operational issue affecting multiple services at Amazon Web Services”. This outage affected companies including T-Mobile, Venmo, Google, PlayStation, Zoom, Fortnite, and Starbucks. It also affected social media, streaming apps like Spotify, food delivery services, and remote learning apps like Canvas.

How many apps and websites were affected?

The AWS outage affected millions of people worldwide. In fact, users reported problems with popular apps and websites like Netflix, Spotify, WhatsApp, and Zoom. Amazon’s Alexa, Kindle, Prime Video, and Ring products were also affected by this global AWS outage. Canvas experienced global outages that prevented students and teachers from accessing coursework and class dashboards. On October 20, 2025, at 3 a.m. ET, Canvas was officially down for maintenance. After the AWS outage occurred, Canvas users received this notification: “We are working on recovering as soon as possible. You can follow the status of the issue at AWS Health Dashboard and Instructure Status.”

An illustration showing a rocket with robotic arms, indicating a system maintenance notification for Canvas due to an ongoing AWS incident.

What caused this global AWS outage?

Specifically, Amazon attributed this outage to problems with its Domain Name System (DNS). Like a smartphone charger, DNS is crucial for loading websites and apps. According to Reuters, AWS said this issue originated from within the “EC2 internal network”. The EC2, Amazon’s “Elastic Compute Cloud” service, provides cloud capacity within AWS. Amazon’s cloud service, Amazon Web Services (AWS), supports power operations for government departments, schools, and the media. According to Ars Technica, this global AWS outage might cost billions of dollars because it disrupted over 28 AWS services.

What steps is AWS taking to monitor outages and work towards improving service continuity on the cloud?

According to PBS, AWS’s longest outage occurred in 2021, delaying services from airline reservations to video streaming services. (In 2023, there was another short AWS outage.) On October 20, 2025, at 3 A.M. ET, the third AWS outage occurred. This outage was resolved at around 4 P.M. ET. AWS implements preventative measures during operations meetings. By holding operations meetings weekly, AWS is constantly working on maintaining service continuity and monitoring incidents.

AWS posted this statement: “Although the likelihood of such incidents is very low, AWS is prepared to manage large-scale events that affect our infrastructure and services. AWS becomes aware of incidents or degradations in service based on continuous monitoring through metrics and alarms, high-severity tickets, customer reports, and the 24x7x365 service and technical support hotlines.”

Seraphinne Vallora’s AI Models in Vogue Issue: Chic or Disorienting?

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Seraphinne Vallora, a London-based editorial marketing company, used artificial intelligence to create two models: Vivienne and Anastasia. The photos of both AI models, used for the 2025 Guess ad campaign, are the center of conversations in the fashion industry and criticism from some consumers who were formerly subscribed to Vogue. Here’s the scoop:

Seraphinne Vallora’s AI-generated models, Vivienne and Anastasia, are featured in the August 2025 issue of Vogue USA Magazine. The small print on the 2025 Guess ad campaign photos reveals that Seraphinne Vallora used AI to create the models. After seeing both AI models in Vogue USA’s August 2025 issue, some consumers created social media posts to express their preference for seeing real people in magazines. Now, these AI-generated models are a topic of conversation about the impact of widespread images on normalizing beauty standards.

The co-founders of Seraphinne Vallora responded: “We are here to coexist together. We will always see photography, the stylist, and everyone involved in a photo shoot as incredibly important… The heart of fashion is photography. We will never challenge that. This (AI) is meant to supplement that, and add a new avenue of marketing.”

After making history as the first company to produce an ad campaign with AI models in Vogue USA’s August 2025 issue, Seraphinne Vallora posted this candid message:

This leads to two questions: Who gets to be visible in the world of fashion? Which beauty standards should be normalized? Dove’s campaigns, including the “reverse selfie”, challenge unattainable beauty standards in fashion by showing how digital filters on social media can lower the self-esteem of consumers.

As AI blurs more lines between real beauty and imitations, it impacts the image of beauty standards and representation. Guess and Vogue are receiving backlash for the AI Guess ad campaign featured in Vogue USA’s August 2025 issue. AI cannot replicate the emotional depth and substance of real engagement with consumers. For this reason, a balance between real beauty and technology is important for saving the future of fashion.

Do you support the use of AI in fashion, or do you think AI is a source of unrealistic beauty standards? Comment below!

Selena Gomez receives Emmy nomination, celebrates birthday

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With 425M+ Instagram followers, Selena Gomez is an influential pop singer, philanthropist, actress, and executive producer. Selena Gomez celebrated her birthday this week after receiving an Emmy nomination. ARTSNLA is covering a list of Selena Gomez’s achievements as a triple threat in the industry. Here is the recap:

MUSIC

Selena Gomez has over 39M Spotify listeners. With over 23 billion streams, Gomez is one of the most-streamed music artists on Spotify. “Lose You to Love Me” simultaneously peaked at No. 1 in Canada, the USA, and Ireland. Also, Gomez has 11 BBMAs nominations and 2 Grammy nominations (including a Best Latin Pop Album nomination for Revelación). Last year, Selena Gomez and Rema’s “Calm Down” received the Billboard Music Award for Top Afrobeats Song. The release date for Gomez’s upbeat fourth album is TBA.

ACTING

Selena Gomez plays the role of Mabel Mora in the Emmy-nominated series Only Murders In The Building. This year, Gomez and her team received recognition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Also, Emilia Pérez (film) received one of the all-time longest standing ovations. One of Selena Gomez’s first groundbreaking acting roles was starring as Alex Russo in “Wizards of Waverly Place”. We can confirm that a sequel to “Wizards of Waverly Place” will air this year. This sequel, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, will officially premiere on Disney+ and the Disney Channel. Selena Gomez, who is re-cast as Alex Russo, is also listed as an executive producer of this show. As of right now, the premiere date for this spin-off is TBA.

TELEVISION

Selena Gomez is an executive producer of 13 Reasons Why (Netflix) and Only Murders In The Building (Hulu). This year, Selena Gomez received an Emmy nomination for her acting role as Mabel Mora in Only Murders In The Building. Gomez joins a list of actresses including Ayo Edebiri, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig as nominees in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category. Gomez has a total of seven Emmy nominations, three Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, and two Golden Globe nominations.

FASHION

Selena Gomez is internationally recognized as a trendsetter. In fact, she has collaborated with Louis Vuitton and Coach. While Selena Gomez was Coach’s brand ambassador, she participated in events to show her support for “Step Up”—a company that encourages girls in communities with scarce resources to pursue education studies. She also launched an eco-friendly fashion line, “Dream Out Loud”, keeping sustainability in mind. Gomez also made headlines in April 2024 when she wore an all-pink ensemble while including the bare nails trend. At the 2024 SAG Awards, Gomez wore a custom-made Atelier Versace dress.

PHILANTHROPY

Selena Gomez is a long-time UNICEF ambassador. From performing at a sold-out benefit concert to participating in the UNICEF Tap Project, Selena Gomez has consistently shown her devotion to philanthropy. She has also made a positive difference through the Rare Impact Fund, which is connected to Rare Beauty’s vision to ensure more accessible mental health services can be provided. Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez has received recognition from Allure, Cosmopolitan, and Elle. On Instagram, Gomez announced that the Rare Impact Fund raised $15M for youth mental health supporting over 25 organizations. She also encouraged her followers to donate to the Rare Impact Fund. Read her announcement here:

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Recently, Selena Gomez shared an Instagram post including photos from her birthday celebration while also expressing her gratitude. Here is Gomez’s post:

Ash Ketchum leaves ‘Pokémon’ in 2023, new updates revealed

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After 25 years, Ash Ketchum is leaving Pokémon in 2023. Recently, new updates were revealed about season 26 of the Pokémon series. Here is the latest scoop:

During the finale of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys, Ash Ketchum achieved the feat of becoming a world champion at the Pokémon World Championship. Voice actor Sarah Natochenny, who is also the voice of Ash Ketchum, recently appeared on ABC to talk about Ash Ketchum’s iconic legacy. A former Junior Olympian, Sarah shared an inspirational message about achieving success:

“If you work hard enough and you’re kind and you make friends, you can achieve the highest heights,” Natochenny shared.

Natochenny also shared her thoughts on Ash Ketchum’s journey while adding that she, like many fans, is anticipating his return to the Pokémon series.

“There’s no evidence that he’s coming back but I don’t think that this is the last we’re going to see of Ash and I think that’s what I’m really holding on to… He still needs to become a Pokémon master and maybe we can see him do that,” Natochenny added.

On April 14, 2023, Pocket Monsters: Liko and Roy’s Departure premiered in Japan. Season 26 (Pokémon Horizons: The Series) is also expected to premiere in 2023 worldwide. This series features Liko, Roy, and Captain Pikachu. Fans are highly anticipating Ash Ketchum’s return, and there is a fan theory that he may return to the series as an adult. According to a Spring 2023 interview with Otomedia Magazine (via Dogasu), anime director Kunihiko Yuyama shared that he thinks Ash Ketchum may be returning to the Pokémon series. However, this is not an official confirmation. Stay tuned for more updates.