Denver was ground zero for CenturyLink's recent network outage, and it can be explained by a Mickey Mouse movie [telecom]

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A Sorcerer's Apprentice - cascading "packets" of bad data - swamped the company's system. What can be done to prevent such a disruption again?

By Aldo Svaldi

ATMs failed in Idaho, Wyoming delayed lottery results, and 911 call centers in Washington, Arizona, Missouri and other states struggled with busy signals, dropped calls and missing location information.

At the Northern Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, staff couldn't access vital patient records online. And in parts of New Mexico and Montana, Verizon faced service disruptions through no fault of its own.