diff --git a/apis/ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/ec2/compute/EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java b/apis/ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/ec2/compute/EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java
index e26a487b67..3c2d3819ab 100644
--- a/apis/ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/ec2/compute/EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java
+++ b/apis/ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/ec2/compute/EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.jclouds.compute.BaseComputeServiceLiveTest;
 import org.jclouds.compute.domain.NodeMetadata;
+import org.jclouds.compute.domain.OsFamily;
 import org.jclouds.compute.domain.Template;
 import org.jclouds.compute.options.TemplateOptions;
 import org.jclouds.compute.predicates.NodePredicates;
@@ -159,12 +160,16 @@ public class EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest extends BaseComputeServiceLiveTest {
 
       String group = this.group + "e";
       int volumeSize = 8;
+      
+      final Template template = context.getComputeService().templateBuilder().hardwareId(InstanceType.M1_SMALL)
+               .osFamily(OsFamily.UBUNTU).osVersionMatches("10.04").imageDescriptionMatches(".*ebs.*").build();
 
       Location zone = Iterables.find(context.getComputeService().listAssignableLocations(), new Predicate<Location>() {
 
          @Override
          public boolean apply(Location arg0) {
-            return arg0.getScope() == LocationScope.ZONE;
+            return arg0.getScope() == LocationScope.ZONE
+                     && arg0.getParent().getId().equals(template.getLocation().getId());
          }
 
       });
@@ -174,9 +179,6 @@ public class EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest extends BaseComputeServiceLiveTest {
       Snapshot snapshot = ebsClient.createSnapshotInRegion(volume.getRegion(), volume.getId());
       ebsClient.deleteVolumeInRegion(volume.getRegion(), volume.getId());
 
-      Template template = context.getComputeService().templateBuilder().locationId(volume.getRegion()).hardwareId(
-               InstanceType.M1_SMALL).imageDescriptionMatches(".*ebs.*").build();
-
       template.getOptions().as(EC2TemplateOptions.class)//
                // .unmapDeviceNamed("/dev/foo)
                .mapEphemeralDeviceToDeviceName("/dev/sdm", "ephemeral0")//
@@ -223,8 +225,8 @@ public class EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest extends BaseComputeServiceLiveTest {
       return instance;
    }
 
-   protected void cleanupExtendedStuff(SecurityGroupClient securityGroupClient, KeyPairClient keyPairClient, String group)
-            throws InterruptedException {
+   protected void cleanupExtendedStuff(SecurityGroupClient securityGroupClient, KeyPairClient keyPairClient,
+            String group) throws InterruptedException {
       try {
          for (SecurityGroup secgroup : securityGroupClient.describeSecurityGroupsInRegion(null))
             if (secgroup.getName().startsWith("jclouds#" + group) || secgroup.getName().equals(group)) {
diff --git a/providers/aws-ec2/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptions.java b/providers/aws-ec2/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptions.java
index 5ef9dc6e4f..1e9864e0b4 100644
--- a/providers/aws-ec2/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptions.java
+++ b/providers/aws-ec2/src/main/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptions.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public class RequestSpotInstancesOptions extends BaseEC2RequestOptions {
     * time and remains active until it expires or is canceled.
     */
    public RequestSpotInstancesOptions validFrom(Date start) {
-      formParameters.put("ValidFrom", service.iso8601DateFormat(checkNotNull(start, "start")));
+      formParameters.put("ValidFrom", service.iso8601SecondsDateFormat(checkNotNull(start, "start")));
       return this;
    }
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public class RequestSpotInstancesOptions extends BaseEC2RequestOptions {
     * persistent, it remains active until it is canceled or this date and time is reached.
     */
    public RequestSpotInstancesOptions validUntil(Date end) {
-      formParameters.put("ValidUntil", service.iso8601DateFormat(checkNotNull(end, "end")));
+      formParameters.put("ValidUntil", service.iso8601SecondsDateFormat(checkNotNull(end, "end")));
       return this;
    }
 
diff --git a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/compute/AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/compute/AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java
index 26c7c4891b..feccab95e5 100644
--- a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/compute/AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java
+++ b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/compute/AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest.java
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ import com.google.common.collect.Sets;
  * 
  * @author Adrian Cole
  */
-@Test(groups = "live", sequential = true, testName = "AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest")
+@Test(groups = "live", singleThreaded = true, testName = "AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest")
 public class AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest extends EC2ComputeServiceLiveTest {
 
    public AWSEC2ComputeServiceLiveTest() {
diff --git a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptionsTest.java b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptionsTest.java
index 18df559718..14d18b6024 100644
--- a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptionsTest.java
+++ b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/options/RequestSpotInstancesOptionsTest.java
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ public class RequestSpotInstancesOptionsTest {
       RequestSpotInstancesOptions options = new RequestSpotInstancesOptions();
       options.validFrom(test);
       assertEquals(options.buildFormParameters().get("ValidFrom"),
-            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18.910Z"));
+            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18Z"));
    }
 
    Date test = new Date(12345678910l);
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public class RequestSpotInstancesOptionsTest {
    public void testFromStatic() {
       RequestSpotInstancesOptions options = validFrom(test);
       assertEquals(options.buildFormParameters().get("ValidFrom"),
-            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18.910Z"));
+            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18Z"));
    }
 
    @Test(expectedExceptions = NullPointerException.class)
@@ -126,14 +126,14 @@ public class RequestSpotInstancesOptionsTest {
       RequestSpotInstancesOptions options = new RequestSpotInstancesOptions();
       options.validUntil(test);
       assertEquals(options.buildFormParameters().get("ValidUntil"),
-            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18.910Z"));
+            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18Z"));
    }
 
    @Test
    public void testToStatic() {
       RequestSpotInstancesOptions options = validUntil(test);
       assertEquals(options.buildFormParameters().get("ValidUntil"),
-            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18.910Z"));
+            Collections.singletonList("1970-05-23T21:21:18Z"));
    }
 
    @Test(expectedExceptions = NullPointerException.class)
diff --git a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceAsyncClientTest.java b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceAsyncClientTest.java
index bed776701b..8ec1e62822 100644
--- a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceAsyncClientTest.java
+++ b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceAsyncClientTest.java
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class SpotInstanceAsyncClientTest extends BaseAWSEC2AsyncClientTest<SpotI
       assertNonPayloadHeadersEqual(request, "Host: ec2.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\n");
       assertPayloadEquals(
             request,
-            "Version=2010-11-15&Action=RequestSpotInstances&InstanceCount=3&SpotPrice=0.01&ValidFrom=1970-05-23T21%3A21%3A18.910Z&ValidUntil=2009-02-13T23%3A31%3A31.011Z&AvailabilityZoneGroup=availabilityZoneGroup&LaunchGroup=launchGroup&LaunchSpecification.ImageId=ami-voo&LaunchSpecification.Placement.AvailabilityZone=eu-west-1a&LaunchSpecification.SecurityGroup.1=group1&LaunchSpecification.InstanceType=m1.small&LaunchSpecification.KernelId=kernelId",
+            "Version=2010-11-15&Action=RequestSpotInstances&InstanceCount=3&SpotPrice=0.01&ValidFrom=1970-05-23T21%3A21%3A18Z&ValidUntil=2009-02-13T23%3A31%3A31Z&AvailabilityZoneGroup=availabilityZoneGroup&LaunchGroup=launchGroup&LaunchSpecification.ImageId=ami-voo&LaunchSpecification.Placement.AvailabilityZone=eu-west-1a&LaunchSpecification.SecurityGroup.1=group1&LaunchSpecification.InstanceType=m1.small&LaunchSpecification.KernelId=kernelId",
             "application/x-www-form-urlencoded", false);
 
       assertResponseParserClassEquals(method, request, ParseSax.class);
diff --git a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceClientLiveTest.java b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceClientLiveTest.java
index 443f76e3b3..439493a5e3 100644
--- a/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceClientLiveTest.java
+++ b/providers/aws-ec2/src/test/java/org/jclouds/aws/ec2/services/SpotInstanceClientLiveTest.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ import com.google.inject.Module;
  * 
  * @author Adrian Cole
  */
-@Test(groups = "live", sequential = true)
+@Test(groups = "live", singleThreaded = true)
 public class SpotInstanceClientLiveTest {
 
    private static final int SPOT_DELAY_SECONDS = 300;
@@ -141,8 +141,9 @@ public class SpotInstanceClientLiveTest {
             assertEquals(spot.getRegion(), region);
             assert in(ImmutableSet.of("Linux/UNIX", "SUSE Linux", "Windows")).apply(spot.getProductDescription()) : spot;
             assert in(
-                     ImmutableSet.of("c1.medium", "c1.xlarge", "cc1.4xlarge", "cg1.4xlarge", "m1.large", "m1.small", "m1.xlarge",
-                              "m2.2xlarge", "m2.4xlarge", "m2.xlarge", "t1.micro")).apply(spot.getInstanceType()) : spot;
+                     ImmutableSet.of("c1.medium", "c1.xlarge", "cc1.4xlarge", "cg1.4xlarge", "m1.large", "m1.small",
+                              "m1.xlarge", "m2.2xlarge", "m2.4xlarge", "m2.xlarge", "t1.micro")).apply(
+                     spot.getInstanceType()) : spot;
 
          }
       }
@@ -163,7 +164,8 @@ public class SpotInstanceClientLiveTest {
                0.03f,
                1,
                LaunchSpecification.builder().imageId("ami-595a0a1c").instanceType(InstanceType.T1_MICRO).build(),
-               launchGroup(launchGroup).availabilityZoneGroup(launchGroup).validFrom(new Date()).validUntil(
+               launchGroup(launchGroup).availabilityZoneGroup(launchGroup).validFrom(
+                        new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(1))).validUntil(
                         new Date(System.currentTimeMillis() + TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(SPOT_DELAY_SECONDS))));
       assertNotNull(requests);