NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, it did. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/31/dubai.outage/index.html)

I would have thought the internet would be slightly more...robust than that. Hm.

Caught a virus, did it?

We'd better fix this problem quick, and make sure it can't happen again.

If aliens were to one day invade, they can cripple us easily by taking out a few of those undersea cables. Then we'd be screwed.

We'd better fix this problem quick, and make sure it can't happen again.

If aliens were to one day invade, they can cripple us easily by taking out a few of those undersea cables. Then we'd be screwed.

I know, we'd just all be sitting there at our computers hitting the refresh button, calling up the IT guy and swearing at him (or her, there are hers in IT every now and then) for not fixing the network. While we are all so distracted by this, all they'd have to do is creep around behind us and *boom* no more mankind.

I know, we'd just all be sitting there at our computers hitting the refresh button, calling up the IT guy and swearing at him (or her, there are hers in IT every now and then) for not fixing the network. While we are all so distracted by this, all they'd have to do is creep around behind us and *boom* no more mankind.

You are forgetting about the Amish. All of the alien cyber-terrorism in the world cannot stop them.

Click Stand;13413168']You are forgetting about the Amish. All of the alien cyber-terrorism in the world cannot stop them.

Yay Amish!

Can I be the first to blame this on the USA, clearly it's a conspiracy.

Click Stand;13413168']You are forgetting about the Amish. All of the alien cyber-terrorism in the world cannot stop them.

How do you know the Aliens won't BE Amish? It might be one big conspiracy to make us all drive buggies again...

It's not so much that the internet died. It's more like it became two completely separate internets.

Click Stand;13413168']You are forgetting about the Amish. All of the alien cyber-terrorism in the world cannot stop them.

True, but the Amish are not truly human...they are something...*cue creepy music*else.

Nations that have been spared the chaos include Israel -- whose traffic uses a different route -- and Lebanon and Iraq. Many Middle East governments have backup satellite systems in case of cable failure.

'Spared the chaos' and 'Iraq' are two things you don't expect to see in the same sentence. :p

I demand that more protection be given to secure our beloved internets.

True, but the Amish are not truly human...they are something...*cue creepy music*else.

You have now entered...
The zone...
Where normal things...
Dont happen....very often....*tu-du-du-duh*

the picture associated with that story fails to capture the true horror of things. compare:

"Internet failure hits two continents"
http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/WORLD/meast/01/31/dubai.outage/art.dubai.gi.jpg

vs

"Internets Fail!!!"
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/ffximage/2007/06/27/tehran28607_wideweb__470x285,0.jpg

'Spared the chaos' and 'Iraq' are two things you don't expect to see in the same sentence. :p

I demand that more protection be given to secure our beloved internets.

Lebanon and Iraq. I thought those two places were, like, the chaos capitals of the world.

Click Stand;13413168']You are forgetting about the Amish. All of the alien cyber-terrorism in the world cannot stop them.

Stop them from what exactly? Making uncomfortable furniture?

It affected the US too. Several people at the dinner party I was at last night reported that all their email and web networks at their jobs went down at about the same time because of this.

Now as to the cause:

from the article:
There were contradictory reports on the real cause behind the disruption, but Du, a state-owned Dubai telecom provider, attributed it to an undersea cable cut between Alexandria, Egypt and Palermo, Italy.

...

An official at Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was believed that a boat's anchor may have caused the problems, although this was unconfirmed, AP reported. He added that it might take up to a week to repair the fault.

Ship anchor they say, but I say SEA MONSTERS FTW!!! WOOHOO!!

I am reminded of an article I read in the New York Times more than 25 years ago (which is why I have never been able to find it on the internet; I have the clipping and would scan and post it myself, except the NYT would certainly sue me). It was about a scientific expedition to look for giant squid in the Caribbean. The expedition was being funded by AT&T back when they were (cue ominous music) The Phone Company. AT&T did not care a whit about giant squids, but it did ask the scientists if, while they were down there in their little submersible, they wouldn't mind looking for evidence of what kept interrupting phone service in that region.

See, the phones in the Caribbean also depended on underwater cables, and every now and then, the service would go down, and AT&T would send out a ship to pull the cables up to the surface and find big chunks ripped out of them.

And the expedition did answer the question when they came back with photos of enormous (upwards of 10 feet long at juvenile stage) bottom-feeding prehistoric six-gilled sharks that had previously been thought to be extinct for several million years. Apparently, these sharks would be rooting around in the sea bottom, looking for huge clams (they had pics of them doing it), hit a cable, and bite it, thus knocking out the phones.

Stop them from what exactly? Making uncomfortable furniture?
Nah, the Shakers are the ones that make the hard furniture. Different club.

We'd better fix this problem quick, and make sure it can't happen again.

If aliens were to one day invade, they can cripple us easily by taking out a few of those undersea cables. Then we'd be screwed.

So many easier ways, take an asteroid, any one will do, pump it up to relativistic speeds and hurl towards Earth.

It's sad that the fail-safe* dispersed design of the internet fell prey to the people thinking with their wallets. "Let's build one big server and connect it to one big cable. It's cheaper!".
Feel free to enlighten me if I got it wrong but that was my first thought.
*barring the DNS servers in the US

"Nations that have been spared the chaos include Israel -- whose traffic uses a different route"
That's one advantage of having all your neighbors not want to deal with you, I guess.

Their intertubes are clogged.

They need to call a plumber, or Sen. Ted Stevens.

So that's why I couldn't access the internets for 3 days! However I don't see London as an affected city....*ponders*

Apparently, these sharks would be rooting around in the sea bottom, looking for huge clams (they had pics of them doing it), hit a cable, and bite it, thus knocking out the phones.
And this is what that made me think of:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a205/ulteriormotives/moonraker2co1.jpg

We'll see how this plays out. Sucks for the US. I hear every fifth call center in India is offline.

the picture associated with that story fails to capture the true horror of things. compare:

"Internet failure hits two continents"
http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/WORLD/meast/01/31/dubai.outage/art.dubai.gi.jpg


Am I the only one who thinks those buildings look like pieces of a circuit board?

I hear every fifth call center in India is offline.

Not a bad thing. I've called outsourced call centres; shame they don't outsource the know-how.

We'd better fix this problem quick, and make sure it can't happen again.

If aliens were to one day invade, they can cripple us easily by taking out a few of those undersea cables. Then we'd be screwed.

If the Aliens have been watching our movies they would realize freezing us out would be the best way to rid the planet of humans. Imagine a giant sun shade blocking the sun from the Earth. We would be frozen instantly. Game over. Lower the sun shade warm the place back up and just clean up the bodies.

Well, it did. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/31/dubai.outage/index.html)

I would have thought the internet would be slightly more...robust than that. Hm.

We actually saw some backlashes out of it in the midwest xl1.chi13.alter.net was seeing some odd quirks that caused a lot of outages that only recently cleared

Looks like traffic was rerouted in response and caused some Pathing quirks.

If the Aliens have been watching our movies they would realize freezing us out would be the best way to rid the planet of humans. Imagine a giant sun shade blocking the sun from the Earth. We would be frozen instantly. Game over. Lower the sun shade warm the place back up and just clean up the bodies.

Yes, if this were a movie. But in real life things don't work that way.

Yes, if this were a movie. But in real life things don't work that way.

Liar. The world works exactly the way it does in the movies. Trigger discipline and all.

Now we know what to bomb.

I mean...you know...theoretically of course.

They say the internet will grind to a halt or near-halt in a few years. God help us! (and I'm an atheist...)

They say the internet will grind to a halt or near-halt in a few years. God help us! (and I'm an atheist...)

Too reliant on it and its too redundant to take more then a jitter ... there is a lot of planning to keep up with the growth but I doubt it will do anything other then continue on course

If the Aliens have been watching our movies they would realize freezing us out would be the best way to rid the planet of humans. Imagine a giant sun shade blocking the sun from the Earth. We would be frozen instantly. Game over. Lower the sun shade warm the place back up and just clean up the bodies.

Naw, there'd be an 8-minute delay.