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Millions in Middle East Lose Internet

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-web-for-you dept.

Shipwack writes "Tens of millions of internet users across the Middle East and Asia have been left without access to the web after a technical fault cut millions of connections. The outage, which is being blamed on a fault in a single undersea cable, has severely restricted internet access in countries including India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia and left huge numbers of people struggling to get online. Observers say that the digital blackout first struck yesterday morning, with Egypt's communications ministry suggesting it was caused by a cut in a major internet pipeline linking it to Europe."

15 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. redundancy by theheadlessrabbit · · Score: 5, Funny

    isn't this why we are supposed to have system redundancy? so a failure in one area won't cause a complete blackout?

    isn't this why we are supposed to have system redundancy? so a failure in one area won't cause a complete blackout?

    --
    -I only code in BASIC.-
    1. Re:redundancy by kamatsu · · Score: 5, Funny

      IANADSD (I am not a deep sea diver) WDYJUAULAAATIEIATDTPOTAESYKIWNBUA? - Why did you just use an unnecessarily long abbreviatory acronym and then immediately expand it and thus defeat the purpose of the abbreviation, especially since you know it will never be used again?
    2. Re:redundancy by somersault · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think you underestimate the efficacy of electrical tape in general. Especially when secured with duct tape.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    3. Re:redundancy by Gabest · · Score: 5, Funny

      WDYJUAULAAATIEIATDTPOTAESYKIWNBUA? - Why did you just use an unnecessarily long abbreviatory acronym and then immediately expand it and thus defeat the purpose of the abbreviation, especially since you know it will never be used again? It's called redundancy!
  2. You know you're a geek... by broothal · · Score: 4, Funny

    ..if you read this as "Millions in Middle Earth Lose Internet"

    1. Re:You know you're a geek... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was relieved when I realized my mistake and that my favorite hobbit porn sites were still accessible.

    2. Re:You know you're a geek... by StarfishOne · · Score: 4, Funny

      They should have used a Token Ring... my pwwweeccioussss! ;p

  3. Reading this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    all i could think was "The fools! if only they'd built her with 6001 hulls! when will they ever learn!"

    1. Re:Reading this... by rucs_hack · · Score: 4, Funny

      Governor Sio Bibble: "A communications disruption could mean only one thing: invasion."

      Or someone forgot to pay the bill...

  4. Really? by Rie+Beam · · Score: 4, Funny

    I guess now would be the time to say it, then.

    Deep breath, Rie.

    *inhale*

    I think the Danish cartoon controversy was really overblown.

  5. Re:Information warfare? by z0idberg · · Score: 4, Funny

    *snip*


    wow - they even have a recording of the salvage operation taking place!
  6. Why not follow this simple precaution? by AsciiNaut · · Score: 5, Funny

    Every night I back up the internet to my RAID array to protect myself from this and similar eventualities.

    1. Re:Why not follow this simple precaution? by andi75 · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Every night I back up the internet to my RAID array to protect myself from this and similar eventualities.

      Not everyone is working for the NSA.

  7. The tubes are full... of water by jamesh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obviously there's a hole in the tube so all the data has leaked out and the water has leaked in. The data, being lighter than water, will have floated to the top and evaporated away. Once the tube has filled with water, the incoming data is unable to push the water out of the way.

    First they need to blow some air down the tube and inspect the tube for bubbles, then put a patch over it. Once that is done, they'll need to drain all of the water out of the tube, possibly just by blowing air down it some more. Finally, they will be able to allow data to flow again. The first few gigabytes are probably going to come through a bit damp, but after that it should be fine.

  8. I'm Vaguely Amused... by tomandlu · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... by the fact that news.bbc.co.uk is asking for comments from anyone affected. Paraplegics, take one step forward...