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The Men Who Fix the Internet

An anonymous reader writes "Remember all those undersea cables breaking? PopSci.com introduces John Rennie, who '... has braved the towering waves of the North Atlantic Ocean to keep your e-mail coming to you. As chief submersible engineer aboard the Wave Sentinel, part of the fleet operated by UK-based undersea installation and maintenance firm Global Marine Systems, Rennie — a congenial, 6'4", 57-year-old Scotsman — patrols the seas, dispatching a remotely operated submarine deep below the surface to repair undersea cables.' The article goes on to outline the physical infrastructure of the Internet, including some of its points of vulnerability."

17 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Next time they sever their own fibers, by pecosdave · · Score: 1, Funny

    I suggest we leave them that way. It will reduce spam, and make Dell hire locally for their call centers.

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  2. Catchy job title... by Starteck81 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Grounds keeper Willie of the undersea cables, at your service.

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    1. Re:Catchy job title... by Ihmhi · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bonjoooour, ya cable-cutting sea monkies!

  3. Seafloorskeeper Rennie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Upon being advised that the North Atlantic cable had been cut by another fishing boat, Rennie exclaimed "I dinna cry when me own father was hung for stealing a pig. But I'll cry now!"

    1. Re:Seafloorskeeper Rennie by sa1lnr · · Score: 2, Funny

      "we haven't hung anyone in Scotland for quite some time."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_City_Rollers

      It's a shame that some crimes go unpunished. ;)

  4. Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    While there is loads of critical data that goes through these cables, I feel bad when these guys are working their asses off to make sure that 4chan or youtubes of a chimpanzee riding on a segway gets to its proper place.

    1. Re:Is it worth it? by interstellar_donkey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Are you suggesting that chimpanzees on segways be sent to the ocean floor to repair cables? Do segways even work underwater? Also, you'd have to design a special SCUBA suit for the chimps.

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  5. Re:They're nothing short of superheroes of the sea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because anyone can still whoop Aquaman's butt.

    No, it's because they keep the flow of pr0n running.

  6. 57-year-old Scotsman by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny
    Gimme Terabit factor nine! Kirk to Engineering, I need more downloads, Scotty!

    Aye Captain, but I don't know if my poor cables will take more.

  7. Stevens was right all along by Clancie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Holy crap! The Internet *is* a series of tubes! Evidence:Image from TFA

    1. Re:Stevens was right all along by Ant+P. · · Score: 2, Funny

      Those aren't series tubes, they're parallel tubes

  8. Re:Make the damn fisherman get driver's licenses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you never waatch Pirates of the Carribean? I seem to remember the equivalient of a hand-brake turn using anchor.

    Perhaps they used an internet cable to stop

  9. Re:Are you sure? by Brickwall · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nope, it's sharks - sharks I tell you! With frickin' lasers on their heads.

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  10. So this is the guy I need to send my users to by ItaliaMatt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Everytime we have a connectivity hiccup I am flooded with calls from our users asking "Is the Internet broken?"

    It takes everything in my power not to say "Yes. The Internet is, in fact, broken"

  11. Re:What about satellites? by Fred_A · · Score: 4, Funny

    Obviously the fix would be to pull backup cables to the satellites instead of relying on that crappy wireless.

    Since planes don't have anchors, it would be failsafe.

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  12. My Girlfriend... by Twide · · Score: 2, Funny

    Makes me Fix the internet twice a week.

  13. Re:What about satellites? by glwtta · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why don't they get with the times and Internet it?

    Oh, they do even better - they now have holograms.

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