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Hunters Shot Down Google Fiber
aesoteric writes "Google has revealed that aerial fiber links to its data center in Oregon were 'regularly' shot down by hunters, forcing the company to put its cables underground. Hunters were reportedly trying to hit insulators on electricity distribution poles, which also hosted aerially-deployed fiber connected to Google's $600 million data center in The Dalles. 'I have yet to see them actually hit the insulator, but they regularly shoot down the fiber,' Google's network engineering manager Vijay Gill told a conference in Australia. 'Every November when hunting season starts invariably we know that the fiber will be shot down, so much so that we are now building an underground path [for it].'"
On the list of preaching, soap box standing zealots, I have found hunters to be the most vocal. Responsibility, conservation, and a given right to engage said pass-time is delivered in fire-brand like sermons.
From my observations, though, for every 1 responsible hunter there seem to be 10 irresponsible.
15 years ago, I did a stint as a volunteer park warden for 6 months. I noted the following:
- Bringing shot deer down to the nearest clearing, often walking tracks, partially butchering the animal and leaving the rest to rot on the track.
- Pot shots and damage to any and all infrastructure.
- "Boredom Kills" - usually birds shot with high powered rifles.
- Hunting dogs left to roam, sometimes till a following weekend, when the hunter would come back.
- Creepy comments to day hikers such as "I saw you long ago from across the valley, i saw you in my scope".
15 years later and hunters will still defend their pass time with the fervor of a rabid PETA campaigner, or Muslim cleric. Saving the world you know. Thinning pests, and over population of grazing animals...
In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
You think that's bad? In Germany, manhole covers and guard rails are vanishing...but the best one was when they stole 40 tons of rails...yes, the ones where trains run on.
On a sidenote, there are quiet a few stories about that over at the Darwin Awards.
I worked for a ISP that had a POP in the sticks. It's feed would regularly be shot by some stupid hick. There was also only one telco field tech for the area, and it would take him forever to respond and even longer to resolve the issue. The city has its own issues. Once a very large section of copper was stolen from the telco taking out an untold number of consumers.
If you work for telcos that have thousands of miles of fibre traversing farmland, you'll quickly come to appreciate (especially in the hunting season) that shotgun damage is a fact of life.
And no, the hunters are not shooting at the fibre or insulators, but at the pheasant, grouse and other flying game creatures that routinely alight on the overhead cables (usually power lines) that carry the fibre.
I get up, I get down...
I do, they're likely HID lights and thus are suitable for indoor horticulture.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I'm an american, and outside law enforcement officers, I've seen perhaps 3 or 4 guns in private possession in my life. I suppose they must be out there somewhere, and I've sure heard stories that make me shake my head, but I think those stories get a little overblown with regards to how many of us own or carry a gun.
Agreed!
High voltage discharges create intense UV radiation - and because your retina doesn't detect UV it doesn't trigger your blink reflex.
So you'll end up with corneal burning and irritation if you're lucky, cataracts or permanent blindspots if not.
So these idiots intentionally reproducing these things to see the pretty colours deserve all they get. Unfortunate pylon workers, welders and high voltage researchers do not.
-Nano.
I moved to Oregon from South Carolina... Arguably two of the most "redneck" states out there, except may be Idaho. What most city slickers don't realize about Oregon is that a lot of it is nature. With animals. Real animals. That will eat you.
The project I manage now is sandwiched between urban core and a rock quarry. Before the excavators moved in, we had a pack of coyotes hunting the area (and they'll be back as soon as we're done). When I hike, I regularly come across bear and cougar tracks and cougar kills. There are at least 3 cougars that share one of the urban parks with thousands of visitors. It's not unusual for trails to be posted with cougar sightings.
(For those of you who don't know, a cougar is a large cat, also known as a mountain lion.)
Many rural governments advise new residents to purchase a firearm to protect their property from assorted flesh-eating critters.
We also have a house in Europe, in the Czech Republic, which also has a long tradition of sport shooting and hunting. The wildlife is nowhere near as wild or abundant there.
So.... Yes there is a gun culture here in Oregon. The vast majority of gun owners here are responsible. Most of us responsible types stay away from the areas where the signs are shot up and people shoot at beer cans. There is a small minority of idiots. How's that different from any other population?
The only problem is that these idiots have guns. Darwin takes care of a few every year.
Then why do only 3% of Americans own guns?
Once again, the moderators are on crack -- giving +1 to something that can be proved wrong with a simple Google search:
Two in Five Americans Live in Gun-Owning Households
>>>Concentration camps were where they sent the Jews
Also the japanese-descended Americans during World War 2. Or have you forgotten how FDR unconstitutionally imprisoned Americans in concentration camps? He took their liberty, their property, their homes, their wealth, and imprisoned them without trial for almost four years. FDR makes Bush look like a nice guy in comparison. FDR was an ass that mistreated millions of American citizens.
But you've forgotten that. You've forgotten we had concentration camps right here on our own soil.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
They're idiots who shouldn't be allowed off a supervised range with a gun. Shooting at a highly elevated target with no (likely) backstop but the sky is the height of firearms irresponsibility.
Just a few years back, some yahoo in Jersey let loose a few .30 cal rounds at a soaring turkey vulture. A couple miles away, a guy working on the roof of his suburban home took the round and died on the spot.
If you're not certain of your field of fire, you don't squeeze. Period.
Most people on Slashdot are technically competent enough to Google things for themselves. As you're apparently incapable of using Google though, enjoy:
Happiness:
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/explore/global/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Planet_Index
Crime:
(rapes) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita
(murders) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
(firearms murder and accidental) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate
(burglaries) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_bur_percap-crime-burglaries-per-capita
Health:
(life expectancy) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy
(cancer deaths) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_dea_fro_can-health-death-from-cancer
(obesity) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity
As you can see, there are some stats where the US is equal to or above a handful of European nations, but in pretty much every case the US falls below the European average, and in some cases, is below that of all European nations.
You have no idea what you are talking about
People in the UK have never carried guns and the ban has affected almost nobody. I've lived in London for 36 years and I have NEVER seen a gun, other than carried by the (rare) armed police, or military.
Even British police don't carry guns. There's a reason for that.
They sure do. but at least you can send out untrained crews across the area and ID where your breaks are exactly, so the next available trained repair crew and come out and attend to it.. repairing utilities in a vault or in a trench isn't as easy.
----- The internet has given everyone the ability to have their voice heard equally as loud.. even if they shouldn't be
I support this point of view, although I think guns are worthless in close combat. What are you going to do, kick, stepback, pull a ninja-block, draw gun, fire right into the side of the temple? You won't reach the gun; the guy'll block (and then break) your arm unless you whip out some Budo or Pentjak Silat or something on his ass. Guns only work when they're pointed at someone; we need martial arts training.
You sound like you've either swallowed your sensei's bullshit, or watched too many martial arts films. I have had three years of Taekwondo and one year of Jujitsu training and even I'll argue that a firearm is useful in close quarters. Most gun encounters occur within 15 feet, which is about a second away from physical contact with the bad guy. Even 0-5 feet, the gun is invaluable, and can stop an adversary or at least allow you to escape. And if your adversary has a gun, the only thing to give you a fighting chance is another gun.
Real fighting is not like the movies. In real life, a 125 lb black belt can easily be overpowered by a 250 lb guy with very little combat training. Sorry, but there's little that technique and training can do to overcome an attacker twice your size and strength (unless they're terribly bad fighters), especially if they're armed. A gun is the best equalizer in those cases.
Sigs are for losers
So you need armed populace in order to have functional government? Um, OK.
As do we all. Some have not yet realized this. Gandhi understood it, though: "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." This is from his Autobiography. Are we on the same page yet?
Similarly, people are the victims of violent crime and government oppression every day.
Sure. But that doesn't mean that I feel the need to carry guns with me.
Logical fallacy: Attacking a straw man. I don't carry my guns with me unless I'm taking them somewhere I'm going to fire them.
Hell, I have never been in a situation where I have to defend my person or my property through use of force. Does that mean that I'm "missing out" on something?
It means you're lucky.
And, FWIW, I have never faced any "oppression" from the government.
Are you seriously telling me that you don't want to do anything your government doesn't want you to do, which you regard as reasonable? You're boring.
So, is USA such a shithole that you need guns to protect yourself from your neighbours and from the government? Because if I believed the gun-owners, that is the reality over there. And five seconds later they have said that, they start telling what a great place USA is. Huh?
Wait, you're a Finn? By the end of 2006 there were more than 1.6 million licensed firearms.[1] Averaged among Finland's population of 5.3 million it comes to 30.5 per 100 people. Another study puts the number of firearms per capita as high as 0.55 [2] further hilarity from the same source: To obtain a firearms license, an individual must declare a valid reason to own a gun. Acceptable reasons include hunting, sports or hobby shooting, profession related, show or promotion or exhibition, collection or museum, souvenir, and signalling. It is worth noticing that self- or home defence are not considered valid reasons. So it's okay with your government if you shoot shit for fun, but not to defend yourself? Finns have fourth most firearms in the world per capita (right after United States, Yemen, Switzerland) totalling 1.8 million registered privately owned firearms and 100,000-200,000 unregistered firearms.[2] Gun related homicides are rare, comprising 14% of the total number of homicides,[3] which is comparatively low. You have a shitload of guns, just less than us! You're fucking full of shit! You have no idea what your government would be like if your populace was not armed, because it is. Why don't you come back and try again when you have a point? Do you really need all those guns in your country? It must be some kind of shithole!
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Guns are supported by many on the left in American politics. We even have the Pink Pistols, a gay pro-gun group ("Armed gays don't get bashed"), and the NRA has endorsed many Democratic candidates based on their pro-gun stance.
>>>You have no idea what you are talking about
You're right.
Which is why I provided a link to an article (which you did not read so I'll quote SOME of it for you). "On a June evening two years ago, Dan Rather made many stiff British upper lips quiver by reporting that England had a crime problem and that, apart from murder, 'theirs is worse than ours.' ..... In the two years since Dan Rather was so roundly rebuked, violence in England has gotten markedly worse. Over the course of a few days in the summer of 2001, gun-toting men burst into an English court and freed two defendants; a shooting outside a London nightclub left five women and three men wounded; and two men were machine-gunned to death in a residential neighborhood of north London. And on New Year's Day this year a 19-year-old girl walking on a main street in east London was shot in the head by a thief who wanted her mobile phone. London police are now looking to New York City police for advice."
"None of this was supposed to happen in the country whose stringent gun laws and 1997 ban on handguns have been hailed as the "gold standard" of gun control. ..... The results -- the toughest firearm restrictions of any democracy -- are credited by the world's gun control advocates with producing a low rate of violent crime. ..... In reality, the English approach has not re-duced violent crime. Instead it has left law-abiding citizens at the mercy of criminals who are confident that their victims have neither the means nor the legal right to resist them."
"In the two years following the 1997 handgun ban, the use of handguns in crime rose by 40 percent, and the upward trend has continued. From April to November 2001, the number of people robbed at gunpoint in London rose 53 percent. ..... Your chances of being mugged in London are now six times greater than in New York. England's rates of assault, robbery, and burglary are far higher than America's, and 53 percent of English burglaries occur while occupants are at home, compared with 13 percent in the U.S., where burglars admit to fearing armed homeowners....."
Yeah I know.
I'll be modded troll.
People hate to face Facts - it makes their brains hurt (cognitive dissonance).
"In 1969 police were informed "it should never be necessary for anyone to possess a firearm for the protection of his house or person." These changes were made without public knowledge or debate. Their enforcement has consumed hundreds of thousands of police hours. Finally, in 1997 handguns were banned. Proposed exemptions for handicapped shooters and the British Olympic team were rejected."
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Upon arrival to a site the crew will either find an abandoned construction site or vehicle accident. Construction crews generally leave the site when they hit a cable because they know work is done for the day and their employer is about to have an unpleasant phone call from someone like me. The bill for a cut like this runs in the tens of thousands of dollars.
If an obvious break isn't found, then you have to start looking for squirrel chews on aerial and rat chews in underground conduit. That's generally just a partial break so you can roll your fiber at the two nearest splice points onto good dark fibers, or at least fibers occupied by lower speed systems.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0