Word: undersea
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...little-noticed milestone last month when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it was dropping a longstanding requirement that holders of amateur radio licenses be proficient in Morse code. These days, few save hobbyists use electronic dots and dashes for messaging. But in 1858, when the first undersea communications cable linking two continents was strung between the U.S. and the U.K., Morse code was the industry standard. A century and a half later, the FCC's move makes it an all-but-dead language...
...Primitive though Morse may be, the world may want to keep it alive, if only as a backup when global communications networks crash-as they did spectacularly on Dec. 26 when an earthquake off Taiwan's coast damaged seven undersea fiber-optic cables that handle some 90% of phone calls and data traffic in the region. Millions of homes and businesses across Asia were left without Internet access, e-mail and international phone connections. Financial markets were interrupted. And those lucky enough to connect to overseas websites experienced exasperatingly sluggish data-transfer speeds. While most services have been at least...
...least not immediately. In theory, the global Internet is highly resistant to catastrophic failure because it's a mesh of interconnected smaller networks, all providing alternative data pathways should any single link fail. Indeed, Asia's abundant data capacity and plentiful circuits-a legacy of rampant overbuilding of undersea cable during the tech boom-ensured that most traffic was quickly rerouted after the quake, restoring crucial services such as phone connections. Some of the overflow was also handled by satellite systems, which are normally too costly and lack the bandwidth of terrestrial networks...
...last two days, the story has been much the same for individuals and businesses from Thailand to Japan following the magnitude 6.7 quake, which killed two people, damaged six key undersea cables off the coast of Taiwan and threw parts of the global telecommunications infrastructure into chaos. Asian businesses were left without email, Internet service and in some cases telephone connections to the outside world. Financial markets were interrupted. Even those who found they could reach some websites experienced download speeds reminiscent of antiquated dial-up service. Communications were returning to normal on Thursday, but network problems could persist...
...bright young things, and then there's Paul Cocksedge, 28, who was shortlisted for the U.K.'s Designer of the Year award in 2004. Light as Air, the result of the Londoner's experiments with glass blowing, is his most beguiling work yet. As organic in appearance as an undersea tube worm, it can be used on your desk or as a freestanding objet d'art. www.paulcocksedge.co.uk...