An interesting day in good ol' NorCal

[Redwolf]

Woke up this morning to no internet. Turns out someone cut as many as six fiber optic phone lines in a critical area of South San Jose early this morning, which left much of the Silicon Valley, as well as Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, almost completely cut off from the outside world. Here in Santa Cruz, we've been able to call locally, but we haven't been able to call outside the county, to access the internet, or, oddly enough, to access 911. Our cell phones haven't worked at all. My husband came home from work early, as his job is pretty much entirely dependent on the internet.

Seems trivial, but when the phones don't work, the ATMs don't work, the check and bank card verification systems don't work, which means that, for the most part, if you don't have cash, you don't buy. I found myself waiting in a line outside my bank this morning to withdraw a little cash to get through the day. They had security guards all around, and were only letting one person in the bank at a time (and were allowing withdrawals of no more than $100). Rather surreal, altogether!

They are saying that the lines were cut deliberately, and last I heard, the police think it may be connected to the union's dispute with AT&T.

Redwolf

[fearfaoin]

They are saying that the lines were cut deliberately, and last I heard, the police think it may be connected to the union's dispute with AT&T.

Holy cow.
For this you left a right-to-work state?

[anniemcu]

I'm slightly suspicious of that laying of the blame... depends... if it's being blamed on the unions... it's possible, of course, but it's also possible that just the opposite could be true, and just being used to paint the unions as evil. It would not be a new trick.

No matter who really did it though, if it was purposefully done, serious consequences are warranted.

[Charlene]

Scary! I'm glad things are fixed to the point you can get online again.

It's maddening when the credit card machine is merely slow like it was most of yesterday - NWSP would lose so much money if we couldn't do credit cards, debit cards, or checks!!!

[Redwolf]

Some places still can't take cards this evening. It's amazing just how dependent we are on technology anymore.

I've been kind of suspicious about the union connection, not because I'd put it past them, but because a) they haven't reached the strike deadline yet and b) AT&T thought that talks were progressing well, and really didn't think this had much to do with the situation (there's also the fact that a lot more was affected than just AT&T). It's possible it's just a media spin...or perhaps there's a single employee who has a grudge.

Redwolf

[Innocent Bystander]

Cowrie shells. That's reliable. We should never have left the cowrie-shell standard.

[Martin Milner]

Some places still can't take cards this evening. It's amazing just how dependent we are on technology anymore.
Redwolf

If a mere six optic fibres being severed can cause this much havoc, they'd be a great target for terrorist attacks. I hope NorCal and the world learn from this and provide better backups.

When the crunch started last year, we put a couple of hundred away in notes against the possibility of the card problems when all the banks started tumbling.

[djm]

Any modern city is wide open to communications interuption. If terrorists wanted to wreak havoc they would go directly at the switching centres, not just a few cables in a field. There is all sorts of alternate routing built into these networks - to a point - but no-one wants to pay beyond that point, so a determined terrorist group can pretty much tie up most communications with 5-10 well chosen targets. Govts have separate networks, of course, but I am talking about the networks that people use, and as Redwolf has noted, those are pretty pervasive in our modern lives.

djm

[Redwolf]

These were fiber optic cables (each carrying a large number of individual fibers), located in a bunker owned by AT&T (but each in a different location in the bunker). The people who did this knew exactly what they were doing.

fearfaoin...is NC a "right to work" state now? It wasn't when we lived there.

Redwolf

[Charlene]

.......
fearfaoin...is NC a "right to work" state now? It wasn't when we lived there.

Redwolf

Washington is - I thought that was what he was referring to.

[fearfaoin]

fearfaoin...is NC a "right to work" state now? It wasn't when we lived there.

You were here before 1947?

http://www.nrtw.org/c/ncrtwlaw.htm

The reason they've been making so many
TV shows and movies in Wilmington is
because there's no SAG rules, so extras
can be payed in doughnuts.

[dwest]

fearfaoin...is NC a "right to work" state now? It wasn't when we lived there.

Redwolf

They have been since the forties or before.

[Redwolf]

fearfaoin...is NC a "right to work" state now? It wasn't when we lived there.

You were here before 1947?

http://www.nrtw.org/c/ncrtwlaw.htm

The reason they've been making so many
TV shows and movies in Wilmington is
because there's no SAG rules, so extras
can be payed in doughnuts.

Hmmm...interesting. I was told by my employers there that it wasn't. Ah well.

In any case, here's more on the cable cutting. Now it's looking like it was multiple locations.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_1210 ... ck_check=1

Redwolf

[fearfaoin]

In any case, here's more on the cable cutting. Now it's looking like it was multiple locations.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_1210 ... ck_check=1

Looks like they cut that webpage, too.

[The Weekenders]

Locking manholes and pulse-proof automobiles coming soon to a town near you.

Seriously. This was bad, bad @##$ and all the person had to do was crawl down there and start cutting. I always thought our open reservoirs were bad enough, terror-wise.

As for cars, I propose the model car, the "Nuclear Winter" that requires no electronic circuitry that can be damaged by pulse bombs or plasma bursts (don't know if the latter is possible). Make it 4 wheel drive and make it run on multiple fuels.