Stupid Guest Tricks

This is pretty darn cool. It's a map of the oceans and the cables that run across them allowing us to communicate, pretty close to literally now, with any other person on the planet. Check it out.

The interesting thing about undersea cable is the physical media is the same for 50 Meg as it is for 40 Gig. Single mode fiber is used in all applications.

The key piece of equipment is the active electronics on either end of the fiber. Starting out, it was a single laser and receiver. As capacity requirements grew it was either lay more cable (really expen$ive) or come up with better electronics. The end result was Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing which uses multiple colors over the same fiber.

After looking at the map one more time I see that Russia still has no connectivity via undersea cable.

After the Communists were thrown out Russia wanted to modernize their communications facilities. Consultants were brought in. They discovered that, for the whole country, there were only 40 circuits that could be used for international calls. Asked why, the Russians responded, "That's all the tape recorders we could afford."

I have something similar, but just one vendors map. It's large, not near whole wall size, but much larger than 8x11.

hobie16 wrote:After looking at the map one more time I see that Russia still has no connectivity via undersea cable.

After the Communists were thrown out Russia wanted to modernize their communications facilities. Consultants were brought in. They discovered that, for the whole country, there were only 40 circuits that could be used for international calls. Asked why, the Russians responded, "That's all the tape recorders we could afford."

Good one...had me going there for a second. :stopname:

Goofyernmost wrote:Good one...had me going there for a second. :stopname:

It is a true story.

hobie16 wrote:It is a true story.

That only serves to make it funnier. :D:

Goofyernmost wrote:That only serves to make it funnier. :D:

To anyone in the business it was a chin dropper.

I notice that Guam, away from everything else (almost) has eight cables.

Cheshire Figment wrote:I notice that Guam, away from everything else (almost) has eight cables.

Not surprising as it is the country (possession) most politically aligned with the US in the region. It is also the transportation hub and seat of regional government in the region. Plus it just makes sense geographically. Its a fairly cosmopolitan island, so it would make sense for your telco or fiber company (fibco?) to put a shore base and interface there.

Plus, who wouldn't want to be sent there for work ? I'd be on the next plane! While not unlike Oahu, Guam is just a 3 hour flight from Palau, and some of the best scuba diving in the world! We spent nearly a month touring Micronesia, and only got to see Guam from the airport on flight changes. But I would love to return !