Egypt is about to enter its third consecutive week of mass protests. Why hasn’t Tahrir Square turned into Tiananmen? Why isn’t this man this man? Why do the Egyptian public and the army appear so close, and why hasn’t the military turned its arms on the protestors, nor pushed Mubarak out? One possible reason has been largely ignored by the media: it is bad business to kill your own customers. An inside report from NPR’s Planet Money, aided by this Wikileak diplomatic cable and an insightful piece by Robert Springborg.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul on Feb 7, 2011 - 42 comments

You are reading this post thanks to the submarine communications cables that connect the continents together (except Antarctica). [more inside]
posted by bjrn on Oct 27, 2010 - 29 comments

Insiders Tour of Akihabara. The guys over at toykohackerspace provide us with a guide to the ultimate in geek shopping; whether it's custom CNC'ed radio enclosures, every tweezer imaginable, or you just want to buy a robot, Akihabara is the place to be. [via /.] [more inside]
posted by Mach5 on Sep 26, 2010 - 20 comments

Cables: Don’t like ‘em. Despite the rise of wireless technologies, the back of your computer or stereo is likely a tangle of wires. No matter how carefully you first connect them, they are soon gleefully entangled into a snarled mass. Mathematics offers insight into the problem.
posted by bitmage on Mar 17, 2009 - 54 comments

Much of the Middle East has been without reliable internet access recently due to the somewhat suspicious cutting of four seperate underwater cables, in seperate locations, within a few days of each other. The problem has been alleviated by re-routing of traffic until ships can reach the cables to repair them, a process which may take several weeks. The problem was initially believed to be caused by anchors of passing ships, but that has since been retracted and deals have already been signed by several companies for new cables. [more inside]
posted by Dillonlikescookies on Feb 5, 2008 - 68 comments

Cables, Cables, Cables
I got to thinking last night about all those cables lying along the ocean floor. This is a fascinating article on the history of telephonic cables; while this one adds a bit more color, and several interesting paintings.

"As history shows, the demand for undersea network capacities will only increase. There's no such thing as too much cable."
posted by mapalm on Jul 24, 2001 - 18 comments

Superconducting power transmission cables In another thread, I mentioned that High-Tc power transmission cables were an example of an anticipated use of a technology which never came to fruition, and that the possible energy savings weren't worth the effort. Oops.
posted by UrineSoakedRube on Feb 13, 2001 - 2 comments