Satellite IDs Ships That Cut Cables 186
1sockchuck writes "Undersea telecom cable operator Reliance Globalcom was able to use satellite images to identify two ships that dropped anchor in the wrong place, damaging submarine cables and knocking Middle East nations offline in early February. The company used satellite images to study the movements of the two ships, and shared the information with officials in Dubai, who impounded the two vessels. The NANOG list has a discussion of where Reliance might have obtained satellite images to provide that level of detail. Google News links more coverage of the developments."
Somehow it must be Israel's fault (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:weird, huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, when it comes to technology slashdot is collectively pretty intelligent; but when it comes to paranoia and politics, slashdot collectively drops down to the IQ of a two year old.
Re:Coverup (Score:1, Insightful)
My guess is that it was a South Korean shipping company. But that doesn't make for as much rhetoric.
I am sorry, (Score:2, Insightful)
Oh, that's right, none. STFU, troll.
Cutting cables like nuclear war (Score:3, Insightful)
MAD: Mutually Assured Disconnection
Hence, nobody does it.
A cable gets cut by accident every week of the year. So this time there were a couple grouped a bit closer both in time and geography. Big Deal.
Re:Cite your sources (Score:1, Insightful)
google "how often are undersea cables cut, on average" yields a bunch of sources that say once every three days.
The whole "cite your sources" thing is generally meant to stifle conversation instead of enhance it. Unless you're actually asking for something that is tough to find or unlikely or contentious, then you're being silly.
Re:Man, are those guys good, or what? (Score:1, Insightful)
2) Cut cable with ship in #1 above.
3) Record evidence of "act of terror".
4) Wage war against evil country.
5) Profit for Halliburton.
6) Rest of US economy fails.
Images might not have to be that sharp. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Somehow it must be Israel's fault (Score:4, Insightful)
It's very difficult to have ANY sort of imagination, not just the tin-foil hat kind, and avoid wondering about at least the possibility that the current administration is involved in several large, sinister conspiracies which the public doesn't know about yet. We have literally dozens available that are already in the public sphere.
This is why 9/11 conspiracy nuts will never die, even if they can't convince skeptics like myself who pick at the technical details. The thing their stories agree on - that those presently in power either caused or could have prevented the attack - fits like a glove into what we know about the administration's goals pre-attack and their actions post-attack. If the Democrats used an attack(cause unknown) to drastically change the country, get rid of all the constitutional rights you hold dear, fulfill a bullet point in preexisting plan to grow the military industrial complex, wage an aggressive war longer than WW2, set us up for at least the possibility of the destruction of our democracy, steal elections, and generally act like a bad Disney villain, there would be a hell of a lot of Republican conspiracy theorists after 8 years as well.
Your political beliefs should not inform your reasoning, it should be the other way around.
Re:Somehow it must be Israel's fault (Score:4, Insightful)
Indeed, conspiracies happen all of the time - any time more than one person gets together with another and plans to do something. It's also one of the msot common criminal charges in the US.
I still think that the odds of how this happen with so many cables in such a short time span is suspicious. Does that mean it wasn't an accident? Anything is possible, but some things are more likely than others and keep in mind that those groups or agencies who do these sort of things specialize in damage control, cover stories, and manipulation of the public.
All I am saying is that you really don't know, and for people to act like it's "case closed no questions remain" over this press release is kind of short sighted. It really doesn't change a thing. If this was done intentionally there would be a cover, likely a couple of layers of cover.
Re:Somehow it must be Israel's fault (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:here is another coverup, please view (Score:3, Insightful)
As I remember, it did. But I would think (and, no, I haven't done the math) that the lack of air resistance on the light dust/dirt might cause it to fall a bit faster than one would expect to due to lesser gravity.