What's protecting the internet?

[Yonni]

Oh, hang on, no Talkbass! I might have to go out and make some real friends. Hell no!

 

[Downunderwonder]

This will give you an idea, although there are several different gadgets with the same name:

Squirrel Guard

BTW, I never knew that there were no squirrels in NZ. Thanks for the education...

I see some sheetmetal but don't see the application for all the fancy shaping.

 

[ajkula66]

I see some sheetmetal but don't see the application for all the fancy shaping.

One of the applications is mounting it over the splice box on the strand so the rodents can't get in there. Back in the day the gel that the cable was filled with was alcohol-based and attracted them, although it was deadly.

There are also wraps that get mounted around the bottom of the pole - similar to what you've described - but am not sure if they fall under the same term.

 

[two fingers]

Long, long ago in a land far, far away, they had these things called "cash" and a "checkbook". You should look into them.

Here in the states we have made a hobby (almost a sport) out of disagreeing with each other. We (literally) make up excuses to argue. But there's ONE THING that would being out the torches and pitchforks that BOTH sides of EVERY issue have stashed in the closet. That's the interwebs.

It goes down and ALL the townfolk of EVERY town go nucking futz.

So, even the evil people who would plot to cause chaos understand there would be a total breakdown.....


Great, now I'm worried about it too. Way to go weirdo!

 

[friskinator]

Threads like this can be so frustrating to read. The internet isn't just entertainment and social media. Our entire infrastructure is built on it. Most jobs can't be done without it. If it ever goes down completely for any extended period of time, we're in big trouble.

 

[socialleper]

If the net goes down we're screwed, big time.

The economy is largely shut down. Many people are sick. We charge everything or use a debit card. Without the net we won't be able to buy gas or anything else IF anyone has goods for sale.

What's preventing the collapse of the www?

It's design.

The internet was conceived as a distributed network with independent parts that could survive in case of a nuclear attack. It was originally developed by DARPA for government use. The internet isn't one network, it is hundreds of thousands of networks, all using an agreed upon set of protocols. All that rolls out across satellites, telecommunications lines, and regular old phone lines.
The internet doesn't exist in one place, so it is virtually impossible to crash in the US.