Switching Off The Internet

[darkeyes]

I play with the net.. I am no expert and to be honest do not wish to be.. it is merely a part of my life, not its controlling influence and I have fun with it.. it is useful for communication, finding information, getting work done and playing.. but if it suddenly disappeared from my life? I would survive, for what alternative is there? But what a hole it would leave.. in a few decades it has become an almost indispensable tool which makes the world go around, and its disappearance would be seismic.

Egypt switched it off during its recent revolution, and British authorities have powers to do the same here.. the US is preparing legislation on this and other countries either heavily censor it or restrict it.. but can it be done absolutely? The Independent ran an article yesterday on just this matter.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/could-the-uk-government-shut-down-the-web-2235116.html

[NotLostJustWandering]

This issue has been on my mind ever since the Internet blackout here. What I want to know is: how can we decentralize the Net? It seemed so absurd to me that because of switches flicked in Cairo, suddenly no one in Sinai could e-mail anyone else in Sinai, or share files or discuss events on-line. Why can't we connect more directly to one another?

I've been using the Net since the pre-Web days and miss being able to call a friend up, tell them I have a file to share, connect our computers via modem and send the file via TinCan. Does that sound silly? Well, to me it sounds sillier to suggest the electronic equivalent of being unable to go to my next-door neighbor's house because of construction on the freeway in the metropolis 100 km away. That is how the Internet runs these days.

[Hephaestion]

NotLostJustWandering

The net is decentralised - that was its original design concept (primarily as a military resilience feature).

What you experienced was localised node failure. The answer is to re-route through satelite or microwave tranceiver or even on plain old dial up modem on residual telephone wires. The last is what is reported to have happened in Egypt.

.

[DuckiesDarling]

What happened in Egypt was an eye opener, but China has been doing censorship for years. The internet is the basis for so much of modern life right now that if the net was shut down it would cripple a country. Gas pumps, grocery scanners, traffic lights are just a few things controlled by the net, atm machines, banking period. If net was shut down, it would take out a country.

If the net was gone it wouldn't just be an absence of forums to bitch in or games to play or even my babe on the other headset, it would be life as I know it.

So yes what happened in Egypt was an eye opener. But the protest was organized on the net via Twitter and FB and other social mediums. The shutdown could help in a pinch if something happened in some countries but it couldn't be maintained for long due to the pervasiveness of the net.

[darkeyes]

My dad fondly remembers the days before the advent of the net. I have had it as a part of my life ever since I can remember so to me it would be far more difficult to adjust to life without it than for him and those who lived their lives net free in those bygone days of dinosaurism.

The old boy hates the net, and outside of work rarely uses it. He enjoys his life net free as far as he can and moans like buggery about his children and grandchildren breezing into his house disappearing upstairs and sitting for hours on his computers (we dont as much as he thinks but he thinks we do..). He threatens to bring the computer room door lock back into use just to get some sort of social activity going at times when we visit.. the words "rude little bastards.. can they no dae (do) somethin' except rabbit awa' ti (to) Christ kens (knows) whae (who).. they waltz in here supposedly ti see their auld faither an' mither then disappear for 'oors (hours) tappin' awa' on they effin machines an then expectin' their bluidy tea on the table an' bein' waited on hand an mooth!!!" The net to him is not a social activity but a bloody awful intrusion into his life and a hinderance to his interraction with his children among others. He would happily see its disappearance from our lives.

Yet even my father sees that the net serves a useful purpose in disseminating information and exposing the lies of governments, furthering all of our interests by not allowing the state to control that dissemination as it once did. And that luffly adorable old dinosaur would be the first on the barricades should government ever try to shut it down.:)

[bizel]

dark eyes, i'm with your father. i knew life before the internet (and i'm not THAT old -lol. you must be a spring chicken.). i remember originally thinking the whole concept couldn't possibly work. i still can't get my head around who is in charge of it. the whole censorship thing / who can be held responsible?? gives me a headache. anyway, when i was working, only used it for what i had to, then could hardly wait to turn it off when i went home. now i'm stuck in the house on carer duty, it's become my contact with the outside world cos i can't travel or even socialise much now. but still, there are days when i gladly ignore it. i'm not a mad shopper, but i would miss the that cos i hate the noise and crowds of shops. i find books that are no longer in print easier to purchase etc.

it sounds fuddy-duddy, but now we have digital tv with more channels and the internet now doing more things and ipods/ipads etc, i'm happy to turn it all off and just listen to the birds outside, grab a book, curl up in a chair and let the world slide by. it's all become too much information. it hasn't made people happier from what i can see. (don't even get me started on computers. i remember when they all first came out - we wouldn't have to work so hard etc. now we do the work of 3 people in the same time. and atm's were going to make access to our money easier - until the machines have glitches, and the banks learnt how to charge for simply sneezing near the bloody things). it's just made life too fast. it serves a purpose, but i reserve judgement on whether that's a good thing or bad. i don't think the younger generation could handle 'cold turkey' and go back to the way of our youth before all this technology. gawd, i do sound like granddad. i remember him still fascinated by planes and how they stayed up in the air.

[darkeyes]

dark eyes, i'm with your father. i knew life before the internet (and i'm not THAT old -lol. you must be a spring chicken.)

Not quite a spring chick.. I wish...:tong: I was about 7 or 8 when we went live with the net.. Dad's work paid for it.. wosn that nice? But prior 2 that, computers were a part of our lives an so the old stand alone to web link change is kind of a blur.. I actually dont remember it happening.. it just always seems to have been.. and so without it, there is no doubt it would be a huge change I must admit I would have great difficulty in coping with.. shop..

The one thing I never do however is shop on line.. I will scan the net for goodies.. do all the main stores an c wots wot.. but it is almost unknown for me 2 actually buy.. I much prefer 2 touch and feel what I'm buying.. view it close up b4 buyin.. an talk 2 sales peeps 2 glean the info I wanna have an think I mite need.. I'm a bit old fashioned that way, but also cos I'm extremely careful, think thats the wisest course.. cos far 2 often Ive heard of peeps gettin screwed when their on line details have been used by crooked shitbags that shudnt.. on line fraud scares the life outa me an so I just dont.. I do online bankin for convenience but even that gives me the willies... so if the net shut down tomoz.. from a shoppin pointa view.. it wudnt worry me 2 much.. it wud at worst mean I wos out at the shops a lil longer than wud othawise b the case.. an ne 1 who knows me knows that isnt ne gr8 hardship...:tong:

.. but for just 'bout everythin else? God.. it would be hell... :eek:

I do take the point about jobs.. there are so many more probs wichya cudda mentioned bout the net an ne otha technological advance.. the net is far from perfect.. is it a gud thing? On balance have no doubt of it.. throughout history modernisations of 1 kind or totha have meant jobs disappear, but also have them b created.. they have meant huge changes in how we live, not all gud... but as imperfect as it is.. I reckon the world is better with the web than without.. but we do have 2 keep on top of it an try an have it made better.. an sumhow try an minimise the control govts increasingly seem 2 want 2 have ova it...

[Hephaestion]

What is this 'book' thing that people mention?

[darkeyes]

What is this 'book' thing that people mention?

Hitch Hiker's Guide Heph me luffly... don panic!:tong:

[Katja]

Not quite a spring chick.. I wish...:tong: I was about 7 or 8 when we went live with the net.. Dad's work paid for it.. wosn that nice? But prior 2 that, computers were a part of our lives an so the old stand alone to web link change is kind of a blur.. I actually dont remember it happening.. it just always seems to have been.. and so without it, there is no doubt it would be a huge change I must admit I would have great difficulty in coping with.. shop..

The one thing I never do however is shop on line.. I will scan the net for goodies.. do all the main stores an c wots wot.. but it is almost unknown for me 2 actually buy.. I much prefer 2 touch and feel what I'm buying.. view it close up b4 buyin.. an talk 2 sales peeps 2 glean the info I wanna have an think I mite need.. I'm a bit old fashioned that way, but also cos I'm extremely careful, think thats the wisest course.. cos far 2 often Ive heard of peeps gettin screwed when their on line details have been used by crooked shitbags that shudnt.. on line fraud scares the life outa me an so I just dont.. I do online bankin for convenience but even that gives me the willies... so if the net shut down tomoz.. from a shoppin pointa view.. it wudnt worry me 2 much.. it wud at worst mean I wos out at the shops a lil longer than wud othawise b the case.. an ne 1 who knows me knows that isnt ne gr8 hardship...:tong:



My little business wouldn't make much out of you would it? Almost 40% of my sales are internet sales. That isn't a gripe, but a regret. Without that 40% I would soon be out of business. I don't know why you worry about fraud because on fraudulent card sales you arent out of pocket. Banks and credit card companies refund the customer and claim the amount defrauded out of the likes of my business. At the end of the day the risk is mine, but it is a risk I am willing to take because it does potentially pay huge rewards overall.

[gooniegoogoo]

I play with the net.. I am no expert and to be honest do not wish to be.. it is merely a part of my life, not its controlling influence and I have fun with it.. it is useful for communication, finding information, getting work done and playing.. but if it suddenly disappeared from my life? I would survive, for what alternative is there? But what a hole it would leave.. in a few decades it has become an almost indispensable tool which makes the world go around, and its disappearance would be seismic.

Egypt switched it off during its recent revolution, and British authorities have powers to do the same here.. the US is preparing legislation on this and other countries either heavily censor it or restrict it.. but can it be done absolutely? The Independent ran an article yesterday on just this matter.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/could-the-uk-government-shut-down-the-web-2235116.html

Try living without electricity for 9 months and then talk to me. :P

[darkeyes]

Try living without electricity for 9 months and then talk to me. :P

Me dad has a place up north.. quite frequently we have had short periods (up 2 4 or 5 days max) without leccie mostly in really bad winters
.. and so.. no ta.. 9 months wud b a tadge 2 long... for a few days its actually fun.. 9 months is 1 baby too much..

[darkeyes]

My little business wouldn't make much out of you would it? Almost 40% of my sales are internet sales. That isn't a gripe, but a regret. Without that 40% I would soon be out of business. I don't know why you worry about fraud because on fraudulent card sales you arent out of pocket. Banks and credit card companies refund the customer and claim the amount defrauded out of the likes of my business. At the end of the day the risk is mine, but it is a risk I am willing to take because it does potentially pay huge rewards overall.

Sorry hun... just havta do wivout the Fran pennies.. but I do have a point more than u let on.. companies have 2 carry losses caused by fraud I knew that.. and consequently the net, through fraud raises your costs and there fore your prices.. thats not your fault or the fault of the net, but it is a fact of life.. thousands of millions every year are added to the cost of living through net fraud.. it also irks that very often I can get x y or z cheaper on the net than by going down to a showroom or store.. but I can live with that and do.. I dont like it, but I can afford to and prefer to carry that extra cost.. not everyone can.. not everyone is linked to the net, or even wishes to be.. but many cannot afford to be.. the net also has the capacity to make the poor poorer..

The net is a terrific thing.. it is not the be all and end all however..it does have its quirks and faults.. and switching it off, should any government ever be able to do so completely for whatever reason, would certainly be a great leveller..

[Hephaestion]

Try living without electricity for 9 months and then talk to me. :P

Sounds like the average British pensioner.

.

[Katja]

Try living without electricity for 9 months and then talk to me. :P

No ty. Which is why my cottage and my business has a back up generator, oil lamps and alternative heating sources.