I suppose the Earth is due for another Carrington Event. The globally disruptive after effects would go on for weeks or months at least, making "2020" look like a kindergarden food fight by comparison. — 180 Proof
I was just wondering about that. Are there some core servers that run the show? Is there an internet HQ? — TheMadFool
The fastest growing websites are all porn-related. — TheMadFool
There are 13 DNS root servers that map the internet. If those are gone it's Bye-Bye internet. Other than that everything else is quite replaceable.
The entire internet shutting down would be quite a big deal. Economists would probably label it the darkest day in human history. Major loses for all the companies generating revenue through the web. I'd imagine stock markets (including all the cryptos) would crash quite gloriously. Important infrastructure would no longer be reachable - banking, cash terminals, some health and insurance services. Big troubles for logistics. And last but not least a lot of panic and "Help! I don't know what to do with my time." — Hermeticus
Do you know how the Internet came about? A defense project, originally under something called DARPA. The whole principle was that it was decentralised, so that there was no 'central exchange' that can be knocked out. You know what TCP/IP does? All the data is split into packets, each one individually addressed, if a router goes down on one route, it will find another. That is the genius of the internet. Thank Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, here they are getting a medal from W from having thought it up.
(That's Vint Cerf, not being garrotted by Bush.) — Wayfarer
Non-resolution of the US debt ceiling impasse is both more likely and would be more devastating. — Wayfarer
So the internet does have a weak spot, an Achilles heel, a HQ. I was under the impression that with all these techies constantly admonishing us for not having a backup for our e-data files som computer-wiz would've done something about it. No, huh? — TheMadFool
I had some inkling about the defense angle to the internet but failed, miserably it seems, to connect the dots. — TheMadFool
After driving internet innovation for 20 to 30 years, being ubiquitous from the get go, and making money all these years, how are they still the fastest growing thing on line? I would think they might have plateaued somewhere along the line. Are they growing faster than YouTube? FaceBook? Amazon? Google?
I'm too cheap to buy memberships to [gay] hard core sites, but paywall sites are the wellspring. I stick to the stuff that has been circulating for years on sites like BlogSpot or Tumblr; some of the photos were first published in the early 70s, on paper!
My understanding is that it isn't expensive to produce porn. Actors and crew get paid, but not a lot, and they probably don't get much in residuals. So, are the profits in sales of content? Subscriptions to sites? Pay-per-view? Exports? Advertising on the sites for motor oil and lawn-care equipment? Viagra (fake or real)? Nitrate inhalants? — Bitter Crank
According to Similarweb analysis, adult websites Xvideos and Pornhub are among the most trafficked in the United States, receiving an average of 693.5 million and 639.6 million monthly visitors respectively.
The two pornography giants (Xvideos & Pornhub) outrank a number of major services, including Netflix (541 million), Zoom (629.5 million) and Twitch (255.3 million). — techradar.com
Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world [...] According to the same study "globally, Muslims have the highest fertility rate, an average of 3.1 children per woman – well above replacement level (2.1)", and "in all major regions where there is a sizable Muslim population, Muslim fertility exceeds non-Muslim fertility. — Wikipedia
Hey here's a primer I wrote as part of my very first tech writing contract, way back in 2004 but most of the background info is still relevant. (This was written for a broadband communications company when everyone was first starting to get ADSL and cable connections, to provide background to end-users, support staff and sales channel.)
10mReplyOptions — Wayfarer
You wouldn't have to take down all of the servers either. This is just a guess but I'd imagine half of them would be enough to bring the internet to it's knees. — Hermeticus
Carrington Event. — 180 Proof
A solar storm of this magnitude occurring today would cause widespread electrical disruptions, blackouts, and damage due to extended outages of the electrical grid. The solar storm of 2012 was of similar magnitude, but it passed Earth's orbit without striking the planet, -missing by nine days — Carrington Event (Wikipedia)
Apparently yes.Do solar storms ... pass through part of the earth's orbit which earthentered[traversed] nine days after the solar storm had passed by it? — TheMadFool
If only our phones could text and call without the internet. — Michael
I would suffer traumatic brain injury if the internet crashed. Really. One of the reasons my mind appears to still be functioning is that Google search, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, and a few thousand web pages provide me with mental content. It's always there 24/7. When I'm talking to relatives and others on the phone I can fact check; look up diseases and drug side effects; find recipes they (or I) forgot parts of; check etymology; get words and phrases translated; read scattered articles from NYT, Guardian, Boston Globe, LA Times, WSJ, and the Washington Post--and porn, of course: Architecture porn, dog porn, science porn, rock and roll porn, slum porn, porn porn... And I can shop for stuff--80% of which I could probably live without.
I would be a vastly better student today than I was in the 1960s. Well, maybe. I wasted a lot of time back then and there is nothing better than the Internet for massive time wastage. But still, there is such a wealth of good information (music, history, science, philosophy fora, etc.). — Bitter Crank
I personally believe that the modern nervous system is so attuned to Internet technologies/services, that any prolonged disruption would result in withdrawal and (ultimately) utter, utter chaos. IMO at least. — Bret Bernhoft
I personally believe that the modern nervous system is so attuned to Internet technologies/services, that any prolonged disruption would result in withdrawal and (ultimately) utter, utter chaos. IMO at least. — Bret Bernhoft
what if the entire internet shut down for a day? What would the be most major impacts/consequences for the globe in this brief but major widespread return to a pre-globalised technological dark age? — Benj96
Extended outages in the Electric grid, especially in winter, are far more dangerous than the whimsical issue that Facebook or Twitter being down. With failure of the electric grid at winter many relying on electricity for heating might die. And the industrialized farming would have its problems too.I suppose the Earth is due for another Carrington Event. — 180 Proof
What would be the point of an internet if the person utilizing it is an idiot? — TheMadFool
Well idiots need entertainment too. There’s nothing more dangerous than idiocy with too much time on its hands haha — Benj96
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