Internet mauled by bears

Mon Sep 19 10:46:25 UTC 2011

http://news.techeye.net/internet/internet-attacked-by-bears#.TnZXk5rhOv8.reddit

Internet attacked by bears

Is there a picnic basket in this node?  16 Sep 2011 09:44 | by Nick Farrell
in Rome | Filed in Internet

Internet attacked by bears -

Techies in Idaho have been scratching their heads trying to work out why the
state has the slowest networks in the Land of the Free.

Pando Network released the findings of a nationwide study on internet speeds.
It found Idaho has the slowest networks, while Rhode Island, New Jersey and
Massachusetts are at the top of the pack.

The New York Times took it upon itself to find out why Idaho's internet was
the slowest and came out with the surprising result that it was all due to
bears.

Now many of you would probably think that slow internet times are probably
due to the fact that only 1,567,582 live in Idaho and telephone companies
can't be bothered investing in cable. It is known as the Potato State because
that is its major crop and several of its politicians have been root
vegetables.

But according to the Times, another problem is that the internet depends on
line-of-site towers to get over the more mountainous regions. This is where
the bears come in.

Bears like the internet towers because they are ideal for scratching that
part of their backs that they can't normally itch.

Your average bear will rub against a tower and cause it to lose line of site
connections. Barry Ramsay told the Times that when it happened work crews had
to ride up in snowmobiles to discover the problem.

He pointed out that these are the kind of problems city folk probably don't
have in an urban area because there is a bear shortage. 