Link Banana

The Economist examines all the conspiracy theories surrounding the recent broken internet cables and decides that they probably don’t amount to more than a hill of beans.

It may be rare for several cables to go down in a week, but it can happen. Global Marine Systems, a firm that repairs marine cables, says more than 50 cables were cut or damaged in the Atlantic last year; big oceans are criss-crossed by so many cables that a single break has little impact. What was unusual about the damage in the Suez canal was that it took place at a point where two continents’ traffic is borne along only three cables. More are being laid. For the moment, there is only one fair conclusion: the internet is vulnerable, in places, but getting more robust.

This story was all over the blogs when I logged on this morning, but usually with knee-jerk reactions. As usual The Economist is more considered and more comprehensive.

Microsoft is desperate to grab a bigger share of the online-advertising market because many of its software products are being challenged by free, advertising-supported services offered by Google. The company is also worried that Google’s dominance in search and advertising allows it to dictate terms to advertisers, and gives it an unfair advantage over its smaller rivals. This is a bit rich coming from Microsoft, a convicted monopolist in operating-system software, which has also been known to squeeze out smaller competitors, but its anger that it has had to endure years of scrutiny by regulators, while Google has been left alone, is genuine.

This is a pretty interesting little web application, even if I have no personal use for it. Instapaper is basically a way to “save this for later.” I use bookmarks to do the same thing — which is what I understand bookmarks were made for — but you may want to use it if you regularly browse the internet on more than one computer.

(via cubicle17)

The Guardian presents a interesting picture of China’s vibrant and spottily-regulated publishing scene. The whole thing’s interesting, but this was striking:

“The internet has a much more significant role in literature than it does here [in Britain],” he says. “It’s taken very seriously, discussed very seriously and famous writers take part.”

The general manager of Penguin China, Jo Lusby, is even more emphatic. “All credible interesting writing in China begins online at the moment,” she says. “It’s given an added boost because it exists in a relatively free space outside of the tight constraints of traditional publishers.”

(via Snarkmarket)