Snapped undersea cables off the coast of Egypt have cut bandwidth in India to half its normal capacity. Users from Bangladesh to Egypt have been affected, and even Dubai’s stock exchange experienced some problems late Wednesday. Big companies with backup plans probably won’t be hurt too badly, but the outsourcing industry could experience some hiccups, as all those administrative and customer-service-related tasks could slow.
Officials aren’t sure what caused the damage, though a ship’s anchor was cited as a possibility. One story contends that a ship was instructed to moor in an unusual spot off the coast of Alexandria, and dropped anchor right on the cable. Oops.
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In Tokyo yesterday, engineers showed off a range of advanced machines at the 2007 International Robot Exhibition, the nation’s top robotics showcase.
On display were a Rubik’s Cube-solving machine, a panda-like bot designed to relieve stress in the people it interacts with, and a new dental training robot, Simroid, that features a realistic mouth and false teeth embedded with sensors. (And sort of looks like it’s been struck by Jack Nicholson’s Joker.) If an aspiring dentist drills in the wrong spot, Simroid emits a protest, letting the student know he or she has erred. The robot is not ready for production just yet, so young dentists will continue practicing on cash-strapped grad students.
