# Students Dissertation Maps Entire American Fiber Optic Infrastructure. How bad?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255 "2003-07-09T16:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/21 "2003-07-11T14:51:25Z")
They’ll probably give him his PhD. But I would think he’d have a nice cushy job with the gov’t after that… ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/22 "2003-07-11T21:03:44Z")
Does anyone else find it ironic that these networks were originally designed specifically in order to withstand an attack upon US infrastructure? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/23 "2003-07-12T10:52:21Z")
Uhm, these aren’t military networks, they’re commercial ones. A lot like Optus down your way. The trunks are impervious to an EMP but not someone blowing up a central hub location. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/24 "2003-07-12T12:51:34Z")
Somehow, I get the impression that the reason certain parties want his work suppressed is because it makes those same certain parties look foolish for having such a vulnerable system. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/25 "2003-07-12T19:04:07Z")
I was talking about the internet in general. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/26 "2003-07-14T14:20:19Z")
The internets redundancy had little to do with the infrastructure it ran on. Beside there were 1000 host when the thing switched over to TCP/IP back in 1984. A fair bit has changed since then and the majority users are no longer governments. That mean public companies took over and built/connected networks all willy nilly (finally got to use that in a thread!). ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/27 "2003-07-15T07:39:47Z")
**tas** > [@](#): > > What I dont get is the professor who called it tedious and unimportant. i think it’s fascinating. He didn’t analyze anything, or contribute anything new to the discussion. It’s like publishing a huge bibliography rather than writing a paper. There might be value in compiling such an index, but it’s not outstanding work. ---
**Author:** ![Moeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@Moeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moeman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/28 "2003-07-15T12:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terminus Est \* > \*\*In all this talk of terrorism and vulnerability, the most important question has been overlooked: How is he going to get his Ph.D. if his dissertation has been classified? \*\* I figure he will finish his work, get the PH.D. and then will not be allowed to talk about it. All the people who read the paper will have to sign non-disclosure agreements and it will just vanish after that into some filling cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![squ1dman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@squ1dman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squ1dman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/29 "2011-01-10T16:22:19Z")
Recently I read the article from the Washington Post on this subject and realized a few things that were laughable. First Sean Gorman is about to get a PHD but he failed to realise that this information could be placed in a software package similer to google Street and SOLD to the government, fortune 500 companies and telecom companies. That he could have partnered with the Atlas company that tryed to sell him a map of the power systems to form a more sophisticated map and software package that could be sold to the government to PROTECT American intrest. That he could have partnered with the people who made the maps of secret bunkers, nuclear weapons, etc. to develope a software package and sold them to the government to PROTECT American intrest. That He is in a position to make hundreds of millions of dollars by creating a public corporation, like google, microsoft, etc. That if he did the above, he would not need a PHD, Rusume, or a Job. That Jobs are for POOR People That I JUST SCHOOLED HIS ASS. :smack:No Job, No Food Pellet, No Finger Lick. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/30 "2011-01-10T16:59:46Z")
Hmm, rich zombie, poor zombie . . . ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255/31 "2011-01-10T17:07:14Z")
Link in OP doesn’t work, many original participants done gone … I’ll close this due to a lack of a reason to keep it open. **Ellen Cherry IMHO Moderator** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/students-dissertation-maps-entire-american-fiber-optic-infrastructure-how-bad/187255.md?page=1)