Weird – Dark5.tv

Sharks Are Eating Asia’s Internet

Shark species in the region may be drawn to chow down on undersea cables, which send off electromagnetic waves that can act as shark bait.

If you live in Southeast Asia and can’t stream YouTube videos or access Facebook, sharks may be to blame.

The underwater trans-Pacific cable that provides Internet to most of Southeast Asia broke again yesterday, leaving millions with slow or spotty connectivity. The region faces an estimated repair time of up to a month.

The Asia-America Gateway (AAG), launched in 2009, is an enormous underwater cable line stretching 12,000 miles across the Pacific. It connects 10 points throughout the Pacific islands and Southeast Asia and provides vital connectivity to several countries between Malaysia and California.

But one branch of the $500 million AAG has been continually beset with problems. The segment of the cable that runs between Vietnam and Hong Kong has ruptured four times within the last six months—twice near Hong Kong and twice near Vietnam. The latest incident occurred yesterday, when the cable broke near the Vietnamese city of Ba Ria.

In addition to Vietnam, the outage effects the cable’s offshoot points further west, which means Internet users in Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia are also feeling the slow-down. Although these other countries rely on the cable, it is managed by one Vietnamese telecommunications company.

Investigators have not confirmed a reason for the latest rupture. One common explanation in these cases is that anchors from passing fishing trawlers snagged the cable and caused damage. Increasingly, however, cable watchers believe that the problem may be sharks.

Shark species in the region, these experts say, may be drawn to chow down on the cables, which send off electromagnetic waves that can act as sharkbait. One theory holds that sharks mistake the cables for the bioelectric fields surrounding schools of fish. Others suggest that perhaps sharks are merely overly curious.

To prevent sharks from chomping through fragile and expensive fiber-optic wires, Google, which has pledged to collaborate on a similar $300 million undersea cable to Japan, has started wrapping its cables in kevlar.

Eerie, 1970s ‘Crack’ Monster from Sesame Street

The “crack creatures,” as they are known, are spindly, skinny and spooky – a nightmare for any child worried about the potential of monsters under the bed.

If your childhood self watched Sesame Street in 1975, you may have a vague yet haunting memory of a character known as Master Crack, who emerged through your bedroom ceiling and transported you to an alternate crack world. You are not alone.

On December 31, 1975 this short animated segment followed a young woman as she interacted with the various shapes and creatures formed by the cracks on her walls. The “crack creatures,” as they are known, are spindly, skinny and all around spooky — a sure nightmare for any child worried about the potential of monsters under the bed.

For a while the clip circulated only as folklore, as grown internet users who were traumatized by the cartoon in their youth banded together to reminisce about the mysterious “crack creatures” and their frightening “Crack Master.” The short was rumored to be the work of animator Cosmo Anzilotti, though he reportedly has no memory of ever creating it.

Evil Turkey Stalks Town and Terrorizes Reporter

“No! Go away! Go away!” Reporter flees from charging turkey screaming for help and wondering if she should throw her camera at it.

After hearing neighbors’ stories of wild turkeys chasing down joggers and other residents in an Arden area neighborhood, News10 producer Duffy Kelly went out for a first-hand look.

Duffy said she “didn’t want to take the ‘Terrible Tom’ stories at face value,” so on Thursday she went to the neighborhood and tried to walk past one of the birds.

Duffy had her camera rolling for her unexpected turkey run.

Neighbors told Duffy the turkeys have been in the area for years and usually scurry away when folks walk by. They say only recently two turkeys broke off from the flock and are intent on standing guard in their own empty lot.

Some people are carrying sticks to frighten off the turkeys, but neighbors say they don’t want any harm to come to them.

They just want friendlier neighbors.