Internet Problems…

Today something so unbelievable happened, that I figured it was worth a blog entry. I live in a dormitory where we have a Server that provides each room with an internet connection. In my room I have opened (with the use of a Netgear router)
a local network that also provides a wireless access point. Lately I was having problems with my connection to the internet, so I connected my computer directly to the LAN port in the wall. Some days later I tried to see if my router would again connect to the internet and accidentally connection the LAN coming out of my wall to the wrong connection on the back of the router thinking that all 5 sockets would provide the same result. After doing so I left for the weekend…

When I arrived back 2 days later I heard the shocking story: My router had crashed the internet in the entire house. It had done so because I had connected a port that supplies all attached devises with IP addresses, and had so started a race with the house server at giving new IP addresses. My router was faster…

and so it crashed every attached device.

It came even worse. Unfortunately our fire alarm is also connected to the internet using the same system, and my router had also given it a new address. This crashed the fire alarm. It then gave out an error and set off an alarm.
When the fire alarm crashes it automatically calls several phone numbers: The support team from the company that made the fire alarm, several administrative people from the house and the fire department! They did not come with trucks but there was a huge chaos in the house (people running around, phone calls to cancel alarms, etc.) for several hours until (and I was not even home to witness all
this)the internet administrator found my router in the system and was able to block it to re-boot the system.


So what do we learn from this experience:

- The Chaos theory is correct: Every action, no matter how small it may be, has consequences. Sometimes these are so unbelievable, that one would have thought the outcome is a joke if one had not witnessed it firsthand.

- Tiny white boxes can crash huge networks if not used correctly.

This here, by the way, is a true story!

Definition: Eternity

High up in the North in a land called Svithjod,
there stands a rock. It is a hundred miles high
and a hundred miles wide.
Once every thousand years a little bird comes
to this rock to sharpen his beak.

When this rock has thus been worn away,
then a single day of eternity will have gone by.

Introduction

Hi, and welcome to my blog.
If you are one if the thousands of readers who have been viewing this page on a daily basis waiting for the first entry, well, here it is.
Since you are reading this, you are certainly aware of the fact that you have too much free time on your hands, for which I have two solutions:
Firstly come and study with us at the ETH, during which you will be deprived of ALL your free time, or get a girlfriend.
After extensive research I have discovered that the second option is by far more difficult, so choose wisely.

In the near future I plan not only to post links and videos on this page,
but also to put up some personal reviews and experiences from all different categories: Sports, Hobbies, Studies and of course IT things.

So, keep hitting that refresh button, there is soon a whole load more to come!