Since this morning I was wondering why in the hell is the internet very slow. Browsing any site is ultimately slow and I checked the internet activity and it’s sending and receiving very small amout of packets. At first I thought it was just because of number of people connected in the base station. But I wasn’t really convinced on idea. So to hold my peace, I searched around the internet for answers. And I found one. There’s a cut in one of the APCN2 (Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2) undersea submarine cable. It actually crippled the connection speed in the Asia-Pacific region particularly in Singapore and Philippines.

APCN2 cable cut cripples connections

By Victoria Ho, ZDNet Asia
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 04:50 PM

update A cut in the Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) undersea submarine cable crippled connection speeds for users in the Asia-Pacific region on Wednesday, particularly in Singapore and the Philippines.

Users were sending updates to local forums and Twitter, complaining of slow connection speeds to sites hosted outside of the region.

According to a notice sent by Malaysian telco, TM Net, the cable fault was traced to segment 7 of the APCN2, which stretches between Shantou, China and Tanshui, Taiwan. TM Net traced the outage to Typhoon Morakot, which hit the region over the weekend.

Additionally, segment 1 of the APCN2 is also currently under repair. Repairs on segment 7 are expected to commence after work on segment 1 is completed.

TM Net said the repairs are expected to be completed by late evening Aug. 13.

Singapore operator, SingTel, confirmed the cable fault in an e-mail to ZDNet Asia, saying the APCN2′s consortium members have started restoration works and are diverting Internet traffic to other cable systems. It said the situation is expected to return to “acceptable levels” within the next 24 hours.

A status update posted on InternetTrafficReport.com showed SingTel’s Singapore gateway registered a score of only 34 points, compared to the global average “health” of network connections, which was 86 points as at 3pm Singapore time on Wednesday.

The site first started registering slower response times and packet loss in Singapore at 8pm Tuesday evening.

Cable & Wireless sent ZDNet Asia a status update at 6pm, Singapore time, noting multiple cable breaks have been also detected along the EAC (East Asia Crossing) and SMW 3 (South-East-Asia, Middle-East, Western-Europe) subsea cable networks, in addition to the APCN2.

These breaks have been concentrated specifically near Taiwan, with network traffic “adversely affected in and out of the region as a result,” said the operator.

Back in 2006, the APCN2 was taken out by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan. Internet access was reportedly badly disrupted and halted in some parts of Asia after the quake.

Source: ZD Net Asia

This post is around 3 days late but it’s now or never. That’s because I don’t usually watch TV or I missed the news in the Internet. Anyway, news is around the country that Wowowee host Willie Revillame apologized on his noon time show after thousands of people drew their criticisms for ordering the removal of the live streaming of former President Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino’s funeral procession from his noon time slot.

He also apologized to the Aquino family and to the network (ABS-CBN) management “for hurting their feelings.” Willie added that his request to stop the inserted video was really “a sign of love and respect for Tita Cory.”

He further explained that it was unappropriate to broadcast it since Wowowee was supposed to be a fun and lively show. Making the country happy would be very difficult for him if he’s seeing the casket of Mrs. Aquino. “Di po maganda. Nagsasaya kami dito habang nagluluksa ang sambayanang Pilipino. ‘Di ko magagampanan ang pagpapatawa habang ipinapakita ang libing ng dating presidente.” (It’s not good for us to have fun here while the whole country grieves. I cannot make people laugh at the same time that this part of the funeral of the funeral of our former president is being shown.)

In my own understanding, can’t the show at least pay its respect to the person who once again gave freedom to media and press 23 years ago? The show can go on for a long time and this rarely happens. This is not even the time for having fun and to make other people happy. What would the Aquinos think of your idea of making people laugh while the entire family is grieving?

It was February 1986 when the Filipino people once again embraced  freedom. Not from a conquest, but from tyranny and oppression of a dictatorship government that tied the hands of thousands of Filipinos. But, one woman was brave enough to step up and bravely faced the odds. She brought hope to millions of Filipinos uniting them to end the regime of a dictatorship government that claimed the lives of a thousand Filipinos.

Even in her final days, she still stood for what she think is right, opening the eyes of every Filipinos and protecting their interests. Before she’s finally laid to rest, I would like to take this opportunity to thank and salute one of the bravest Filipino, Leader and Mother in the history of the Philippines. The Late, Mrs. Maria Corazon “Cory” Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino.

We owe you our freedom! MARAMING SALAMAT PO!