[freebeard]

It's thick and heavy, but the research he did for that book led to Mother earth Board:

Originally Posted by Google

The Process Of Laying The Very First Transatlantic Cable ...
https://www.techdirt.com/.../process...t-transatlanti...
Techdirt
Jan 28, 2011 - One of my favorite Wired articles ever is Neal Stephenson's insanely long, but wonderfully entertaining account of laying fiber optic cable ...

Its at Wired 4.12: Mother Earth Mother Board

In which the hacker tourist ventures forth across the wide and wondrous meatspace of three continents, acquainting himself with the customs and dialects of the exotic Manhole Villagers of Thailand, the U-Turn Tunnelers of the Nile Delta, the Cable Nomads of Lan tao Island, the Slack Control Wizards of Chelmsford, the Subterranean Ex-Telegraphers of Cornwall, and other previously unknown and unchronicled folk; also, biographical sketches of the two long-dead Supreme Ninja Hacker Mage Lords of global telecommunications, and other material pertaining to the business and technology of Undersea Fiber-Optic Cables, as well as an account of the laying of the longest wire on Earth, which should not be without interest to the readers of Wired.

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...tried to think of a way to get us back on topic; gave up.