Unlike in China and other places in Asia where virtual lives stopped cold, most Philippine Internet services had simply slowed to pre-DSL crawls. I had thought my overtaxed Powerbook just needed defragging. But Inq7 big cheese JV Rufino texted (yes that still worked fine) to say that the paralysis was systemic and he himself was hopping from office to office searching for a better connection.

All this time I thought much of this global interconnectedness had already been achieved through satellite. But the undersea cables are still the main avenue for most of the Internet world. Now I am told we need to wait weeks before the usual speedy services return, as ships arrive to repair the cables in deep water. I can't even email my mother Christmas pictures! It is taking me forever to upload text and pictures on this blog.

I suppose this event has made many of us think about how much the Internet has changed our lives. Rummaging through old family letters recently, I read a 1970s letter accompanying some pictures from my father overseas to my grandfather asking that the photos be passed around then returned to my dad, since these were the only copies of the pictures and the printing was pricey!

With the Internet reduced to archaic slowness for weeks, more than a few will feel tempted to leave their virtual cocoons -- their blogging, chatting, emailing, youtubing, gaming, etc. -- and engage in old-fashioned activities, like walking around, watching movies on the big screen, and conversing face to face with real people in real time.