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Blackout Week Continues

Posted by michael on from the at-least-it-isn't-shark-week dept.

RedCard writes "Back in April of 1999, Wired magazine published an issue featuring a black-on-black cover with the title Lights Out. In it, they detailed what could've happened had the Y2K bug not fizzled. There's the cover story detailing the Y2K worries, a guide to the biggest blackouts of all time (before last week, that is), survival stories from New Zealand, and finally a look at the myth of order - how our power system is as chaotic as any complex software system. By the way, whatever happened to those backups put in place for Y2K that were supposed to prevent one grid from taking out a zillion others? Where'd my tax money go? Enjoy!" Dennis Kucinich has also written an informative piece about the energy utility that seems to have been responsible for the recent blackout.

10 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. Heh. by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


    Maybe this was a Y2K bug. (If it blew up when it was supposed to it wouldn't be a bug, now would it.)

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  2. All these blackout stories.. by Gherald · · Score: 3, Funny

    Okay, okay, I'm convinced!

    Time to order a UPS...

    Will this do?

    --
    The unofficial /. digest
    1. Re:All these blackout stories.. by timbloid · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, but getting 50 million of them's gonna cost ya... ;)

    2. Re:All these blackout stories.. by swordboy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Will this do? [bestbuy.com]

      No, but this one will do nicely.

      --

      Life is the leading cause of death in America.
    3. Re:All these blackout stories.. by phurley · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ahh but this would be so much nerdier (and quieter) :-)

      Fuel Cell

      --
      Home Automation & Linux -- now I know I'm a geek
  3. The art of psychic maintenance by richie2000 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Back in April of 1999, Wired magazine published an issue featuring a black-on-black cover with the title Lights Out. In it, they detailed what could've happened had the Y2K bug not fizzled.

    Wow. Were they all psychics? Did they, back in '99, see the end of the dotcoms too?

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    Money for nothing, pix for free
  4. Enron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    By the way, whatever happened to those backups put in place for Y2K that were supposed to prevent one grid from taking out a zillion others? Where'd my tax money go?

    I think enron was supposed to install them.

  5. Re:Two schools of thought about blackouts... by kinnell · · Score: 5, Funny
    how are you supposed to "put on" some music without ELECTRICITY

    Head over to the neighbour's house and force them at gunpoint to sing for you before they jump to conclusion

    --
    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
  6. top priorities of our goverment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    1) satisfy RIAA
    2) satisfy MPAA
    3) ...
    4) electricity

  7. Re:NIMBY by Speare · · Score: 4, Funny

    On NPR, someone said that NIMBY is being replaced with BANANA (Build Almost Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody), and is destined for NOPE (Nothing On Planet Earth). Worth a chuckle, but I don't know how widespread they are.

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    [ .sig file not found ]