I find it interesting that in those pictures, most of the US cities affected are dim, but the Canadian cities are completely gone.
Canada may be a big producer of electricity, but Ontario (which has about 1/3 the population and the largest industrial base) is still a net importer. The lack of supply and worries about the infrastructure have been a massive political issue for the last couple of years, delaying the provincial election (governments get to choose the timing of elections under the Canadian system - they simply has to be at least once every five years) because of the public's worries about the summer power demand spike.
After an unusually cool summer (relative to recent years) Thursday was the first "hot" day in much of Ontario and thus the first real test of the provinical government's claims that their critics were just fear-mongering. It may turn out to be a coincidence, but no matter where the initial spark was, the fact that the whole grid collapsed is not likely to be forgiven.
(by the way, it was a really nice night - beautiful sunset)
Is there an economically viable idea here? Yes - see Magic the Gathering Online - people are willing to shell out real money for unreal versions of the same items sold on real cardboard.
Will MMRPG maintanance turn into suit-and-tie work with as many lawyers and and accountants protecting as technical staff? Yes - this will be like anything else in the world - where concerns over ownership and liability rise to overshadow the actual work being sold.
But would I ever want to play in such a world? No. RPGs I enjoy are a blank slate where everyone starts equal no matter what their real world background. For me, they are a frontier fantasy more than a hack-and-slash fantasy. Once the frontier is settled and the normal inequalities of the real world take over, the whole enjoyment for me in being there is gone.
I'd rather make my money in the real world doing real work. Well, except that my real work is spent on a network doing virtual grunt work for people I'll never meet. I play the.com MMRPG for a living.
Slashdot Mirror
I find it interesting that in those pictures, most of the US cities affected are dim, but the Canadian cities are completely gone.
Canada may be a big producer of electricity, but Ontario (which has about 1/3 the population and the largest industrial base) is still a net importer. The lack of supply and worries about the infrastructure have been a massive political issue for the last couple of years, delaying the provincial election (governments get to choose the timing of elections under the Canadian system - they simply has to be at least once every five years) because of the public's worries about the summer power demand spike.
After an unusually cool summer (relative to recent years) Thursday was the first "hot" day in much of Ontario and thus the first real test of the provinical government's claims that their critics were just fear-mongering. It may turn out to be a coincidence, but no matter where the initial spark was, the fact that the whole grid collapsed is not likely to be forgiven.
(by the way, it was a really nice night - beautiful sunset)
Is there an economically viable idea here? Yes - see Magic the Gathering Online - people are willing to shell out real money for unreal versions of the same items sold on real cardboard.
.com MMRPG for a living.
Will MMRPG maintanance turn into suit-and-tie work with as many lawyers and and accountants protecting as technical staff? Yes - this will be like anything else in the world - where concerns over ownership and liability rise to overshadow the actual work being sold.
But would I ever want to play in such a world? No. RPGs I enjoy are a blank slate where everyone starts equal no matter what their real world background. For me, they are a frontier fantasy more than a hack-and-slash fantasy. Once the frontier is settled and the normal inequalities of the real world take over, the whole enjoyment for me in being there is gone.
I'd rather make my money in the real world doing real work. Well, except that my real work is spent on a network doing virtual grunt work for people I'll never meet. I play the