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[Mister Frag 0]

How come the mobile phones did not work? Any semi-respectable mobile service provider should have proper USPs.  

That should be their first priority now - to make sure that communication does not break down again as it did.

Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) are intended to bridge brief outages and protect from voltage fluctuations. I'm sure that many cells were equipped with UPS backup power, but that doesn't help when the power is out for more than an hour or so.

My PC and some other equipment at home are on a UPS, but all I'm hoping to do in the event of a blackout that lasts more than a few minutes is to shut my system down in an orderly fashion and not lose any information.

[Winters 1]

I had a signal all the time but i couldnt make a call because so many people tried to make calls at the same time. Although my voicemail worked fine.

Edit: another funny thing was when i heard the Mayor saying it was Canada's fault i could almost hear that stupid "Blame Canada" song from South Park playing in the background

[FSPilot 0]

I get the feeling we're just going to end up blaming mother nature.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

It's not possible that excessive energy consumption was to blame, right? Because we have a God given right to have our office temperature never rise above 68 F.

It doesn't take Sherlock frigging Holmes to figure out why these power outages occur during heat waves.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

Quote[/b] ]Well anyway, this shortage was a huge life/death issue for many people in different situations. So Tex downplaying it doesn't know what he's talking about.

Well I'm so glad that someone who knows what he's talking about decided to join the party. Just in time for this little tidbit:

Quote[/b] ]More than 60 million customers in the United States and Canada were affected at the height of the blackout. Only three deaths were tied to the outages -- two in Ottawa and one in New York.

Three deaths. THREE DEATHS. OUT OF OVER 60 MILLION PEOPLE. There are hospitals that are lucky to have three deaths daily when the power is running. We are talking about some of the most populous areas on the American continent, the most urban, the most 'dependent' on electricity. And yet somehow, all those folks in the elevator shafts, all those old people with their specialized oxygen equipment, THEY ARE ALL FUCKING FINE.

Now I'm not a mathematical genius or anything, but the concept of a life or death situation implies that there is a near equal chance of a result on either end: life, or death. How on Earth do you get the proofs necessary to assert that a blackout is a life or death situation when the casualty ratio from your life/death scenario comes up at 3/60,000,000 ??

[FSPilot 0]

@ Aug. 17 2003,11:33)]It's not possible that excessive energy consumption was to blame, right? Because we have a God given right to have our office temperature never rise above 68 F.

It doesn't take Sherlock frigging Holmes to figure out why these power outages occur during heat waves.

thats what i suggested at first, but apparently the "experts" (you know, the ones who said the subways would be back online in 6 hours? ) say it was something else. they're all saying different things though, i havent heard any of them say it was just overloaded.

and wouldnt you know it. our air conditioner broke a few days back. i think i'll panic and go looting

[Hit_Sqd_Maximus 0]

From what I hear, when one transformer starts to get overloaded it shuts down to prevent from being burnt up. This cause cause a domino effect by causing other transformers to try to support the lost one.

I dont know if that is how it happened, but thats what the news here said.

[FSPilot 0]

thats what caused the first NYC blackout at least