Computer gremlins, confusion preceded big blackout

The Globe and Mail ^ | 9/4/03 | Associated Press

[concerned about politics]

The folks in London are having the same problems explaining the blackout.

Yeh. When a plane hit the first tower in NY, everyone thought it was an accident ( tall building and all). When another hit the second building, there was no question about what was happening.
Small power outages happen here in the NE a lot. We get noreaster snow storms, but when London had one right after ours, I thought "Hmmmmmm."

[af_vet_rr]

What are the chances these people were staring at a BSOD?

I would hope they were not using Windows. Most critical systems are using some variant of Unix.

[John W]

Thought on a similar thread the tidbit that a/c is uncommon,almost nonexistent in the UK was mentioned?

[SengirV]

I would hope they were not using Windows. Most critical systems are using some variant of Unix.

That nuclear destroyer that M$ caused to seize up was using NT. So no, not all critical systems rely upon UNIX.

[Sacajaweau]

You're right...It's shopping time and "keep the gas tank full". "CANOPENER".

I've pretty much consummed everything I stocked up on last year. It was kinda nice as I didn't have to carry the heavy stuff through the tons of snow we had.

Take a few extra bucks out of the bank, too.

[Baseballguy]

Ohh this is series... Let me take a shower.

[meyer]

Sounds like it might be a good idea to stock up on batteries and non-perishables the night of Sept. 10.

Based on my experience with FirstEnergy, this event was not terrorist related. But, it did show those that may have "terrorist tendencies" how easy it would be to put a dent in our energy supply. Its never a bad idea to prepare for a "storm". :)

[concerned about politics]

Its never a bad idea to prepare for a "storm". :)

A wise man hears of trouble comming and prepares for it. If the trouble does not arrive, he is still much better off because of it.

[DJ Frisat]

"Sounds like it might be a good idea to stock up on batteries and non-perishables the night of Sept. 10."

What?! You don't still have your Y2K generator and emergency water stash?

[Itzlzha]

During the hour before the Aug. 14 power blackout, engineers in the control centre of an Ohio utility struggled to figure out why transmission lines were failing and complained that a computer failure was making it difficult to determine what was going on, transcripts of telephone communications released Wednesday show.

...and

"We have no clue. Our computer is giving us fits, too,"</B replied a FirstEnergy technician identified as Jerry Snickey. "We don't even know the status of some of the stuff [power fluctuations] around us."

I guess the term "Computer Gremlins" is the new PC term for "Computer Virus/Terrorist-type attacks".

And then we have something similar in England..."nah, no Terrorism here...nothing to see. Move Along!"

Anybody remember the movie "They Live"?
May have been left-wing clap-trap, but the dumbing-down factor was VERY appropriate!

[tubavil]

Don't forget the missile attack against an Israeli power plant THE SAME DAY of London's blackout - 8/28.

[concerned about politics]

What?! You don't still have your Y2K generator and emergency water stash?

We lost our electric this morning (small town U.S.A., upstate NY). About a couple of hours. There's no storm, either. Humph!

[all4one]

I agree with you.

The Northeast had the biggest blackout in North American history, affecting more than 50 million people. Last year the summer in the northeast was much hotter, so much so that there was a severe drought. Last summer there were a number of "brown-outs" that do occur during extreme use during hot weather. The electric is transferred from different grids and some grids experience these brown-outs (those with more electrical/grid expertise could explain this in better detail).

This historical outage just happens to occur around rush-hour, thus snarling and stranding commuters in major cities, including NY. And also enabling the most saturation of news coverage in time for the evening news.

A scant two weeks later the largest blackout in London's history occurs during their rush-hour.

Just two small coincidences. So far, the explaination for the Northeast blackout is a few engineers in Ohio trying to decide "Who's on First". Sorry I am not buying these flimsly excuses, I may have been born at night, but not last night! Considering the immense economic impact we better get a better explaination.

[JustPiper]

Figured Cyber all along, then again Gremlin's are a virus!

[Mo1]

Hackers???

[sonsofliberty2000]

Yes, Microsoft is behind all cyber terrorism.

Patriot Paradox

[Donna Lee Nardo]

4 million folks also experienced an outage in Mexico this past Tuesday (and there was at least one other outage in another part of the world last week, can't remember where...). Here is the article for the outage in Mexico:

Power outage leaves 4 million Mexicans in dark

Reuters

September 2, 2003, 5:50 PM EDT

MERIDA, Mexico - A transformer problem left at least 4 million Mexicans in five states without electricity Tuesday, energy and civil protection officials said.

The blackout occurred before dawn in Mexico's southern states of Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo and parts of Tabasco and Chiapas.

By afternoon, power had been returned to about 80 percent of the affected area, civil protection officials said.

"The preliminary diagnosis is a flaw in a transformer in the Ticul substation (in Yucatan), which kicked into operation the peninsula's automatic protection systems," the Federal Electricity Commission said in a news release.

The fault, which automatically shut down power lines, could have been caused by lightning or a mudslide, said Arturo Hernandez, director of operations for the commission.

Quintana Roo and its popular beach resorts, including Cancun, were severely affected by the power loss. Many tourist centers used their own generators to keep facilities running.

Last month, the biggest power outage in North American history left about 50 million people in the dark across the northeastern United States and Canada.

With reporting by Atilano Gonzalez in Merida. Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[quant5]

Yesterday I see major tech headlines of $5 Billion dollars a year being stolen with credit card and identity fraud. I see lower level terrorists making deals of credit card and identity fraud in exchange for higher level names.

I see coincidence on the times and problems of the major blackouts in the US and London. The SCOPA computer systems that manage our electric grid are a joke and easily penetrated by hackers.

I see a big investment opportunity in I.T. Security Companies in the next 3 years and anticipate these companies stocks will jump rapidly.

[Ramius]

I think terrorists are interested in killing large numbers of people. Just making a lot of stockbrokers walk home from work doesn't strike me as a likely target. What'll they do next? Come over and rearrange the furniture?

[johnb838]

Never assume to be malice that which can be ascribed to stupidity.