Computer gremlins, confusion preceded big blackout

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

[r9etb]

sorry -- the size of this disruption, followed one week later by the unprecedented outage in London is a near-miraculous coincidence by standards of probability.

Not at all. You're assuming that they failed for exactly the same reasons.

As for coincidences, you've perhaps heard the old saying that "plane crashes happen in groups of three." And there have been many times in the past that plane crashes have occured in clusters, despite the fact that there was absolutely no connection between them.

Sometimes these things just happen. And when it happens to the newsies in NY, then maybe they just look a little harder for examples of same elsewhere.

[dyed_in_the_wool]

I have no doubt you'll still hold to the 'nothing to see here' theory.
But I can't understand how a computer could be giving bad readings...
Unless...unless....
Nah. Nobody would EVER try to hack those SCADAs, would they?
Must've just been a surge that never showed up or something.
Yeah, that's it.

[meyer]

load was only 75%...

Can you elaborate? 75% of what?

[dangus]

I don't get it.... What does Ross Perot have to do with this?

[dangus]

OK... miles davis.

[dangus]

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

Probably used them all up in the blackout

[randog]

Plant motorization, I'm assuming, is when a generator is turned into a motor, i.e. consuming electrical energy rather than being used as its intended use--a generator, or source of electrical energy. Whodat could probably explain it better, but a generator probably motors when it is brought online (connected to the grid) without being spun-up first by the turbine (or whatever is driving the generator). The result of motorizing a generator(s) would be to place a load on the power grid and possibly overload it.

[sheik yerbouty]

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!

[all4one]

I wouldn't rule out a disgruntled employee. A disgruntled corporation looking for government money for upgrades to their systems. An 18 computer hacker could also be a good bet.

But within hours of the blackouts (US and London); I wouldn't make blanket statements that it is not terrorism.

After 9/11 we found evidence of pictures and maps of our underground utilities, bridges, and power plants in the possession of terror cells.

[Moonman62]

"Well, we're trying to," Mr. Snickey replied. "Our computer is not happy. It's not co-operating either."

Never threaten those HAL9000's with disconnection.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

What if it was a practice run or an event that allowed al qaeda to preposition manpower and some weaponry in the U.S. from, say, Canada? And let's not forget that the outage already deposited some economic loss in its wake (we know that is also al qaeda's plan: to weaken the U.S.).

[meyer]

Never threaten those HAL9000's with disconnection.

What are you doing, Dave? This is highly irregular... :)

[BraveMan]

. . . DESTROYER that had to get a tow back to port because it's Microsoft Windows NT system blew chunks?

I didn't hear about that one. Got any links?

[menotyu]

Probing our systems, just saw this on CNN site;FBI concerned about threat of terror-induced blackouts. wha???

[LayoutGuru2]

Holy Cow, its not like the penguin-folks never experience a kernel-panic, or Macs don't require the funny little bomb icon with the burning fuse. If you put someone with some know-how behind an MS box and they at least give a rip to keep it up to date, so many of these problems can be avoided. One problem is that so many Wintel systems are just bought, plugged in, turned on and left to run (in some cases) vital systems, without any real maintenance by competent IT professionals. Oh well, I'll get off my 'don't bash Micro$oft' soap box now. Take care.

[LayoutGuru2]

The Yorktown Affair
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/yorktown.html

NT the detroyer
http://www.vnunet.com/News/61067

Smart Ship Inquiry a Go
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~survive/NEWS/news003.txt

[madison10]

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

Not a bad idea. Wish I could afford a generator, though.

[LayoutGuru2]

CNNBSOD

[LayoutGuru2]

Blackout hits SE UK
			Posted by LayoutGuru2 to Koblenz On News/Activism 08/28/2003 2:53 PM PDT #195 of 212 OK, get out the tin foil. Ready? Here goes... August 14th - NY Blackout 2 weeks later August 28th - UK Blackout 2 weeks later September 11th - ?????????