as I type this I assume the power cuts are over, but are they? and if not - is that why the boards are unusually fast?
I was assuming the same thing. Actually, I usually avoid the boards during the day because they’re soooo slow. But when I heard about the power being out, I signed on to see if the board was faster.
…and it is!
Not so much due to the lack of power… so much as due to the great many people who, due to lack of power, cannot be WITH us here right now…
…but I suspect they’ll make up for it when they get here. Any interesting stories, New Yorkers? Torontoans? Clevelanders?
We missed the power outage by a hair’s breath. I’m sorry that it took the entire northeast not logging on to make the boards rock and roll, but I must say, it’s pretty darn cool to be here today! 
Hey, screw you guys! 
–Q.E.D from New Jersey
How’s the recovery of power going Q.E.D.
And, since you are Q.E.D. the man of knowledge - explain to me, in simple terms, (as if I am 12) why would the outage of one power station cause them all to go down?
We got our power back in about 4 hours. I feel pretty lucky compared to some.
The cascade failure of multiple power grids is pretty simple to understand once you realize a fundamental operating principle: When one grid needs more power than its generating plant can provide, another power grid will supply what it can to boost the other. Of one power plant fails entirely, a second one might find itself attempting to power two grids, then it overloads and fails, and so ad nauseum.
SO isn’t there a way to have a power plant refuse to power the ‘down’ grid? or is that physically impossible ( no way to isolate one ‘grid’ from another entirely)