Zidane Song (Coup de Boule), with Power Shortage digression

[Dozer]

I just found the energizing song that was used in this video and entirely showcased in this one on iTunes. Thought I'd share... the name of the song is (obviously) "Coup de Boule", and the band is "La Plage". I don't know if it's also available from American iTunes, but the Europeans should be able to get it.

If someone has found a free legal download for the song, I guess it would be appreciated by those who don't want to pay .99ct for a fun French song. I'm not affiliated with the song makers, by the way, I just like the song which translates to "Headbutt". It's just a tune that has caught my ear and maybe you were wondering about this song that shows up around the internet at the moment, just like me!

Or maybe with those weird occasions called "power outages" in the US, you don't have internet access at the moment? I noted that some American sites are actually down far more often than they used to be. Could power shortages be a reason? I'm really wondering about this. Although this summer is hot over here as well, I have experienced only two or three power outages in my entire life, and all of those were because of some in-house trouble, never because of the power actually not being available. It feels very strange to hear about something that has never been part of the life I live, despite power shortages happening because of natural disasters sometimes, too. For example, last winter, some overland power lines caught too much ice and snapped, causing some 20.000 households in south-west to live without power something between 24 and 48 hours. That was the longest big outage we had over here in Germany in pretty much the last ten years, or longer even.

Well, now that this post has officially been derailed by myself, mise well ask for your experiences. What's it like to live with constant outages? Do any of you have to endure that, or is my picture way too far exaggerated?

[LotusHead]

Or maybe with those weird occasions called "power outages" in the US, you don't have internet access at the moment? I noted that some American sites are actually down far more often than they used to be. Could power shortages be a reason? I'm really wondering about this. Although this summer is hot over here as well, I have experienced only two or three power outages in my entire life, and all of those were because of some in-house trouble, never because of the power actually not being available.

We use up 90% of the Worlds energy, so obviously we get 90% of the world's power outages.

Only "natural disaster" power outages are serious (Katrina style, or WTC or such stuff).  Otherwise, Public Utility.Org has Ninja Engineers on the spot and us Americans have to live without our Cable TV and Internet for a bit. (MySpace in particular for me...).

Oh, how we endure!

[Klep]

There are two main problems causing the outages in the States at the moment.  The main culprit is extremely high demand.  Right now the entire US is under a heat wave.  California in particular is experiencing temperatures around 20F (6.67C) than is normal, so residents are putting a huge demand on the system by cranking up the AC.  California actually has a history of energy problems over the past decade in large part attributable to Enron screwing them over.

The problem in New York City is that in addition to the high demand, they have one of the oldest and the densest power system in the world, and it is extremely complicated to manage.  I've been told that they had a situation where they had to make a 50-50 guess as to how something would happen, and they guessed wrong, causing the blackout in Queens.

[LotusHead]

  I've been told that they had a situation where they had to make a 50-50 guess as to how something would happen, and they guessed wrong, causing the blackout in Queens.

Ghah! No Cable TV/American Idol/Colber Report! The Horror!! The Horror!