Here's a round up of articles on yesterday's huge power blackout in northeastern U.S., relevant to telework: (all dated August 15, 2003)

 Wireless Networks Still Work in Blackout By Rachel Konrad, AP Business Writer

"SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—Even though lights went out Thursday throughout much of the Northeast, wireless networks and Internet connections allowed companies with backup strategies and people with battery-charged cell phones and laptops to keep communicating."

U.S. Blackout Has Companies Weighing Return to Work, Bloomberg. Most of the businesses mentioned in this article are treating the blackout in the same way they would a major snowstorm, with flexible policies on whether they need to physically come in to the office.

" "We are treating it as we would a snow day,'' said Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for the [New York Times Co., publisher of the New York Times newspaper]. "Depending upon the transportation situation, employees would be asked to make their best efforts to get to work, but the transportation situation in the morning will dictate whether they will be able to get into Manhattan.'' "

Planes, trains recovering from blackout, an AP article on CNN's site, expresses a similar view:

"As if digging out from a snowstorm, airlines and railroads slowly resumed normal schedules Friday. But travelers were urged to call or go online before heading to an airport or train station"

" "We're going to treat them just like this was a bad snow day," said Ed Stewart, a Southwest Airlines spokesman."

Parts of Country May Enter Weekend Without Power, a New York Times article by James Barron and Kirk Semple, reports:

"In New York, mass transit was for the most part out of service, and though Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said he expected power to be restored to most of the city by the end of the day, he urged people who had made it home the night before to stay there."

...

"The power was back on in parts of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, where the blackout cut electricity to about 10 million people. The premier of Ontario, Ernie Eves, asked people to remain home and conserve energy.

"I urge all Ontarians to refrain from using highways and fuel and to stay home when possible as we work towards a solution," Mr. Eves said in a statement."

12:05:48 PM    
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Here's an interesting article on detecting lies, published in MIT's Technology Review that provides another perspective on just how dependent we are on face-to-face communication for building trust.

When Lie Detectors Lie–or Don’t by Richard A. Muller, (August 15, 2003):

"...the true lie detector is not the machine; it is the operator, and that person requires expensive training and extensive experience. In addition to the four measured bodily changes, the operator frequently watches body language and facial expressions, and pays attention to irregularities in verbal response. These are the same indicators we ordinary people use when trying to detect deceit, when sitting on a jury or just talking with a used car dealer." (my emphasis added)

10:59:01 AM    
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