A friend forwarded me this pict of Blackout 2003 viewed from Space. (no source - perhaps a reader knows where to find it?)

Pretty Wild.  My eyes are actually drawn to the Good here.  It positively stokes a romantic like me to think about all the millions of things that have to go right in sequence to ensure / allow a picture like this to happen.  Energy production, transport, metering, service, lightbulb production, glass production, tungsten production, storefronts, logistics systems, repair shops & spare parts for transport trucks, advertising, and so on.   Stir & repeat >>300M times (don't forget Mexico & Canada!) and you get a picture like this visible from space.  

It's only against this sea of success that the blackout becomes so striking........

Update: some Internet intrigue - is this image a fake?

Update2:  The definitive answer - YES it is a fake.