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A once-in-a-generation blackout is the first time most people discover the problems with their emergency backup plans. Oh, look, we're out of diesel fuel. Or: I didn't know our generator needs electricity to turn on! (Yes, such things exist.)

When the lights went out in New York City last week and across much of the Northeast, Joel on Software and Fog Creek were online the whole time. We even sold software while the electricity was out. Credit for this goes to our colocation provider, Peer 1 Network, who maintained 100% uptime on backup generators while many of their competitors were falling over. Peer 1 even invited the journalists of the Toronto Star newspaper to their Toronto facility where they were set up with light, air conditioning, and Internet access allowing the Star to publish during the blackout.

Peer 1 hosts Joel on Software for free as a public service, but I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone in the market for colocation.

My new book is here! Apress has just published a new collection of 36 essays from Joel on Software, aptly named More Joel on Software. Get yours today! Available from Amazon.com or wherever fine cheese is sold.

About the Author: I’m your host, Joel Spolsky, a software developer in New York City. Since 2000, I've been writing about software development, management, business, and the Internet on this site. For my day job, I run Fog Creek Software, makers of FogBugz—the smart bug tracking software with the stupid name, and Fog Creek Copilot—the easiest way to provide remote tech support over the Internet, with nothing to install or configure.

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