I was at first comically dismayed at the inane response to the first real smart grid thread on Gristmill all about Austin's smart grid project (they own their own grid!). Why complain though, it's another opportunity to repeat myself, yet again, in another fashion. Maybe someone will comprehend something from my techo-bloggerel this time? Hehey. Consider distributed computing, remember Napster anyone? Instead of a central server with computers connected to it, it was made up of computers acting as servers. A smart grid uses distributed generation and storage controlled by distributed computing to adjust demand to match supply.   more »