Switched off

Published 8:03 pm Monday, October 11, 2010

General Electric says it soon will begin testing a new kind of “smart” power grid that turns off household appliances during times of peak demand for electricity.

The system is intended to save energy, but it also could touch off widespread rioting if it turns off electric coffee makers every morning at 7:30.

New line of work: A yacht builder in Vancouver, Wash., has been hard-hit by the recession, but now it’s putting people back to work building components for renewable energy generators such as wind turbines.

In a nod to its pleasure-boat heritage, the company will equip the turbines with built-in drink holders and beer coolers and make the marketing pitch that they “sleep eight.”

See? They’re not that dumb: Celebrities such as Courtney Love and Kanye West have ditched their Twitter accounts, even though they had millions of followers on the social networking site.

It’s encouraging to find out that even celebs known for doing stupid stuff sometimes make smart choices.