That would be me. This has been discussed before, at length. If I weren't familiar with this computer from having used it in the past, I might suspect hackers or viruses as a cause for the computer problems that contributed to (but aren't the root cause of) the blackout. However, I know enough about this computer and the way it is used to know that it is extremely likely that it just plain crashed or locked up. It has a less than stellar track record, and unless it was drastically upgraded in the last 2 years or so, it is still less than acceptable in the reliability department.
My experience with the transmission grid in the Cleveland area tells me that FE, for whatever reason, failed to realize the importance of the 3 major 345,000 volt circuits that feed the Cleveland area from southeast Ohio (where, coincidentally, the bulk of FirstEnergy's generating plants are located). The Cleveland transmission system used to be run separately from Ohio Edison, the two of which make up part of FirstEnergy. Cleveland was run with the understanding by its dispatchers of the contingencies that were involved with the loss of any of those 3 paths to the south, particularly in conjunction with the loss of generation along Lake Erie. Once Cleveland was absorbed into the FirstEnergy envelope, these important contingencies became more minor and more local, at least in the view of the company. They were viewed as but a small piece of the bigger picture, despite their actually being an important link between a large load center and a large generation center.
Keep in mind also that the power generation world has changed considerably over the last few years. There are several factors that make that portion of the grid more vulnerable than it has been in the past. Economic considerations have shifted generation patterns to the cheaper units, most of which reside in southeastern Ohio, at the expense of more essential but expensive generation around the Cleveland load center. That means relying more on the unchanged transmission grid and less on local generation.
Also remember that non-utility generator plants and Independent Power Producers seldom have had to construct adequate transmission facilities to get their power from often remote plants to the load centers several miles away. They have usually tended to rely on existing transmission lines that were not constructed to carry their additional loads, but are still expected to provide the margin of safety necessary to maintain reliable service after contingencies. Finally, note that many end-user entities, such as Cleveland Public Power do not generate power of their own, but instead rely on the existing grid built and owned by other utilities to transport their power from remote locations. Neither of these entities has had to bear the cost of building and maintaining the grid and yet they present an increasing burden on the same infrastructure due to deregulation.
I'll attack deregulation again at a later date - suffice to say that while its principle isn't bad, its application is very poor and serves only to separate risk and reward.
Pardon my long-windedness.