Greenpeace applauds Apple, MacBook Air

Greenpeace today applauded Apple for the release of its new MacBook Air laptop, calling the device "a winner" and a strong entry in the race to build a green PC. The organization commends Apple's decision to ship a mercury and arsenic-free laptop, which Greenpeace says exceeds European Standards and raises the bar for the rest of the industry. Apple is on the right track, according to activists, and needs to make environmental leadership the theme of all of its products -- both old and new.

"For us though the highlight of the show, was Steve talking about the environment in his keynote speech for the first time," Greenpeace said. "It's a big step for Steve and we would like to congratulate all the Apple fans who helped us with our greenmyapple campaign."

Jobs in early May published an open letter to the public to discuss Apple's then current and future environmental concerns. The letter came after criticism came from environmental organizations as well as company shareholders. The executive promised to remove the inclusion of toxic chemicals in Apple products, and outlined a revamped recycling program for iPods.

Greenpeace lauded Jobs' open letter, praising his decision to phase out polyvinyl chloride and brominated fire retardants (BFRs) by 2008. The organization still criticized Apple's planned recycling program, however, because it will only apply to U.S. residents.

Today Greenpeace commended Apple as well as Jobs, but reminded both that its MacBook Air is not entirely free of hazardous chemicals.

"Had [the MacBook Air] been [free of hazardous chemicals,] it would have made Apple an ecological leader," the organization said. "We can almost taste that Green Apple, unfortunately it’s not ripe yet."

Source:ipodnn.com/articles/08/01/17/greenpeace.applauds.apple/
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HP Unveils Solid-state 'Green' Desktops

HP and Intel have teamed up to unveil a line of energy-conscious workstations.The companies showed off two new PCs, the DC 5800 and the DC 7800, at a special event in San Francisco recently.

The machines are designed for maximum power efficiency, and offer more efficient power supplies and software to better manage auto-shutdowns.

A notable feature on the DC 7800 is an optional 16Gb SanDisk solid-state hard disk. The drive will add $300 (€204)to the cost, but offers faster boot and load times and improved power efficiency.

Kirk Godkin, senior product manager at HP, told reporters that he expects solid-state drives to become a mainstay of the company's PC offerings by 2010, when chip prices fall sufficiently to make the drives practical.

The new PCs also feature Intel processors with vPro remote management tools. The processors will work with Surveyor, a tool which allows network administrators to gauge power consumption on large networks.

HP plans to have a version of Surveyor for small to medium sized businesses within a month. The new PCs form part of a larger environmental effort by the two companies. Other elements include more efficient data centres, better recycling initiatives and new building materials.

The recycling programme has been hampered, however, particularly with government regulations.

Carl Eckersley, of HP's Personal Systems Group, told reporters that electronic waste and recycling efforts have been slowed by different laws throughout the US.

Eckersley pointed to the recent WEEE laws in Europe as an example of how electronic waste could be regulated. "The Europeans are as advanced as anybody, "he said.

Source:techcentral.ie/article.aspx?id=11710
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Lenovo PCs Go Thin-n-Green

If 'small is beautiful' was the mantra in the desktop personal computer business, it is time to add another: 'Thin and green is in.'

Chinese PC maker Lenovo has built on the IBM legacy it inherited, by created what is possibly one of the thinnest, smallest, quietest — and least power-hungry desktop platforms on offer. The A 61e ThinkCentre launched in India this week, has achieved the highest ‘Gold’ status of the industry’s Green Electronics Council — rating based on energy efficiency as well as 90 per cent recyclable parts and packaging.

Versions begin at Rs. 15,800 ( monitor excluded) and are configured with a choice of AMD processors: the dual core Athlon 64 X2 or the mono core Sempron. The footprint is 8 cm width by 27 cm length by 17 cm breadth and the machine weighs in at just over 3 kg. Memory is selectable from 512MB to 8 GB and the hard disk is 80 GB. Different models run Windows 2000 or Vista Buiness.

"The A 61 e is our signature eco-friendly and energy-efficient desktop," said Lenovo India’s Executive Director, Transaction Business, Anil Philip. It strengthens the partnership with chip maker AMD, whose dual core processor used here takes just 45 watts — less than an average incandescent light bulb.

Source:hindu.com/2008/01/27/stories/2008012754301300.htm
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HP Introduces Energy-efficient Business Desktop PCs

HP today announced two new energy-efficient business desktop PCs, including the industry?s first to feature a solid-state hard drive (SSD), which offers improved reliability.

Both the HP Compaq dc7800 Ultra-slim Desktop PC with SSD and the HP Compaq dc5800 Business PC provide the power and flexibility to meet the needs of most any business. In addition, they include a variety of environmental features that allow them to meet the most stringent environmental requirements of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT?) Gold registry.

The two PCs Add to HP?s industry-topping number of Gold-listed products in the EPEAT registry. The registry helps businesses evaluate, compare and select technology products based on their environmental attributes, such as meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?s latest ENERGY STAR? energy-efficiency requirements.

While using more power-efficient PCs can help any business save on energy costs and reduce the environmental impact of their technology, the effect across an enterprise environment can be immense.

Source:ad-hoc-news.de/Aktie/12718191/News/15117815/ERSOL.html
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Green UPS Reduces Standby Power

APC has introduced a new uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which shuts down power to connected peripherals when a computer goes into sleep mode.

Like other UPS' APC's Back-UPS ES 750 provides battery backup power and surge protection to a computer. Unlike them it has new master/controlled outlets, which reduce energy consumption by automatically shutting down power to unused peripherals, such as printers, scanners and speakers when the host computer is shut down or in sleep mode.

Joe Loberti, APC-MGE's SVP for home and distributed systems, said: "The electronics in this unit are meticulously engineered to minimise impact on the environment and maximise efficiency, consuming up to five times less power in normal operation than other available solutions – saving consumers money on their electric bill."

The master outlet monitors the current drawn by the host computer. If it drops down to levels indicating sleep mode or shut-down then it will automatically shut-down power to the controlled outlets, which consume power even when the computer is off. APC claims that, by cutting power to these so-called 'dark loads,' its new UPS can provide a combined savings of $40 (£20 at ordinary conversion rates) per year on average as compared with competitors’ models.

The Back-UPS ES 750 has ten outlets, all of which provide surge protection with five of them also providing battery backup. It has a capacity of 450 watts and provides up to 70 minutes of run time, depending on the load. It also offers coax and telephone or Ethernet protection ensuring surges and spikes do not travel through data lines. A data port enables communication with APC’s PowerChute Personal Edition software, which automatically powers down the computer system in the event of an extended power outage.

APC says its new UPS is also more energy-efficient than other UPS products. It complies with RoHS regulations and uses less copper and other raw materials in manufacture. The packaging is made from recycled material.

It will take two and a half years for the new UPS to pay for itself in terms of saved power as its recommended retail price is $99.99 (£50.00) in North America.

Source:techworld.com/green-it/news/index.cfm?newsid=11188#commentsform
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US to Require Agencies to Buy Green Hardware

The US government plans to require federal agencies to buy green PCs and computer monitors that are energy efficient and include reduced levels of toxic chemicals — a requirement that likely will affect corporate users as well because of the government's massive buying power.

The Department of Defense, NASA and the General Services Administration jointly detailed an interim rule on the new purchasing requirements in a notice published in the Federal Register on December 26, and they are accepting comments on the proposal through to February 25. The new rule formalises the use within the government of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), which some agencies and private sector companies have already adopted.

EPEAT is a three-tiered rating system developed by the Green Electronics Council in Portland, Oregon. Under EPEAT, qualifying desktop systems, laptops and monitors are awarded gold, silver and bronze ratings based on how well they meet 51 environmental criteria, such as ease of disassembly and the lack of paints or coatings that aren't compatible with recycling or reuse.

Products are required to conform to 23 of the criteria to get a bronze rating. Earning a silver or gold designation is dependent on meeting more stringent EPEAT standards, such as having 90% of the materials in a system be reusable or recyclable, or using batteries that are free of lead, cadmium and mercury.

The federal government has a total installed base of 6.7 million desktops and laptops across civilian and military agencies, and it buys about 2.2 million new systems annually, according to Shawn McCarthy, research director for government vendor programs at market research firm IDC.

Because the government is such a large user, PC vendors will be hustling to comply with the new federal rule, McCarthy says. And since the vendors don't make PCs specifically for government users, he said, "you will see spillover into other sectors, much as you did once the government pushed Energy Star compliance back in the mid-1990s." Energy Star is an energy efficiency rating system for various products.

Last January, President Bush signed an executive order requiring EPEAT compliance within the government.

Only a few vendors have earned gold EPEAT ratings thus far. For instance, Dell has six products with gold ratings and 72 at the silver level. Hewlett-Packard has earned a gold rating for one desktop system, plus 73 silver ratings, while Apple has 17 products that meet the requirements for a silver.

A number of major agencies are already using EPEAT, including NASA, the EPA and the Department of Homeland Security, and some private-sector companies have adopted it as well.

The arrival of EPEAT as a purchasing standard isn't a surprise to hardware vendors. Wayne Rifer, EPEAT operations manager at the Green Electronics Council, said the group includes PC makers that were involved in the development of the rating system.

A big reason why the vendors took part in developing a standard designed for national adoption was concern that various state governments might adopt their own environmental rules governing electronics purchases. "That is a very strong motivator — probably the core motivator for them to be engaged," Rifer says.

He also thinks vendors will seek more silver and gold ratings than bronze ones. Achieving gold is "pretty tough". But since the middle of last year, he says, PC makers have been producing products that are eligible for gold ratings, which must be verified by the council's EPEAT team.

One bare-minimum EPEAT requirement would put the US on par with a directive on the restriction of hazardous substances that took effect across the European Union last July. The directive, known by the acronym RoHS, bars electronics products that include lead, mercury, cadmium and some other substances from being imported into EU member countries.

Source:computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/mgmt/D902F33699DA1A7CCC2573D400031C0B
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D-Link Turns Green With Power-Saving Switches

Networking vendor D-Link claims its new range of 'green' Ethernet switches, which intelligently minimise power usage by up to 80 per cent, could be a massive hit for VARs selling into environmentally conscious corporations and markets such as education and government.

It showcased two products in its range, a five-port gigabit switch and an eight-port version, at the British Education Training Technology (Bett) show in London on 9 January. Higher-end products, 16- and 24-port gigabit switches, are expected to be launched in February.

The devices save energy by supplying only what is needed to power up the length of wire to which they are connected, explained Kevin Wen, D-Link’s European president. The switches’ in-built intelligence also enables them to power down if they detect that the device they are connected to is switched off.

"Most people in SMEs and schools want to save on electricity usage, but they dare not touch a comms box, as they do not know what it does. These boxes make the decisions for them,” said Wen. “These could be an easy sell to the growing numbers of environmentally conscious technology buyers."

Lloyd Everard, director of infrastructure at systems integrator SAS Group, said: “The green Ethernet technology were welcomed by the SAS Group. They are receiving significant interest from companies consciously looking to cut their energy consumption and carbon footprint.

"D-Link has stolen a lead by being the first to market. Better still, there’s no price premium," he said.

D-Link exclusively revealed to CRN plans to develop a Partner Plus channel programme.
"Our higher-end products could open up a new range of sales opportunities for high-end systems integrators and specialist VARs," said Chris Davies, D-Link’s general manager for the UK and Ireland.

"We need more specialist partners who can integrate the products into diverse networking infrastructures and management systems."
Launch details were unavailable at the time of press.

Source:vnunet.com/crn/news/2207569/link-turns-green-power-saving-3750101
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Lenovo Launches Free Recycling Service

Computing giant Lenovo has announced a free computer recycling service in mainland China.

Lenovo's recycling service is available to users of Lenovo brand laptop computers, desktop computers and servers, as well as ThinkPad laptops and ThinkCenter desktop computers.

Lenovo says that both business and individual clients can send those types of computers to Lenovo's recycling sites across the country, or they can ask Lenovo's staff to come fetch the devices from their homes or offices. Lenovo will entrust a third party to process and dispose of these collected computers according to relevant Chinese laws and environmental rules, and it will undertake all the relevant cost involved during this process.

Chen Shaopeng, senior vice president of Lenovo Group, says that the free recycling service they plan in China is another major step that they have made in environmental protection and it shows Lenovo's responsible attitude towards the society and environment.

Free recycling services have drawn great attention from the world's PC leaders, and Dell has already initiated a free recycling service in China for its customers.

Source:chinacsr.com
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Lenovo PCs Get Green Thumbs-Up

Lenovo says that its line of ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCentre desktops and ThinkVision monitors have received high ratings from EPEAT, a procurement tool funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to help purchasers evaluate PCs based on environmental attributes.

The EPEAT tool indicates that Lenovo not only met "green computer" standards, but also met requirements beyond the baseline measurements of environmentally safe PCs. A total of 42 Lenovo PCs were rated by EPEAT, indicating the breadth of environmentally friendly products available from Lenovo.

The ThinkPad notebooks and ThinkCentre desktops received an overall "EPEAT Silver" rating, indicating that Lenovo PCs met all criteria for healthy environmental performance, plus implemented optional activities beyond the minimum requirements.

Criteria that Lenovo met include manufacturing PCs with reduced levels of cadmium, lead and mercury to better protect human health and the environment. Lenovo PCs are also energy efficient, which reduces emissions of climate changing greenhouse gases. Lenovo also offers safe recycling options for the products.

EPEAT also highlighted that Lenovo has demonstrated a corporate environmental policy consistent with ISO 14001, the standard from International Organization for Standardization that sets guidelines for businesses to improve environmental management, and has managed the provision of product take-back service and auditing of recycling vendors.

"Lenovo consistently meets or exceeds applicable environmental regulations globally, and our environmental policy requires us to develop, manufacture, and market products that are energy efficient, protect the environment, and can be reused, recycled or disposed of safely," said Deepak Advani, chief marketing officer for Lenovo. "Representatives from state and local government, the electronics industry, manufacturers, academia environmentalists, and purchasers, developed the EPEAT tool, and we see it as a useful tool for the measurement of PC environmental performance."

Lenovo sets environmental goals for locations and products annually. These objectives and targets are established and driven in association with the management of significant environmental aspects. Lenovo's goals for 2007 cover recycling, energy consumption, and paper usage for manufacturing sites. For products, Lenovo's goals focus on energy efficiency, design for recycling and reuse, use of recycled materials and environmentally preferable finishes, among others.

"Lenovo's EPEAT Silver products demonstrate their commitment to protecting the environment," said Jeff Omelchuck, executive director of EPEAT. "As a voluntary performance standard, EPEAT is a powerful tool for purchasers and creates a clear set of rules for the manufacturers to follow to meet the environmental demands of customers."

Source: chinacsr.com/2006/09/19/743-lenovo-pcs-get-green-thumbs-up/
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Use a Laptop to Save Energy

Laptops are more environmental friendly than desktop. It consumes five times less electricity.

Desktop computer usually uses around 130 watts while a laptop only uses around 15 watts. If you buy a desktop, get an LCD screen. Enable the power management function on your computer.

So if you are planning on getting a new computer you should consider a laptop instead of a desktop computer.

Other good things are that laptops are smaller and use less packaging, meaning less transport and storage space needed.

Source: TOI
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Gadget Geeks Go Green

There was enough new technology unveiled at the CES technology showcase in Las Vegas last week to make gadget geeks green with envy.

Funnily enough, the major selling point of some of the new gadgets is that they too are green.

For years, the makers of TVs, DVD players, projectors and home theatre systems have fallen over themselves to pack more features into their products, make them smaller, lighter, easier to use, more impressive to look at and listen to.

But - with the exception of mobile phones, music players and laptops, where battery life determines how long a gadget can be used when it is not plugged into the grid - power consumption has never been an issue worthy of much consideration.

How things change. The best new gadget at CES as voted by the major technology website CNet.com, was the new Eco TV from Dutch electronics maker Philips.

It's a flat-screen, 42-inch LCD display that's capable of high-definition images.

That puts it smack in the middle of the market. Philips' technology allows viewers to dim the LCD's backlight panel, saving power and, in many cases, enhancing the picture as contrast is improved.

The Eco TV also has a built-in sensor that measures the ambient lighting in your room and adjusts the backlight panel to give you the best picture.

If there's lots of glare on the screen during the day, it will crank up the power to give a brighter picture. With a reasonable US$1399 price tag, the extra features don't exactly command a premium, either.

As TV makers feel the pressure to come up with less power-sapping displays, the mobile phone industry is going one further. Hundreds of millions of phones are sold around the world each year and many will only have a two-year lifespan.

Most mobile operators run recycling programmes to collect old phones, which are often refurbished and shipped to developing countries. But millions still end up in landfills.

Nokia, the biggest mobile maker, knows the political heat this creates and responded at CES with a new version of an old classic - the 3110 Evolve. The new handset is made from 50 per cent renewable bio-materials.

The packaging uses 60 per cent recycled materials. Its phone charger uses 95 per cent less power than standard guidelines.

"Charge your battery with a clear conscience," Nokia promises. Then there's the Green Plug, an ingenious contraption that's sure to ride the green wave.

It's a USB hub that's capable of charging all your devices, eliminating the need to carry bulky power adapters and power cables. Each device needs an adaptor to plug into the powered USB slots.

The hub switches off when the device plugged in is fully powered.

Green Plug is licensing its technology with the hopes that electronics makers will adapt it into their hardware design.

I hope they're successful, as the Green Plug will save power, and make recharging your gadgets easier. That's the crux of it. Consumers will only buy into the green movement if green products cost less to run and are easier to use.

Most won't be guilt-tripped into switching their loyalties based on whether a gadget is made from recycled materials.

We like the fancy packaging, the slick finish and the weighty feel of top-notch materials in our hands. But give us something that will take a sliver off the power bill, and remove the growing clutter of incompatible wires and plugs and connectors, and we'll be putting our green hats on before you know it.

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10486552
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HP Turns Green on Data Storage

HP has introduced what it has dubbed its green storage technology that can cut storage array power and cooling costs in data centers by 50 per cent.

The new offerings feature thin provisioning and performance enhancements for the HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) family, tape drives based on the Linear Tape Open (LTO) 4 standard, new DAT 160 tape drives for SMBs, and the first HP StorageWorks tape product developed exclusively for HP BladeSystem c-Class. Through the use of EVA Dynamic Capacity Management (DCM), Vsnap and FATA disk drives, the new EVAs help organizations that are seeking to optimize hard drive utilization, eliminate unnecessary storage purchases, manage IT resources and storage provisioning tasks, and improve power efficiency by up to 45 per cent compared with previous EVAs. Similar to thin provisioning, and leveraging the virtual disk service volume shrink feature in Windows Server 2008, DCM continuously monitors storage utilization and automatically grows/shrinks host volumes to match application needs, thus reducing ongoing storage administration tasks.

The HP StorageWorks LTO-4 Ultrium1840 tape drive targets the mid-sized and enterprise market segment as HP's highest-capacity, fastest-performing and most secure tape backup, while consuming up to 50 per cent fewer watts/GB than previous versions. The LTO-4 technology and AES 256-bit data encryption protects user data from unauthorized access if cartridges are misplaced or stolen.

This tape drive will also be available in HP StorageWorks MSL, EML and ESL E-Series Tape Libraries. The HP Ultrium 448c Tape Blade is a new half-height tape storage blade for the HP BladeSystem c-Class chassis. This blade is designed for customers that are not connected into a SAN, by providing direct-attach data protection for c-Class server blades while taking advantage of the HP Dynamic Power Saving mode to achieve up to a 22 per cent reduction in power consumption. The HP StorageWorks DAT 160 tape drive targets SMBs and features either a SCSI or USB interface, delivers backup speeds of up to 50GB/hour with up to 160GB of capacity on a single cartridge, and consumes fewer watts/GB than previous versions of DAT drives.

In accordance with the continued bolstering of HP's green credentials, each of these updated products prominently feature reduced power consumption per unit of storage not only for disks, but also for tape, which is often thought as an offline or intermittent storage technology. Of course, the most effective way to conserve energy is to not use it in the first place, or at least postpone its use. Through a thin provisioning approach, such as DCM, the dynamic deployment of storage can more closely follow actual needs for capacity at the moment. While some may see this simply as forestalling the inevitable purchase and deployment of storage, it nevertheless reduces capital expenditure in the short term but definitely reduces the power consumed in order to deliver a given storage capacity. Additionally, by leveraging the Virtual Disk Service volume shrink feature in Windows Server 2008, more organizations will likely take advantage of this capability, especially those who may not have been aware of such abilities, or who have considered their deployment and management beyond their organization's scope or ability.

Source:www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/07/11/hp_green_storage/
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Canon Pushes Eco-Friendly Green brand

Canon is bringing its range of eco-friendly printer products and its environmental initiatives under a new brand. Generation Green aims to make it easy for consumers to identify and learn about its green products.

Generation Green is divided into three product classification categories: eco-conscious, eco-standards and eco-friendly. Eco-conscious includes double-sided printing as standard, several packaging changes to boost shipping efficiency and the use of biodegradable limestone packaging material NatureStone instead of wood pulp.

In the eco-standards category, all products that meet the European Union Directive and the US Energy Star standards on hazardous substances will carry Generation Green branding.

The eco-friendly category will include its internal initiatives such as printing user manuals on recycled paper and using some recycled plastic on casings. Canon has also launched a waste recycling programme for toner cartridges.

Source:marketingweek.co.uk
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Five Simple Ways to Speed Up Your PC

"Speeding up your PC is a great way to start of the New Year. Speed is definitely important these days," Agent Smith, the manager of Geek Squad at Best Buy, said.

Microsoft's five steps consist of freeing up disk space, speeding up access to data, detecting and repairing disk repairs, protecting computers against spyware and learning about Microsoft's Readyboost.

"Any one of Microsoft's five steps will significantly speed up any computer. So from Apple to Sony, and Dell to Toshiba, any users of [these steps] can benefit," says Smith.

1.Free up disk space

"You basically want to use Disk Cleanup when you install new programs to get rid of the space the old programs take up on the hard disk," Smith said.

The Disk Cleanup tool identifies and allows users to see files that are safe to delete -- such as items in the Recycle Bin, old programs and temporary files -- from their computers.

How to use Disk Cleanup

1.) Click Start, go to All Programs, then go to Accessories, finally go to System Tools and click on Disk Cleanup.
2.) Once in Disk Cleanup set up select the files you would like to delete.
3.) Clear the check boxes for the files that you do not wish to delete and click OK.
4.) Confirm that you want to delete specified files by clicking Yes.

2.Speed up access to data

A disk defragmenter, according to Microsoft's Web site, is a utility that consolidates a computer's fragmented files and folders so that they occupy only a single space on the disk.

How to use Disk Defragmenter

1.) Click Start, go to All Programs, then go to Accessories, finally got to System Tools and click on Disk Defragmenter.
2.) Select drives you want to defragment and click Analyze.
3.) After the analysis the dialog box will tell you if you need to defragment the selected drive if so click Defragment.
4.) After the process of defragmentation process is complete the results will be displayed, to view these in detail click View Report.
5.) To close program click Close in the View Report dialog box, and then click Close in the title bar of the Disk Defragmenter program.

3.Detect and repair disk errors

By running the Error Checking utility, one may check the files stored on their hard disks for bad sectors and those stored on their file systems for errors.

"Nine times out of 10, if you have bad sectors your computer is failing or will fail. It will only work if you replace the hard drive," Smith said.

How to use Error Checking

1.) Close any open files
2.) Click Start, then click My Computer
3.) Once in My Computer Right Click on the file you want to search for bad sectors then click Properties
4.) Once in the Properties dialog box click on the Tools tab
5.) Click Check Now
6.) Once in the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, and click Start
7.) Choose to fix bad sectors if they are found


4.Protect your computer against spyware

Spyware is an illegal collector of personal information.Microsoft Windows Defender combats spyware and is free to download for Microsoft XP SP2.

"You want to remember not to have more than one anti-spyware program running at a time, or it will cause major problems in your computer's performance," says Smith.

5.Learn all about ReadyBoost for Windows Vista

According to Microsoft's Web site, ReadyBoost speeds up computers by allowing users to utilize flash memory in an effort to improve performance -- without adding more memory.

ReadyBoost works by using a universal serial bus -- USB -- along with Windows SuperFetch.

How to use ReadyBoost

"If you are not sure how to install ReadyBoost, we recommend that you come in and we will update the system for you," Smith said.

1.) Insert flash drive or secure digital memory card
2.) Windows Vista will check to see if the device is fast enough to work with the ReadyBoost program. If this is so place the amount of the flash drive's memory you want to use to store files and the amount you want to use to speed up your PC.


Source: Steps from Microsoft.com and media.www.technicianonline.com
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HP Aims to Cut PC Energy Use by 25 percent

Hewlett-Packard said Tuesday that it is aiming to cut the energy consumption of its desktops and notebooks by 25 percent by 2010.

The HP announcement, delivered at the Consumer Electronics Show, almost reads like it comes from an auto manufacturer trying to cut the miles per gallon requirements of its fleet.

Technology vendors are increasingly using their green IT initiatives to improve their standing in the market place. It’s becoming difficult to distinguish the marketing from the green technology reality. Indeed, HP touted the number of its products meeting gold and silver ratings under EPEAT (the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool).

What may be more interesting is how HP plans to get to its 25 percent energy reduction. HP said it plans to use more efficient power supplies and lower energy chip sets. That’s a no brainer. But HP also touted the Verdiem Surveyor remote power management agent. Surveyor can measure and manage PC and monitor energy consumption and reduce it accordingly. In plain English, the Surveyor turns off your gear when it’s not in use. Turning off your PC may do more than any fancy chip set will when it comes to energy consumption.

Source: blogs.zdnet.com/
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U.S. to Require Agencies to Buy Green PCs, Monitors

The U.S. government plans to require federal agencies to buy green PCs and computer monitors that are energy efficient and include reduced levels of toxic chemicals -- a requirement that likely will affect corporate users as well because of the government's massive buying power.

The Department of Defense, NASA and the General Services Administration jointly detailed an interim rule on the new purchasing requirements in a notice published in the Federal Register on Dec. 26, and they are accepting comments on the proposal through Feb. 25. The new rule formalizes the use within the government of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, which some agencies and private-sector companies have already adopted.

EPEAT is a three-tiered rating system developed by the Green Electronics Council in Portland, Ore. Under EPEAT, qualifying desktop systems, laptops and monitors are awarded gold, silver and bronze ratings based on how well they meet 51 environmental criteria, such as ease of disassembly and the lack of paints or coatings that aren't compatible with recycling or reuse.

Products are required to conform to 23 of the criteria to get a bronze rating. Earning a silver or gold designation is dependent on meeting more stringent EPEAT standards, such as having 90% of the materials in a system be reusable or recyclable, or using batteries that are free of lead, cadmium and mercury.

The federal government has a total installed base of 6.7 million desktops and laptops across civilian and military agencies, and it buys about 2.2 million new systems annually, according to Shawn McCarthy, research director for government vendor programs at market research firm IDC.

Because the government is such a large user, PC vendors will be hustling to comply with the new federal rule, McCarthy said. And since the vendors don't make PCs specifically for government users, he said, "you will see spillover into other sectors, much as you did once the government pushed Energy Star compliance back in the mid-1990s." Energy Star is an energy efficiency rating system for various products that is being extended to servers by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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Defination of Green Products

Not only is it an interesting question, it's an important one. Vendors and their marketing departments are, of course, keenly aware that organizations have green in their sights and are thus cranking out products and unveiling services touted as being eco-friendly. But how do you know whether an offering is a victim of a vendor's green-washing scheme or if it really is "green"? And that goes back the original question: What defines a green product or service?

Well, I find it difficult to devise a simple and succinct definition on which everyone can agree. On the most extreme end of the spectrum, one might argue that any product or service you can buy off the shelf, via the Internet, or over the phone isn't technically green. The process of transforming a natural resource into something else requires the use of additional materials and energy and, even in a minute way, detracts from the environment. In that realm of thought, a soybean growing in the wild would be green whereas tofu wouldn't.

Now, if businesses were to exercise that level of discrimination in their ambition to invest only in green products, they wouldn't accomplish much. Hence, that definition is pretty useless in the context of commerce or generally going about one's day-to-day life, unless one happens to live in the forest naked, scrounging bark and berries fallen off of trees and bushes.

But here's what I consider a more practical definition that companies might employ to gauge a product or service's "greenness": A green product or service is one that delivers comparable or superior performance, utility, or other benefits to an alternative one while utilizing fewer resources, containing fewer toxic materials, and/or boasting a longer lifecycle.

What about systems management software that lets admins ensure that a server is using just as much electricity as it needs to in order to run effectively? So long as it performs as well as other management software, yeah, that's green. Virtualization, which lets you wring the same amount of work out of fewer machines? Again, green. Electronic document management outgreens paper-based systems. Solar power beats coal power. And the list goes on.

A couple of final thoughts on this subject: First, if a vendor comes to your door hawking what it deems a green product, be sure to ask just what makes it so green.

Second, bear in mind that a product deemed green today will be considered wasteful and eco-unfriendly tomorrow. Technological advancement coupled with relativity is funny that way.

Green products alone simply can't make your company green. A blueprint for long-term sustainability is a must, and the products you employ are but a piece of the puzzle. Deploying virtualization in your data center may very well help you make better use of your resources in the short- or midterm. It may also reduce your company's carbon footprint. But you most certainly need to plan beyond that for the sake of your organization's future prosperity -- as well as for the sake of the environment, if that is, indeed, a concern for your company.

How would you define a green product or service?
Source:weblog.infoworld.com
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More On Recycling, Reusing Electronics

Last week, reporter Tom Abate wrote about places in the Bay Area where you can take your old electronics for recycling, and our readers quickly weighed in with even more options.

Domingo Vazquez, director of curriculum and training for Oakland Technology Exchange West, pointed out that his group collects computers, printers and monitors, refurbishes them, and gives them away to Oakland families and students. Says he: "We are a licensed Microsoft refurbisher, which allows us to install a legal copy of Windows operating system and open-source software. We also provide tech support, extending the life of these machines by many more years."

Meanwhile, Noah Austin of Goodwill Industries brought to our attention that many electronics are accepted at Goodwill sites in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties -- and it's free.

"All electronics are refurbished as part of one of our training programs, or recycled by reputable, domestic recyclers. Our process is regularly audited to ensure that nothing ends up in a landfill either in the United States or overseas," Austin said. "All revenue received from the recycled and refurbished computers supports Goodwill's extensive job training programs in our local communities." For drop-off locations, see their Web site.

Voices from the East Bay, led by Lindsay Blackman of Walnut Creek, chimed in to recommend Alameda County Computer Resource Center in Berkeley. According to their Web site, drop-off is free, and they charge just $10 to "degauss" your disk drives -- that is, to erase all personal info.

To be sure, there are a lot of options out there. Here's one that came in one of my various bills for city utilities: The San Francisco Clean Coalition will be collecting your unwanted electronics over the next couple of weeks, on Jan. 5 at Ocean Beach and the Marina Green, and Jan. 12 at James Lick Middle School in Noe Valley and Lake Merced. Find details here.

Source:sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/category?blogid=19&cat=1499
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