InformationWeek Green Computing Weblog

Tech Pros Want Security, Healthcare, Green Certifications

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:37:45 -0500

Techies are seeking professional certifications in emerging areas like healthcare and green IT, and especially old standbys like IT security, according to a new survey.

Sustainable & Green: The Color of Money

Jonathan Feldman — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:02:24 -0500

Having worked with an organization that got good press for saving money through an automated PC shutdown program, I've fielded a lot of questions from IT managers looking to make sustainability and green moves. I can consolidate my advice on the topic into two short points: First, remember that green is the color of money. Second, overseed.

GM Volt's Whack EPA Mileage Estimates

Cora Nucci — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:40:58 -0500

The answer to the Web's most annoying question has been revealed. GM's viral "what is 230?" marketing campaign littered Twitter and Flickr, YouTube, blogs, Facebook, and cable for days, and now we finally know what it means.

With MIT's Trash Track, Garbage Is Gone But Not Forgotten

Cora Nucci — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:49:16 -0500

We tag and track our laptop computers, our cars, and even our dogs. Now researchers at MIT are working on a project to track paper coffee cups, and last night's takeout food containers -- our trash.

Biggest Blunders Of 2009 -- So Far

Cora Nucci — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:14:08 -0500

Before we pack up our laptops, Blackberrys, and various chargers for the holiday weekend, let's take a moment to reflect on what has come to pass over the last six months.

Benioff Offers Cloud Riposte: It's Not Just Fashion

Charles Babcock — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:44:55 -0500

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, finally got a little revenge. He wasn't in the least spiteful. Rather, he was only guilty of repeating something his former boss, Larry Ellison, said about software-as-a-service and cloud computing. An audience of cloud cognoscenti at Structure 09 loved the performance.

Why Businesses And Individuals Aren't Racing To Go Green (And What To Do About It)

David Berlind — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:49:51 -0500

As one of the head counselors of Energy Camp (Tom Raftery of Greenmonk fame is the other; blog, Twitter), I pay pretty close attention to anything colored green; green organizations, green initiatives, green events, green vendor programs, green news, etc. It was only after the last Energy Camp at Interop in Las Vegas that it dawned on me why the overall green movement gets only pockets of traction, and what we should do about it. Hopefully, someone in Obama's administration is listening.

Green Tech In Survival Phase

Cora Nucci — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:40:23 -0500

CIOs are more challenged than ever to cut costs, do more with less, and "go green" (whatever that means, exactly). But identifying the IT hardware, software, and services that fit the bill is a challenge in and of itself.

Kiva Introduces U.S. Microloans

Cora Nucci — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:43:30 -0500

Internet microlender Kiva is extending its services to U.S.-based entrepreneurs for the first time.

The Department Of Energy's Woeful IT Energy Audit

Cora Nucci — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:26:44 -0500

Energy is a big deal in the Obama administration. Billions of dollars in the economic stimulus package are earmarked for upgrading the power grid, paying for alternative energy credits, and developing clean energy sources. On Tuesday, a 'cash-for-clunkers' bill intended to get gas guzzlers off the road rolled through the House. But at the Department of Energy, it's been business as usual.

MIT's Low-Power Radio Chip Apes Human Ear

Cora Nucci — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:10:17 -0500

Now hear this: MIT engineers have built a radio chip modeled after one of nature's most intricate designs: the human inner ear.

While GM Reinvents Itself, U.S. Battery Makers Are Just Getting Started

Cora Nucci — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:50:59 -0500

On Monday, the U.S. took a 60% ownership in General Motors and President Obama described the government as a "reluctant" owner of the new company. That's exactly how I felt about the family station wagon when I was in high school.

Smart Grid Opposed By AARP

Cora Nucci — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:11:23 -0500

If you could pay less for a something simply by timing your purchase, you'd want to know about it, wouldn't you?

Cisco: Smart Grid's A $100 Billion Baby

Cora Nucci — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:44:07 -0500

What's as big as 100 Internets -- maybe 1,000 Internets -- and so hungry for routers, switches, and secure IP-based backhaul communications that it could gobble up $100 billion worth of networking technology?

The Most Dangerous Spam. Or Maybe Ham.

Cora Nucci — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:40:42 -0500

The offices of an AT&T call center in San Jose were evacuated Tuesday when refrigerator odors mixed with cleaning fluid smells created a hostile-to-the-nostrils work environment.

MIT Announces Clean Energy Grand Prize Winner

Cora Nucci — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:45:10 -0500

An idea based on new uses for farm byproducts pushed Husk Insulation into the winner's circle Tuesday, where it was awarded MIT's $200,000 Clean Energy Prize.

MIT Poised To Announce Clean Energy, Entrepreneurship Prizes

Cora Nucci — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:14:10 -0500

Springtime means two things in Cambridge, MA. Outdoors, public works crews are getting busy filling the city's overpopulation of potholes. Indoors, MIT judges are making their final decisions and writing jumbo-size checks to the winners of MIT's $100K Competition and its cousin, the MIT Clean Energy Prize.

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra Sees Potential Of Cloud Computing

Mary Hayes Weier — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:37:16 -0500

Cloud computing has a supporter in Federal CIO Vivek Kundra, who told me in an April 23 interview that he saw potential for big savings with the cloud approach. In fact, the fed's information portal, USA.gov, is being moved to a cloud-computing infrastructure within weeks.

Calif. State University Virtualizes To Save Power

Charles Babcock — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:58:06 -0500

I dialed in recently to an online technology discussion sponsored by Wikibon.org, a community of technology professionals. Speaking was Rich Avila, director of server and network operations at California State, who said saving power wasn't a fuzzy, feel good goal for him. It was a necessity.

Citrix NetScaler Gives Servers, Planet A Break

Cora Nucci — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:08:54 -0500

If it's true that spam is killing the planet, then Twitter is one of its henchmen. And so are Flash, Flex, Ajax, AIR, Silverlight -- they're all soldiers in a zombie army of Watt-chompers.

Inside HP's Ink Jet Cartridge Recycling Process

Cora Nucci — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:44:55 -0500

Paper recycling gets a lot of ink, if you'll pardon the expression. But while many offices and public places have bins for separating waste paper from trash, getting gunked up, empty ink jet cartridges back to the manufacturer is another story.

IBM Makes A Splash Into Clean Water

Cora Nucci — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:12:34 -0500

IBM's thirst for higher margins has pushed it into a new line of business: clean water. Last week Big Blue announced a pair of clean water initiatives: new filtration technology and a line of water management services.

IBM Goes For A SWIM

Kevin Ferguson — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:16:58 -0500

IBM may have reached the height of opportunism with its Public Sector Energy and Environment Diagnostic consulting service and Strategic Water Information Management (SWIM) solutions platform -- two related efforts to cash in on our stressed environment. Good for IBM.

IT Managers, What's In Your Dumpster?

Kevin Ferguson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:07:04 -0500

Never mind what's in your wallet. What's in your Dumpster? If you're among the 15% of IT managers interviewed by Osterman Research, electronic waste is sitting there.

Behind Wal-Mart's E-Health Records Plans

Cora Nucci — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:57:12 -0500

Wal-Mart isn't waiting for the Obama administration to figure out how to digitize medical records. The World's Biggest Retailer hopes to do for electronic health records what it has done for dog food, plastic lawn chairs, and some generic drugs: make them widely accessible for a reasonable price.