Blackle.com creator Toby Heap is earning thousands of dollars per day with his purported energy saving “black Google”. Does it matter if his calculations are wrong?

Blackle, a search engine powered by Google, was launched following a blog post by environmentalist Mark Ontkush, who conducted research to show that monitors draw more power to display white than black. Because the highest trafficked site on the web, search giant Google, is an all-white design, Heap decided to create a black Google, which would save an estimated 750 Megawatt hours per year.

Since then, Heap has been criticised by the media for cashing in on “eco-guilt” (he makes money from AdSense ads displayed on his site) and techies who argue that black draws more power for modern LCD monitors, and has a negligible effect on older CRT monitors. Read the rest of this entry »

Society has become tuned in to the effects of global warming in recent years, but green computers remain a relatively unknown concept in mainstream society. There may not be an Oscar-winning documentary or famous global summit to educate the public, but green computing is a massive emerging issue in our climate-conscious society.

A lot of fuss is made over the impact of airplanes and cars on carbon emissions, but a recent study found that electronic devices such as computers are responsible for 2% of all carbon emissions – the same as airlines.

This is a huge chunk of unnecessary waste going up into our atmosphere, and for all the flak given to the airline industry, the computer industry has emerged relatively unscathed. Thankfully, IT giants like Google, Microsoft and Intel have, in recent years, been proactive on the issue and vowed to make green computing a priority. Read the rest of this entry »

I clicked “Publish.” Now what?

Wired magazine has deconstructed the blogging process in their latest issue, following your blog post from the moment you publish it, all the way around the world as aggregators (feed readers like RSS), scrapers (spam blogs) and spiders (search engines) all chew on your information.

What’s darkly funny about the process – and anyone who has ever tried to run a commercially successful blog, rather than just a personal journal, will tell you this – is that the reader is the absolute last person considered in this process. Marketing a blog is not about how many hits you get or how many people are commenting, but rather who is linking to you (and in what way) and how important Google’s algorithms perceive you to be. Read the rest of this entry »

For the RC car enthusiasts among us, champion RC car driver Igor Presnukhin has recently started a blog where he shares his vast knowledge of RC Cars Tips and Tricks with the world.

His is the kind of site that can truly help grow the hobby for all ability levels. On one hand, Presnukhin provides tons of helpful tips that will be appreciated by seasoned drivers. But his blog is also enjoyable for newcomers, who are likely to be sucked in by his enthusiasm and practical explanations of a wide range of concepts (The 15-page “Introduction to RC Cars” is a definite must-read).

The tutorials on the blog are easily laid out (with photos!) so that anyone can learn from Presnukhin’s vast RC car knowledge. Best of all, he updates his site feverishly, averaging about five new posts per day. There is plenty of information on this site to keep readers interested not only in Presnukhin’s RC Cars Tips and Tricks blog but also in the sport of RC car racing in general.

Never underestimate the power of blogs. A decade ago, few knew they existed; now they number in the millions. If you still think blogs are just online journals, think again.

Companies have been using blogs for SEO-friendly marketing for several years now and have since expanded these efforts into paid posting ventures through companies like PayPerPost. Through third parties, advertisers pay bloggers to write about their companies and services, generating valuable marketing buzz in cyberspace.

PayPerPost, founded in 2006, is one of the leaders of the blog advertising and paid posting revolution. Qualifying bloggers – known as Posties – can sign up to write sponsored content on a wide range of subjects specific to their target audiences. Each post is reviewed for quality, length and requested features (advertisers may request a video, a link, or other tidbits) and Posties receive Paypal payments for completed assignments. Read the rest of this entry »