SOMEWHAT FRANK

Computer Startup Focuses On Saving Energy

Computer Startup Focuses On Saving Energy from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

You may not realize it but your desktop computer is probably a energy hog. Laptops usually are more energy efficient due to their small size and need to save battery power while on the go but desktop computers do not have these same interests. I recently met the founders of a computer startup looking to address the energy saving desktop niche by creating a couple of different computers that save a considerable amount of energy lessening it footprint on the environment.

I recently got a chance to talk with a startup from Raleigh, North Carolina called Burr Technologies. Co-founder Aaron Milano tells the Burr Technologies story and shows off its line of energy saving computers on episode 60 on SOMEWHAT FRANK in the video above.

WeAddUp.com Draws Attention To Green Causes

WeAddUp.com Draws Attention To Green Causes from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

Carpooling, sharing a shower or buying a hybrid are all causes that could help stop climate change. We Add Up is a company looking to help draw attention to ways to help stop climate change by creating products (mainly tee shirts) tied to a pledge to take action. Each person that makes a pledge for a particular cause is assigned a unique number and it is printed on your tee shirt, tote or other product. The number represents the number of people currently supporting a cause. I reviewed We Add Up previously back in May 2008 but I recently got a chance to talk with We Add Up Co-founder Jill Palermo (of the mother daughter duo) in episode 59 on SOMEWHAT FRANK. You can watch the two minute video interview as Jill explains WeAddUp (above).

Eco-Friendly Tech at the Green Festival in DC

The Green Festival came to Washington, D.C. this past weekend and I decided to check it out in search of innovative new eco-friendly personal technology gadgets and gizmos. There were a number of products and services at the event and I decided to capture a few of them thanks to Flixwagon and I have posted them in this article. I also took some photos at the Green Festival.

Wattzon: A Personalized Energy Tracker

"It's gettin' hot in herre, so take off all your clothes." from the popular Nelly song, Hot In Herre

Rather than shed all your clothes you might want to first determine why it is getting so hot in here - on the planet Earth. Climate change is definitely something that has take center stage as the Earth is heating up. But we all can help to lessen our individual impact on climate change. Something as simple as unplugging your coffeemaker or toaster after use can help to save energy and reduce your negative impact on climate change. I find it is difficult to measure the various things I am doing to impact climate change. WattzOn recently launched to create tools to help us all determine our energy consumption.

21 Hour TECH cocktail Day

21 Hour TECH cocktail Day from Frank Gruber on Vimeo.

I have been co-hosting TECH cocktail events in local technology communities for over two and a half years now. In that time I have hosted events in Boulder, Boston, D.C. and Chicago. Recently, we hosted our first event on a college campus by hitting the road and heading down to the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana for a "Big Ten Conference" style event which I mentioned previously. It was a lot of fun but it was a LONG day.

I captured our 21 hour day on video and you can follow us along as we woke up at 3:30 a.m. in the morning in Chicago and returned some 21 hours later. Follow along as episode 54 on SOMEWHAT FRANK shares our adventures in the video (above).

Video: Cool Globes & Ideas For A Cooler Planet

With the melting of the polar ice caps due to global warming, raising awareness of actionable items to combat the problem has become a top priority. Technology has played a role in this global warming and we all can do little things to help make sure the planet stays just a little cooler. Cool Globes is a non-profit organization that aims to help raise awareness by rallying local, national and international artists to create "cool" globes depicting potential ways to cool the planet. 

I recently visited the Cool Globes exhibit as it traveled to Washington, DC and created video episode 44 for SOMEWHAT FRANK. Check out the video (below) showcasing the Cool Globes project. Also check out these photos from my Cool Globes visit.

DOPPLR Estimates Your Carbon Footprint

If you are a heavy traveler you might not realize it but every time you take an airplane flight you drastically negatively affect your carbon footprint on the environment. In an effort to make travels aware of this very fact, traveling social network Dopplr has teamed with AMEE to calculate your carbon footprint. By investigating past and current trips logged in Dopplr your CO2 emissions are posted on a seperate tab. Users can then contribute their number to the rest of the community or keep it private. I have included an example of the output carbon emissions below.

WE ADD UP T-Shirts Count Your Green Efforts

What are you doing to help combat global warming? WE ADD UP looks to help you answer this very question by making it easier to make it blatantly clear on a t-shirt. We Add Up is counting each and every person that takes a green pledge which includes twenty plus different options from buying a hybrid to showering together. WE ADD UP puts a hand printed number on each shirt that helps to count identify your number in the global count. WE ADD UP prints its shirts on organic t-shirts.

Sungevity: Solar Power Made Easy

Looking to do something to help the environment on Earth Day? Why not try adding solar panels to your home? Sungevity, a Berkeley-based startup, is looking to help make the process of adding solar powered panels to your home as easy as putting in your address and identifying your home on a map.

First Bloom Helps Replant Trees on Earth Day

"The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a  focusing lens on what we can become."

—Lady Bird Johnson

emPivot: YouTube For Green Videos

With the melting of the polar ice caps a lot more focus has been placed on the environment lately. Going green has been a popular topic, one that I have written about before as I compiled a list of green Web 2.0 sites. Well, I just found another site worth taking a look at called emPivot. emPivot, a Washinton, DC based startup, is like YouTube for "Green" videos as it offers a video sharing site specifically for "Green" media.

Google Aims To Save The Planet: Surprised?

Google announced today that they will be looking to get into trying to save the planet by announcing a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. I happy to see Google is taking such a stance and it makes me wonder what will Google do next. In the last week alone Google has announced they are making broadband switches, going to be offering a TV-related product soon, releasing a mobile phone platform soon and a  Google Magazine was even spotted in print in China among other products and endeavors. It is a pretty amazing to think that a single text box search engine could come to create such a diverse list of products.

Do You Do Good With E-Waste?

With Apple putting out iPods and other products out every quarter it is inevitable that you will want to get rid of some of your old electronic equipment or e-waste. What do you do with your old electronics? Good question right. Well, you can recycle it - what else can you do?

The Magic Touch Of Technology

Technology can make life so much easier. Where would we be without the advancements in technology? Computer and wireless technologies have taken off in the last few decades helping to facilitate a wave of innovation in the space. However, advancements in technology have a price many of us are not always aware of or paying attention to.

I came across this interesting video (above) titled "the magic touch" by Doron Wolf. The five minute, cleaverly, animated episode offers a symbolic representation of the products surrounding us and the fear that one day our dependence on technology might turn against us without any reason or warning. By pointing this video out, I am not saying we should all turn off the computers, return our iPhones and retreat to a cave somewhere to live in the dark ages. We should be aware that advances in the web and technology (i.e. the magic touch) often have a price associated with them which can be easily unknown, overlooked or underestimated as they fuse into everyday life.

Go Green Web 2.0 Style

As scientists recently drafted a report that describes a dire outlook for planet Earth, the effects of global warming on the planet have literally been a hot topic (no pun intended) and even made a recent stop at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. However, there are a number of environmental or "green" web sites focused on improving the situation. This article will showcase some of these movements that I have encountered recently.

18Seconds.org - Devoted to informing the world about the energy savings associated with switching from a normal light bulb to a compact fluorescent lamp. The campaign is based on the idea that is only takes 18 seconds to change a regular light bulb to an energy saving compact fluorescent light bulb.

EcoGeek - A site devoted to monitoring and exploring the current explosion in technology designed to mitigate our impact on the environment.

Greener - A search engine that could come in handy if you are looking for green products, services, organizations and information. Currently the green search engine boasts that it is search over 9 million sites and 50 million links.

greeninternet.org - As you surf the web, energy providers supplying power to your computer are burning fossil fuels and emitting harmful carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. By pairing web surfers with sponsors, greeninternet.org looks to offset the environmental effects of surfing the web.

Gigoit - With the tagline of "Choose to Reuse" Gigoit offers anyone a place to get rid of unwanted items without having to resort to filling up a landfill. If craigslist doesn't work I would give Gigoit a try.

Hugg - Taking some inspiration for the popular web 2.0 social news site, Digg , Hugg offers users the ability to recommend green news to be rated by the rest of the Hugg community.

TerraPass - Helps counter the carbon dioxide emissions created by your lifestyle… and you don’t even have to leave your computer!  Just plug in your car’s information, your flight plans, your energy bill, etc. and TerraPass crunches your carbon dioxide output.  No it’s not just to make you feel guilty; this site also enables you to donate an amount to alternative energy sources to offset your damage.

TreeHugger - There are number of green blogs but if I had to pick on to stay tuned to for the latest in environmental or "green" news, tips and updates it would be TreeHuggers. TreeHugger recently partnered with Daylife to create The TreeHugger GRNDX which is the first "green index". It works like the stock market index, except that instead of tracking stocks, it tracks mentions of certain key green phrases in the media as a way to gauge how much mind-share certain concepts have week over week. TreeHugger offers number of other resources some of which include a set of how to go green guides which range from how to green your car to how to green you sex life.

Are you doing anything online to help the environmental movement and "Go Green?" I'm sure I left a few organizations or green products, out so please add others you know of in the comments section.