Google Video Parody of “Don’t Be Evil” - Humor

August 20, 2010 Dave Ohara

Gizmodo posts on a Taiwanese video spoof on Google’s latest news coverage and “don’t be evil”. With an extra bit of the irony being hosted on YouTube.

Taiwanese News Animates "Google Goes Evil"

This post was previously published in Gizmodo, which is why it has been taken out of the front page.

From the talented minds who created animated videos for the iPhone 4, Tiger Woods andHP sexual harassment scandals comes...Evil Google! Seriously, these minute-long Taiwanese videos are the highlight of my job.

Here is the video.

Green and Clueless

August 19, 2010 Dave Ohara

How many times have I seen Mike Manos stand in front of a crowd and ask "How many you know electricity bill?" The numbers are going up, but still less than 25% is the average.

NYTimes reports on air conditioning use in NYC.

Richard Perry/The New York Times

When utilities are covered, as in the building above, tenants do not seem to pay heed to effects like carbon emissions.

“My A.C. is pretty much running 24/7,” Kitty’s owner, Michael Perlo, a 28-year-old television producer, said with more bravado than guilt. “Not having to pay for electricity makes me a little bit more reckless.”

The following behavior describes what happens when you think utilities are included in your data center operations, and its part of the rent you pay.

Forget round-the-clock doormen or views of Central Park. This sweltering summer, the most coveted New York real estate amenity is two little words that in other times can go unnoticed: “utilities included.” Mr. Perlo and his neighbors live in a building where not just heat and hot water, but electricity, is part of their monthly rent — a more-common-than-you’d-think arrangement caused by old-fashioned wiring in which a building has a single “master meter” tracking power use rather than individual meters tied to each tenant. They can blast their air-conditioners all summer long without paying a dollar extra.

An interesting human behavior is described in Newsweek.

Green and Clueless

Even people who want to ‘save the planet’ have no idea what they’re doing.

...

Scientists led by Shahzeen Attari of the Earth Institute at Columbia University surveyed 505 Americans (recruited through Craigslist), asking them to name the best ways to conserve energy. The most common answers had to do with curtailing use (by turning off lights or driving less, for instance) rather than improving efficiency (installing more efficient lightbulbs and appliances, say). But it is energy efficiency that offers the only possibility for dialing back our voracious consumption of energy and the fossil fuels that generate it. The reason is basic psychology: we are just not going to become a nation of pedestrians, let alone do without all our electronic toys. The only hope is therefore to continue satisfying those materialistic needs but with less electricity and gasoline.

Here is some interesting energy trivia.

And the ignorance continued. The scientists next asked people to estimate how much energy different appliances used and how much different behaviors saved. More said line-drying clothes saves more than changing the washing-machine settings (the reverse is true). Most people also think trucks and trains that transport goods use about the same energy; in fact, trucks use 10 times more to move one ton of goods one mile. Most people also said that making a glass bottle takes less energy than making an aluminum can (the reverse is true: a glass bottle requires 1.4 times as much energy as the can when virgin materials are used, and 20 times as much when recycled materials are used; making a recycled glass bottle actually takes more energy than making a virgin aluminum can).

And punchline, the CLUELESS.

Here’s my favorite: participants who said they did lots of environmentally responsible things on the energy front actually had less accurate perceptions of all this—suggesting that while people may think they’re doing the planet good, they are not. The notion of making “informed choices” is great, but it kind of requires being, well, informed. What we have instead, it seems, is rampant ignorance. The real problem, Attari told me, is that when people pick the easy things, the low-hanging fruit, they figure they’ve done their bit for the environment and then don’t take steps that could actually make a difference.

Makes me think of all the data center people focusing on PUE, LEED and energy efficient mechanical, but less than 10% are thinking of how to provide the energy consumption information to their users of IT to get them thinking of how to use less energy.

But if you don't pay the bill. Who cares? Maybe the CFO or COO will.

Intel acquires McAfee, defining the relationship between Security and energy-efficient performance

August 19, 2010 Dave Ohara

Intel announced the purchase of McAfee.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2010 – Intel Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire McAfee, Inc., through the purchase of all of the company’s common stock at $48 per share in cash, for approximately $7.68 billion. Both boards of directors have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close after McAfee shareholder approval, regulatory clearances and other customary conditions specified in the agreement.

Most will focus on this as the reason for Intel's acquisition.

The acquisition reflects that security is now a fundamental component of online computing. Today’s security approach does not fully address the billions of new Internet-ready devices connecting, including mobile and wireless devices, TVs, cars, medical devices and ATM machines as well as the accompanying surge in cyber threats. Providing protection to a diverse online world requires a fundamentally new approach involving software, hardware and services.

What caught my eye though is this statement.

Inside Intel, the company has elevated the priority of security to be on par with its strategic focus areas in energy-efficient performance and Internet connectivity.

With a quote from Intel CEO Paul Otellini

“With the rapid expansion of growth across a vast array of Internet-connected devices, more and more of the elements of our lives have moved online,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. “In the past, energy-efficient performance and connectivity have defined computing requirements. Looking forward, security will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences.

What Intel has identified is the relationship between Security and Energy-Efficient Performance. How you approach Security can have a big impact on power consumption for a green data center. PUE is discussed to explain power and cooling overhead for IT.

What is the power consumed by security infrastructure? 10%, 20%, 50%

How many systems cannot be consolidated because of security issues?

Security issues contribute to the fiefdoms in data centers.

What is the energy consumption of your security decisions in the data center?

I posted about Security's relationship to being Green back in Apr 2008.

Security is The Opposing Force of Green, demonstration - techniques to remove hard drive data

I was a having a brainstorming session with another smart guy, I don't want to name him, because the idea is too controversial. We were discussing Green Ideas and we stumbled on the issue of Security being un-Green.

Why? Security at its simplest level creates friction in processes to make things more difficult, this takes more energy, effort, and other resources. The enemies of your Green IT efforts will be your Security group as they will not want to compromise their security policies.

Now I am not arguing for no security. It is requirement of any system, but how much security creates an environmental cost which is not sustainable?

What is Google's Data Center plan for Nov 26, 2010 - day of HTC's Chrome OS tablet

August 18, 2010 Dave Ohara

I"ve been hearing from a variety sources that Google is getting for its biggest ever advertising campaign. My speculation is Google is preparing its entertainment device launch where the device will have games, music, and video to compete against the fruit company, Apple. Google TV was a way for Google launch its entertainment efforts, and it is easy to slide the content over to a Chrome OS tablet.

News is circulating today about the new Google device.

Chrome OS tablet from HTC reported to ship in November

The tablet, with Verizon Wireless as the carrier, would be available by Black Friday

By Matt Hamblen

August 18, 2010 04:25 PM ET

Computerworld - An HTC tablet running Google's Chrome operating system will be sold by Verizon Wireless in late November, according to an unnamed source cited by the blog Downloadsquad.

The blog's source specifically said that the tablet will appear on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. The blog said the tablet would probably be heavily subsidized by Verizon to compete against the Apple iPad.

HTC and Verizon could not be reached for comment.

The blog also speculated that the HTC tablet would have plenty of popular features, in keeping with HTC's Nexus One smartphone tradition. Those include a 1280-by-720 multitouch display for the tablet, 2GB of RAM, and a minimum of 32GB of storage, the blog said.

Google has been building up its HD content with advertising windows on Youtube. And Google Leanback which is streaming videos in a TV type of experience.

There is Google Music.

Google Games.

GDC Europe: Google Details Chrome Web Store Specifics
by Kris Graft

August 18, 2010

Google is looking to make some major changes in the way people pay for, play and receive games.
At GDC Europe in Germany this week, Google game developer advocate Mark DeLoura showed off the progress the search engine giant has made in the gaming space. The company plans on launching an app store for its increasingly popular Chrome web browser in October, and games will be a major focus of the company going forward.
Web-based gaming has a bright future, said DeLoura, who showed declining U.S. video game boxed retail sales numbers versus a burgeoning online social game market.
"If you're at [FarmVille developer] Zynga, you're probably incredibly happy, but for social and casual overall, it's looking much better [than console gaming]," he said, as reported in a 1UP video.

Now do you have a better idea what is building up in Google's data center for Nov 26, 2010?

Mind-shifting to change Data Center approaches

August 17, 2010 Dave Ohara

The Data Center industry is full of many people who are convinced their way is the right way and others are wrong. They have years of hard work to prove their methods are right and work, emphasizing the strength and speed of what they can get done.

TED conference has a talk given by Lewis Pugh on a mind-shifting experience he went through that has a good lesson to learn from. If you want to jump to the point where I am referencing it is at 6:25 mark. The video is only 10 min, but quite enjoyable.

Lewis discusses as a lesson to make a true change for the climate requires a different mind-set.

Lewis starts using the same methods he has successfully used in the past.

And then we got up to this small lake underneath the summit of Mt. Everest, and I prepared myself, the same way as I've always prepared myself, for this swim which was going to be so very difficult. I put on my iPod, I listened to some music, I got myself as aggressive as possible -- but controlled aggression -- and then I hurled myself into that water.

I swam as quickly as I could for the first hundred meters, and then I realized very, very quickly, I had a huge problem on my hands. I could barely breathe. I was gasping for air. I then began to choke, and then it quickly led to me vomiting in the water. And it all happened so quickly I then -- I don't know how it happened -- but I went underwater. And luckily, the water was quite shallow, and I was able to push myself off the bottom of the lake and get up and then take another gasp of air. And then I said, carry on. Carry on. Carry on. I carried on for another five or six strokes, and then I had nothing in my body, and I went down to the bottom of the lake. And I don't where I got it from, but I was able to somehow pull myself up and as quickly as possible get to the side of the lake. I've heard it said that drowning is the most peaceful death that you can have. I have never ever heard such utter bollocks. (Laughter) It is the most frightening and panicky feeling that you can have.

Almost dying gave Lewis a dose of humility. And his crew gave him a new plan.

And there, we sat down, and we did a debrief about what had gone wrong there on Mt. Everest. And my team just gave it to me straight.They said, Lewis, you need to have a radical tactical shift if you want to do this swim. Every single thing which you have learned in the past 23 years of swimming, you must forget. Every single thing which you learned when you were serving in the British army, about speed and aggression,you put that to one side. We want you to walk up the hill in another two days time. Take some time to rest and think about things. We want you to walk up the mountain in two days time, and instead of swimming fast, swim as slowly as possible.Instead of swimming crawl, swim breaststroke.And remember, never ever swim with aggression.This is the time to swim with real humility.

And here are the two big lessons that Lewis relates.

But I learned two very, very important lessons there on Mt. Everest. And I thank my team of Sherpas who taught me this. The first one is that just because something has worked in the past so well, doesn't mean it's going to work in the future. And similarly, now, before I do anything, I ask myself what type of mindset do I require to successfully complete a task. And taking that into the world of climate change, which is, frankly, the Mt. Everest of all problems -- just because we've lived the way we have lived for so long, just because we have consumed the way we have for so long and populated the earth the way we have for so long, doesn't mean that we can carry on the way we are carrying on. The warning signs are all there. When I was born, the world's population was 3.5 billion people. We're now 6.8 billion people, and we're expected to be 9 billion people by 2050.

And then the second lesson, the radical, tactical shift. And I've come here to ask you today: what radical tactical shift can you take in your relationship to the environment, which will ensure that our children and our grandchildren live in a safe world and a secure world, and most importantly, in a sustainable world? And I ask you, please, to go away from here and think about that one radical tactical shift which you could make,which will make that big difference, and then commit a hundred percent to doing it. Blog about it, tweet about it, talk about it, and commit a hundred percent. Because very, very few thingsare impossible to achieve if we really put our whole minds to it.

So thank you very, very much.

(Applause)