Would you rather read about Wind/Solar powered data Center or a Poop powered data center? Google vs. Microsoft

I was reading Compass Data Centers's Chris Crosby post 

Holy Air Biscuits Batman!

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Just when you think things just can’t get any weirder, I read that Microsoft is working to develop a data center that runs on sewage. You read that correctly, sewage, a.k.a. human waste, a.k.a fill in your own potty level descriptor here. It’s said that necessity is “the mother of invention” but isn’t this taking things just a little too far? Microsoft says that this is yet another of their green initiatives. I say that if you’re running a data center using the byproduct of an entire state’s worth of indoor plumbing capacity you’ve probably stretched the boundaries of euphemism to the breaking point. I guess in their quest to achieve their objective of becoming carbon neutral the boys in Redmond will leave no stone unturned…or toilet seat up for that matter.

I’m always fascinated by how ideas like this come about. Many of us have been in those corporate “brain storming” sessions where half the company is squeezed into a conference room, the walls are papered with those sticky notes on steroids, and everyone is half-stoned on magic marker fumes, and heard some pretty outlandish proposals. But imagine sitting in a room when someone suggests that we should try powering the new data center with the truest form of “biogas”, and, rather than being met with murmured snickers and knowing rib jabs, someone pipes up and says, “You know, I think Phil is really on to something here”. Talk about your broad mindedness. If this is the concept that they all coalesced around, it kind of makes you wonder what they thought were the bad ideas.

And it got me thinking would users rather read about a wind powered data center or a poop powered one?

Google uses Wind and Solar as its primary message.

Microsoft has posts on the use of biogas.

You can argue which is better for the environment, but what do you think people want to read about?

Economist Article on the fight between Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon

The Economist has a great article on the competition between Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.

The article closes with an excellent point that the regulators could change the game rules.

The Others

Watchdogs in Europe and America have been looking into accusations that Apple has colluded with some publishers to break Amazon’s grip on e-books. And they have been scrutinising Google too. Some companies, including ones with links to Microsoft, have accused the search firm of unfairly promoting its own services, such as Google+, in search results. They also claim that it uses content from competitors without permission, and that it has struck anti-competitive deals in search advertising. The firm is under fire for allegedly using smartphone patents to stifle competition. Google’s legions of lawyers have been battling these charges.

Their lordships Page, Cook, Zuckerberg and Bezos thus need to map a course for their respective firms through dangerous legal and regulatory territory. At the same time they have to avoid being distracted from fighting their rivals; the mad emperors of Microsoft lost a lot of ground by taking on the inhuman might of the Department of Justice. And the shareholders, hungry for returns in a moribund global economy, need to be kept happy.

A king who pulled all this off might claim the throne by right; but his chances of being more than first among equals, or of a lengthy reign, would be slim. As in Westeros, these battles and plots promise many more sequels and series.

Greenpeace creates bogus Green AWS site

Greenpeace has launched a GreenAWS site that makes it seem like it is Amazon, but it is not.  How do you know?

For more information about the energy that AWS and other companies use to power the cloud, please read our April, 2012 report "How Clean is Your Cloud?" or contact us via direct message on Twitter@cleanourcloud or email cleanourcloud@greenpeace.org

You contact greenpeace.  :-)

GigaOm's Katie Fehrenbacher posts on this as well.

About AWS Green Team

At AWS, we are always working to make our cloud options the best in the world. Now we are starting a new initiative to make the AWS cloud the greenest too.

Powering a cloud of AWS's size requires a lot of energy, and recent events have demonstrated the need for us to ensure that our energy supply is both more secure and more sustainable. Too much of our energy supply comes from coal and nuclear power plants, and as we are seeing increasingly from Japan to New York City to Northern Virginia, these traditional energy sources are increasingly vulnerable to disruption. While AWS has worked hard and has been successful in preparing for electricity service disruption, we're constantly looking for ways to decrease risks even further.

Lessons to help someone. Listen! Don't preach!

TED has a talk that will get you thinking.  Thinking about a different way to help people.  

Ernesto Sirolli got his start doing aid work in Africa in the 70's -- and quickly realised how ineffective it was.

Why you should listen to him:

Ernesto Sirolli is a noted authority in the field of sustainable economic development and is the Founder of the Sirolli Institute, an international non-profit organization that teaches community leaders how to establish and maintain Enterprise Facilitation projects in their community. The Institute is now training communities in the USA, Canada, Australia, England and Scotland.

Below is the talk and I'll pull some points from the transcript that will get you give some ideas.

The talk is from Ernesto's experience providing aid to Africa, and how the Western world makes mistakes.

We Western people are imperialist, colonialist missionaries, and there are only two ways we deal with people: We either patronize them, or we are paternalistic. The two words come from the Latin root "pater," which means "father." But they mean two different things.Paternalistic, I treat anybody from a different culture as if they were my children. "I love you so much." Patronizing, I treat everybody from another culture as if they were my servants. That's why the white people in Africa are called "bwana," boss.

I was given a slap in the face reading a book, "Small is Beautiful," written by Schumacher, who said, above all in economic development, if people do not wish to be helped, leave them alone. This should be the first principle of aid.

If you want to help someone.  A typical approach would be to match their need with your offering.  But, Ernesto's approach resonates with one I use.  Look for people's passion.

The most important thing is passion. You can give somebody an idea. If that person doesn't want to do it, what are you going to do? The passion that the person has for her own growth is the most important thing. The passion that that man has for his own personal growth is the most important thing. And then we help them to go and find the knowledge,because nobody in the world can succeed alone. The person with the idea may not have the knowledge, but the knowledge is available.

Why.  If you are trying to work on lead edge, innovative stuff.  You can't plan for an entrepreneurial event.

Peter Drucker says: "Planning is actually incompatible with an entrepreneurial society and economy." Planning is the kiss of death of entrepreneurship.

And, what does he do?  He helps entrepreneurs find the other parts to be successful - develop, market, and manage.

However, there is a secret to work with entrepreneurs. First, you have to offer them confidentiality. Otherwise they don't come and talk to you. Then you have to offer them absolute, dedicated, passionate service to them. And then you have to tell them the truth about entrepreneurship. The smallest company, the biggest company, has to be capable of doing three things beautifully: The product that you want to sell has to be fantastic, you have to have fantastic marketing, and you have to have tremendous financial management.Guess what? We have never met a single human being in the world who can make it, sell it and look after the money. It doesn't exist. This person has never been born. We've done the research, and we have looked at the 100 iconic companies of the world -- Carnegie, Westinghouse, Edison, Ford, all the new companies, Google, Yahoo. There's only one thing that all the successful companies in the world have in common, only one: None were started by one person.

Are you hiring the best or playmates?

After 26 years in big companies, I don't miss the process of interviewing for a new job.  One of the rules I tell people is they almost never tell you why you didn't get the job.  The bottom line is whether they liked you more than the rest of the candidates, not whether you are best for the job.  This advice can come off cynical.  But, guess what here is research that shows employers are more interested in hiring their playmates than the best.

Employers Often More Interested in Hiring Potential Playmates Than the Very Best
Candidates

WASHINGTON, DC, November 27, 2012 — Employers are often more focused on hiring someone they
would like to hang out with than they are on finding the person who can best do the job, suggests a study
in the December issue of the American Sociological Review.

“Of course, employers are looking for people who have the baseline of skills to effectively do the job,” said
study author Lauren A. Rivera, an assistant professor of management and organizations and sociology at
Northwestern University. “But, beyond that, employers really want people who they will bond with, who
they will feel good around, who will be their friend and maybe even their romantic partner. As a result,
employers don’t necessarily hire the most skilled candidates.”

Do you find yourself stuck in this rut?

Do you have a similar level of education? Did you go to a similar caliber school? Do you enjoy similar activities? 

Are you excited to talk to each other? Do you feel the spark? These types of things are salient at least to
the employers I’ve studied.”

If you find there is little diversity in an organization your chances are probably low to get a job or to hire someone who isn't like the rest.  Even though you may be open to the best, different candidate, your peers influence the hiring.

The study also found that the cultural similarities valued at elite professional service firms have important
socioeconomic dimensions. “Evaluators are predominately white, Ivy League-educated, upper-middle or
upper class men and women who tend to have more stereotypically masculine leisure pursuits and favor
extracurricular activities associated with people of their background,” Rivera said. “

Think about this as Data Center companies are not known for its diversity.  There are exceptions to this rule, and I try to spend more time with these companies as they have focused on hiring the best, and not their playmates.