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Filed under: Internet, Google, Search

Google turns off the lights for Earth Hour today

Google Blackout
Google users in the US, UK, Canada, and a handful of other countries will notice that the page has gone black today. Do not adjust your monitors, this is intentional. Google is trying to draw attention to Earth Hour, an initiative to convince people to use less energy.

Now here's the thing, last year there a minor controversy over whether Google should permanently change its background to black in order to save energy. The theory is that it takes less energy to display a black background than a white one. But while that might have been somewhat true a few years ago when most computer users had cathode ray tube monitors, it actually takes more energy to display a black background on some modern LCD displays. So umm, essentially Google's black web page today could be contributing to an increase in energy use.

Hopefully if the move prompts a few folks to think about energy conservation, there'll be a net gain. But umm, seriously, Google, why go out of your way to debunk the myth of a energy-saving black Google last year just to promote it yourself today?

Filed under: Web services, Google, Search

Blackle: saving the world by painting Google black

Blackle
Apparently it takes more energy for your computer monitor to display a white web page than a black one. So while the modern web standard of white and bright colored backgrounds with dark text is great for readability, it might not be great for the planet.

Heap Media decided to do something about it by creating a custom version of one of the most popular white-backgrounded sites on the web. Blackle is basically Google, but black. It's powered by Google, so you should have pretty much the same user experience when using Blackle as you do with Google. Only darker.

While there's some debate over whether a black-backgrounded Google will actually make an impact on the world's energy use, the folks behind Blackle say there's another purpose. At the very least, those who use Blackle daily will be reminded to find other ways to reduce energy consumption throughout the day.

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