School Leaders Get Advice on 'Green' Computing

Here is an aticle I came across by Laura Devaney with regard to schools going "green". I'm interested to hear how you are adapting to this.

With energy costs soaring to record levels, taking steps to reduce energy consumption isn't just good for the environment--it's also essential for the fiscal health of schools. At a recent webinar on "green" computing, panelists discussed several ways school leaders can reduce the power consumption of their technology systems...and ways they can use technology to cut other energy expenditures, too.
Information technology (IT) energy usage "will double in the next four years, and there are some easy things in the world of IT that we can do to attack this problem," according to Andrew Verdesca, marketing manager of energy-efficient technologies and services for IBM.
Verdesca used his company as an example of how a wide range of organizations can foster eco-responsibility. IBM offers a program, called Big Green Innovations, that helps school systems, corporations, and other enterprises design more energy-efficient data centers and reduce energy consumption. IBM also operates asset-recovery programs for buying back and disposing of used IT systems.
"eWaste can't be ignored--1 billion computers will become potential scrap by 2010, and only 45 percent of U.S. companies have eco-friendly disposal plans," Verdesca said.
He said diagnosing the power consumption of your current IT systems is the first step in figuring out which systems are taking up the most energy--and determining which systems can be placed in idle mode when they are not being used.
It's estimated that, in an entire data center, the actual IT systems account for 45 percent of energy use, and power and cooling apparatuses account for 55 percent, Verdesca said. It's also estimated that only 20 percent of an IT system is being used, and the remaining 80 percent is not being used.
"Seizing control of the wasted spaces in systems" is a step in the right direction, he said.
Darrell Walery, director of technology for the Consolidated High School District 230 in Illinois, makes use of conference calling and online meetings to save on gas consumption and paper costs, and the district is upgrading certain online communications channels to save on these expenses as well.
The district is using an intranet and Microsoft SharePoint technology for posting information, which helps reduce the amount of storage space employees need on their individual machines and cuts down on the number of eMail messages that are printed out, Walery said.
"We're educating our users to...think about doing things a little bit differently," he added.
Using server virtualization technology, the district has consolidated 11 servers onto two hard boxes, and all its computers are shut down at a specified time. In addition, all monitors go into "sleep" mode after 20 minutes to reduce power consumption.
"Many [solutions] have very little or no cost and just require behavior changes, so your district can start doing things in a slightly different way," he said.
Converging various IT systems on a single district network can save on energy costs, said Jim Schul, chief information officer for the Harris County, Texas, Department of Education. And internet-based instruction is another "green" option for schools.
"Virtual delivery is now taking off, and not just in the professional development area, but also in classrooms, which we're very excited about," Schul said.
Opting for virtual instruction could prompt districts to reconsider their school construction and building-size needs, he said.
For example, a fully equipped school that houses 2,000 to 3,000 students can cost upwards of $100 million. "If we start to virtualize a lot of our instruction, we might not need a $100 million high school--maybe we need a $75 million high school, because all of our students might not be present at the same time, meaning [we could reduce our] heating and cooling, maintenance, bus, and other energy costs," he said.
Rural schools in particular are affected by today's high gas prices and energy costs, because some students might ride an hour or longer on their way to school. Provided that students have access to technology at home, virtual schooling can help cut gas and electricity consumption, Schul said.
Texas recently passed a law requiring school districts to reduce their energy bills by 5 percent, and the panelists urged school leaders to begin implementing energy-saving plans so they can lead by example and be prepared if, or when, other states begin imposing similar energy-usage mandates.
"Going green is a long-term investment. …Who knows how high energy costs will be 20 years from now?" Schul said. "Think out of the box for eco-friendliness."
"It's just a matter of education and letting people know there's a different way to do things," Walery said.
"Education is critical in this whole area," Verdesca agreed.

Bringing Down the House

Last weekend I went with my son Tom to go see the new Indiana Jones movie. All of the revie

I recently read the book Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich. After being in Las Vegas a couple of times this past year I was feeling like I needed to figure out a way to get rich so that I could spend more time at the gaming tables. This book is a fictionalized account of some MIT students that used their math skills to beat the casinos at blackjack. The book is supposed to be non-fiction, but a couple of recent articles and interviews with people portrayed in the book have made it clear that the story is for entertainment, not facts. Even so, it is quite interesting to see how a group of nerdy kids can become expert at card counting. Working in teams, they hit the casino and have some members counting cards at a table while others come in and take advantage of a positive run with high bets and walk away when the cards are about to turn. The methods they use are not for the casual player. Minimum stakes for a night of cards was more than $10,000. Not every night was a winning night. Still the book describes weekends with profits of $50,000 to $100,000 and more. The characters take great pains to describe how their activities are perfectly legal. Yet the casinos wage war against them banning them from one casino after another. The players felt as if they were Robin Hoods, liberating money from big corporations. Instead of giving the money to the poor though, they kept it for themselves to buy big screen TVs, hugely expensive dinners and buy luxury condos. A movie adapted from the book came out earlier this year. It had very little interest and is probably out in DVD now.

The book was an easy quick read. I wanted my kids to start counting cards so that I could retire. They just looked at me like I was nuts. What else is new?

Enjoy!

Dennis

Grant Opportunities

I haven't posted any grants for a while. Here are a couple that should be of interst.



Keep America Beautiful, Inc.

Organization: The Graffiti Hurts® National Grant Program

Eligibility: Government Agencies

Value: $2000

Deadline: June 5, 2008




The Graffiti Hurts® National Grant Program aims to help communities kick-start or add to a local graffiti prevention program. Grant funds may also be used for a one-time project that has the potential to help reduce graffiti in the community.
Grants of $2,000 will be offered in three categories - community under 100,000 population, community between 100,000 and 300,000 population and community over 300,000 population. The funds must be used for projects that begin by Fall 2008 and are completed no later than December 31, 2009.
Proposed projects can address graffiti prevention and education, rapid removal, or help to enforce local anti-graffiti laws.



Contact: http://www.graffitihurts.org/grant_program/2008/grant-application.pdf



Verizon Foundation Education Grants

Organization: Verizon Foundation

Eligibility: Government Agencies
Value: $5,000-$10,000
Deadline: November 01, 2008

Proposals will also be considered from elementary and secondary schools (public and private) that are registered with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Specifically, we help people to:
Increase their literacy and educational achievement
Avoid being an abuser or a victim of domestic violence
Achieve and sustain their health and safety


Contact: http://foundation.verizon.com/grant/guidelines.shtml

Solid State Hard Drives

Samsung announced last week that they have developed a 256 GB solid state hard drive. The most common size now shipping on noebooks is 64 GB. This also has very high read rates compared to the current crop of drives. These have been listed by Samsung as a sequential read speed of 200 megabytes per second and sequential write speed of 160MBps. Intel has similar drives coming out later this year. No prices have been announced yet.

If you are interested in current drives, I have Crucial 64 GB drives available now for $1499. No moving parts. Almost 0 failures.

Good Eats-Snohomish, WA

A couple of months ago my darling wife Sheri and I were at some friends in near Seattle. We decided to go out to dinner and headed into the town of Snohomish. This is an older town that has made itself into a destination with antique stores and restaurants. The town is surrounded by farms that are quickly being encroached upon by housing developments. The couple of blocks of the old part of town feel relaxed and part of the past. It's a nice getaway. We walked up and down the street to find someplace that would give us a good meal. We looked in a few bakeries, a couple of taverns and a ethnic restaurant of two before we settled on The Repp. This is an older bar with worn wood pine flooring, a bar that takes up 2/3 of the space in the main room and booths with curtains on them for privacy. When we were there we started off with salads. The standard house salad is a must for anyone visiting here. The greens were fresh, the cheese delicious and the vinaigrette dressing quite tasty. The goat cheese fritters were also worth trying as an appetizer. We also enjoyed the roasted garlic and three cheese dip. We didn't realize how hungry we were until we saw the menu. Most of the party had hamburgers that had thick tasty patties made from Kobe beef. These came with blue or cheddar cheese and were a substantial meal. I had the herb roasted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes. A great meal worth traveling for.

Enjoy!

Cat 5 Cables

I have a full collection of cables available. Cat5e, Cat6, Fiber, colors. Stock up now for your summer projects.

USB Flash Drives-32 GB Available

USB memory is better value now than ever before. I was always a firm believer that 512 MB pen drives were more than adequate. I have finally come around on this one. 4 GB is not too large. With solid state drives now available on some notebooks 8 GB, 16 GB and even 64 GB discs are common place. Here are a few prices on standard flash drives.
Crucial Brand
1 GB $9.99
2 GB $12.99
4 GB $20.99

Kingston brand

8 GB $49.99

Corsair brand

16 GB $99

32 GB $189