environment

Finally, here's a phone plan that allows you to switch from the U.S. government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network to the Unclassified but Sensitive Internet Protocol Router Network with a single keystroke.

The National Security Agency has authorized military and government personnel to order up a bunch of General Dynamics' Sectera Edge secure, wireless smartphones, which will not only allow them to make secure calls but also to e-mail and Web-browse in either classified or unclassified mode.

The phones will still operate right along with everyone else on the existing high-speed Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), … Read more

I just read that Gartner believes Green IT is the number one concern for CIOs in 2008. I'm not actually sure I believe that (these "top 10" lists often read like buzzword popularity contests), but if you're into green, you really should consider open source. Here are a few reasons, according to 21st Century Citizen:… Read more

Is your family burned out on Webkinz and Club Penguin? Are you ready for a new online "game" with a purpose?

The public radio producer American Public Media has launched an interactive game called Consumer Consequences that allows users to model their own ecological footprints. The game prompts users to describe their lifestyles in terms of house size, car travel, energy use, food and shopping consumption, and the mathematical model behind the game translates the information into an easy-to-understand visual summary.

The bottom-line result tells you how many "Earths" of natural resources it would take to sustain all 6.6 billion humans...if everyone lived like you.… Read more

An environmental group on Wednesday named the world's worst-polluted areas, and Asia dominated the list.

The 10 most polluted places span seven countries and affect the health of roughly 12 million people, according to the U.S.-based environmental group Blacksmith Institute, which worked with the Green Cross Switzerland to formulate its 2007 list. Among the sites in Asia were: Linfen, China; Tianjin, China; Sukinda, India; and Vapi, India.

The industrial city of Tianjin accounts for more than half of China's lead production; and according to Blacksmith, more than half the country's total output of pollution. In … Read more

Reporters on the front lines of climate change ate locally grown food from biodegradable tableware at the annual Society of Environmental Journalists conference held at Stanford University last week .

Yet, they also boarded gas-guzzling, air-conditioned buses to tour Google's solar headquarters, green buildings in San Francisco and area ecosystems. The nonprofit Environmental Defense handed out folders about safeguarding the oceans. These came inside vinyl shoulder bags that stank of the same toxic chemicals that poison waterways. Most of some 900 attendees flew to the event in petroleum-powered planes to discuss how to report about imperiled ecosystems, from the big … Read more

Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley might be pushing all things green into the mainstream, but the counterculture roots of the sustainable-living movement are still alive and well, and were showcased in bright hues last weekend at the 12th annual SolFest in Mendocino County, Calif.

Some 10,000 people attended the event, featuring alternative energy and green products ranging from the world's only solar-powered carousel to electric bicycles to wall structures made from recycled Styrofoam.

Check it out by clicking over to CNET News.com's gallery depicting the event.

I heard an interesting debate the other day on the topic of cities and skyscrapers. In a nutshell, when it comes to cities and buildings, is taller greener or is smaller better? In other words, should environmentally minded people like or dislike skyscrapers?

The Taller Greeners: • Building up, rather than out, combats urban sprawl, means more concentration of people, means better for mass transit which equals fewer cars and lower emissions. • Building bigger means more opportunity to use technologies like distributed generation, advanced energy efficiency, lighting and monitoring, which typically are more economic in larger projects.

The Smaller … Read more

For those with an eye on green tech, PopSci.com has published an interesting article outlining the steps designers can take to produce a more eco-friendly laptop. Honestly, one thing that really caught my eye about this was the photo--the proposed laptop's sleek design put my boring, black IBM to shame. Although this super laptop has not yet been built, the article's proposed solutions illustrate a device that could marry tech genius and environmental consciousness.

The piece breaks down eight major ecological issues with these ubiquitous gadgets, including the materials used to make them, and then offers solutions. … Read more

At CNET, we've been publishing information about HDTV power consumption for a year and a half in our Quick Guide, which currently lists the results of our tests of more than 50 televisions. Until now, this data has been restricted to the Guide, but it really belongs in each individual HDTV review. That's why we're pleased to announce the "Juice box," a new chart that summarizes the television's power consumption and scores it against other models.

You can check out an example here. Clicking the phrase "Juice box" takes you to an … Read more