Google goes dark for Earth Hour

Google made an environmental gesture today by turning the lights out on the U.S. version of its search page. The black background doesn't save energy, but it's Google's way of observing Earth Hour. The global event, created by the World Wildlife Fund, encourages people around the world to turn off their lights at 8:00 PM today, March 29, for an hour.

[rushma]

Irony

Funny that a black screen actually uses more power (unless you're on a CRT or using a plasma TV as your monitor) than a white screen. Granted, it's barely a difference, I just found it kinda funny.

[gireviks]

Lame-O

A useless gesture from a stupid company. Typical liberal nonsense, feel good gestures that accomplish nothing.

[Urza9814]

In other words...

In other words, a black screen does use less power than a white screen, unless you're using an LCD monitor. Personally, I run one of each, but only because I know someone that got me the LCD free. I don't really see the point in a full quarter of the price of my computer being the monitor. CRTs are still significantly cheaper. I really don't think LCDs have been coming with every computer for long enough to assume that they're what everyone has - there are 4 monitors in my house, only one is LCD...and as I said, only because it was free.

[Dead Soulman]

Right, so thieves can break into my house

What kind of stupid hippie nonsense is this? Turn the lights out in my house when is already dark outside. I'd play along if you ask me to turn off my tv, or air conditioner, or something more logical than that. But, turn my lights off so my place looks like a complete blackout is just ridiculous. I bet you Google wouldn't ask me to turn my computer off for one hour. Or even better, can Google do its part and ask people not to use their search engine for one hour. That'd be interesting if they were to request that.

[hlywd217]

I second that

: )

[b_sharp]

Yes, right.

I'm sure that turning your lights off for an hour will increase the probability of thieves breaking into your home by an enormous amount.

Unless there are thieves casing your home out, just waiting for the lights to go off, turning your lights out for an hour will make absolutely no difference.

Perhaps a little more thought and a little less emotion should go into the formation of opinion.

[globalHacko0rz]

bigot

hahah hippy nonsense oh please this isn't about hippies this is about reducing pollution and btw about i wanna estimate at least 25 million people are or have participated in this. and last year sydney did this and the amount of crime that occurred was average so u have the same chance of getting robbed whether u leave your lights on or off SO TURN UR LIGHTS OFF AND HELP KEEP THE WORLD A NICER PLACE TO LIVE and btw ur an idiot this isn't googles thing it originated in Sydney, Australia

[benguthrie]

The monster under my bed is scared of light too.

Light doesn't stop criminals. It just makes people like you feel like you're fending off non-existent criminals.

[ddesy]

Ummmm....

Most people turn off their lights and night, and most people do not have their houses broken into. Unless you are in a severely crime filled neighborhood, you are needlessly frightened to do something most people do naturally.

[papy006]

Don't be silly!

Google did something symbolic. You guys, just think and follow the Aussie's example. Turning off lights, ACs, heaters, ... even one minute can do good. The day the oil will be gone we're back in the stone age. More we push far this moment more the humanity has a chance to find another way to generate energy.
Cheers, Papy

[nickiv_123]

the day oil is gone im one of the few people left not in the stone age!!! I recieve solar electricity and i have been saving money for a long time to buy the "plug in hybrid" when I turn 18. it gets 100 miles per gallon!! :)

Me and my family go green in ALL the ways we can!!!

[jgibbison]

Thieves rob houses

Totally wrong I usually use a light to find the goodies but couldn't because turning the light gave me away. I'm going to sue Google for loss of one hours earnings.

[jester_man]

Fact or Fiction?: Black Is Better than White for Energy-Efficient Screens

I found this interesting...
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-black-is

[Fragarach 87]

google.ca as well

Google Canada has also "Turned the lights off"

[nicmart]

Why not turn off the adverts?

Oh, the pain! They sacrificed so much. Maybe it would have been
a tad more impressive if they had turned off the ad revenue for
an hour.

What remained brightly lit is Google's hypocrisy.

[sangandhi]

Nice dark page of google!

Nice dark page by google. Every little bit helps, they say....
A site which has been offering this kinda search for a while is www.searchincolor.com. There's actually a green background, lol...

-SG

[globalHacko0rz]

just wanted to point out

making the background black doesn't actually do anything it was just a way to promote earth hour

[cohogo]

thanks for brightening my day!

you're funny... really... Hippies and Environmentalists and Al
Gores, oh my!

Sounds a lot like Commies and Fascists and Hitlers, too, if this
were only a couple decades ago...

We should definitely leave our lights on so that these awful
people don't use those fear tactics on us while we're at home in
the dark. I can just imagine an environmentalist lurking outside
my window.

Seriously, though, what harm can you do by saving a little
energy here and there? Don't want thieves breaking in to your
house, maybe you can leave one light on and still feel ok. Or
maybe you could make a more long-term investment by
switching to florescent bulbs or something.

Really, the point here isn't to scare you or to subvert you into
one of those dirty, scary hippies, it's so save some resources at a
time when many people are unsure about the longevity of said
resources.

I don't understand the resistance to something like this. Who
are you hurting by lowering your electricity bill and possibly
(depending on what you're so inclined to believe about the
environment) helping the world out? Even if you don't subscribe
to the notion of climate change, surely you can understand the
idea that energy costs money, so energy efficiency and diversity
are beneficial.

[Dead Soulman]

Another clown

When you start paying my $500 electric bill, then I'd share the stage with you. Until then, keep your mouth closed for a bit longer. Also, since you brought it up, 100% of my lights are fluorescent. So, again, you have no ground to spew all the nonsense you wrote.

The problem why people don't agree with all these mega-corporations, and self-appointed environmentalists, is that they're great at preaching but not at following their own advise.

If Google wants to convince me that they have a great interest in reducing pollution or energy, then send me a link to the "BILLIONS" they've donated to companies working on alternative sources of energy.

[The_Decider]

"Who are you hurting by lowering your electricity bill"?

Corporate slaves think corporate profits trump everything, including the future.

[coryschulz]

Actually, It does save energy

Google offers a permanently black service called Blackle. http://www.blackle.com/

Right now it says "536,062.571 Watt hours saved".

[coryschulz]

EDIT

Actually it seems the service isn't offered directly from Google, but from a different company which uses Google search results. But it's basically a black google.

[yomjoseki]

That's it

Alright, I've had it up to here with you ****ing hippies now. You can have your hybrids and your eco-friendly toilets and whatever but I'll be damned if I'm going to listen to crap about saving energy by using darker websites.

[pdhharris]

Doesn't Save

If you actually read the research done, it doesn't save energy, and
sometimes it even uses more energy. You should actually read the
research...

[poster48150]

Publicity?

"The global event, created by the World Wildlife Fund, encourages people around the world to turn off their lights at 8:00 PM today, March 29, for an hour."

They might have had more participation if they'd advertised it a little more. The first I heard about it was a few minutes ago (the hour ended 1.5 hours ago as I write this) when I read this article.

[cohogo]

clowns are sad on the inside ;)

no... you come pay my $26 energy bill and we'll talk. I'm not
interested in paying $500 and then complaining when someone
brings up the notion that I should use less, even if they don't.

I commend you for using more efficient florescent bulbs, and as
you point out, we know nothing about who you are or where you
live, but come on, your comment was strictly name-calling and
anger-based. I understand your concern about corporations like
Google being, at times, hypocritical, but that neither excuses
anyone from a responsibility to be concerned about their effects
on those around them, nor does it justify your contempt for
certain politicians and social groups. If anything, I would say
your point about Google serves to illustrate the refusal of certain
other politicians and interest groups to jump on the bandwagon
of environmentalism when it suits their own interests... just like
major corporations tend to do. you're on to something that I
agree with, I just don't think you've made the connection to
yourself or your politics. I'm curious if you have a measured
response to this, or if this is going to be a debate from two
decidedly high horses.

[suyts]

His anger is somewhat justified.

People across this planet have been brow beaten for so many years about environmental nuances that never seem go get it right. Has any one ever solved the paper or plastic issue? Are all trees really good for the environment? Is the act of breathing harmful? Is the planet getting colder if I do X and will it get warmer if I do Y, or was it the other way around? Is the polar bear population really going down? Why is it that we could solve a mosquito transmitted disease at the turn of the 20th century by killing them, but we can't at the turn of the 21st century? The list goes on and on. On each issue, environmentalists convince people that they are evil if they don't see things their way so people change their lifestyle only to find later that they caused more harm than good. I believe what the poster is angrily saying, "I'm tired of jumping through your (not you specifically) hoops." and " I'm tired of being made to feel less of a person for not falling for every issue of the day." Anyway, that's what I'm getting, he can feel free to correct me if I'm off base.

[flickrz]

Ridiculous

It would have been better if Google had turned off half of their servers in order to save energy. They have thousands of servers that would have saved severl kilowatts. This is just hypocrisy. Promote people to use less energy so that they can buy cheap electricity for their servers.

[bmead]

Not so ridiculous

Google actually does a pretty good job producing their own energy and building on their green goals. See http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/

[rlwyke]

Going dark

What a WASTE of time!!!!!!

[ddesy]

Hmmm...

You just wasted your own time typing that.

[eGenerations]

Earth Hour Photos Around the Globe

If you get bored... http://egenerations.com/article-1315-4-earth-hour-photos-around-the-globe

[m_sims01]

What's the big deal

I turn my lights off every night.

[smarty_pantz]

Dang! I banged my knee in the coffee table!

tIm rtying two tlype in hte darrk.
Glo goolge!

-im trlying to baand-eid mly knee, blut I htink i jjust bannd-aidd hte cat.

[ddesy]

Hahaha....

A few typing classes might help with typing in the dark, but I don't know about the cat! LOL

[biffhenerson]

Loss of respect for Google and others

It makes me feel yucky inside when people and corporations that I look up to tell me that the world is flat. I know better. Why don?t they? All this green crap and global warming crap is... well... crap. How could people be so gullible to believe that the world is flat? Because they are uneducated sheeple not educated people! Just a herd of humans begging to be led by someone... anyone. Fools. "A fool and his money are soon parted" Fools, your paying extra for this green mentality. You filling someone else?s pockets. Just like the snake oil salesmen used to do to a towns unsuspecting citizens. Funny how things stay the same. Flat earth. Snake oil salesmen. Foolish people.

[ddesy]

So sad....

Global warming is well known to the educated and thinking people to be real, and why not try to work against it? We might accomplish something. At the least we might get cleaner air to breathe, and is that a bad thing? Or do you like your smog?

And how does it cost you extra money to waste less energy? If you are going out and buying something like a Prius, sure, you're spending extra. But if you choose to drive something other than a much more expensive gas guzzling SUV, I can't see a problem. People did, and can still do, just fine without them.

Those who will do nothing are the fools, and they ruin it for all those who know better!

[meski.oz]

-0-

Who told you the earth was flat? Google? Where is the connection between this and global warming? It sounds like fallacious argument to me, go read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy - compare it to your post, and come back.

[kakodes_too]

stupid

Stupid

[ddesy]

Okay...

So you've proven you're mature. Now what?