Save Energy with Blackle?
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
A website, dubbed "Blackle" is currently generating a lot of Internet discussion. Blackle features a Google search box on a black background with light text. The site is intended to allow environmentally conscious Internet users to save a little electricity while they surf. The concept is based on findings that suggest that some computer monitors use more energy to display a white or light coloured screen than they do to display a black or dark coloured screen.
The idea certainly has merit, but it should be noted that the energy savings are significantly less for those using LCD monitors as opposed to CRT monitors. In a Wall Street Journal blog post, Carl Bialik discusses the possible energy savings in depth. In reality, the energy savings are likely to be fairly small.
That said, even small savings can accrue and, over time, make a significant contribution. And as Blackle's About page notes, even just using Blackle may serve as a repeated reminder of the importance of saving as much energy as possible. Performing a search in Blackle might help to bring environmental issues to the fore and prompt us to take simple energy saving steps such as switching off unused computer monitors, lights and other appliances.
Click the image to visit Blackle:
posted by Brett Christensen @ 5:53 PM,
13 Comments:
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At August 4, 2007 10:43 PM,
man said...
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same, but I actually prefer using Darkoogle.com since they uses green text which is much more easy for my eye.
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At August 7, 2007 5:49 PM,
Brett Christensen said...
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Thanks for that! I hadn't come across Darkoogle before Yes, it is a lot easier to read, for sure. Green on black looks pretty cool, in fact.
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At August 12, 2007 5:46 PM,
Henry said...
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Didn't know there was Darkoogle.
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At September 3, 2007 2:08 PM,
Jason said...
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Since it is is common knowledge that black pages in general don't do anything productive, I would suggest www.regrowgle.com as an alternative.
I know it's not the answer to everything, but unlike blackle etc who are making money from uneducated searchers, regrowgle re-invests any profit back into environmental schemes in a bid to try and offset a small part of your web use. -
At September 7, 2007 5:41 PM,
Gasper said...
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blackle is a hoax, it saves a minimal amount of energy on CRT display, and NO energy on LCDs. And is also bad for your eyes, because light-on-dark is harder to read.
Don't buy everything wrapped in the energy-saving hype, please. -
At September 7, 2007 5:42 PM,
Gasper said...
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a must read for every naïve searcher:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-black-new-green.html -
At September 12, 2007 4:15 AM,
Indian Movies said...
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Yes, there are several things going on with blackle, but people tend to forget that there is more need of user interactivity then the stupid blackle itself.
Now the age is of VIDEOS users are not going to shift from google to blackle just like that. There is a site named http://www.yaarii.com that gives the option to search videos as well as as the regular web search. I think I would bookmark this site , because it gives the option to see any video in the same page without moving your ass! -
At January 4, 2008 12:32 AM,
Iñigo said...
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I'm using at the moment www.blackoogle.us, which is similar to blackle but offers a lot more functionality like image search, youtube search, mail access, etc. And looks nicer too, give it a try!
usa:
www.blackoogle.us
uk:
www.blackoogle.co.uk -
At January 8, 2008 10:22 AM,
esla said...
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The save is real in CRT monitors.
I prefer to use:
www.blackoogle.us
similar to blackle but offers a lot more functionalies.
bye
;) -
At January 20, 2008 3:29 AM,
rajit said...
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I had heard of blackle.com (the eco friendly version of google), but now they have launched blackle games i dunno if any energy is saved, but atleast it doesnt hurt the eye, lol
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At February 27, 2008 4:38 PM,
Jason said...
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I've seen a few pages around which claim to help the environment in many ways, the main being - using a black screen energy consumption is reduced and therefore your "foot print" is reduced.
Personally I feel the savings are minimal and we need to take an additional more proactive approach. using http://www.regrowgle.com as a search portal does this. Any profits generated through searches on this site are actually reinvested into "green" projects such as forest regeneration. So in basic terms you are making positive changes to our world as you search. And the best this is - it costs you as a user - NOTHING!!
If for nothing else, at least give it a try and get your friends to have a go as well. There's nothing to loose, and a whole lot to gain. -
At August 16, 2008 2:25 AM,
Artstudio Sri Lanka said...
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There are around 22 different versions of “black google” online. The best one I’ve found is www.cleanblack.com. Cleanblack is the only version that allows you to change the text colors of the google search results. Try it yourself by going to www.cleanblack.com/theme/
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At September 15, 2008 4:05 PM,
A D said...
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Considering that blackle works only on CRT it might be a waste when it comes to our new tech of Plasmas and LCD's using liquid display.... But Energy is only 1 part of the concern, there is also the myth of the internet bandwidth being limited.
( http://news.cnet.com/2100-1034_3-6237715.html ) and various articles covered in the past few months have all been focused around how Ineternet usage and bandwidth would be 50 times more than today and the content created then would jam the internet space.
Typically utilization of bandwidth and usage is directly proportional to the no.,quality & results of QUERIES that a user inputs from the moment he logs on. These queries can be as simple as searching, or as intense as uploading. At the end of it, its all about minimizing the no. of queries.
We are trying to research the potential ways of minimizing these queries by pre-defining most searched "keywords" & "categories". By not entering any search query, or typing for searches you would be skipping multiple steps and help in saving energy and bandwidth.
If we all try and add to this pre-defined list of searches, we can help save far more energy, bandwidth and money.
Help us all move towards the green technology.
http://www.lazii.com
(currently in beta stage)
