Blogroll - July 25

Shannon Emmerson | | Published: July 26, 2007

This week's Blogroll includes:

• Greening Google? Scam or Truth?
• Microsoft's New Vancouver Location
• Miss 604's Blogathon
• Real Estate Bubble Watch

Greening Google? Scam or Truth?

"Google Goes Black/Google Goes Green"
From: Victoria Bound / Interim Ideas by C.I. Bennett

In a recent blog post, Christopher Ian Bennet (like many bloggers) touches on an idea that's currently spreading at viral speed via the Internet and email: namely that Blackle (Google's black version of its search engine) is offering significantly lower energy consumption than its white counterpart.

Excerpt:

“Mark Ontkush wrote an article about the energy saving that would be achieved if Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to his calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved – the amount of energy required to power 75 homes for a year.” Posted July 26, 2007

The interesting thing is that the idea may have already been debunked back in May 2007 by Wall Street Journal blogger Carl Bialik (who writes a blog called The Numbers Guy) in his post, "Does a darkened Google really save electricity?".

Excerpt:

"I looked into the numbers. The federal Energy Star program, which encourages consumers to cut their energy consumption, had someone do a quick test for me and found that modern LCD computer monitors don’t see much benefit from a black screen."Posted May 11, 2007

Microsoft's New Vancouver Location

"Microsoft's Vancouver-area facility in Richmond, B.C."
From Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog by Todd Bishop

OK, so it's not a BC blog per se, but it does report on some significant BC business .... this post from Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog follows up on the recent news that Microsoft was planning to open an office in the Vancouver area by reporting that the new location is in Richmond, BC.

Excerpt:

“Back when Microsoft detailed plans to open a software development center in the Vancouver, B.C., area, it didn't disclose the specific location. Today, Richmond, B.C., announced that it has landed the facility.”
Posted July 26, 2007

Miss 604's Blogathon

"24 Hours Covers my 24 Hours"
From Miss 604 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Established as a fixture

in the Vancouver blogging scene since 2004, Rebecca Bollwitt (also known as Miss 604) is now taking blogging a step further--for charity. This post publicizes Miss 604's participation in an around-the-world Blogathon taking place on Saturday July 28, starting at 6am, and requiring bloggers to post something every 30 minutes for a full 24 hours. Miss 604 is looking for donations, all of which will go to the Surrey Food Bank.

Excerpt:

“Why: For my charity of choice, the Surrey Food Bank. Readers are encouraged to click on my “sponsor” button. This will take you to the Blogathon site where you will need to register so that we can get some totals and stats. From there, we truly hope that you will click through and visit the Surrey Food Bank donations page. I will not be accepting any money, nor will Blogathon, we simply re-route you to the charity so that a donation can be made.”

Real Estate Bubble Watch

"Vancouver housing bubble: Will it burst or deflate?"
From ebizniz's blog

This blog post from Vancouver Home Mortgage touches on "negative forces that could topple the unrealistic real estate markets in Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley of BC, Calgary and Edmonton" -- an item of definite concern to homeowners.

Excerpt:

“With the Bank of Canada raising interest rates and Canadian Banks offering more attractive saving rates to consumers, investors will be tempted to move their real estate investments to safer savings account and GIC investments.”