Conquer 2010 with Green Tech

As the new year approaches, you may be formulating resolutions such as "save money," "be more eco-friendly" and "work off the five pounds of holiday cookies I ate." Luckily for you, we've done a little research and believe we've got you covered on all fronts.

You can start saving money and baby pandas right away (maybe not baby pandas specifically, but if you believe in the butterfly effect, it's not totally implausible) with these tips from PC World:

1) Take your battery out of your laptop when using outlet power-- batteries continue to consume electricity even when completely charged. Most notebooks can run on AC power without a battery; if yours falls in this category, you can save on electricity while prolonging your battery life (continuous charging reduces both longevity and overall charge-holding ability).

2) Reload old PCs and donate them to schools, senior centers, etc. instead of trashing them. Or, if your workstation or laptop is truly too ancient to perform even basic functions, recycle it. Some cities have electronics recycling facilities, and an increasing number of major retailers (such as Best Buy and Staples) also offer free or low-cost recycling programs for a variety of technology products, including phones, chargers, cameras, TVs, and ink cartridges. If hard drives are not accepted, or you are concerned about data security, you can still dispose of these in a safe and eco-friendly way by taking them to an industrial recycling company for destruction--locally, we recommend Chicago Shred Authority, which will shred and recycle old hard drives for a small fee.

3) Opt for online bill payment- save trees, postage, and gas by eliminating the middle (mail) man.

4) Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones--this ends up being much cheaper than continuously buying new batteries, and also reduces waste (just make sure not to over-charge them--see tip #1 above).

And about those cookies--some quick comparison shopping showed the Nintendo Wii (of Wii Fit fame) to be about $100 to $150 cheaper (retail price $200) than the Xbox 360 ($350) and Playstation 3 ($300 - $350). Even better, according to the National Resources Defense Council,the Wii not only helps you burn calories, it also uses just 16 watts of power while in active mode, compared to Xbox 360's 119 and PlayStation 3's 150.

We hope these tips will help you keep your resolutions on track in 2010, but in the meantime, pass the cookies!

Happy holidays from SkyView, Technology, Inc. !

Green Gifts for Techies

While a new Prius may not be in your gift-giving budget this holiday season, CNET's Eco-chic tech gift giving guide does offer a few more reasonable options for the eco-concious techies in your life. Check out the slideshow to see their top picks for green-friendly monitors, mobile phones, and a "fuel efficiency advisor."

Sustainability Software

As businesses seek to reduce costs, meet compliance regulations, and build positive public relations, many are turning to the tech industry for sustainability management tools.

Although the larget segment in the "green software market" focuses on carbon emissions reporting, other applications address areas including pollution, materials consumption, and energy usage. Users of "green" software apps range from entry level product designers to high level corporate managers (and everywhere in between).

Learn more about both the promise and controversy surrounding these technologies here.

Green Product News

German chemical company BASF announced this week that it plans to introduce biodegradable plastic, beginning in the first quarter of 2010. The material will be used for coating paper (think glossy paper cups) and manufacturing shrink film for product packaging, and is made from biodegradable polyester and materials from corn starch. Read more here.

In the computer industry, "green" is also a watchword, with many hardware and software companies researching or already offering more energy-efficient products, such as Netgear's "green routers & gateways" and "green smart & managed switches." Recently, Samsung and Microsoft started a partership to promote their products' reduced energy efficient consumption, touting that Samsung's 40mm DDR3 memory and Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system will offer an "increase in performance, while using less power." The Green IT technology iniative was announced November 2nd.

Green Data Center

With technology consuming an ever-increasing share of energy, we were excited to read about the expansion of a "100% green" data center. Green House Data, a managed hosting and colocation facility based in Cheyenne, WY, recently opened an office in Denver, CO, to further expand its national client base. The 10,000 sq. ft. facility is powered entirely by wind generated renewable power, through a combination of company-owned wind turbines and wind energy purchased from the local power utility. Services include managed and dedicated servers, application hosting, email hosting, and database administration.

SkyView Technology, Inc. Special Offers

In case you're in the market for an as-needed IT services provider, we wanted to let you know we've got some special promotions going on for new clients. The full details are in the image below, but here's a quick summary:

Free Toshiba Netbook Computer with First 10 Hours Labor

OR

2 Free Hours Labor with First 5 Hours Labor

For more info or to schedule service, give us a call at 773.561.4502!

(Click on image to enlarge in a new window)

Can Green Jobs Replace Lost Manufacturing Jobs?

Seven Midwest governors believe so, to the extent that they adopted several jobs and infrastructure agreements focusing on worker training in a variety of green technologies. As the region continues to hemorrhage manufacturing jobs, these states are eager to replace them with employment in the expanding field of renewable energy.

For more details, take a look at the article "Midwest governors bank on green jobs."