I like to be as green as the next person paid to look things up on the internet all day. But occasionally, I can't help a little dose of cynicism invading my otherwise purest of thoughts. Take, for instance, blackle.com - the new 'black Google', which is meant to save energy by using white type on black. It has even employed a trendy East London PR firm to help spread the message.
Inspired a by a blog that suggested a white-on-black Google would save 750 Megawatt-hours a year, Google did the sensible thing and decided to create their own. Only it turns out that no-one is entirely sure if 750 Megawatt-hours really are being saved. Or even what 750 Megawatt-hours are.
Green forums such as TreeHugger were initially behind the move, but increasingly words of caution are beginning to be voiced. Research by the Wall Street Journal suggested that the colour of the monitor actually makes no difference at all to your computer's energy consumption. Oh, and better yet, it's probably bad for your eyes. Anyway, if you're still concerned - and you've got a mac - you get exactly the same effect by pushing ctrl+alt+apple+8...
