|
|
ArchivesThe Greening of Data CentersBy Amy Quinton on Tuesday, April 22, 2008.You may think telecommuting, online business meetings, or emails may be the more environmentally friendly way to save energy. listen:
  Next Green Thing: Making a Greener Data CenterBy Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, April 22, 2008.
NHPR reporter Amy Quinton is working on a story about efforts to reduce the energy these data centers use, and she talks with Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott about it. listen:
APRIL 22, 2008Today on Word of Mouth we celebrate Earth Day. We’ll look at how computer engineers are trying to make giant data farms more eco-friendly, we’ll look at Polar Bears as the ultimate poster-animal for global warming, and we’ll talk with an environmental filmmaker about her animated short, The Story of Stuff. We’ll also talk with writer Clay Shirky, who explains how new technology is changing the way people organize and mobilize. (Photo by Louise Docker) listen: No audio currently available. Order on CD (pdf).
What Are You Doing To Make the World a Greener Place?By Avishay Artsy on Tuesday, April 22, 2008.
Here Comes EverybodyBy Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, April 22, 2008.
How these networks grow and act is explored by Clay Shirky in his new book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott spoke with Clay about the positive and negative aspects of social networking - how it's been used to organize public demonstrations, influence elections, gather outraged Catholics after the priest sex abuse scandal, report on breaking news, serve as a breeding ground for hate groups, and allow young girls to share tips on eating disorders. Read an excerpt of Here Comes Everybody Watch a video of Clay Shirky's talk at Harvard's Berkman Center listen:
Polar Bears: Branding Global WarmingBy Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, April 22, 2008.
Reporter Nathanael Johnson went on a mission to find out more about the adopted poster-animal for the effects of global warming. He talked to some real live polar bears, a cute-ologist, and a Sierra Club rep about branding strategy. You can listen to Nathanael Johnson's story and post a review of it at the Public Radio Exchange (registration required) (Photo by Oxfam International) listen:
|
Support FromHighlightsNavigationUser login |
Every time you submit a Google search or a Mapquest query, a data center somewhere processes your request. Data centers (or "server farms") are huge rooms filled with rows and rows of whirring machines. These massive computers keep us all connected, and it takes a huge amount of energy to keep them running and to keep them from overheating. 
Happy Earth Day! Our show today looks at efforts to make the world a greener place. NHPR reporter Amy Quinton tells us about the incredible amounts of energy used by data centers, and how engineers are trying to cut down the energy used to run them and keep them from overheating. We take a closer look at polar bears, who've become the poster-children of anti-global warming efforts. And we hear about an animated film that follows where our everyday products come from.
What do you get when you combine the inherently social human being and Internet technology? You get new ways to connect, collaborate and share information, and maybe most notably, the social network phenomenon. And most of these tools were created without designated leaders or the incentive of payment. 
The polar bear has become one of the most captivating symbols of anti-global warming efforts. When Time Magazine published a special report on global warming, editors put a polar bear 