Google Turns Out The Lights (Earth Hour)

The Google search page is black today in support of a conservation effort called Earth Hour. On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Will this effort make a difference? Probably not a big difference, but every little step towards energy conservation helps and hopefully this will raise awareness.

You may ask why Google is supporting this effort. Google has a charitable arm called Google.org. Two of the major initiatives of Google.org are related to the better usage of energy. These initiatives are:

• Develop Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal (RE
• Accelerate the Commercialization of Plug-In Vehicles (RechargeIT) :seed innovation, demonstrate technology, inform the debate, and stimulate market demand to foster mass commercialization of plug-in vehicles.

There has been a lot of talk around the world for years about reducing energy usage, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and development of cleaner forms of energy. Precious little progress has been made though. Perhaps with companies such as Google getting behind the effort, more progress will be made. In the mean time, the Pohick family will be turning off the lights tonight in support of Earth Hour. We hope that you do the same! It's our planet. Let's take care of it.

Google Maps Leprechaun Easter Egg

Never say that the creative folks at Google don't have a sense of humor. Or perhaps they have been into the green beer a little early in preparation for Saint Patty's Day. Today, while driving around in Google Maps in Street View Mode, I discovered an unusual addition. There was a little leprechaun close to my search target. You can click on the leprechaun and it shows you additional leprechaun information. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

If you would like to learn how to unlock some of the inner secrets of Google Maps, here are a couple of good resources.