Triplesourced

Only just noticed that ZDNet.co.uk has updated the way it displays video.

This a good thing as it means that I can now embed some of the video I shot while I worked on the site - from 2003 to 2008 - on some of my other blogs.

There is loads of great content on ZD (not just my own obviously) so it's good to delve into the archives and look around.

This a video I shot in Kenya back in 2007 as part of a trip in cooperation with IT charity Computer Aid to see how the technology the charity collects from UK businesses is used by hospitals and schools in the developing world.

This video looks at how Computer Aid works with a fantastic organisation called AMREF which operates a flying doctors service in Africa.

Flying doctors bring computer aid to Africa|ZDNet UK videos

PS: It seems that while the Embed code from the ZDNet player works in my Ning network (www.greenwashIT.co.uk) it doesn't actually work/has been disabled in ZD's own blogs - hence why you are seeing a link rather than the video unit. I could be doing something wrong though.

Yep - in typical fashion, even the government's tacit admission that it was behind the curve on open source was released late.

The press release/statement/apology - Government levels the playing field for open source - wasn't sent out from the Ministry of Truth until at least 7.00pm - when most reporters are tucked up in the nearest hostelry.

And what about that headline - "levels the playing field' - that seems to imply that until now the government has been quite happy with uneven playing field when it comes to procuring anything but proprietary technology but I might be being unfair.

Interestingly though the release also states that "major players in the IT industry now support the use of Open Standards". For major players basically read Microsoft as I am not sure what other major players have recently stumbled over this open source thing: IBM, HP, Dell - have all been supporting Linux (to some degree or other) for years.

Anyway, better late than passed-over-in-favour-of-a -reduced-price-which-quickly-becomes-lock-in, I guess.

The timing is also interesting. Is it down to open source finally reaching critical mass as the government claims ? Or could it be something to do with the fact that the Treasury has given all our money to bankers and can no longer afford to throw cash at whichever proprietary solutions EDS thinks is best for us?

Minister for Digital Engagement (what sort of job title is that??? Does that mean he can marry two computers that are very much in love), Tom Watson clearly thinks that open source can save the government some cash:

"Open Source software is a not a cure-all remedy and is not the only solution to IT questions. However, by levelling the playing field and allowing Open Source to be as competitive as possible we can ensure that taxpayers get maximum value for money from Government IT, something that is more important than ever during the worldwide financial climate"

However he won't actually goes as far as to say its a superior development model or anything that positive at all. The whole statement reads more like "It could save us a few quid and everyone is doing it so shucks I guess we should too"

Anyways the governments approach is based around three ideas - (three - count'em - not one, not two but three! - Fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency)

There are three aspects to the new policy:

Open Source software: the policy includes 10 actions that will actively help make sure the best possible, best value for money software solutions are put forward for tenders, be they Open Source or propriety products.

Open Standards: the policy contains an explicit reference to Open Standards, ensuring systems are inter-operable and avoiding getting locked into a particular product where possible.

Re-use: the Government will look to re-use what it has already bought, with successful solutions being made available across Government.

So there you go - that's that open source thing taken care off. Tune in next week when the government decides that this Interwebby thing might actually be useful.

Ah the pressures of dealing with a communications industry in flux.

Next generation networks, internet bottlenecks, spectrum issues, mobile pricing, digital switchover, just some of the problems awaiting newly appointed Ofcom Chairman Dr Colette Bowe.

Yep - Colette. Showing my ignorance here but didn't occur to me that chairman goes for both sexes. I thought it was a typo on the Government press release - a late Friday mistake but no a quick bit of Googling reveals the following on that fountain of truth - www.thefreedictionary.com.

"USAGE: Chairman can seem inappropriate when applied to a woman, while chairwoman can be offensive. Chair and chairperson can be applied to either a man or a woman; chair is generally preferred to chairperson."

Anyway - whatever she is called Dr Bowe's salary shows little evidence of a glass ceiling (Couldn't track down an exact figure for her predecessor David Currie but he was on £133,000 in 2003 which will certainly have gone up but beyond £200,000? - hard to say)

"The Chairman's remuneration is £200,000 p.a. for up to three days a week"

So that means that some of the time she might not even do a three day week and still get paid £200,000. Nice work if you can get it, industry meltdown and global recession aside obviously.

See more here:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/features/colapp

Given that it's the end of the financial world as we know (and yes I do feel fine - chipper even - put that down to banker-based Schadenfreude), I was expecting to see the number of press releases with "green" in the headline dry up.

It's all about the money baby - well it probably always has been for most "green initiatives" - but given that green also carries the connotation of paying more up front to save in the future (and save the planet possibly), I thought marketeers would be running from the term.

But bless my cotton socks but what should arrive in my in-box but an email from the lovely chaps at D-Link explaining how lovely and cuddly to the environment their new switch is.

Frankly, this may be greenwash but anything that makes the world of switching even vaguely approach the outskirts of interesting has got to be good thing - and the good folks at TechWorld obviously buy it as they gave D-Link an award for the planet-cuddling ways last year.

Along with other green tech makers, D-Link also uses the fact that its products comply with the RoHS and WEEE regulations as evidence of its green credentials - which is just annoying. IT'S THE LAW. Doing something you have to do is not an achievement. The fact their products don't blow up ever day and kill people is great too - but they don't shout about it - why? Cos building products that don't kill people is also the law.

Enough - here's the skinny:

"the second-generation D-Link® 5-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch (DGS-1005D) which provides up to 73% reduced power consumption* without sacrificing network performance."

And furthermore...

D-Link’s Green technology conserves energy by recognising when a port is active or inactive then adjusts its power accordingly, benefiting Home/SOHO users who may not need perpetual use of their computers or the use of all the ports on their switches. It is also capable of altering power usage in relation to the length of its cable, conserving energy use for both the user and the environment without any loss of performance



So there you are. Green it seems is still in - at least in the crazy world of networking hardware.

Not a specifically IT-related missive but given the amount of greenwash sloshing around the tech sector, IT companies should take notice.

Defra has just announced that its recruited a steering group to help update its green claims code:

"The code was devised to assist businesses to advertise their green products and services with confidence and help protect consumers from bogus or inaccurate claims" Defra claims.

Seems the code hasn't been update since 2003 - well before the world went crazy for green. The downturn means much of that buzz has been dampened down, with more focus on economics and cost-cutting that environmental altruism but anything that makes companies think twice before pumping out greenwash can't be bad.

The current steering group includes:

The current members of the steering group include:

Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Association
BERR
BRC
CBI
Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
Chartered Institute of PR (CIPR)
COI
Consumer Focus
DFT
Forum for the Future
Institute for Practitioners in Advertising (IPA)
ISBA (Voice of British Advertisers)
OFT
Sustainable Development commission

Be good to see some environmental campaigners in that list.