Forget red, yellow and blue, it’s the green vote that will make or break the 2010 election

So says British energy saving specialist, Energenie, who claims that voters are tired of half-hearted promises and spin when it comes to green policies. Research conducted by the company found that 50 percent of people intended to vote for a party specifically because of its green policies, leading Energenie to conclude that the election could hinge on whether politicians play the green card with conviction.

“The message to politicians couldn’t be simpler, don’t just talk green, be green,” warned Alan J. Tadd, md at Energenie.

Although some politicians may not be living up to their ‘green’ credentials, a number of businesses are. Construction and housing company, Willmott Dixon, said this week that it has issued 1,300 ‘ecobuttons’ to clients, and is planning a further 2,500 for its own staff nationally. Supplied by Greenfield Print and Promotion, ecobuttons are power-saving devices that plug into PCs and, when clicked, reduce electricity consumption when the machine is not in active use.

Savings resulting from the use of each ecobutton have been calculated at over £25 and 85kg of carbon per annum.

Web-based managed services provider, Akamai Technologies, has also announced a new sustainability drive, focused on enhancing the carbon efficiency of its global delivery network of 61,000 servers. This will be achieved (in part) by improving the efficiency of the hardware and code employed. Last year, a similar initiative by Akamai saw an 86 million-pound reduction in CO₂.

“Moving forward, and in collaboration with our customers, we plan to use the information we collect to identify and implement additional best practices,” said Paul Sagan, president and ceo, Akamai.

Cable wins political broadband challenge

In rather more dubious election/technology ‘news’, broadband comparison service Top10.com released the results of its challenge to find the senior politician with the fastest broadband in their constituency.

The somewhat aptly-named Vince Cable of the Lib Dems topped the charts, with constituents in Cable’s Twickenham receiving broadband speeds averaging 9.38Mbps. This was over two megabits faster than the 7.03Mbps enjoyed by residents in Alistair Darling’s constituency of Edinburgh South West, which came second. With 6.05Mbps, North Southwark & Bermondsey, the constituency of Simon Hughes, Shadow energy spokesman (Lib Dems) came third. The national average for broadband, according to Top10.com’s speed test, is 5.25Mbps.

And in what could prove to be a somewhat self-fulfilling prophecy, Nick Clegg pushed Gordon Brown into third place in the ‘broadband battle’ of the party leaders. Clegg’s constituency’s speeds (4.90Mbps) were 1Mbps ahead of those of Gordon Brown (3.91Mbps), but behind those of David Cameron (5.91Mbps).

Spooky or what?

End of the floppy, but beware digital black hole

With audio cassettes, video tape and vinyl already largely consigned to history, the 3.5-inch floppy disk has become the latest victim of technology’s unremitting evolution. eWeek reports that Sony will cease production of floppy disks by March 2011. Sony first launched the 3.5-inch floppy in 1981.

One technology attempting a comeback is that of the Polaroid camera. Three years after the last Polaroid camera was made, Polaroid Corporation launched the Polaroid 300 this week.

Although it bears some resemblance to older models, it has undergone a major face-lift overseen by Lady Gaga, who was appointed creative director in a bid to ensure the camera’s retro chic [just like Lady Gaga’s?] appeals to a younger generation.

The Polaroid 300 comes with an automatic flash and four scene settings, but uses self-developing film – just as its iconic predecessors did. Polaroid Corporation was co-founded in 1937 with the first instant camera launched in 1947. It became so successful that by the 1960s about half of all US households owned a Polaroid camera.

News of the Polaroid’s return will no doubt be met with enthusiasm by one scientist, who has spelt out the dangers of digitalisation.

Jerome P. McDonough, assistant professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, warns of a looming ‘digital dark age’ originating from the mass of data spawned by the ever-growing information economy – at last count, 369 exabytes worth of data, including electronic records, tax files, email, music and photos. An exabyte is 1 quintillion bytes; a quintillion is the number 1 followed by 18 zeroes.

McDonough’s concern is that, with ever-shifting platforms and file formats, much of the data produced could eventually fall into a ‘black hole of inaccessibility’. For example, whilst the framed [Polaroid?] photograph will inevitably fade and yellow over time, the digital photo file may be unreadable to future computers – an unintended consequence of the rapidly digitising world that may ultimately lead to a ‘digital dark age’.

“If we can’t keep today’s information alive for future generations, we will lose a lot of our culture,” ” McDonough warned. “If we want information to survive, we really need to avoid formats that depend on a particular media type.”

Er, just one more thing…

Ash cloud sparks adultery spree 

Ash from the recent Icelandic volcanic eruption may have grounded planes and brought whole airports to a stand-still, but it doesn’t seem to have stopped thousands of Brits embarking on extra-marital affairs.

IllicitEncounters.com, the ‘dating site for married people’ [yes, you read that right] reports an unexpected surge in members and non-members logging in from mobiles. The site suggests the increase can be attributed to the thousands of Brits stuck here and abroad.

On average, IllicitEncounters.com receives around 7 percent of its traffic from mobile devices; on Friday 16 April, this figure had risen to 15%. Over the weekend, the site received over 8,500 visits from mobile devices; traditionally, this figure would have been around 2,900.

“Boredom and frustration mean that those stuck in airports across the world will be looking for the most stimulating, exciting thing they can get away with on their mobile,” said Adam Scott, ceo, IllicitEncounters.com. “And what’s more exciting than the idea of having an illicit affair?”

I would not like to hazard a guess, but I suspect there are certain premier league footballers that may have an answer.