After a recent warning about a pending botnet attack (via Slashdot), I started wondering what good can be done via viruses and worms. There has already been much talk about “white hat” worms that close computer vulnerabilities or warn their owners about security risks. Pretending for the moment that “good worms” don’t do as much harm
as bad ones, I could imagine a benign worm that, for example, set
everyone’s computer power management so that their monitor would shut
off after some period of inactivity. What difference would that make to the
world’s carbon consumption? Here’s an answer from the financial point of view.
It’s
astounding how few people have their power management set to turn off
their monitor after extended inactivity. Not just the environmental but
also the frugal side of me is offended when I walk by empty offices and
see a screensaver (which doesn’t save any electricity!) running.
Microsoft would do a world of good just by making the default Windows
configuration turn off the monitor after a reasonably long period (20
or 30 minutes).
