Keep IT Simple

Sounds like a real big contribution, huh? I have always dreamed of my contribution to the computer world in the form on complex algorithms that can make the lives of IT professionals easier.And since I have not yet come up with that algorithm (Ha, I wished it were that easy coming up with one) there are other ways I can do my contribution in my own little way and I am sure that this will make a tremendous impact not just on myself but on the world in general.

What I am talking about is using computers the efficient to save power and energy. Yes, this is a little way I can do but will save me money on electric bills and save the environmental by cutting on power consumption.

Perhaps you all know that the monitor is the biggest consumer of power among all of the peripherals in the computer. I try to save money by dimming my screen’s brightness when I do not use the computer for graphic or multimedia editing. Most of the time, I use the computer for coding and it does not make any difference in the output whether or not I used bright or dim monitors. This is biggest tip to digital graphic artists: I know you don’t need you computer 100% for graphics so switch brightness modes depending on your current use.

I always make it a point to keep alive only the processes that I need. This way, I can speed up my computer while saying energy. For instance, many programs are loaded automatically at start up that is why even in certain cases like there is no wi-fi or Bluetooth and the computer still keeps on scanning for them. Extra process means extra need for computing resources which means extra power needed. My advice is that you audit constantly what processes you need and invoke them only when needed.

I admit that I am a health buff and that I drink plenty of water which makes me frequently go the bathroom. When I do that, I turn off the monitor to save power. Sreensavers do nothing to save power.

Another thing I do is configure my hard disk to sleep when I do not use it. The constant spinning of disk is not only power hungry but I can cause the disk to easy wear out.

In my room, I have a computer workplace and I lay out all my peripherals in way that can help me save power. All my peripherals that I use less frequently like printers and scanners are plugged separately so that I turn on the power of my computer, the peripherals do not get turned on too.

Yes, there are many other things one can do to save power and all these things be automatically configured in the computer settings. These are little things that when done by many, they can make one big collective impact on the world and individual impact by making one save money.