Turn it Off - Saving Energy When You Leave Work

Over the last couple of years, I've tried to become more energy conscious, both at home and at the office. One of the things that I've made a habit of doing is to turn off my computer and my monitor when I leave work, and hibernate my computer constantly at home.

If you've ever wondered how much energy a little process like this saves, amateur filmmaker Nigel Upchurch has created a video to demonstrate. Turn if Off takes a look at the habits of workers in different countries, and the kind of energy consumption these habits entail. It's actually astounding to consider the effects that all of these computers and their monitors have on the environment.

To see more about how these statistics were put together, or just to see more of his work, visit the video page for Turn it Off. What about you guys? Do you turn your monitor and computer off at home/work when it's not in use?

How to Stream Movies and TV Shows with Netflix

High-speed Internet packages seem to be getting faster and faster every month. Remember back in the day when a 1.0 Mbps connection meant you were some sort of super-geek and had the quickest connection in the neighborhood? Now, 1.0 Mbps is what we recommend for "normal people."

So, what are we using all this speed for? There are endless ways to use your megabits from video-gaming to video-chatting, but for most people the need for speed is based on their desire to stream things quickly.

Back in the day, you had to download almost everything you wanted to watch. Remember the Internet before YouTube when to watch the latest hilarious viral video you had to download a huge .wmv or .mov file? It could take hours for just one cat video, even with a speedy connection. These days though with our super-fast broadband connections, it's all about streaming. We even now have the ability to watch HD movies and TV shows over a streaming connection with no endless buffering and interruptions.

Hollywood Considering Fast-Tracking Movies to On Demand

Are you tired of waiting for months after a movie comes out to watch it at home? According to the Wall Street Journal, Time Warner Cable is working on a solution to just that problem. The cable giant has pitched the major studios the idea of "home theater on demand," which would make new release movies available to watch on demand after just 30 days.

If Time Warner Cable does sign a deal with the studios, expect other television providers to roll out a similar system. The catch? The price point for these movies would be between $20 and $30. But, tickets for a family of four along with snacks and drinks can easily run more than $30, so this could actually be a money saver for some families.

If it pans out, this would be a major shakeup in movie distribution and a real blow for movie theaters. However, with everything moving towards a more open model where consumers can enjoy content when and how they like, this just makes sense and seems almost inevitable.

Will movie theaters ever go away? Not likely, but it does look more likely than ever that you'll soon have the option of staying home to watch new releases.

Netflix Streaming Rentals Coming to Nintendo Wii

Nintendo and Netflix recently announced they have reached an agreement that will allow Netflix members who are also owners of Nintendo’s Wii™ home console to instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix directly to their TVs. Netflix says it is scheduled to go live on the Wii console this spring in the US at no additional cost to Netflix members who have a plan starting at $8.99 a month, a Wii console and a broadband Internet connection.

Wii is the fastest-selling home console in history, and reaches more consumers than any other device that currently supports streaming movies from Netflix. Netflix currently has more than 11.1 million U.S. subscribers and says it plans to continue to expand the ways in which its members can watch movies and TV shows streamed directly to TVs through Netflix-ready devices.

To enable your Wii to stream content from Netflix, you'll need a Netflix instant-streaming disc which will be available at no additional cost to Netflix subscribers. The free disc looks and operates the same as a disc-based Wii game. Netflix members and Wii console owners can now reserve a free instant-streaming disc by going to www.netflix.com/Wii.

Warner Bros. Offers Blu-ray DVD Upgrades

If you are trying to decide whether to upgrade to a Blu-ray player this holiday season, perhaps the opportunity to upgrade movies you already own will help you make the decision to switch! Warner Bros. recently launched DVD2Blu.com, a site that allows you to upgrade the movies you already own on DVD to Blu-Ray Disc. Currently, more than 50 of Warner Home Video's titles are available to upgrade including Body of Lies, A Christmas Story and Michael Clayton.

Movies can be upgraded for $7.95 to $9.95 plus shipping, with free shipping for orders over $25. Just select the titles you want to upgrade, mail in your standard DVDs with pre-paid postage and get the same film on Blu-ray Disc in four-to-five weeks.

Check out DVD2Blu.com to see all the titles currently available.