Take a look at this, the latest in the “UMDs for Dumplings” series, which gives a basic, introductory look at the new category of ultra mobile PCs that are springing up everywhere.

You might have caught the first in the series when I posted it a while back. This time Dumpling was looking for the green take on Ultra Mobile Devices (UMDs) so came along to The Green Lounge for a chat. Here’s the result…

VIA’s just put online, what amounts to almost its entire image collection from the past 5 or so years, with the launch of VIA Gallery. It’s got everything from pics of CPUs and motherboards, to shots from events and conferences, partner products, and even images of logos and product badges. Now that it’s all been compiled and in one place, it’ll be updated regularly so you can keep a visual check on the latest happenings at VIA.

Nanosolar's 140,000 sqft facility in San Jose, California

This is a big moment in the energy supply field. A Silicon Valley start-up called Nanosolar has shipped its first solar panels. The price; US$1 per watt. That’s right - Nanosolar is the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to profitably sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt.

To put this into perspective, here’s an article from a year and a half ago, which talks about a report from Tom Astle at National Bank Financial. Astle says that “if the solar market continues to grow at more than 20 per cent and the benefits from volume continue to be found, it is predicted that the cost of solar module power could drop below $1/Watt within the next 15 to 20 years."

15 to 20 years! With current prices for solar power at around US$3 - $3.50 per watt, what Nanosolar has announced is amazing. Perhaps most importantly (from an environmental standpoint) $1 per watt is the price at which solar energy becomes less expensive than coal.

Here’s a great new idea: help the planet by social networking. Green Thing is a new online community that urges its members to adopt a greener lifestyle. After signing up you will receive a monthly challenge, such as walking instead of driving short distances, turning your lights off early, or buying fewer things that are new, as well as an invitation to engage at a number of different levels.

“Green Thing is a community that's here to help as many people as possible in as many countries as possible to do the Green Thing. A community of Green Things across the world will not only make a sizeable CO2 saving, it will encourage governments and businesses to do the Green Thing too.”

You can learn more about Green Thing on their manifesto page.

Devon IT is the fastest growing provider of thin client terminals and are innovators of the SafeBook thin client notebook form factor – allowing children to take their laptops home with no danger of losing any data.

"Rather than add more staff to support increased technology, schools can take advantage of thin client technologies that reduce the number of hours it takes to support each machine and improve reliability while giving students the same desktop experience." Joe Makoid, President, Devon IT.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, which ran from December 3 to 14 this year, has just finished and looks set to send a clear and unambiguous message to the developed world: reduce your carbon footprint now before it is too late.

The conference culminated in the adoption of the Bali roadmap, which charts the course for a new negotiating process to be concluded by 2009 that will ultimately lead to a post-2012 international agreement on climate change. According to the most stringent scenario outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average surface temperature can still be limited to an increase of two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. Staying within this limit means a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions of at least 50% below the 1990 level by 2050.