It seems simple. Click around your power management panel, configure the options to your liking and marvel as your screen blackens and drives stop when you step away from your PC for more than a few minutes.

Unfortunately, lots of people still haven't gotten the message. The problem is worse in places with tons of networked PCs (in the absence of specialized management software, of course).

Oxford is having none of this. They're establishing an advanced power management software project. GreenerComputing has the details:

The school is pioneering an energy saving research project to develop software that is free and easy to download, which will make networked computers more energy-efficient and reduce carbon emissions by saving on electricity needs. The project, underway at Oxford's Environmental Change Institute (ECI), will start with an 18-month pilot project on the Oxford campus, and eventually spread to include educational institutions across the U.K.

The University hopes to cut the power requirements of its own computers by 50 percent. We'll be definitely keeping an eye on this...