Chu talks zombies and vampires on Facebook

WASHINGTON (AP) - The walking dead have infiltrated the Energy Department.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu shared a picture of himself as a zombie on his Facebook page in an effort to teach users about saving electricity.

"To date, there is no scientific evidence about the existence of zombies, but what about vampires?" Chu asked in a Facebook note.

He went on to warn readers about so called "vampire appliances," such as computers, stereos and DVD players, which use power in standby mode.

Chu said these types of appliances could increase a household's monthly electricity bills by at least 10 percent. To ward off these particular vampires, Chu suggested using power strips, which make it easier to turn off a cluster of unused equipment, and putting computers into sleep mode.

A member of Chu's staff found the zombified photo of Chu on a technology blog and forwarded it to him, said department spokesman Dan Leistikow.

"As a lifelong geek, I've never had such a cool Halloween costume," Chu wrote on Facebook.

He is an active Facebook user with more than 14,500 followers. Recent posts include his thoughts on the film "The Social Network," a question-and-answer session about home energy efficiency and a video tribute to his high school physics teacher.

"He sees Facebook as an extremely valuable tool to speak to people directly," Leistikow said.

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Online:

http://www.facebook.com/stevenchu