Entries Tagged 'Technology' ↓

I used to think that Amazon was just another dot-com company. Then after seeing them survive the burst, I thought they were lucky. No a days I think they are pretty visionary.

I’ve ranted about A9 before, I use their associates program, hell, I even use their Tip Jar system. Suffice it to say I think Amazon is pretty cool. Now they have introduced this Mechanical Turk website.

My first thought was that the idea was interesting, but why call it artificial intelligence? There’s nothing artificial about it. Maybe from all of the data that get some PhD candidate to build a corpus of an expert system of some type, but that seems a way off. What’s the big deal with that?

Well, that question was answered for me today after reading this article. The author points out that with a system like mturk, Amazon has harnessed its existing user base in a way that can generate a ton of business for them. This puts them light years ahead of their competition. And the way that Amazon pays attention to it web services, it shows that they want developers to get into this technology because it is going to be here to stay.

I think that if Microsoft spends all of its time worrying about Google they are going to get blindsided by Amazon. Amazon is leveraging the web in a way I never thought would be possible. They haven’t just built a brand, they’ve built an army.

In my post yesterday I gave two ways to increase your gas mileage in your car right now. It turns out that you can affect your mileage by the way you drive. Below are today’s two tips for the road.

1. Don’t slam on the brakes, coat to a stop if you can.

Think about it, if you are coming up on a stop sign, why would you keep pressing the gas until you had to stop? Not only are you burning gas you don’t need to (why would you accelerate to get to a place you need to stop?), but you are also wearing out your brakes faster. Plus, I’m convinced there is a connection between slamming the brakes and slamming the gas.

1. Don’t be afraid to go the speed limit. Slow and steady wins the race.

This one is hard to do, but it is very true. Don’t go 80mph just because you can, try to stick to the speed limit. Most cars are setup to run efficiently at a certain speed, which is probably somewhere between 55 and 65 mph. But no matter what speed you drive at, try to keep your speed constant, that’s where a big fuel savings comes from. Every time you have to speed up you are burning more gas. Plus by driving at the speed limit, you are more likely to be going the same speed as the people around you (which hopefully would help in the event of an accident).

I hope you are finding these tips useful. If you have any you’d like to contribute, please feel free to put them in the comments below.

I bought a Honda Civic Hybrid this year, partly because I’ve always been fascinated with fuel economy. I’ve been keeping a notebook in my car to track my mileage (yes, I am a dork like that) for my last two cars and I’ve noticed something. You don’t have to drive a hybrid car to get good gas mileage.

The reason I say this is because people seem to think that just because you drive a gas-electric hybrid that is advertised to get 48mpg you automatically get 48mpg. This is not the case. Your driving habits will get you to that 48mpg, not the car by itself. The first 2 months I had my car I was getting in the low 40’s. Then I discovered two tips that increased the milage to 45 mpg. By watching other drivers in traffic I’ve learned that its not what we drive necessarily (but still, please don’t drive a big SUV unless you really have a need to), but how we drive.

Here are two important tips to getting better mileage:

1. Don’t slam on the gas.

When you are at a stop light and it turns green, there is no need to floor it. All you are doing is burning gas. Use a slow steady acceleration to get up to speed. Plus if you are in the city, more than likely you are going to need to stop again soon, so why are you racing to get to the next light?

1. Keep your tires properly inflated.

Doing this increased my car’s fuel efficiency from the low 40’s to the mid 40’s. It turns out most people don’t have their tires inflated to the car manufacturer’s specs. Having your tires at the right pressure helps the car run better by not only increasing your milage, but also allowing you to grip the road better (for cornering, etc.)

I hope you find these tips useful, I’ve got a few more that I’ll be posting over the next few days, so check back soon! Also, if you have some tips, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.