Fuel Efficiency – Constant Throttle / Load versus Cruise Control
So, in case any of you were wondering what was happening with my Twitter posts regarding driving with Cruise Control (constant speed) versus Constant Throttle (variable speed), I thought that I would add some detail.
I’m occasionally a hyper-miler, it entertains me on the road, and when I’m road tripping with family or friends has an added sense of accomplishment and bragging rights. One time I remember most was in driving to Oshkosh, Wisconsin when my dad and I competed to get the best mileage. I beat my dad by a solid mile per gallon, and he beat the cruise control by a mile per gallon (in all cases over extended highway driving, Atlanta to Wisconsin.) To add to my credentials, I drive with a air flow computer in my car that tells me my current throttle %, airflow percentage, and more.
One of the people I was responding to on my twitter post was irritated because the other had just driven a 6 hour + drive, and apparently not been maintaining a constant speed. I thought it might be worth the funny point to point out that driving variable speed can potentially be more efficient.
To effectively drive more efficiently with variable speed you should do the following.
- Only drive within a power range that you can stay in your top gear. If your car is struggling without downshifting, then you are going to slow to get all of the advantage from variable speed.
- Have a maximum position that you are willing to put the throttle. In my car, I like to have this max set at 60%.
- Make sure that you maintain a highway speed
- Predict the open lane so that you aren’t braking (ie throwing gas away.) Particularly, try to be nice, and move to the right before up hills and figure out how to move back left for the downhill.
- Accelerate a lot on downhills, just maintain as much speed as you can on the uphill.
I imagine that the people in question were not driving with a “constant throttle” system and were instead just forgetting how fast they were going and slowing back down, or doing the opposite of what this system is supposed to do and accelerating to pass in an uphill.
This method will accelerate you on downhills (to probably faster than you want to go) and put you in a crawl going on an uphill, which is a decent way to remember that going with gravity is easier than going against it.
My father taught me to drive like there was an egg between my foot and the pedal, meaning that I’m never changing throttle too much or too quickly.
Best of luck driving.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-29
- Landslide! We haven't had movement like this in a while. Thanks WB. #
- @TheMoneyMaven The green tint is to support the #Iranelection protestors in reply to TheMoneyMaven #
- Sad. Rain means no sand volleyball tonight #
- I know it has only been 6 minutes, but I'm kind of disappointed on the open #
- not sure what is wrong with my laptop #
- IBM t23 boots but then flickers and crashes. Eliminated, ram, NIC from suspect lists. Maybe a lose capacitor? #
- apparently the hard drive was shorting out on my laptop. I seem to be stable again. #
- Refusing to sell my $f at 6 #
- An educated adjustment from last month when $f traded into $6.50 and my call had been sold at a strike of $6 @RatioTrader in reply to RatioTrader #
- @RatioTrader Thanks for the critique on my refusal to trade that $f call. Your advice would have just cost me $0.20 on the contract/share. in reply to RatioTrader #
- "Getting 9 women pregnant won't get you a baby in 1 month" Warren Buffet #
- $GE and $IBM look like strong buys according to their bands. #
- RT @orbitz We’re giving away a free airline ticket today! FOLLOW @Orbitz & RT this msg to be eligible to win http://bit.ly/bVSuU #
- Markets are diving oops. #squarespace #
- @ajaimk If I were a billionaire, building my private lake inside my amateur grand prix track. in reply to ajaimk #
- At yankees at braves. Saw arod, damon, and jeter hit. The 80s are over rip mj #
- @dinaforehand in reply to dinaforehand #
- @ajaimk Working on a novel challenge on the weekend is fun, but also great late night. Normal work, not so awesome when you should have fun. in reply to ajaimk #
- The music has yet to start at Marlow's for the beer rating. I'm glad I was just passing by earlier. #
- @sshirokov Marlow's tavern this evening? in reply to sshirokov #
- Cruise control (constant speed) uses 1-2mpg more than Constant Throttle (variable speed) @kerryanderson @dinaforehand in reply to kerryanderson #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-22
- @ajaimk too much muscle soreness from new workout to eat breakfast out. Just need to eat Bananas! #squarespace #
- Pumped about $F ford being out of the money at $5.90 #
- I want my wedding invitation in the far future to be this cool http://metalmother.com/motherboard/index.php/2008/11/married/ #
- Saw a wimax marketing truck. Creative. How does a service within 60 miles compete with nationwide service at the same price? #
- Most people won't see a difference between 1.5mbps 2xg and 3mbps #wimax unless the server is on the atl backbone @NOWatkins #squarespace in reply to NOWatkins #
- people won't see a diff between 1.5mbps 2x- #3g and 3mbps #wimax unless the server is on the local backbone @NOWatkins #squarespace #
- @kerryanderson Wimax is 3x faster than a single 3g connection, but AT&T already gives their access cards a bridged connection. in reply to kerryanderson #
- @BAbnkr Mifi seems pretty cool, not having a tether would be nice. 4G is all data, so VOIP is where the futures of phones are. in reply to BAbnkr #
- @TheMoneyMaven My stop loss orders are going through! in reply to TheMoneyMaven #
- Saw people using porta potties in the bare feet. Ewe #atlfest #
- Day 4 of Atlanta Fest. Casting Crowns tonight. I'll be pepping up the crowd and making sure that they're safe at Stage RIght. #atlfest #
- Atlanta Fest 2009 was a blast. I am still tired even though I only worked from 4-12 today. Casting Crowns and stage right crowd were awesome #
- Looking at futures, the S&P 500 is down to 914 from 946 a week ago. Ouch. #
- Finally, futures are up. Looking $GE, $MSFT, $BHP for exposures this week. Also writing a blog post on the recent exp. day/week downtrends. #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-22
- @ajaimk too much muscle soreness from new workout to eat breakfast out. Just need to eat Bananas! #squarespace #
- Pumped about $F ford being out of the money at $5.90 #
- I want my wedding invitation in the far future to be this cool http://metalmother.com/motherboard/index.php/2008/11/married/ #
- Saw a wimax marketing truck. Creative. How does a service within 60 miles compete with nationwide service at the same price? #
- Most people won't see a difference between 1.5mbps 2xg and 3mbps #wimax unless the server is on the atl backbone @NOWatkins #squarespace in reply to NOWatkins #
- people won't see a diff between 1.5mbps 2x- #3g and 3mbps #wimax unless the server is on the local backbone @NOWatkins #squarespace #
- @kerryanderson Wimax is 3x faster than a single 3g connection, but AT&T already gives their access cards a bridged connection. in reply to kerryanderson #
- @BAbnkr Mifi seems pretty cool, not having a tether would be nice. 4G is all data, so VOIP is where the futures of phones are. in reply to BAbnkr #
- @TheMoneyMaven My stop loss orders are going through! in reply to TheMoneyMaven #
- Saw people using porta potties in the bare feet. Ewe #atlfest #
- Day 4 of Atlanta Fest. Casting Crowns tonight. I'll be pepping up the crowd and making sure that they're safe at Stage RIght. #atlfest #
- Atlanta Fest 2009 was a blast. I am still tired even though I only worked from 4-12 today. Casting Crowns and stage right crowd were awesome #
- Looking at futures, the S&P 500 is down to 914 from 946 a week ago. Ouch. #
- Finally, futures are up. Looking $GE, $MSFT, $BHP for exposures this week. Also writing a blog post on the recent exp. day/week downtrends. #
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The Future of Wireless Internet
Today in Atlanta, http://clearwire.com launched their marketing campaign for their WiMax, Microwave transmitted wireless technology to basically blanket the metropolitan area with Wireless Internet. About two weeks ago, my friend Brian and I had a debate about what the future of wireless is between Wifi and 3g and 4g networks.
3g Logo
3g is probably the technology that you’ve heard about the most as Verizon and AT&T have networks that offer services on this version of mobile standard. Typically 3g networks can achieve about 1mbps down and 300kbps upstream bandwidth, but that’s before we consider the internet applications – typically when you buy a data card from AT&T they will sell you a dual band card now that bridges two connections (and 3 has been mentioned) meaning that you can achieve 1.5mbps down and 500kbps up as long as you’re near a 3g network (most major cities at this point and available 30 miles outside Tuscaloosa, Al where I did a streaming video link to North Carolina using one of these cards.)
Clearwire Wimax Provider
Clearwire is one of the newer Macro technologies that was actually looked at about 5 years ago, long before 3g came out and was having some major success in “last mile” service for people outside DSL and Cable installation coverage areas. Today, clearwire is selling this as a mobile connection similar to 3g, but with greater speed. It’s true, as a technology, WiMax (over microwave networks) has greater speed and line of sight range, at approximately a 3mbps limitation. I’ve never used this service, but in research when I was looking at the technology, it seemed like a great idea for places without services, but less so when there are alternatives. Mobile computing (aka driving) should be really interesting as Microwave receivers tend to have longer switchover timings than say a cellular network — and microwaves technically require some sort of line of sight, more so than RF.
Wandering Wifi
As I mentioned, a good friend and I had a discussion about the future or wireless, especially wifi as we know it today in the future when much more Macro/Mobile technologies will be rampant. As you know, wifi networks are a more local network designed for your business or house use. Wandering wifi sets up wireless networks at commercial stations (like the Chick-Fil-A I visit) so that customers can use wireless as they eat or sit around a restaurant. Wifi (802.11 is a much more micro technology with a range typically considered in < 1000ft but in fact with antennas can go several miles (directionally.)) Economically speaking, I believe that wireless has a long future ahead because every household simply can’t afford to pay $55 a month per computer for internet, and it makes little economic, or branched security sense. In fact, wimax, 3g cards, and your local cable/dsl provider all encourage local area networks for sharing your connection at home. The limitation here will come as 4g comes out, unless magic happens with the limited 2.4ghz spectrum.
My questions on twitter today though involve how WiMax possibly feels like it can compete with 3g networks that have the huge advantage of cellular telephone subscribers to maintain market share and profits as they develop and role out new technologies. And what’s the point of a mobile 3mbps network inside the area where land and 3g connections are numerous and high quality. Of course, maybe in deadlock traffic you could use your laptop, but typically if you’re driving most people are going to use their awesome new data phones. Then if I go out to eat, get coffee, whatever, I think I can live with either local wifi or succumb to the slower speeds of tethering my phone to my laptop (as soon as AT&T allows it.) And in the end of things, I’d much rather have a slow edge backup as I leave to the mountains or country than nothing at all.
Why Speed Does not Matter
Like the power grid, the internet needs some updating badly. All of these companies, ATT, Comcast, Clearwire are supporting connections with increasing speeds, Comcast is up to 16mbps. With this 16mbps connection, which I know is true because if I download Linux from the nearby Georgia Tech or Virtual Box from Sun I get over 10mbps (3MB/S) but with most things that I download (the Linux Kernel even) I see only about 600KB/s on my download… or 1.8mbps. Sure that is definitely over the capabilities of a single 3g stream, but barely significantly. Besides, for streaming video, networks only need about 800kbps if they use a respectable codec like H264, Xvid, or the new HTML/5 OGG. When was the last time that you complained about downloading something at 100KB/S?
By the way Clearwire plans on pricing their metropolitan based network above comcast prices right near AT&T dual band 3g prices They do have a bundling option for home based phone service. I guess if you hate AT&T / Comcast because of their political issues (Net Neutrality / Warrant-less wiretapping) this gives you a good way to fight back.
By the way, as you’ve heard Dan Hesse say on the T.V. commercials, Sprint is working on 4g in America which as a possible potential of 1gbps stationary, and 100mbps mobile… Blowing all of these current technologies out of the water.
Now I’m hungry for that microwaved chicken sandwich.
Stephen.
Stephen Reid has a minor in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has worked with both wired and wireless network broadcasts (single cast and multi-cast) for applications involving streaming media and high throughput data, including on the University Internet 2.0 network. Stephen has also considered commercial applications for neighborhood wireless access points including using directional antennas to increase gain in the wireless reception.
Oracle / Sun Merger Price and Open Source Question
Earlier last week, an alumnus from the Georgia Tech Student Foundation asked what my thought were on the Oracle proposed deal to buy Sun, the company. Earlier we had seen IBM being looked at as the possible acquirer, but similar to the Microsoft and Yahoo deal, IBM decided not to go for the acquisition. . Oracle offered to pay $9.50/share from trading $6.69, the previous business day. Here are a few things to consider.
- The Merger
The Effect on Open Source
Sun currently owns numberous open source projects:
- MySQL (a database software that is a low cost, less implementation of Oracle Databases)
- Virtualbox (Virtual Machine engine for Linux)
- Java (was to be open sourced, now we will see)
- Open Office and Sun Office
Oracle has traditionally been more commercial in their interests (part of the reason they can acquire a company) so the question is how will Oracle treat these open projects, will they let them branch off, close them and cut support, or will they continue to open the software like IBM tends to do and offer services in line with them? Will oracle move toward a more open model with consulting as their business model?
Pricing
The 42% premium that Oracle Offered Sun seems like a great pricing that will limit opposition to the takeover that could hurt both companies. Apparently, Sun seemed appropriately valued and has some growth opportunities for Oracle. Their horizontal players in the software market don’t hurt competitive advantage against the likes of Microsoft SQL either.
Of course, now that the general stock market is going up (particularly the Nasdaq), perhaps Oracle is getting a steal!
Netbooks :: All That You Need
Posted by admin in Computers, Environmental on June 15th, 2009
EEEPC 10" Laptop
This is one of those simple allowance lessons that our parents taught us (what you want versus what you need) but also in reality much more useful than that because very few of us realize just how little computing power we actually need. This topic is inspired by a reddit post Am I the only one that is sick of seeing some company’s new “cheap linux notebook”. I don’t use Linux because it’s cheap, I use it because it’s powerful and I want a powerful notebook to go with it. regarding Linux referred to as a cheap solution when compared to Windows when in actuality, most of the same tasks are accomplished.
In fairness, Microsoft is pointing out that an operating system (design of the system) does not matter nearly as much as the cost and physical features of a laptop, which is my Microsoft laptop of choice is a netbook, because I have a realistic evaluation of my computing needs. See the Microsoft laptop commercial here. Microsoft Laptop Commercial on Youtube
So this should have you all thinking by now, what exactly do I use my computer for? Granted there are exceptions for those people who game, encode video all day with intense effects (and intense image editing), but for the most part, I think that most people use the following when using a computer:
- Browse the internet
- IM/Chat (optional Video)
- Office (Documents, Spreadsheets, Accounting)
- Some audio / video to watch/hear news and entertainment
Now, I have news for you, older computers, computers more than 5 years old, should be able to do any of the things that I listed and I can prove it. My p3 732mhz (sometimes I speed it up to 1.13ghz or allow ondemand) can do all of those activities with hardly a hiccup… the most caused by Adobe’s Flash that manages to use up all of the processing power it can get on my laptop and my desktop.
Here are the things that I want in a laptop… and those that I love most about my rugged IBM T23
- Long battery life (I get 2 hours out of a 6 year old computer)
- Easy to work on in the dark (I have an LED that lights the keyboard)
- Lightweight
- Ability to run Web/Email/IM/(Apache and MySQL for Dev Work)/audio/video
- A Pointer style mouse (touch pads annoy the daylights out of me)
See, not too complex, and it does everything, with only a little bit of processor/video lag when multi-tasking!
To beat my chest with GNU/Linux, I run Ubuntu on my machine with 512mb of ram. Ubuntu’s repositories allow me to install and have programs running much more quickly and with fewer problems than other college of computing students and so I could often run things more quickly or more accurately that somebody with more than 4x the processing power and ram. The other reason this is possible is because I enjoy the fun of compiling things like ffmpeg and my linux kernel, which, by the way, boots in as little as 32 seconds.
I think that having a more energy efficient processor like a multi-core or atom would be awesome, because it would exted my battery life and make switching between programs slightly faster, but in terms of what I need, I’d really hate giving up my pointer mouse for that little advantage.
On that note, go buy yourself a netbook (with Windows or Linux) (though Windows will succumb to bloatware) because it will do everything that you need, fit in the palm of your hand, and have a long 8 hour battery life. And you’re really not trading much unless you’re doing genetic processing.
Of course, if you consider what you need and use less, it will be more environmental too!
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-15
- @venchaman our boat broke an exhaust bellows (i/o) and has a squirt from a water intake line. in reply to venchaman #
- Volunteered for GT SGA today to get course critique back up for freshmen. http://www.sga.gatech.edu #
- @kerryanderson @GTpeach — why buy books when the Fulton county library system has such a complete collection? in reply to kerryanderson #
- @GTPeach Spicey chicken isn’t healthy. High Sodium => High Blood Pressure. in reply to GTPeach #
- $NVDA is above my desired price range! #
- Linux is first operating system to support USB 3.0. Bandwidth of 5GBPS http://tinyurl.com/kpnl9w #
- Yeah, I’m willing to spam for a chance at an iphone #squarespace #
- Tuesday for “work” I attend trading seminars @tradeking #
- Dear facebook, stop trying to copy twitter (username to direct feeds) #squarespace #
- I just saw somebody stealing a moped @ state and 16th. A atl station patrol then stopped him. #atlcrime #
- installing linux 2.6.30 #squarespace #
- $ldk LDK Solar up 20% today #
- Linux-2.6.30 still compiling #
- Linux 2.6.30 shaved 9 seconds off of my boot time. From 49 secs to 40. I wonder if #squarespace runs 2.6.30 yet #
- @sshirokov can you imagine we have 26 more days of #squarespace stuff! It is getting stale. I’ve started just putting it in my normal tweets in reply to sshirokov #
- Those thunderstorms finally hit. Chilling at home until it calms @kerryanderson #squarespace #
- I have my new phone — I can text message again. Not sure how long I will keep it though it is awfully big #squarespace #
- Need to go hit the gym so that I am in security shape for Thursday. Working Atlanta Fest at 6 flags. #
- Was thinking about making line graphs for the web and so started looking more into SVG graphics. IE8 really needs to get in the game. #
- Watching a chick-flick movie that I’d be embarrassed to tell you about #
- Puegot won the 24hrs of lemans #
- @kerryanderson @gtpeach @dinaforehand Not sure that I have. in reply to kerryanderson #
- @ajaimk, so I think I’m going to try to go to SOB breakfast tomorrow. Want to give me a wakeup call? #
- @GTPeach 1) it only happens when you didn’t realize you needed to 2) the only public showers I can think of are beach, pool, gym, camp in reply to GTPeach #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-08
- @GTPeach So, um, I was one week off with the whole movies things in reply to GTPeach #
- @kerryanderson @GTPeach there actually aren’t any movies this week. in reply to kerryanderson #
- I broke the screen on my cell phone
# - @bperdue but luckily most servers implement server side caching to reduce how much dynamic scripting and db access is actually needed. in reply to bperdue #
- Atteneded Trade Smarter with Tradeking Seminar understanding the Vix Part 2. it was pretty awesome @Tradeking #
- The stock market isn’t sure which way it wants to move. -1.8% #
- @GTPeach why aren’t you going tomorrow? in reply to GTPeach #
- 101 ways to make the world a better place. http://bit.ly/ROTO9 #
- @venchaman Comcast realized that they were giving basic cable users (and just internet) extended — but also to compress to fit more hd. in reply to venchaman #
- up $1.20 a share since yesterday’s purchase #
- @kerryanderson re: car Glad you’re alright, similar thing almost happened to me.. sometimes I feel like I want a new car, sometimes not. in reply to kerryanderson #
- @venchaman I’m not sure, but I think that the key part is the mpeg2 decompression in the box. in reply to venchaman #
- Cool site with atl events http://atlanta.metromix.com/calendar/home #
- fly futures fly! #
- @ajaimk I just threw away a pcmcia 28.8kbps modem… and about 5 dozen floppy disks. in reply to ajaimk #
- @kerryanderson @gtpeach Screen on the Green was Dreamgirls last week (oops). But field of dreams is this week. #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-01
- @kerryanderson Be careful what you wish for. Hotlanta is hot and humid… the pending thunderstorms add to that humidity. in reply to kerryanderson #
- @kerryanderson The sun is coming out for midtown. in reply to kerryanderson #
- hmm, $345 or $225, how much to print today? #
- @ardell Tweetscrub, have you trademarked that yet? in reply to ardell #
- Good shoes make all the difference in how far I can run. #aisics #
- is anybody going to screen on the green in atlanta tonight? #screenonthegreenatl #
- My first couchsurfing hosting experience went well. http://couchsurfing.com #
- going to Jimmy John’s and Piedmont Park to enjoy the day #
- Back to work, but thinking about Draft on Taft #
- More than a little surprised that stock market futures are up. #
- @GTPeach @kerryanderson Thurs: I want to go see screen on the green. in reply to GTPeach #
- @GTPeach Screen on the green starts @ dark. Besides, the Friday braves games have fireworks in reply to GTPeach #
- @GTPeach Wednesday Flick on 5th is Quantum of Solace, Thursday Screen on the Green is Field of Dreams… The best stuff in life is free. in reply to GTPeach #
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