Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Idea Half-Lives

There's nothing more frustrating than knowing you had a great idea, and not being able to remember what it was. I hate that. So, I've revived an old practice, the "capture notebook." This is a notebook that I keep with me, that I can jot down ideas soon after they come to me - before too many idea half-lives go by and it is gone.

Aside: Do you know what a half-life is? It comes from radioactive science. Radioactive materials are in the process of self-destructing - that is, the atoms are spewing out particles (hence the radiation). As they do, they essentially transform into a different material. This process of decay progresses at different rates for different materials. The time period necessary for one-half of a given chunk of material to convert from one material to another is called the half-life. So after on half-life, you only have half the radiation, this is halfed again and so on, and so on. After 4 or 5 half-lives, the levels are pretty low.

So it is, I find, with ideas. They are crisp and sharp when I first think one, but over time, usually a few hours, I can no longer remember what my "brilliant" idea was.

Enter the "capture book." Within one or two idea half-lives, I need to record the idea in my capture book - thereby capturing it so I can find it later. For example, this morning as I was driving to work, I had an idea for a topic for a term paper for one of my courses this term (I'm in school). So when I arrived, I jotted down a few quick notes. Now I will remember.

I have often used pieces of paper - but these are too easy to misplace. If you use a notebook, they are all in one place.

My older brother and father both use this technique.
Some people have trained themselves to wake up and jot down dreams. Woo.

Give it a try ... if you can remember to.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

37 mpg in a 94 Corolla.

In these tight economic times, people want to save money wherever they can. I have managed to increase the fuel economy of my car about 5 percent: from about 34-35 mpg to 36-37 mpg. Here's what I've done.

(LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Always drive in a safe manner. Follow local driving laws and driving recommendations from your auto manufacturer. Your results may vary)

(Isn't it sad that we need discalimers? Oh well ...)

1) I increased my tire pressure. I picked a pressure about half-way between the recommended and the max tire pressure on the tire sidewall. This decreases the rolling resistance.

2) I drive 65 mph on the highway (occasionally 60). I realize that 65 is the law, but I just wanted to remind you that increasing your speed creates a huge amount of additional air resistance, and thus sucks the gallons of gas much faster. This is why during the gas shortage of the early 70's, the national speed limit was lowered to 55 - to save gas.

3) I turn off the engine if I am going to be sitting at stop light for more than about 30 sec. A friend in Finland tells me that it is the law over there to do this. This requires a knowledge of the route traveled, as some lights are fairly short, and probably not worth it, while others tend to be on the long side. Usually, unless I see the light turn red, I leave the engine on. TIP: If I'm driving a car with an automatic transmission, I slip it into "Neutral" when it is off. The car will start in either neutral or park, but neutral is closer to "Drive."

4) I skip gears. This doesn't apply to automatic transmissions. I have a manual transmission. The idea is to keep the engine speed as low as possible. I have found that driving around town, by the time I am ready to shift out of 3rd gear, I am pretty much going as fast as I want to be. Then I skip 4th and shift directly into 5th, since I just need to maintain my speed. I'm presently experimenting with skipping 3rd, i.e. shifting from 2nd to 4th and then on to 5th.

5) I coast. When I see a stop up ahead, I drop the car into neutral and coast. (WARNING: Do not do this with an automatic transmission. It is my understanding that it will ruin it. Instead, just take you foot off the gas.) The idea is that you don't continue pressing on the gas only to apply the brakes harder. (This idea save on brakes also.) In general, as soon as I see something up ahead, I coast. WARNING: ALWAYS leave the engine running. You need it for brakes and steering. Coasting with the engine off is illegal and dangerous! There are also a few hills that I can coast on, not so steep that the car is a runaway train, but enough to maintain the speed. You will learn where these places are on your regular commute. I estimate, that on my 15 mile commute, I probably coast between 1 and 2 miles.

There you have it. My hypermiling plan. It's about thinking about what you are doing when you drive: planning ahead; anticipating.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Adventures in Hypermiling

That's Hyper-Mile-ing. Think of it as a real-life video-game sort of thing. Basically, hypermiling is about trying to get the most miles per gallon of gas that you can. It is popular among some Prius owners, who compete to see who can use the least gas.

I've been hypermiling - and I'll share some of my secrets.

But first, and here's where the "idea" thing comes in, I have an idea that would help hypermilers. What if cars had real-time instantaneous miles-per-gallon (mpg) gauges on the dashboard. That way you could alter your driving habits to achieve the best milage.

You can buy gauges that are just vacuum gauges, which really don't tell you how much gas you are using, just how hard you press on the accelerator. A co-worker tells me his Saab can tell him cumulative mpg, but not instantaneous.

Here's how you could make a simple, but reasonably accurate mpg meter. You know from the speedometer how many miles you are traveling and how fast. You know from a tachometer how fast the engine is going (and all cars with computers have an engine speed sensor, even if you don't have a tach inside). Just connect the two together. You'd have to calibrate your engine to find out how much gas you use for a particular engine speed. And I realize that under heavy load, you are using more gas for the same engine speed. But this would be reazonable accurate for the purposes.

Actually, if the car makers built it into the car, they could probbably figure out gas usage from the fuel injectors - how often they fire and how much fuel they use with each injection.

So how about it auto makers?

p.s. Please see my next post for my hypermiling secrets.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Internet Radio and Beyond

In our house, the computer is right next to the stereo. So I bought a cable that plugs into the sound out from the computer and plugs into the stereo. This way, I can listen to any one of thousands of streaming internet radio stations on my stereo. (If you haven't yet discovered streaming radio, check out iTunes - Radio selection - a free download from Apple for both Mac and PC users).

So here's what I was thinking. Why should I need the computer? Why not just have an internet device that plays streaming radio? It could even be wireless (wifi) so you can put it anywhere in the house!

So I started looking around, AND ... Wouldn't you know it. I'm not the first one to have this idea. If you go to Amazon.com and search for "internet radio," you'll find lots of radios to choose from, including alarm clocks and stereo components. Another example that two people can independently have the same great idea. Well, I'm not going to get rich off this idea, but I think I just might buy an internet radio (although I'll have to put wifi in my house - not there yet).

This leads me to another idea. What about internet TV? I know, Netflix has a box - but only for Netflix; and Apple has a box - but only for iTunes (and YouTube); and one of the television companies has a box - but it only works with some of their tvs. How about a box that works with ANY TV, that will browse ANY website with video content (hulu, the networks, etc.).

I think it's coming. I think that 2009 is going to be the year of Internet TV.

But why stop there? What else can we think of. What other internet content would make sense in a simple stand-alone unit?

How about a weather station, that not only tells the inside and outside temperatures, but also downloads the 5-day forecast from the internet, or even a satellite or radar view?

How about a small wall-mounted pda-like device you could put next to the coffee maker or the bathroom sink, that would tell you about any appointments for the day - connected to an online calendar such as Google's.

The point is, instead of an expensive computer that will do everything, you can have inexpensive devices that do only one thing, but can be placed anywhere. (Selling prices for internet radios start at about $100-$200.) And you don't have to boot someone else off the computer just to check the 5-day forcast. This is technology where WE want it. Anytime, anyplace.

Stay tuned.

Mac and Cheese Ramen Noodles

Ramen noodles. The college student's treat. The staple of the thrifty. The ultimate convenience food. So here's another ramen noodl...