The Low-Tech Times

I drove to Tennessee last weekend on I-81 and was annoyed at times by drivers operating with cruise control. They set their cruise control and stay in the left lane, often riding alongside 18-wheelers blocking everyone behind them.

Do we really need to add complexity and cost to automobiles in the form of hi-tech automated cruise control? Are people so lazy that they cannot operate a gas pedal?

Aside from my philosophical objections to cruise control, the unnecessary automotive feature wastes gas. With gas prices at $4 per gallon, The Low-Tech Times recommends not using cruise control. When climbing hills, cruise control does the equivalent of mashing down on the accelerator to maintain speed. Drivers would be better off letting their cars slow down on upgrades by not giving it more gas, so long as the engine does not begin to lug. If you have an automatic transmission, practice the art of cresting a hill without the car needing to downshift. This advice applies in situations when there is a passing lane or no one is behind you; otherwise, please do not obstruct the highway with low speeds.

As an aside, I caught myself saying in Tennessee, “Wow, gas for only $3.87!” These are interesting times indeed. I remember fueling up in 1997 for just $0.79 per gallon in Georgia.

Daniel de Vise at The Washington Post reports that Montgomery County (Maryland) Schools may increase the distances that students have to walk to school. The potential change is a result of record high diesel fuel prices:

The Montgomery County school board last night approved a change to its transportation policy that gives officials emergency powers to extend the distances that students walk to school next year if rising diesel prices leave the school system in fiscal distress.

Students typically have bus service if they live more than one mile from an elementary school, 1 1/2 miles from a middle school or two miles from a high school. The board last changed walking distances in 1996, extending the greatest walking distance to high schools from 1 3/4 miles to two miles. Dozens of parents telephoned the school system to protest, and several petitioned the board in person.

Staff at The Low-Tech Times are not enjoying the recent higher fuel costs; however, the Montgomery County move is seen as a positive development. With more pre-teens and teens having to walk to school, this move could not only save the suburban county outside of Washington, D.C. some money, but may also help combat childhood obesity. In this age of video game addictions, children spending more time outdoors is definitely a good thing.

Facebook is a popular social networking site where users create online profiles and interact with other Facebook members. While it is quite popular with some people, many others see the service as a waste of time.

Corey Lorinsky of Silicon Valley Insider reports on a brand research study tracking words associated with various companies. According to the article, Facebook did not fare well in the study:

The experiment, via a site called brandtags.net, is anything but scientific. But it is simple: The site shows a brand’s logo and simply asks you to type the first word that pops into your head.

Here are the top 25 words or phrases on Brand Tags currently associated with Facebook (descriptive words are bolded):

friends, social, college, annoying, people, facebook, fun, boring, kids, lame, community, social networking, myspace, waste of time, addictive, social network, network, networking, stupid, young, useless, crap, internet, stalker, s***

Compare that list with Amazon’s:

books, book, everything, shopping, convenient, easy, buy, cheap, awesome, fast, online, smile, great, shop, amazon, useful, internet, good, online shopping, shipping, amazing, store, reliable, cool, huge

The results are very interesting and seem to support an earlier Low-Tech Times editorial piece entitled Facebook Accounts Are Completely Unnecessary.