Can Twitter help you turn your lights off? IBM’s “Master Inventor” Andy Stanford-Clark has rigged up his home to twitter its energy use, and if you follow the tweets you can see in real time when Stanford-Clark has turned his lights and fountain off or on and whether he has an “unusually high electricity use” or has reduced power consumption.
It’s not as weird as it sounds. The Twitter stream is an exercise in using the data from home automation feeds, and the hope is that, by making energy usage data transparent and easy to digest, it will change consumer behavior and reduce energy consumption. The former Flash guys at GreenBox are working on using the same type of info for their energy management software, as are startups Agilewaves, and Lucid Design Group.
So, what’s Andy House doing now? Go look: Its electricity meter reading is 31,400 kWh. It’s strangely addicting.
Well, I still don’t find Twitter addicting. But, saving energy through sensible home design and communications? Every little bit helps.
twit (twt)
tr.v. twit·ted, twit·ting, twits
To taunt, ridicule, or tease, especially for embarrassing mistakes or faults. See Synonyms at ridicule.
n.
1. The act or an instance of twitting.
2. A reproach, gibe, or taunt.
3. Slang A foolishly annoying person.
I’d just like to point out the meaning of the word twit.
Christ, enough of this Twitter crap! Nobody gives a damn except a tiny minority echoing each other in order to feel important about their small and pathetic lives that have no meaning.
Finally, something interesting on Twitter!
Hey I use twitter ( mostly to write a diary to myself ) but this is ridiculous. Although if your using an already built network to try to conserve energy that’s one thing. Have a light switch report to twitter when it’s on and usage, and then have a dummy reader to record times and usage that’s not so bad. I guess akin to the bit about having your plants send a twitter to say HEY water me! But when your just saying Hello world. my lights are on. You need to turn off the lights and get out more.
Doesn’t using Twitter itself use energy ??? So how can this SAVE Energy ??? More Conspicuous Consumption !!!