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While booking a flight today, the “best available” fare offered by the American Airlines web site was higher when booking for two passengers rather than one. It appeared that there was only one seat available at the lower fare, so the site bumped both seats up to the next highest price. Nice.

In this case the difference was about $100, so it was worth it to book separately so that at least one of the tickets was at the lower price. So, it would seem that it pays to compare the single passenger price to the multiple passenger price before booking.

Until I saw this:

Pizza Fork and Cutter

Slice and eat with the same utensil! This time-saver cuts through pizza crust, forking up bites and delivering them right to your mouth! Great for pancakes and waffles too. Stainless steel; dishwasher safe. 8 1/2″L x 2″W.

While this might be a time saver, nothing beats the “fold hold” for speedy pizza consumption.

via news.com

PC World lets you know about 20 things they don’t want you to know. The article lets you in on some mostly well known secrets but there are a few interesting bits here and there.

Two of the most useful tips have to do with a technology device we all know quite well, the telephone:

• You Can Call Amazon, EBay, and Other Web Businesses: Amazon and Ebay actually have phone numbers! Amazon: (800) 201-7575 EBay: (800) 322-9266
• You Can Get a Human on the Phone: No one really likes interacting with machinery over the phone. Find-A-Human lists shortcuts that will get a person on the line quickly.

Beware of the Faster Shipping Isn’t Always Faster tip. I’ve been burned by that one before. If you need it in two days it is safer to pay for the expedited shipping.

via slashdot

I just ran across the East Bay Bicycle Coalition’s Hazard Report Database (via Urban Review St. Louis). The database contains hazards to cycling as reported by cyclists and allows advocates to track hazards in their area.

It doesn’t look like such a database exists in New York. Too bad. This information would be an good addition to the crash maps at Transportation Alternatives. Of course, a database would only be useful if people are willing to enter information. I wonder if there is any interest in NYC?

Be sure to check out the Hall of Shame.

In the aftermath of disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, web sites pop up to aid people in tracking down family and friends that they have not been able to locate. These sites are a valuable resource for those trying trying to ascertain the well-being of loved-ones when the communications networks we depend on are ravaged. Unfortunately, the number of sites that are created to provide this service can become cumbersome and frustrating for the people they are designed to help. At the time of writing, Yahoo lists 28 survivor registries. It is unlikely that someone could list themselves in all of the available registries. At the same time, those searching the registries for names could easily miss searching in one or more of the registries.

Dan Gillmor points to an effort to solve this problem: PeopleFinder. Rather than creating another stand alone database, they are creating a database to aggregate information from the other sources. This isn’t an easy task since the data resides in many different locations from Craig’s List to the Weather Channel. Volunteers have been working all weekend to manually enter data into the database while technical volunteers have been working to enable the the search engine.

This is a great example of how people can work together to quickly solve a problem. If you are interested, you can volunteer your time as well. All sorts of skills are needed, the place to start is on the volunteer page. If you are technically inclined, you may wish to jump straight into the technical page.

Dan Gillmor ponders whether recent gasoline price increases are price gouging or the marketplace:

There’s also a lot of talk about price gouging. One of the people talking this way is California’s attorney general, who’s investigating.

Well, there’s another way to describe this behavior. It’s called charging what the market will bear.

And it’s the one thing that — despite any scheming that may be going on in the energy industry — will prevent us from seeing long gas lines in the next several weeks and months.

This is basic supply and demand. The latter is high. The former is constrained.

Although there is probably some gouging going on, especially in the hurricane ravaged areas of the south, I tend to agree with Dan on this in that additional state regulation is probably not the best answer. For the most part, this is a natural market reaction and we should probably let the market seek its own price. The recent price increases are likely to subside as the distribution infrastructure around the Gulf is repaired. However, lower prices will be a temporary situation, in the long term prices will continue to increase.

Unfortunately, higher fuel prices are going to affect many people adversely who are deeply dependent on fuel that they simply can no longer afford. Doing without is not an option for most in this country since driving several miles to just about anything is the norm. In the short term, those who can’t afford the price increases will probably plunge deeper into consumer debt as they finance their fuel consumption with high interest funds from credit cards. As this happens, people will become more and more infuriated and begin to look for someone to blame and/or somewhere to point the finger.

Regardless of where the finger is pointed now or in the future, I think it is time for ALL of us to consider ways we can conserve energy and reduce waste in any way we can. Whether we drive a car regularly or not, we are all dependent on oil and other non-renewable energy sources in one way or another. So, we are all in this together. Even the smallest of personal actions can have a big impact when we all act together.

Here are some ideas for conserving energy in no particular order. Some can be done in the short term, but their impact will really be felt in the longer term, especially if more people start thinking about these things:

• If you own a car, try to find alternatives to driving when you can. Walking or riding a bicycle are both viable (and enjoyable) alternatives in many cases. If you must drive, try to car pool and drive efficiently.
• If you are driving a gas guzzler, think about trading down to something more fuel efficient. If you are in the market for a new vehicle, look for fuel efficiency. If you want to be somewhat radical: Will a motorcycle fit your needs? Even more radical: Can you ditch your car altogether, maybe you can relocate to somewhere where you don’t need a car. If you only need a car once in a while, think about something like zipcar or Flexcar.
• See if you can purchase Green Power for your home or office.
• Take taxis only when you need to, get there under your own power or with public transit if you can.
• Turn things off (lights, computers, radios, televisions) when you are not using them and adjust your thermostat. more at ConEd
• When purchasing new electrical devices, look for the Energy Star label.

What are some of the things you do to conserve energy?

As of September 1st, one can obtain free credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies at AnnualCreditReport.com. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act), anyone in the U.S. can obtain a free credit report every twelve months.

I checked this out earlier this week and was pretty happy with the whole process. I thought that I would have to fill out some information and wait for reports to arrive in the mail weeks later. However, I was pleasantly surprised when my credit reports where displayed immediately online. More on how it works after the jump…
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