Since the Troasts started using the device six months ago, they've decreased their energy use by 15%. Now they're wondering if it will drop even more with the world watching their energy consumption online.

Developers, Want to Make Your Home Tweet?

Although not everyone will want to make their data as public as the Troasts have, we know there are probably a few "do-it-yourselfer" developers who have been waiting for a fun project like this to at least hold them over until Google gets their PowerMeter rolling.

Non-developers, try the Tweet-a-Watt system, instead.

Here's how to create your own real-time TED-tweeting home like the Troasts did:

Materials

• TED (The Energy Detective)
• ASUS WL 500G Deluxe wireless router
• OPEN Wrt operating System
• Google Visualization API

Methodology

1. You'll need a wireless router that has a USB Port and is capable of running an OPEN Wrt operating system. The Troasts went with the ASUS WL 500G Deluxe.
2. Replace the router's existing operating system with the OPEN Wrt operating system (Here's how.)
3. A customized script (customized software) has to then be put into the OPEN Wrt operating system. OK, so this is the hard part, Troast says the developers will post the script online at the EnergyCircle blog in a couple of days if there's interest. So if you're interested, please says so in the comments! Without this key piece of the pie, you're left writing your own script. (And if you do, share!)
4. Plug the TED into the wireless router using TED's USB port.
5. Write the ability to add an annotation to the data into the web site database so that you can annotate the data in the database.
6. Write the data display page using the Google visualization API, which enables you to take the data and annotations and make a chart like the one that you see on the EnergyCircle site. (Specifically, they used the Annotated Time Line feature in Google's visualization API).

Note - How the Data Streaming works:

• The script reads output from the TED every second and records it in a file located on the OPEN Wrt router.
• Each minute, the router posts the output into the Energy Circle Database.

About TED devices:

In addition to determining the value of an email contact, the researchers also found that those who had strong email ties with a manager enjoyed greater financial success than those who kept themselves more distant. In fact, those with strong links to a manager produced an average of $588 of revenue per month over the norm. (So maybe you should start emailing the boss more?)

Another value tied to greater financial success was network reach. A more diverse circle of correspondents - specifically, the number of people reachable in three steps - was also tied to higher performance. 

Some Negative Impacts

However, if there were too many managers involved, the old expression "too many cooks spoil the broth" proved to be true. Projects overly-managed tended to have less success.

As for those who typically emailed the same people over and over, the results were also found to be negative. This is perhaps due to repetitive and redundant information being exchanged, the researchers theorized.

The study also identified a particular type of email user dubbed a "gatekeeper." The gatekeeper was someone who insisted upon personally approving or enabling every request. The researchers determined that this person was a less valuable team member - monetarily that is. In other words, if you're constantly being asked to provide information or access to others, don't be flattered - you're just another node on a colleague's network and one that may very well be a bottleneck to the information flow.

What's better is to have a handful of "superstars" on a project who are well-connected and in the center of the information flow. This actually leads to better performance than if all team members were central to the communication pathways.

Finally, the researchers found that there were a handful of things that seemingly had no impact on performance. These included access to different divisions, access to different geographical locations, and gender distribution.

Conclusion

The results of this study can be extrapolated only so far since the researchers used consultants to determine the monetary value of connections and the success of projects. In other industries and companies, there may be different factors that determine a project's success or failure.

That said, there are still some over-arching truths to be found here - and these truths are relevant to the discussions we're having on the web today. For example, just recently, there was a lot of talk about how much value there was in your Twitter network. The question was raised after Jason Calacanis offered Twitter $250,000 for placement in the "Recommended Users" section of Twitter's site for a period of two years. His contention is that there's a definite value to the number of followers you have on the Twitter social network and he wanted Twitter to sell him those connections for a set price. But was he offering too little or too much? Without more research, it's hard to know.

As our social networks continue to figure more prominently in our interactions, both personal and professional, there's likely going to be more opportunities like this to study the value of those connections. What will a Facebook friend be worth, for example? What about a LinkedIn contact? Can any study ever really tell us for sure? All we do know now is that value doesn't come from the sheer number of connections alone, but in how you leverage those connections, how they're laid out in your network, and how they're interconnected, too.

For more information, you can refer to the slide deck (PPT) that summarizes this study's findings.

How CC:Betty Works

What makes cc:Betty interesting is the simplicity involved in the creation of these online collaborative "mailspaces." CC'ing (short for carbon copying) is a common task for email users, which makes adding this one extra step to your workflow neither time-consuming nor difficult. And beyond adding the cc: information (Betty@ccbetty.com), no additional action is necessary on the user's part in the workspace creation process.

It's the cc:Betty service that does all the heavy lifting on the back end. Using smart technology, "Betty" pulls out the email threads and posts them into a single, tabbed view. Addresses found within the emails are mapped out in Google Maps, dates are placed into a workspace calendar, and attachments like photos, videos, documents, and audio files are also retrieved and given their own tabs within the workspace, as are links. The people involved in the email conversation are listed in their own tab as well.

With cc:Betty, all members are sent an email with a link to the online workspace when you add "Betty" into the cc: field upon replying to an email. The other participants can then click the link and visit the web site without having to create an account at cc:Betty or download any additional software. If they want to participate by viewing the content or downloading files, they can then set up an account and validate their email. However, some people may find the service's auto-responder a bit spammy, so be aware of that. An option to turn that setting off would be a good addition. 

Why You'll Want This

A service like cc:Betty makes the process of creating a collaborative space - such as one for a project you're working on - faster and more efficient than what's possible when using similar tools. Although cc:Betty might not include all the features of a SharePoint site, for example, it's far more efficient. For that reason alone, it could almost become disruptive in the workplace for creating sites around short-term projects. CC:Betty dramatically cuts down on the time it takes to create an online workspace - a process often so time-consuming that workers often don't bother doing so, opting to work out of their email instead.

CC: Betty's CEO and co-founder is Michael Cerda, who also created Jangl, an internet phone company which unfortunately had to close its doors in spring of 2008. 

CC:Betty is open to the public today - you can get started by simply adding Betty@ccbetty.com into the cc: field of an email.