Farecast Opens Up
Farecast now runs to over 55 different cities, and is no longer in private beta. They’ve also added a literal host of new features, including the following liberal trip planner:
You can input a number of cities, and within those five destination cities, your departure city, and a 30-day window, Farecast will find the cheapest place to visit. I can see this being useful for vacationing on the cheap!
Farecast: Know When to Buy
For the cheapest airline fares and hot travel deals, try Farecast, now in private beta.
Imagine, for a moment, that you wanted to travel at the end of July from Seattle to PHX for a weeklong conference. You’d zip over to Farecast, and it would be able to tell you which airline were at their optimal prices at the time, and whether or not the price was likely to significantly change over the next few days. Here’s an example:
As you can see, it issues a recomendation for you to buy, followed by the degree of accuracy of the prediction, and a very pretty looking chart. How do they do it? On their technology page, they say:
We use data-mining algorithms to search for patterns, in the accumulated airfare data, which are associated with significant price changes. These patterns are represented and stored in models, and the models are then rigorously trained. Once created and trained, we use these models to predict the future. Then, new, current airfares can be scored by the model to answer the question, “Is the price going up or down in the future?”
In other words, they probably are training neural networks per route to learn seasonal patterns to pricing data, and then to keep them accurate, using feedback between their simulated passengers and what the next day actually becomes. Very cool, in my opinion. The only thing stopping me from using Farecast for buying airplane tickets now is that it only covers routes from Seattle, WA or Boston, MA. Since I live in neither location, it’s just a pretty toy.
Air Force Exposed
Information about the Air Force One has been leaked onto the web by official military sites:
“It is not a good thing” for that information to be in the public domain, said Lt. Col Bruce Alexander, director of public affairs for the Air Mobility Command’s 89th Airlift Wing, Andrews Air Force Base, which operates the presidential air transport fleet. “We are concerned with how it got there and how we can get it out. This affects operational security.”
Information about Secret Service stations and anti-aircraft missile technology is considered especially sensitive. However, in the interest of public freedom of information, I’ve searched google for information about the VC-25, also known as the “Air Force One.” Here’s what I found:
Exploitable delicate areas of the VC-25:
Titled Aircraft Hazards, this document includes a description of where the Infrared Countermeasures (IRCM) unit is located, the temperature and noise levels of its four engines, where oxygen tanks are located in the plane, entry and exit points, emergency engine shutdown controls, and security placement.
Here are snapshots of the interesting slides, a visual guide to the Air Force One VC-25:
Basic facts about the VC-25:
A special transportation report gives a slide with basic information about the VC-25, such as airspeed, dimensions, range, and other statistical snippets. The photo is reproduced below:
None of this is classified, top secret, etc, but it could definitely be used negatively. For more information, please consider the following resources: