Toyota Prius to cruise world’s first ‘smart city’

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc will be the first carmaker to participate in Xcel Energy’s SmartGridCity, the first fully functioning smart grid enabled city in the world.

The SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colorado aims to provide increased grid reliability and energy use information. Participating customers are also able to remotely control their in-home energy management devices.

Toyota will supply 10 Prius plug-in hybrid electric vehicles for an interdisciplinary research project to be conducted at the Boulder Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, a joint venture between the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Colorado.

The research institute, Xcel Energy and Toyota will use the project to gather data on vehicle performance and charging patterns; consumer behaviour and preferences; and interactions between electric utilities and their customers.

The performance of Toyota’s first generation lithium-ion battery on high altitude and cold climate will also be monitored.

“Future customers will have high expectations for these emerging technologies. Demonstration programs like this will ensure that the vehicles we bring to market will not just meet customer expectations, but exceed them,” said Chris Hostetter, vice president of the Toyota Motor Sales group for advanced product strategy and product planning.

The 10 vehicles participating in the project are part of a 150-vehicle demonstration fleet that will arrive in the United States early next year.

The Prius plug-in hybrid vehicle aims to achieve a maximum electric-only range of approximately 12 miles and will be capable of achieving highway speeds in electric-only mode. For longer distances, the vehicle reverts to hybrid mode and operates like a regular Prius.

Xcel Energy is a major electricity and natural gas company with operations in eight western and mid-western states. The Minneapolis-based company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Toyota Motor Sales is the sales, marketing, and distribution arm in the United States of its Japanese parent company, Toyota Motor Corporation.

Google!

The Fuji Updates Part 3

Fujiro was an attention-catcher at the Sunday gathering. He insisted on walking by himself—to the pleasant surprise of the family. Although he pooped twice and wet himself by playing with the running water, he acted like a toddler, playing with the older kids and exploring toys and the grounds. I was glad to have been guiding and carrying Fujiro whenever he wanted to toddle around by himself—it gave the wifey enough time to eat and relax with our nephews and niece. I was a Superdad, but an exhausted one come bedtime.

FUJI Birthday Updates

The invitations that wifey and I made were a great success, the approval and amusement of the recipients were very evident when they first see the top sheet—it was a smart replica of a movie premiere ticket, complete with a blurb, and the venues and godparents’ names as the movie credits. One godparent remarked that he thought the next sheets of the invitations were elegant, not those frou-frou rainbow-colored and cartoon character-decked ones that make the characters cuter than the baby itself.

The Weekenders Part 2

Another non-commercial weekend for the family. It was mostly spent with the Playstation, though, for us boys, to the annoyance of the only girl—Mom. Fujiro liked joining us, too, insisting on holding a controller upside down by himself, and throwing a very successful tantrum when pulled away by Mom again.

Scott is a quick-learner when it comes to video games. I was proud that I only taught him once and he quickly caught up to a small margin to my usual scores.

Yaya had some exercise buying beverages and ice cream at the nearby stores for us.

The Fuji Updates

Last weekend was when we also finished drafting the invitations for Fujiro's birthday/christening. I felt all professional collaborating with the wifey on how we want the invitation to look. We didn't fight once. Hah! Talk about achievement!

Then last Sunday, we stopped by my sister's house after church. She gave Fujiro this apple green walker that can turn into a mini car that a small child can straddle (I'd try it too, but Fujiro is so attached to it I'm afraid he'd hit me if I break it...).

Funny how that kid is starting to show his personality. He'd cry his most pitiful and heart-wrenching cry just because he wanted to have some more water, or whenever he couldn't let go of his walker. But when he had to get his shots, he'd cry because we had to restrain him while the doctor gave him a shot, not because his shot hurt.

Hmmm... sometimes I wonder where he gets all his theatrics from... The dad, or the mom? You, the readers, can vote by commenting on this post!

The Weekenders

Who knew that simply spending hours in the living room and imitating Michael Jackson’s moves gave more quality time than we ever had at a mall? This weekend has made me realize the true meaning of family bonding. We spent nothing (except for some cheap snacks), especially because the car’s battery died, so we had no choice but to stay home and watch DVDs. It was just the four of us plus our yaya, who made things a lot easier for us because she could independently do the kitchen work for my wife who is very deficient in that area.

Going to the mall gives everyone a lot of stress—especially for me, the breadwinner, because it is expected that I pay for everything—oh, and I have to remember to load the bags and the stroller for the baby too. For the mother, who has to get the kids and the househelp ready, keeping in mind the day’s itinerary among the things to bring for the baby, amid yelling for the eldest not to dawdle in dressing up. When we get to the mall, it gets a bit tense with the constant stream of noisy people and the things we have to remember to visit and buy—plus the actual sense of loss when we impulsively purchase something we don’t really need, but still get that gnawing feeling of envy and hunger at the whole world of tempting consumer goods beckoning for us to come and have a closer look. This stress eventually builds up into irritation and arguments that could escalate into bigger fights that consequently destroys everybody’s day…

I’m glad we didn’t go out last weekend.

Wi-Fi

The name of a popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections. The Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization that owns the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) term specifically defines Wi-Fi as any "wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards."

Initially, Wi-Fi was used in place of only the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, however the Wi-Fi Alliance has expanded the generic use of the Wi-Fi term to include any type of network or WLAN product based on any of the 802.11 standards, including 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, and so on, in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability.

Wi-Fi works with no physical wired connection between sender and receiver by using radio frequency (RF) technology, a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space. The cornerstone of any wireless network is an access point (AP). The primary job of an access point is to broadcast a wireless signal that computers can detect and "tune" into. In order to connect to an access point and join a wireless network, computers and devices must be equipped with wireless network adapters (See "How Wireless Networks Work" in the "Did You Know..." section of Webopedia).

Wi-Fi is supported by many applications and devices including video game consoles, home networks, PDAs, mobile phones, major operating systems, and other types of consumer electronics. Any products that are tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. For example, a user with a Wi-Fi Certified product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is also "Wi-Fi Certified". Products that pass this certification are required to carry an identifying seal on their packaging that states "Wi-Fi Certified" and indicates the radio frequency band used (2.5GHz for 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n, and 5GHz for 802.11a).

A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for "wireless fidelity," however this is not the case. Wi-Fi is simply a trademarked term meaning IEEE 802.11x.

Richard fujiro 10 mos.

Last sunday for me was spent with twoey and jiro, hopping from church to church getting certifications for jiro's baptism. There's this rule that id a child is to be baptized at the time he is about a year old, the parents have to get certifications of no record of baptism from three churches within the area. Not one of the employess of the church offices can explain the logic of this rule, just that it's a "diocesan rule. I guess I'll just ask the priest in wednesday at the mandatory seminar.

Arranging events for my son is a bit tiring (especially since he insists on taking off his shoes at the most inconvenient times for us to put it back on him :p) but exciting as well. It feels like I'm taking recharge of his life, being responsible for all the good things that happen and are about to happen to him.

He also knows how to imitate "na, na, na" and "hi" when somebody says it to him. He can say "yaya" and "dadi" but still not "mommy"--to his mom's amusement.HAHAHA!


The DAD

りちゃ