gadgets

amazing photography manipulation technique

Jason Coyne — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:30:39 GMT

Check out this amazing video of a new image resizing technique. Rather than just cropping or scaling, this technique determines the least valuable information in a picture and removes it, or adds in data at the elast valuable location allowing you to extend a picture.

You can also mark an area as not valuable and erase people!

I found this link on Little Green Footballs - which brings up the issue of recent fake photography scandals plaguing reuters and the like. But I find the technology amazing, even without its potentially negative ramifi

What is the difference between D mode and B mode on the Toyota Camry Hybrid and Toyota Prius?

Jason Coyne — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:47:00 GMT

A reader Shawn asks :

Hi, My mother just bought a new Camry '07 as well and we both had a question and we cant seem to find an answer anywhere. We were wondering what the differnce is in the gears on the shifter, like what is different about using "D" vs. "B" like what is differnt about them and when should we use them?

The Short Answer : Use the B mode when you are driving downhill for long distances (like down a mountain for more than 30 minutes). The “B“ mode is NOT a lower gear, like you would use for more traction, or towing or something like that. At almost all times you should be in “D“ mode.

The Long Answer :

A normal car has multiple gears, and as you shift (either manually or on automatic) the gears are swapped out, and the gearing ratio changed, to provide efficiency and torque at different speeds.

A CVT (Continually Variable Transmission) has an effective infinite number of gears, and using a complicated system of belts and pulleys will give you any arbitrary gearing ratio.

The Prius and Camry use the “Hybrid Synergy Drive”, which is often considered a CVT, but it really isn't. The Prius and Camry only have one gear. As more power is needed, the gear spins faster. But the gearing ratio never changes. However, Power is split from this gear to either to drive the car, or charge the battery system. The ratio of power to wheels vs battery is dynamic, and so the car acts like a CVT most of the time.

One of the tricks used by the Hybrid drive to get maximum efficiency, is changing the timing on the engine. When you are coasting, The engine is still turning over, even though no (or minimal) gas is being used. The car changes the timing of the air intakes on the pistons. This is done so you aren't pushing around a lot of air, which makes the car more efficient.

The braking system in the hybrid is also different. The hybrids have a smaller, less powerful set of brakes than would be typical for a car of their size and weight. This is because the hybrid uses regenerative braking to charge the battery, which added to the normal brake system provides all the braking you need.

Now that we have the background, the actual answer!

When you are driving down a mountain, you have the brakes on constantly. In the hybrid system, eventually the battery will get full, which means you are using just the normal brake pads. As the brake pads heat up from the friction, eventually you get to a point of brake failure (brake fade), where they cannot absorb any more heat. This can happen in a normal car too, but its easier to do in the hybrid because of the smaller brakes.

So just like the car can be more efficient by changing how the engine works, it can also be LESS efficient. When you go into B mode, it stars opening the air intake valves at the least efficient time. This causes the engine to push around a lot of air, which uses up energy, and helps slow you down, taking work off of the brakes. I believe the system also starts using the electic motor and gas motor at inefficient times, to try and keep a buffer in the battery system to absorb power.

So essentially, you should ignore B mode, unless you are driving down a mountain. It is not used for towing, snow, up hills, or any other time when you would use the low gear in a normal car.

Here is another article that goes into depth on the B mode, and may explain it better than I have http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/b-mode.html

More info on how the Hybrid Synergy Drive works is at Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Synergy_Drive

Samsung Slimfit HDTV Geometry and Power Problems and Service Manual TX-R3079WH

Jason Coyne — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 21:44:00 GMT

PLEASE NOTE : I will NOT email you the service manual. I get several requests per day to send the manual to people. I tried to make the manual available via the link below. If that works for you, great. If it doesn't, I'm sorry.

- The service manual is at the bottom -

Recently I started having problems with my Samsung Slimfit HDTV (TX-R3079WH) that I bought at Best Buy. There have been many complaints about the geometry of the TV that I have read online, but mine had never been particularly bad. All of the sudden, the geometry started getting progressively worse - with the picture bowing out to the side. In 4:3 mode, the picture almost filled the entire screen, and in 16:9 mode, the edge of the picture was significantly off the screen.

To top it off, the TV started turning itself off at seemingly random times. Well, not so random. At the worst possible times actually. Pretty much every time there was a gunshot, or explosion, or loud scream, or anything else exciting and climactic on the screen. After it turned itself off, I would have to wait a few minutes, and then I could turn it back on.

Fortunately I bought the Service Plan from Best Buy. On many items I think the service plans are a big rip-off. But in this case, I definately came out ahead, as the repairs were $300, on an $800 tv, and the plan only cost me $120.

Apparently some models of the slimfit have the incorrect resistors/capacitors/something electric in them. This causes power fluctuations (causing the geometry problem), and eventually as a self-protection method, the TV turns itself off to avoid surges. My mom bought the same TV as I have, so I was worried that she would have the problem too. The tech gave me the serial number pattern of the affected TVs. If your serial number has a Y in the middle, followed by an 8, 9, or A, you are affected. so Y8, Y9, or YA for the pattern deficient out there.

The bad timing of the power-off occured because additional power is needed to show/hear the explosions etc, and that was enough to push it over the edge each time.

The fix only took a few minutes, he popped the back off the TV, yanked some stuff, and soldered something else back in.

After that the TV worked great, but the geometry was not back to perfect. He didnt have the service manual with him, but he said he would email it to me. He did, and I was able to use it to fix the TV. In the interests of helping all the other slimfit owners out there, I will post an HTML version of the manual below. I also have the PDF if you want a copy that way that has the pictures and stuff. Use the manual at your own risk, I wont take the blame if you screw up your TV, and you might void your warranty by doing something in there.

The PDF can be found here : http://google.com/base_media?q=hand-2197576518937845934&size=8

PLEASE NOTE : I will NOT email you the service manual. I get several requests per day to send the manual to people. I tried to make the manual available via the link above. If that works for you, great. If it doesn't, I'm sorry.

Are Hybrids Really Green? - Part III

Jason Coyne — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 23:14:00 GMT

Reader Steve C thinks I missed the point in my previous posts on hybrids being green - Are Hybrids Green (Part I) and Are Hybrids Green (Part II).

While it's undeniable that hybrids use less fossil fuel to operate, the real question is how much extra fossil fuel the manufacturing of a hybrid and its components use?
I'm no scientist, but I continue to read some sources that say that when you consider the additional energy consumed in building battery systems and other high-tech components of a hybrid car (and the potential environmental issues with their proper disposal), hybrids may in fact be (at best) an energy "wash", meaning there is no net saving of anything over the long-run.

I never claimed that Hybrids were a net gain (today)... In my first post I specifically addressed this :

Advances in technology take time, and early generations are always inefficient. It was probably cheaper to own a horse than buy a Model T, 100 years ago. But not many people drive horses to work today. Someone has to be the spearhead, and since it doesn't cost me anything to take that role, I choose that destiny freely.

and again in my second post

In essence, the first generations of a new technology are ALWAYS inefficient, and more expensive than what they replace - but that doesn't mean they aren't worth pursuing. This went hand in hand with the horse argument, but I can think of lots of other examples, most of which have nothing to do with being green. IE The first electric lights probably cost more (and provided worse light) than the oil lamps or gas lights they replaced, but the were still the wave of the future.

I could certainly have been more explicit, but my intent was to refer to both the efficiency in terms of actual dollars, and in terms of energy cost (to which the solar cells example was more relevant). To reiterate - A hybrid is cheaper for me personally, right now (undisputable). I believe the hybrid is probably a wash for society, in terms of energy cost, and monetary cost. But I believe that equation will change in the future. Fiscal costs, and ecological costs will both drop in the future as the technology advances, and economies of scale kick in. Even if there was a net loss ecologically today, I would still argue that hybrids are a “green“ choice, because they are an investment in the future technology. If nobody buys until the future, then the market goes away, the investment is never made, and the more efficient inventions and refinements never come about.

Interestingly, if both of my assumptions on cost are true (its a benefit to me, and a wash to society as a whole), that does mean that somewhere in society, my gain is being subsidized. This is probably directly due to the tax credit, which effectively means US taxpayers are collectively investing in the technology. No different than any other transfer. However, this is not an open ended coercion of investment, the tax credits are being phased out as demand is rising enough, and prices are falling enough, to generate the investment without the subsidy.

Pickens also asked about break even solar cells. I think he is missing my point, which is not that Solar Cells are a viable large scale energy source, but that later generations are of technology are more efficient and cost effective than earlier generations. But to address his question, I did find this independant study : http://www.solarbus.org/documents/pvpayback.pdf One should always take studies with a grain of salt, since methodolgy and phrasing of the initial questions in the study can have a wide effect on the results. I am not a solar expect, and make no claims to the accuracy of the study, but it would place the burden of proof on Pickens to either disprove this study, or provide a counter-study. In any case, I would think Pickens would easliy admin that even if solar cells are not currently break even, their efficiency has improved over time, and will continue to improve over time - which was the real purpose of my example.

Pickens also was specifically talking about Solar Cells in New Jersey. Of course, location will have a tremendous effect on the viability of any green eneregy source. Solar will work best near the equator. Hydro will only work near a river, etc. Petroleum based energy has the same restriction really... having a coal fired power plant where there is no coal wouldn't make sense.

Are Hybrids Really Green? - Part II - Alternative Energy Sources

Jason Coyne — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 00:22:00 GMT

Reader J.Pickens replied to yesteday's post on Are Hybrids Really Green?, with some followup items for debate. I think I shall indulge him!

... the comment that solar cells being "just near the point of breakeven" has been claimed for at least the last thirty years. I'm sorry, but photovoltaic electric power generation just isn't the answer. I personally was a member of a team which produced the first thin film photovoltaic cells able to get greater than 10% energy conversion in large area cells. This was back in the mid '80's, and the cells haven't gotten much better since then. Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics are a bitch. Even if we were able to use 20% efficiency cells, and plaster them over all the available land in the sunny southwest, we still wouldn't produce as much electricity as the current nuclear power plants in the US. In addition, the energy used to produce, mount, and maintain the cells would not reach breakeven for many years, so you'd actually CONSUME all that power BEFORE you got any of it back.
And the "peak oil" comment is laughable. There are many times the amount of hydrocarbon fuels available in the ground in the US than has already been consumed. It is a matter of political will and cost per barrel to get at them.
Now, maybe we can talk about other "Green" pseudoenvironmentalist disasters, like the need for thousands of daily round trips by diesel fueled trucks to remove municipal garbage from population centers like New York City and deliver the refuse to places like Ohio and West Virginia. If this refuse were burned in incinerators to produce electricity, you would offset more in energy use in one day than all the windmill generators in operation in the US produce in one year.

My comment on solar panels was not meant to imply that solar panels would be a good choice for powering cars, or for massive implementation to power the US grid. As you pointed out, the surface area required would be huge. I do however think that solar cells on a small scale basis may be viable, for example reducing (or eliminating depending on where you live) a home's energy bill by using cells on the roof.

The point was that the break even point in terms of energy required to produce a cell, vs the energy generated by that cell over its lifetime has just recently been met. In essence, the first generations of a new technology are ALWAYS inefficient, and more expensive than what they replace - but that doesn't mean they aren't worth pursuing. This went hand in hand with the horse argument, but I can think of lots of other examples, most of which have nothing to do with being green. IE The first electric lights probably cost more (and provided worse light) than the oil lamps or gas lights they replaced, but the were still the wave of the future.

Your peak oil response is somewhat weak I think. Firstly, nobody knows how much oil is really out there. Clearly there is more oil out there, and areas that we haven't tapped yet like the Alaskan preserve, but there is good reason to think that the mideast (and other) supplies are declining, and they have good reason to over-estimate over there. But, for the sake of argument assume there is a significant amount (centuries) of oil out there- you already gave the problem in your own response. Of course it is a matter of will power and cost per barrel. The point is that that cost per barrel might be more expensive than switching to a new source energy (not even counting the enviromental effects of burning petrol). Already we are at the point in terms of traditional oil costs where technologies like oil shale extraction, and conversion from coal to oil are starting to pick up momentum. It doesn't need to go much higher before battery power (with the ultimate source being solar, nuclear, hydrogen, etc) becoming a viable alterative.

As for burning refuse - it is an interesting idea. Certainly there would be savings in terms of transporting the refuse, and you would also get some land reclaimation out of it; in addition to the energy created by the burn - but the enviromental impact might be huge. From a clean perspective burning refuse I would imagine is somewhere on par with burning coal, and even worse perhaps, because you would be burning plastics, dyes, chemicals of all sorts, vaporizing mercury in the air, etc. You could do some sorting to reduce this, but that sorting and seperating (particularly if you tried to break down items into smaller components to get the maximum extraction) would be a logistic nightmare, and significantly reduce the cost effectiveness.

My personal thought, unless some major breakthrough like cold fusion or zero point energy comes around, is that nuclear is the only viable option long term. New generation pebble reactors significantly reduce the danger of nuclear power, and nothing else is scaleable to the level of meeting current world demand long term, plus the additional load caused by adding billions of Chineese and Indians as power consumers. Hydro power is good, but it is only usable in a localized area, solar (at current and near term efficiencies) takes too much surface area, wind also takes a lot of surface area - and may do more ecological damage than good.

update 7/12/06 4:37 pm : CWilliams asked for some detail regarding the ecological impacts of Wind Power. I would suggest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power as a good source. In the “Arguments of Opponents” section, it lists out several problems with wind power. Primarily the ecological impacts of wind power deal with destruction of wildlife habitats due to the area required, and injury (often death) of birds, bats, and other flying animals near the turbines. In Scandanavia, the enviromentalists often protest AGAINST wind power...

update 7/13/06 2:14pm Part III of Are Hybrids Really Green

Are Hybrids Really Green - An Economic analysis of the real cost and benefits of owning a hybrid

Jason Coyne — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 17:32:00 GMT

Reader J. Pickens responded to my Toyota Camry Hybrid review with the following criticism :

Its really too bad that the net energy use by your new hybrid is actually HIGHER than it would be for the non-hybrid version of the Camry. This is due to the extra energy cost of the electric motors, wiring, and, especially, the nickel metal hydride batteries which are not present in the non-hybrid Camry. Add it up, you are getting around an extra 10 to 15mpg for around 150,000 miles of battery lifetime. So, the 25mpg Camry uses 150,000/25 = 6000 gallons of gasoline. The 38mpg Camry uses 150,000/38 = 3950 gallons. The difference is 2050 gallons. At $3 per gallon, that is around $6000. Try pricing out the batteries and motors, they cost far more than $6000. Why is that? Because of the energy cost of building them. Its a fun toy, but don't fool yourself into thinking you are being "Green". You are being a pseudoenvironmentalist dupe, in my opinion.

Pickens raises some common concerns when talking about hybrids, and they are largely valid. Here is my response:

There are two factors to consider, the cost to me, and the cost to society as a whole.

For me, clearly the hybrid is a win. I was going to spend $30k on a car no matter what, so the cost of the car up front is a wash. Granted, I probably would have “more car” for 30k in a non-hybrid, but each driver's personal utility/value from particular features is subjective. Personally, I get a lot of utility out of the gadget factor of a car (or many other things I own). I use fancy gadgety cell phones, gadgety computers, I am a gadget geek, and the hybrid is high on that metric. With a hybrid, your mileage may vary. (ha) So my utility is the same, but my cost is less, I get the fuel savings outlined by Pickens above ($6000 by his estimation), plus I get the tax credits. $2,600 federal, plus $500 Iowa = $3100 in tax savings, for a grand total of $9,100 in savings over the life of the car. I think the gas savings will actually be higher, since as a benefit of switching from the Passat to the Camry, I get to switch from premium gas to regular.

For me (and I think for anyone) a $9000 savings on the life of a car more than gets to the break even point, especially when you take into acount the alternative. People looking at the Hybrid Camry are not going to pick an old beater, or a new Hyundai Accent for $10k. They are going to choose a Passat, or a regular camry, or a lexus, or an SUV, or something else that is also in the $25-30k range, and certainly more than the $20k that the car actually cost ($30k - 9,100 in lifetime savings). (I am of course ignoring costs which both cars would incur like oil changes, which are just a wash).

Clearly on a personal level, this is a win.

Now on to the tougher question, the cost/benefit to society. Here, the answer is murky. For a hybrid car, today, there is probably a cost to society. The tax credits are reducing tax revenue, which will either cause an increase in the defecit, or a reduction in government expenditure (likely the former, but if it was the latter, I might consider that a win, especially if the cuts came from pork (go porkbusters!)). The reduction in fuel use is a benefit, and while my personal reduction is negligable, the aggregate reduction of all hybrid drivers probably does shift the demand curve over a bit. The increased cost of the batteries and electic motors results in a reduction of profit (but I am sure even the hybrid camry is still at least breaking even for them) for Toyota shareholders, but in exchange they are getting a lot of free publicity - I call that a wash since they pay many many millions for that same publicity throughout the year. In reality there might be no loss in profit to Toyota, since if they didn't make the hybrid Camry, I (and others) might well have bought a car from a different manufacturer. This would of course be just a redistribution of profit, and not an actual loss to society as a whole. It could have some interesting defecit impacts though, since I would have prefered to by a domestic over an import, but no equivilent domestic car is offered. Also the emissions of the hybrid are MUCH better than standard cars. EPA estimates the Camry Hybrid to have 80% less emissions than an equivilent non-hybrid.

So for the present time, the total cost or benefit is questionable, my guess it is either break even. But what about tommorow? Solar cells, another green favorite have been around for decades, and they are just now getting to the break even point on energy cost. Advances in technology take time, and early generations are always inefficient. It was probably cheaper to own a horse than buy a Model T, 100 years ago. But not many people drive horses to work today. Someone has to be the spearhead, and since it doesn't cost me anything to take that role, I choose that destiny freely.

Lets face it, the world is facing an energy crisis. Between peak oil, the industrialization of China and India (resulting in massive increases in demand for oil), turmoil in the middle east - both for the effects on oil supply, and on national sovereignty - clearly the US, and the world, are going to have to move away from an oil based economy. Hybrids are a step in that direction. Hybrids plus E85 (from sugar beets rather than corn in my opinion - even though I am from Iowa) are a second step. Full electric or hydrogen cars at some point in the future, maybe powered by a nuclear grid - who knows? But they need to work out the kinks in these systems. Having a car that is driven by an electric motor, regardless of where the electric motor is ultimately powered from, is a fundamental step to the future. We can change from gas to e85, to grid, as an incremental step later. But the first step is today, and for me...

I step into a Toyota Camry Hybrid. YMMV :)

update 7/11/06 9:16 am: I found this large entry talking about hybrid economics. It goes into quite a bit of math to come up with the numbers. It largely agrees with what I stated above, but comes out saying that hybrids are probably not a win (from a purely $ today) They do think that hybrids are the best ecological choice. I think they are ignoring the large effect of the tax credits, as well as comparing everything against an economy car, which I think is a false assumption - people are going to spend roughly the same on their car no matter what, the fuel efficiency is a bonus.

update 7/12/06 3:22 pm: J Pickens replied to this post, so I continued the thread of Are hybrids really green - Alternative Energy Sources

Toyota Camry Hyrbrid Review

Jason Coyne — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 01:06:00 GMT

update 6/11/8:32 am: Reader j.pickens questions the true benefits of a hybrid. Read my response here.

update 6/10/06 2:22 pm: Welcome Instapundit readers! (and others)

update 6/10/06 2:20 pm: I made another roadtrip, this time to Chicago, that revealed some additional insights : In the Chicago freeway system, the DVD navigation does use exit numbers in the audio guidance, but in my local Cedar Rapids area, I just get “stay right“ or “exit right” even though the exit number is displayed on the screen. I do not know why it isn't the same in both cases. Also, Chicago had an additional level of detail in the map, where I could zoom down and see a street level view. This is more than just the 150 foot view that shows street names, it was almost like playing an old atari video game, it was trying to draw the streets from above, including buildings. I do not have this option in Cedar Rapids. Also, regarding the power of the hybrid engine - While I still say I feel the engine ealier I may have over emphasized this effect in my description below; further, the amount of “drag“ seems to be related to the current battery level. With a full battery, I do not feel the drag at all, but when it is low it is more noticable, because all the power needs to come from the combustion engine. Also, some of the difference is due to expectations from years of driving a normal car. I was driving through town yesterday in electric mode, with cruise control set at 40 mph. The car seems slower than it is, because you don't hear any sound, don't have any engine vibration, etc. This leads to a feeling of slowness, which is entirely subjective, since you are actually moving along at 40mph.

update : Made several corrections and clarifications based on feedback.

I picked up my new hybrid Camry on July 2nd, and have driven in for my work commute several times, plus a trip from Iowa City, to Madison, Wisconsin and back (~173 miles each way)

I am going to keep this review pretty empty of quantitative numbers like horsepower, and volts, etc. These numbers are available all over the web, and I won’t provide any value by repeating them here. This review focuses on my experience and thoughts while driving the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

Just to let you know where I am coming from, I upgraded from a 2002 Volkswagen Passat V6 GLX. The Passat is big, nicely appointed, and has lots of power, so I was a bit worried about the transition to the hybrid Camry. Also, I am an aggressive driver, I tend to drive ~80MPH on the freeway, and 40’s on the streets. I notice that I am being less aggressive in the Camry, which might have two reasons. 1) I’m trying to maximize my fuel efficiency, since its very easy to notice in the car, and its one of the reasons for buying the Hybrid Camry, and 2) the Camry does have less power than the Passat, and I am feeling my “push” more. As I said I averaged around 80MPH in the Passat, but would often find my self daydreaming along in the 90s. I doubt that will happen in the Toyota Camry, because I definitely feel the engine earlier.

I had been looking at the hybrids for a while, in particular the Prius, but I needed more size and more luxury than the Prius provided. I put down my deposit for the Camry as soon as they were announced, and have been waiting (not so patiently) ever since.

After several delays (including repairing some cosmetic damage to the car while it was shipped from Japan :( ), I got my car on the 2nd. The hybrid Camry comes with quite a bit standard, that is optional on the non-hybrid Camry, plus quite a few options. However, in reality, there are only two hybrid builds available: the base model, and the loaded model. There are in between models out there, but they are much more rare. This can also vary by region, but if you want something other than base or loaded, be prepared to wait. The loaded model comes with leather, DVD navigation, and a sun/moon roof. I got the loaded model, in Barcelona Red, with tan leather interior.

Hybrid

Most of the features in the Toyota Camry Hybrid are available in some form in the other models of Camry, or in other non-Toyota cars, so quite a bit of this post applies to every new Camry, or even every new Toyota. But the hybrid drive is what makes this car special.

When you start the car (again, by pushing a button, not by turning a key) some lights turn on, but the car remains totally silent. Depending on the engine temperature (which is based on your climate, or how recently you drove the car) the engine may stay off completely; but usually the engine turns on automatically to start warming up the engine when you need its power later. If the engine stays off, you can drive around in electric only (EV-Only) mode, until you run out of battery power, get up to 40MPH, or need additional power. The “power” requirement is pretty low. For the way I drive, the engine turns on pulling out of any stop light, or parking lot, and even going up a modest incline. However, once you get up to speed (while staying below 40) you can engage EV mode by lifting your foot off the gas for a second. Also, going into cruise control will often put the car into EV.

Toyota’s marketing, and the general scuttlebutt claim that the Hybrid Camry (and the Prius and Highlander) are CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). This is not actually true. In a true CVT, you have an effectively infinite number of gears, and you run at whichever one will give you maximum efficiency. For the Hybrid Synergy Drive that the Camry, Prius, and Highlander use, there is actually only one gear, regardless of your speed. For details of how the HSD works, I recommend reading these articles : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Synergy_Drive and http://www.ecrostech.com/prius/original/Understanding/ContinuouslyVariableTransmission.htm

The effect of this engine design is that the engine is always at the same gear, regardless of your speed, but that power can be directed to the battery or the wheels is different ratios depending on current needs. The Hybrid Camry drives like a CVT, in that there are no gear shifts as you apply power.

According to the quantitative reviews, the Hybrid Camry accelerates almost as quickly as the V6 Camry, and faster than the 4 cylinder model. It accelerates fine for my purposes, especially merging into traffic from a parking lot, or getting up to highway speeds, but I do notice some sluggishness accelerating from 40 to 60 MPG. While I don’t feel that I am over-taxing the engine, I can definitely feel the push and hear the engine when getting up to 60-70MPH, but this may also be due to my aggressive driving habits.

Once up to speed, especially when using cruise control, the engine works much less to maintain speed. When accelerating, my fuel efficiency gauge often shows between 10-20 MPG, but then once I am at speed in the 60 MPH, the fuel efficiency will sit at 60MPG. The FE gauge only goes up to 60MPG, so it is possible that my actual efficiency is even higher. I wish it had a digital gauge, or went up to 100 or something so you could have more information. When going up a hill, the Camry will drop down to around 30MPG, but then quickly climb up to 60 when flat or downhill.

In my Passat, my fuel efficiency was consistently around 22-24MPG for my commute (90% highway, at 80MPH). With the Camry I seem to be driving slightly slower (70-75) and my efficiency is 38. According to the efficiency database at http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/toyota-camryhybrid.html some people are consistently getting 40+ MPG, but they may have better driving habits than I. The average is right around 38/39, which matches right up with the EPA estimates. This is unusual, as the EPA usually overestimates mileage by quite a bit.

(update copied from above)

While I still say I feel the engine ealier I may have over emphasized this effect in my description; further, the amount of “drag“ seems to be related to the current battery level. With a full battery, I do not feel the drag at all, but when it is low it is more noticable, because all the power needs to come from the combustion engine. Also, some of the difference is due to expectations from years of driving a normal car. I was driving through town yesterday in electric mode, with cruise control set at 40 mph. The car seems slower than it is, because you don't hear any sound, don't have any engine vibration, etc. This leads to a feeling of slowness, which is entirely subjective, since you are actually moving along at 40mph.

Gadget Factor

The gadget factor of this car is through the roof. Everything starts with the smart key system. You walk out of your house's front door, and put the keys into your pocket. Without unlocking the car (either with a key, or with a remote) just walk up to the car and pull on the door handle. If the key fob is close enough to the car (real close, within a few feet) the door unlocks. By default, this only unlocks the drivers door (or the passenger's door if you are on that side, the key distance is really accurate!) but you can reprogram the car to unlock both sides, or all four doors as well (I have not done this personally, but its what I've read elsewhere) You get into the car, and leave the keys in your pocket. Hit the “start“ button, and the car turns on. At this point, the car is ready to drive, even though the engine may not be on! The dash is very modern, with nice LED backlit readouts and displays. In the location where the tachometer would normally be, there is a Fuel Efficiency gauge that goes from 0 to 60MPG, plus an additional area for electric-only.

I mentioned the key fob, my hybrid Toyota Camry came with two fobs, and no keys! The fob looks just like a normal remote control you might get with any car. There is a very small, hidden key inside the fob, that you can extract. But there are no keyholes on the car doors, or inside the car by the ignition, so I have no idea what they are for. It took about a week to get into the habit of not getting my keys out as I approach my Camry, only to put them back in my pocket when I remembered I don’t need them to start the car. The downside of this feature is that its easy to walk out of the car while leaving it running, since there are no keys to remove, and the engine is often totally silent (off) when you are not in motion. I have been told that there are keyholes in the car in the drivers door, for the trunk, and for the glove box, but I haven't seen them yet.

If you have the navigation option, the multi function display shows lots of information about fuel efficiency, and how the battery, electric motor, engine, and wheels are interacting. Non-navigation models do not have this display. Either way, there is a small LCD screen on the dash that shows some of this information, as well as the odometer, outside temperature, trip computer, etc.

DVD Navigation

The gadget factor continues with the center console of the car, which contains the DVD navigation system, the stereo and CD system, and the climate control area. My previous car did not have built in navigation, but I did have the Garmin Streetpilot III, which at the time of purchase was the top of the line stand alone navigation system. This was the first navigation system widely available that included voice guidance, and turn by turn directions. The Toyota system (actually made by Denso, using NavTech maps) is significantly better than my older Garmin system. The DVD claims total coverage of the continental US, and Canada, with detailed coverage around most population centers. So far, I have not found any areas that did not provide street level coverage, including some very small towns (~5k population) in rural Wisconsin. The maps seem to be fairly up to date, so far I have only come across two roads which were not on the system, both of which are very recent (within the last year) highways which were moved over about 1/2 mile from their original location. On the other hand, my friend just moved into a new subdivision, where his is the only house on the block, and his next door neighbor is a cornfield, and his streets were there. (I kid you not, he lives on the corner of Abbey Road and Penny Lane!). The system is very good at finding routes, it even picked my families secret, shortcut route to our lake house, that we have been passing down from generation to generation, using all back roads - over the very easy 3 turn all highway route that takes quite a bit longer.

One criticism I had of my older navigation system, was the way that it dealt with highway exists. Most often, highway exists are on the right side of the road, even if you eventually end up going to the left (via an under/overpass). My old system would say turn left (the direction of the highway), even when you actually had to turn right (the direction of the exit). The Toyota Camry system handles this correctly , but it still uses “turn right“ or “keep right“ for the exits, when I would prefer (“exit 242 to Highway 380 East“) , which is completely unambiguous, and matches up with the signs that you would be looking at. I would even settle for “exit right“, which makes sense, but “keep right“ is confusing a bit; especially when there is a clear exit, vs. just a lane split.

The voice guidance is very clear, in a nice natural sounding female voice. You can also have the voice guidance in French or Spanish as well. (The French actually sounds more natural than the English to me, but that may be due to my recognizing subtleties of English better). All the menus for the entire car get translated as well.

In addition to voice guidance, the Camry supports voice activation. You push a button on the steering wheel, and then can give commands. Commands apply to all parts of the car (including navigation, phone, stereo, climate, etc). To use the navigation by voice you say “Address“. Then you say each part of the address, punctuated by additional pushes of the wheel button. So for example you do:

Button. “Address“, button, “Wisconsin“, button, “Madison“, button, “Main Street“, button, “one-two-one-two“

The system confirms and repeats each section of the address, and if you mess up a section, you can re-do it. This part of the system is a little flakey, and you have to speak very clearly. The system would continually give me “Sarona“ when I was saying “Verona“, and it took several attempts.

By default the system gives assistance, which makes the process much longer, and requires additional button pushes on the wheel. I turned this off as soon as I figured out how. (Its in the Info->Setup menu)

The navigation screen supports several display modes, including a very useful split screen mode, where each side of the split can display the local map, but at different zoom levels, so you can keep the 2 view on the left, and the 150 foot view on the right. You can do full screen map, as well as split screen with information on the right, such as upcoming exits (along with which restaurants and gas are at that exit). The navigation does not offer a 3d mode. I think the 3d mode is mainly a novelty, but if you like that type of display, you may miss it.

For safety, the system turns off quite a bit of the screen input when the car is in motion. This is true even if there is an additional passenger in the seat that could be doing the data entry. However, the voice activation remains available at all times.

There is an override back door to the system that allows data entry while in motion. I will tell this secret code here, but recommend it only be used by a passenger, and not by the driver. You use this code at your own risk, and neither I, Toyota, and probably not your insurance carrier will be responsible for any accidents you cause while not paying attention in this mode.

To Override : Push the menu button, push the volume icon in the middle the screen, push the volume icon in the top left corner of the screen, push the bottom left corner (with no icon), push the volume icon in the top left corner of the screen (again), push the botton left corner (with no icon) (again). At this point a new menu appears. Some cool stuff here like the GPS satellite data. I would not mess with stuff though, because you might screw up your car. One of the buttons says “override“ push and hold this button for 5 seconds, then release. The button will stay blue. Then push the back button.

At this point, you can use all input functions while in motion. This code can also be used while in motion. You must re-enter the code every time you turn your car on, but it can be done in 6-7 seconds.

Be careful, if you enter the hidden menu, and then something comes on the screen, you can get locked from the screen, have to pull over, and restart the car. This happened to me when I put the radio into “scan“ mode, then went into the menu and could not get out of the menu or stop scanning, until I restarted.

One thing I found that I did not like about the navigation, is that cities and points of interest are split into regions of the country, presumably to make searches go faster. You have to manually choose the region you are searching for (which gets saved) rather than using your current region by default. This is particularly lame if you live on the edge of a region like I do, where Iowa is in one region, but Wisconsin and Illinois are in the next one over, and I have to keep switching my region as I am looking for my destination.

(update copied from above)

In the Chicago freeway system, the DVD navigation does use exit numbers in the audio guidance, but in my local Cedar Rapids area, I just get “stay right“ or “exit right” even though the exit number is displayed on the screen. I do not know why it isn't the same in both cases. Also, Chicago had an additional level of detail in the map, where I could zoom down and see a street level view. This is more than just the 150 foot view that shows street names, it was almost like playing an old atari video game, it was trying to draw the streets from above, including buildings. I do not have this option in Cedar Rapids.

Phone

The Toyota Camry supports Bluetooth integration with your cell phone. I believe this is available even in the base model. I use a rather obscure phone, the HTC Universal (also known as iMate JasJar, or Dopod 9000). The Bluetooth integration works great. You just pair the phone, and then everything else is automatic. You can dial from the car 4 ways: voice dial via number (“eight zero zero, five five five one two one two”) voice dial via name “Mom”, phonebook on the navigation display, or via the keypad on the navigation display. The car supports phone book transfer via vCard, but only some phones support vCard sending, and mine is not one of them, so I can’t tell you how that works. You can also dial from your phone either manually or through a phonebook, and the car automatically picks up the call.

The phone goes through the Camry speaker system, and is very clear to hear, even at high speed. I have the Motorola Bluetooth speakerphone that I used in my Passat, and this is MUCH easier to hear. The microphone pickup seems very good, nobody has complained about me being on a speakerphone or carphone, and they used to do so regularly with the Motorola. I even asked a co-worker if they could tell I was in the car when they called me, and they said no, just sounded like a normal cell phone. I did open up the sunroof once while talking to my mom, and she said it sounded like I got into an accident, so closing windows, sunroof, and perhaps slowing down may be needed to maximize sound quality.

Stereo

The stereo is great, although I am not a huge audiophile, and I don’t have a tricked out audio system in any of my cars. All stereo adjustments are made via the computer display, including adjusting bass/mid/treble, and 4 way balance (left/right/front/back).

The tuner has a dedicated seek knob, dedicated power/volume, and a scan button on the dash, as well as power, volume and seek on the steering wheel. The steering wheel seek only goes between your programmed stations, I would have preferred an option to seek across all channels. The channel display appears in the multi function display (with the nav), and is hidden unless you are changing channels or volume. When displaying the channel, the radio will automatically pick up and display the station call sign, and genre, if the station is transmitting it. (In my area, about 25% of the stations are sending it) This also enables a “genre scan” from the display, which will do a normal station scan, but discard any stations that aren’t from your specified genre.

The Camry includes an in dash CD changer, as well as the DVD player for the Navigation. The Navigation model has a 4 disk changer, the non-nav model has a 6 disk changer. The disk slots are hidden behind the navigation display, which pops out when you press the load button. This is very “James Bond” and produces lots of “oohs and aahs”. You feed disks one at a time into the slot. You can take out and replace the navigation DVD, but if you put in a movie, it will not play. There are rumors of a backdoor that will enable DVD movie playback, but I do not know it, or know if it is real.

Body

The 2007 Camry looks very nice. It has a sportier, much more luxurious look than previous Camrys. Around here, it seems like ever 3rd car I pass is a Corolla or Camry, and the older models look very economy. The new one does not suffer from this at all. My only objection to the body styling is the nose. The nose is a bit blunt for my tastes, somewhat like a snub-nosed revolver, but it seems like this look is in vogue right now, and you may like it more than I do. Pictures are available throughout the web, so I won't post here, unless someone really wants to see my particular car.

Trunk

The other negative for the hybrid Camry body is the trunk. Both the regular car battery and the hybrid battery are in the trunk. This leads to significantly reduced trunk space. The official numbers are 10.6 cubic feet for the hybrid trunk, vs 15 cubic feet for the trunk of the standard Camry. For my trip to Wisconsin, I was able to fit one midsized roller bag, one large duffel, my large camera bag (gym bag sized), and a backpack. There was space for some smaller items (such as a purse or additional backpack) but no more luggage. The roller bag fit widthwise (with the long side of the bag aligned with the rear end (X axis)). It almost fit lengthwise (aligned with the side of the car (Z Axis)) and may have fit with some squishing, but I didn't want to risk messing up the car on the first week. Your bag may fit better, but for a full-sized roller bag, I think you will be stuck with the wide orientation or the back seat. I did notice the trunk is fairly deep (Y Axis) and you can stack more than item on top of each other. The trunk also has a pass-through into the rear seat, but this is largely blocked by the hybrid battery. The actual pass-through is quite small, and would only be useful for some skis or 2x4s or something. Another problem with the pass-through is that it is above the hybrid battery, which is in the lower rear of the trunk. I would be wary of putting any heavy items in that location. The Toyota Prius has the hybrid battery in a more form fitting shape, which does not have as a noticeable impact on carrying space. I hope this gets improved in future versions of the Camry. If your primary concern is carrying things, vs. carrying people, you may be better off with the Prius (or the Highlander, or Escape if you get into SUV territory) One reader said a good idea for cerrying luggage if you are only using the front seats, is to use the fold down seats. Even though you can't use the passthrough for luggage, you can save your cloth/leather by using the back of the seats.

Summary

I am very happy with the new car, but there are a few areas that need some improvement for future models. I hope this review helps you make a decision!

The Future of Television : An open letter to Jack Perry of Titan Cast/DecisionMark, and the Networks, and Local Affiliates

Jason Coyne — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:17:00 GMT

I tried posting this as a comment to Jack's blog, but it was too long and got rejected. So I am posting it here. I can't figure out how to do trackbacks, otherwise I would have done that.

Jack has posted several times about the future of TV, and makes some very interesting points. I encourage you to read his blog and get the other side of this conversation.

Jack :

So, I understand that your business model works a lot better if the locals stick around. I also understand why the affiliates want to stick around. But I don't think consumers really need (or for the most part pay attention to) the locals. And in the future, the networks/producers won't need them.

Even just tivo, which totally ignores the internet for the most part, seperates users from the tv station. I say " I like to watch Lost", and magically, once a week, lost shows up on my tivo. I don't know what station it comes from, I dont know what time is on. I cared a little bit about the time when I only had a single tuner DVR, because I paid attention to conflicts, but when I got dual tuner, I stopped caring about that too.

Every person I know that has a tivo, or any other DVR starts thinking this way too. I pay attention to networks a little, because each network has a feel. If I like one sitcom on NBC, I am more likely to enjoy an additional sitcom from NBC, vs CBS, because they try to get complimentary shows, or have the same staff on them.

Consumers care about the content, not where they are getting it from. Why would I prefer to go to KCRG.com or KGAN.com for a show? CBS and NBC are much easier to remeber, and they have the synergy of national branding and advertising, vs each local having to spread that on their own. iTunes/bittorrent is even easier to remember, and then I get everything at the same time.

And in the long term, I don't see a reason for the networks and producers to keep the locals around. Sure, there is going to be a long (maybe longer than my lifetime) transition period where not everyone has the internet, and the locals are the only way to get to the viewers. But every day that number gets smaller.

Without the locals, the networks and producers can exploit long tail economics. There is only 24 hours in a day, but you can show 100 hours a day of content on the internet. Or 1000, or 10,000. And you don't have to pay the middle man.

Look at the case of Serenity. Fans getting together to buy the next season of the show directly. The effort failed (for now) but even trying would have been unthinkable a year or two ago. But the seed has been planted. In this vein, even the networks are at risk, fans can go straight to the source. That of course is a much longer path, and will always work better for canceled shows than for new shows, because people won't know what to bid/buy (unless the maker is famous)

If the locals want to survive, they will need to find a compelling reason for me to go there IN ITS OWN RIGHT. Currently, the only thing they have going for them is local news.

If the locals want to survive, they need to do something OTHER than try and put legal protectionism around themselves.

Locals are the horse and buggy. You make buggy whips. Right now, I want you both to go away as quickly as possible, because you get in the way of me getting my long tail content. Trying to put legal/contractual/etc restrictions in place will just make the viewers mad, and drive them to illegal means. (And provide huge opportunities for the unknown content providers to fill the gap)

If you want to stick around, you need to convince ME. Not Oprah, not the networks, not the locals. Legal or not, with your cooperation or not, viewers are going to get their content. And get it the way they want. We have to CHOOSE the locals, and right now they don't really give a reason to do so. I dont see many opportunities for you to do so either, but if you find them, I welcome them.

I encourage you to respond to this, make a conversation out of it. I'm willing to be convinced.