(The following is another combination post -all in one- to minimize how many posts I fill your intray with).
First, the status of evdl's messed up nabble archive: -our evdl sysop says he has sent a message to the nabble people and hopes for an answer back (we will have to wait before the issues get resolved). Meanwhile, I am prepped to step on a plane on 9/9 morning and landing Austin, TX for my week+ relocation reconnoiter trip. Besides rearranging my sleep clock, you will notice my posts have been delayed too. I figure, I have a window of time after my airport check-in, security frisking to mooch some wi-fi while I wait for my flight when I can post the EVLN items. If not it will have to wait until I get to my motel. BTW, EV news items have been sparse (not much is happening. (A personal experience you might find interesting/amusing) At the beginning of the labor-day weekend we had some really freaky-deaky weather: 107F, 105F, + While it is Sept. (a hotter time of the year here), SF never gets beyond 80F. Mark Twain once asserted “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” It because SF is surrounded by the cold Pacific currents that come south from Canada, which in the past acted like natural air-conditioning for the SF area: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-San-Francisco-summers-so-cold Why are San Francisco summers so cold? San Francisco has the coldest mean temperatures for June, July, and August among the top 50 U.S. cities. To oversimplify, it's because the city is right at the mouth of the Golden Gate near cold ocean waters. It does get hotter as you go farther away from SF, but not 107F! So, to try to beat the heat (my place was like a sauna), I thought I would go do some inside mall walking, and kill time in an air conditioned environment with lots of places to sit with free wi-fi ... How could I go wrong? I incorrectly chose Stanford Shopping Center which does not have inside mall walking. Other nearby malls do (Vallco, San Mateo, etc.). So, I was crazy sweating, but getting no where to get cool. While I was there, I did get to experience a few things before I retreated to a nearby air-conditioned library. As I hobbled up to the mall sidewalk using my walker/rollator, I asked for directions to the indoor part of the mall. The man of the couple told me that mall did not have an indoor part like other malls (which when the weather pattern was normal, an indoor part was not needed). Before we parted we had a nice chat. He was a software engineer (nothing new there, since it was Silicon Valley) and she was a medical professional. After I have mentioned my support for plugins, and as I aged my interest in utilizing auton vehicles in my future, he said he was using JavaScript to develop voice recognition apps/programs at Google (possibly for their auto car program). Since most Silicon Valley techies do not stay at one job for more than a couple of years (it looks better on the resume), he mentioned he would be starting in a new job that was a branch/spin-off at Google where his skills would be needed. He pulled out his tablet phone and showed me his under development app, which was a voice recognition tic-tac-toe game https://www.google.com/search?q=voice+control+game+javascript I thought it was very interesting, but could read her body language that it was time for me to end our techie-chat and cut-them free (after all we were standing outside in the blazing 107F shade). I told him I could see me in the future as an even older codger in a Google auton EV taking me and some other seniors to the hospital for our regular appointments. To while away the idle time, I envisioned me tell them that I once met a Google engineer that was developing all this voice control code ... He smiled and then they laughed at the thought. We parted each seeking some heat relief. I knew there should be a Tesla showroom at this upscale mall (this is where the affluent blow some money on things they do not need). The internet showed a Tesla show room where I was, but everyone kept saying it had moved (so much for the internet being up-to-date). I found a high-tech store directory kiosk to use, that was like a giant tablet (looking something like): https://tjgdigitalsigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/interactive-digital-directory-1024x765.jpg The internet shows these hi-tech kiosks are now common out in the public, but I had not seen one before (shows you how little I get out). I remembered a long while ago I had seen a TV episode of NCIS where the east coast tech-geek was enjoying using the touch big-screen computers at the LA NCIS team office https://www.google.com/search?q=la+ncis+using+a+touch+screen So, just like that show's tech-geek, this old walker/rollator man was using both hands to manipulate the screen to find where the Tesla showroom was, and then rotate the display's orientation to get my bearings. It showed I needed to drive to the other side of the huge mall to get close enough to the Tesla store. My body size always attracts attention, especially when it looks like a old-broken down senior is geeking out using the directory better than most people would know how to do (nice to know my tech skills are still working). An early 40's gal came up to me smiling (enjoying what she was seeing), and we chatted about this new-high-tech kiosk (it was new to her too). I showed her how to use it before I left to head back to my car. It turns out she worked for my former employer hp, she was happy to meet a former hp customer-engineer (our job carried prestige within the company as you had to be worth your salt to be an hp CE back then). I finally got to the Tesla showroom, and found out if I could fit in a Tesla EV. They had an X and two S EVs on display. I chose a S because the X was more EV than I would ever need. After working to get the driver's seat all the way back and down, and the steering column up as high as it would go, I was able to lug my big body into the driver's seat. I had less than an inch of head room. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(character) My left leg was resting comfortably on the door, so on long drives, it would not be a sore point. But my right leg at the knee, was hitting the large rectangular infotainment screen. It was a good thing the Tesla-S would have cruise control so I would be able to move my right leg away from hitting the display when on long trips. What I saw looking out through the windshield from the driver's seat looked something like: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/10/20/15/398DF77200000578-0-In_the_video_someone_is_in_the_driver_s_seat_hands_pictured_but_-a-19_1476973741686.jpg After I got out, I was greeted by a Tesla energy advisor (?): https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/280499101 Tesla Energy Advisor Job at SolarCity in Portland, OR, US May 10, 2017 - Description Energy Advisors play a pivotal role in allowing Tesla to achieve our mission. Energy Advisors are an innovative, hybrid retail sales ... He was there for one day out of the Monterey-CA Tesla showroom, and wasn't a Tesla EV rep, but handled the SolarCity part of their operation. So for me, I could make do driving a Telsa-S, but a Soul EV would have a lot more room for my sized body (disclaimer, everyone's body is different, go sit in a Tesla EV yourself and makeup your own mind as to what fits your needs). Days later, after the heat wave cooled down, I was cruising on SF peninsula city streets, when I saw people (handlers) walking their food delivery auton-robot (it looked something like): https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AR-cSTzfrREGaEJGYtLtzC1R3yo=/481x302:1196x838/1400x1050/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/52806881/Lieferroboter_6.1484765397.jpg Stopped at a turn, I saw one handler and his robot on the corner. As I turned, and got eye contact with him, I quickly asked, "Are you out walking your robot?" He said, "Yes, I am". It turns out, there are a couple of companies in the SF area that have paid robot walkers to not only deliver food, but also advertise the robot's abilities. Anyone interested in this type of EV-related job as a robot handler/walker, see: https://www.starship.xyz/robot-handler-redwood-city/ Starship Technologies ... building autonomous robots designed to deliver parcels, groceries, and food in 15-30 minutes within a 2-3 mile radius ... Robot Handler ... qualifications: Accompany the robot on the street to monitor and record its performance Answer questions / introduce the technology to the general public ... Ensure robots safety as it learns to navigate autonomously ... Responsible, reliable and an overall fun person to be around Articulate and comfortable talking to strangers on the street Comfortable appearing in pictures and the media... Able to walk and move around in any weather ... Full-time or part-time, work in flexible shifts 3-9-month employment Work area: SF Peninsula https://www.linkedin.com/company/robby-technologies?trk=job_view_topcard_company_name Robby Technologies ... building a fleet of autonomous mobile robots that deliver things to your doorstep, at low cost and high efficiency. Self-driving cars are almost here. While they are going to shuttle you around town, we believe the next big thing is to shuttle stuff around autonomously as well, from packages to food to everything else you need https://robby.io/jobs Experience in overseeing and monitoring deliveries Possess good hand-eye coordination skills Ability to work flexible hours during on-demand shifts Ability to troubleshoot in real time [dated] http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/07/13/autonomous-robot-delivery-coming-to-the-east-bay/ Robots delivering groceries, take-out ... 2017/07/13 ... http://abc7news.com/technology/delivery-robot-makes-debut-in-san-carlos/1917084/ Starship delivery robot makes debut ... April 25, 2017 ... https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/03/i-am-robot-heres-your-pizza/ I am robot, here's your pizza Mar 5, 2017 This makes me wonder if the same method could be used to advertise EVs? You control your auton EV via your phone app (the robot handlers I saw had a hand-held device for instructing their robots), and walk down a street with your auton-EV along side. With the EV painted to advertise itself, it should attract a lot of attention. For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
