Connected cars and infotainment systems

You stay connected and stay informed with Infotainment systems

We are seeing enormous changes in the infotainment systems by the many vendors catering to the auto lovers. All most all auto vendors have some kind of infotainment system.

Which is better?

Probably the answer will change from year to year and from every any kind of model changes.

These are some of the recent infotainment systems line up and listed by the consumerreports.org in the order of their likeability.

Not included in the listing follows the Jaguar model that has the latest infotainment system which you will find in the conclusion of this posting taken directly from the Jaguar site.

The Standout
Fiat-Chrysler Uconnect 8.4: 70 percent very satisfied

Very Good Systems
Hyundai Blue Link: 63 percent very satisfied
BMW iDrive: 60 percent very satisfied
GM (Chevrolet, Buick, GMC) MyLink/IntelliLink: 57 percent very satisfied
Kia Uvo: 57 percent very satisfied
Audi MMI: 57 percent very satisfied
Lexus Remote Touch: 56 percent very satisfied

Average Systems
Nissan NissanConnect: 54 percent very satisfied
Infiniti Infiniti Connection: 54 percent very satisfied
Volvo Sensus Connect: 52 percent very satisfied
Mercedes-Benz Comand: 51 percent very satisfied
Subaru Starlink: 50 percent very satisfied
Ford MyFord/MyLincoln Touch: 49 percent very satisfied
Mazda Mazda Connect: 49 percent very satisfied
Honda HondaLink/AcuraLink: 49 percent very satisfied

Back to the Drawing Board
Toyota Entune: 44 percent very satisfied
Cadillac Cue: 40 percent very satisfied




This is what Jaguar is pitching:
THE NEW JAGUAR XE: OFFERING ADVANCED CONNECTIVITY
- All-new Jaguar InControl® infotainment system with 8-inch touchscreen*
- InControl Remote™ enables smartphone control of functions such as door unlocking and engine start
- InControl Apps™ allows users to access Apple and Android smartphone apps through the vehicle touchscreen*
- Optional Wi-Fi connectivity for multiple devices
- Optional laser Heads-Up Display combines sharper images with compact, weight-saving design**

Voice recognition:

Voice recognition will always be a problem unless voice-training is carried out even when the user is not aware. Just a few lines of reading some text will not ensure voice-recognition even 60% of the times. Both Cortana and Siri have failed to recognize voice. AI needs lot more turbo-charging before voice recognition becomes a reality.

Decrypt email passwords

We saw in the previous post and here how to encrypt using the EncryptByPassPhrase() function.

We will use the same encrypted text and decrypt it using the same PassPhrase used to create it.

We use the reverse function DecryptByPassPhrase() which takes two arguments, the first is the PassPhrase and the second is the encrypted value (cyphertext). The PassPhrase generates the key for decryption.

MSSS2017\ENCRPTPSWD_04.pn

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Encrypted email passwords in SQL Server

You could keep your email addresses and passwords in SQL Server database table. You could get a free copy of your SQL Server from a Microsoft download site.

While the email addresses can be kept un-encrypted, you may want to keep your passwords in an encrypted column of a table. If want to keep everything encrypted you can do it also.

With this table set up correctly you may need to remember just one phrase which can be of your choosing.

Here are steps to create such a table:

1. Create a table in one of your existing databases. I am creating this table in a database called 'Aloha' which I use for teaching.

Here is the statement to create the table:

USE Aloha
Go
Create Table Encrpt(
emailID int Primary Key not null,
emailAdd nvarchar(25) null,
emailPswd varbinary(250) null
)

This creates the table ENCRPT.

The email password (emailPswd) is stored in a special column(varbinary data type) as shown above.

Now keep a list of emails and the passwords ready to populate the table.

Populate the table you created by inserting values using the following code:

INSERT INTO ENCRPT(emailID, EmailAdd, emailPswd)
values (1, 'hodentek@live.com', EncryptByPassPhrase('Happy birthday to you','xyzpo')),
(2, 'mysorian@gmail.com',EncryptByPassPhrase('Happy birthday to you ','ZZZ12$' )),
(3, 'htek@mysorian.com',EncryptByPassPhrase('Happy birthday to you','$$$11X' ))

I have inserted only three values but you could add more. While the email addresses shown are my real addresses, the passwords are not.

Now when you run a SELECT statement to display all the columns, this is what you see.

Here is a screen shot of all code:

I have used the same PassPhrase for all data, you could have different on, the onus of remembering phrases is on you.

The fourth row was filled using a different PassPhrase ('Happy Anniversary).

Read more here:

https://hodentekmsss.blogspot.com/2017/08/encrypting-email-password-in-sql-server.html

SQL Server and two-digit cutoff

Remember the millenium bug fiasco. It happenned in Year 2000.
This is what chronicled in Wikipedia:

"The Year 2000 problem is also known as the Y2K problem, the Millennium bug, the Y2K bug, or Y2K. Problems resulted because people, including programmers, reduced the four-digit year to two digits. This made the year 2000 indistinguishable from 1900"

Now we have a better interpretation for people using two digit years as far as SQL Server is concerned.

The default time span for SQL Server is 1950-2049.

Two-digit year 49 is 2049, but two digit year 50 is back to 1950.

Probably you will start seeing it in your credit cards (may be?)

You may configure it in SQL Server 2017 using,

Exec Sp_Configure 'two digit year cutoff', 2038

In SQL Server 2012 Express it is enabled by default:

Read more here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/configure-windows/configure-the-two-digit-year-cutoff-server-configuration-option

2018 Toyota C-HR looks cool!

It looked beautiful and it had my choice of color too. You can get not only
single tone but also two-tone exterior colors. Price does not look too bad. Actually autos are cheaper now than a couple of years ago.

This one is from Toyota,
"With its beautifully sculptured crossover design, responsive and engaging hybrid drive, the all-new Toyota C-HR offers complete harmony in active lives. Forget the continual stop-start, it’s time to find your city’s perfect flow at the wheel of the new Toyota C-HR…
"
These are quoted price from Toyota:
First $22,500 starting MSRP 1
as shown $24,3501
27/31
est. mpg 12
Here are some pictures

Get a brochure:
https://www.toyota-europe.com/new-cars/c-hr/#/ajax/%2Fnew-cars%2Fc-hr%2Fe-brochure

Windows as Service

Windows versions, Windows Vista, Windows ME, Windows XP, etc. are soon to end.
The reason being Windows OS will be offered as a Service - that is there is a new model for Windows- Windows as a Service.

Details of this model are in the video at the end of the post. But, if you are impatient glean over the screen shots of the same. One thing I will expect from Microsoft is to take complete care of the malware and virus threats. Can Microsoft promise this?

Presently, how the Windows as Service it is going to be priced, is up in the air and may slowly emerge. Everyone who has Windows will get an upgrade.

The other question although you do not worry about Windows software, what about computer hardware upgrade? How often it needs to be upgraded? I have about 4 laptops in my apartment which resulted from the relentless Microsoft upgrades of not only Windows but also other Microsoft products like SQL Server, SharePoint etc. Can we go back to terminal services with a barebones Windows Dumb! to access the Windows as Service.

Most importantly will Microsoft makes money for the investors?

Read more here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/waas-overview