Toyota FCHV-Concept Vehicle

Taking 'Sustainable Mobility' to the next step Toyota has been working on using hyrogen fuel cells. It appears (this post heavily based on the Toyota site:
 http://www.toyota-global.com/innovation/environmental_technology/fuelcell_vehicle/)
that Toyota started selling the 'Fuel cell' cars in Japan (Toyota FCHV) as early as 2002!

The car uses both hybrid technology(battery) and in-situ generation of Hydrogen as fuel.
Staring the car under -30deg C and cruising range of some 830 KMS without refuelling are quite extraordinary.

'Toyota FCHV-Adv' came out in 2008 also sold to limited users.

The next generation of fuel cell vehicle was displayed as 'Toyota FCHV Concept' at the 43rd autoshow in Tokyo in 2013.
Here is screen shot of the concept model:

I am not sure when it will become affordable for most folks. It will go on sale in Japan very soon.
 

ODBC Drivers available on Window 8.1 Platform

There are ODBC Drivers for the 32bit and 64bit architectures on the Windows 8.1 Professional platform. When you install specific programs the drivers should install to support them. If you do not use the correct version you may possibly get 'architectural mismatch' errors.
These are the drivers available out of the box:

32bit ODBC drivers (two views)

64bit ODBC drivers

 

There appears not that many 64 bit drivers for the Windows 8.1 platform. One way to encourage folks to adopt Windows 8.1 would be to make it more usable from data access point of view

 

Vastly improved Oracle SQL Developer Tool 4.0

This is a great tool if you are working with Oracle and you can do all of this:
Develop
Administer
Model
Migrate

I have been using SQL Developer tool since 2007 and I find the latest version released this may vastly improved with a rich interface.

The latest release 4.0 can be downloaded from here:
Oracle SQL Developer 4.0.2 (4.0.2.15.21)
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/sql-developer/downloads/index.html

The x64 bit version I downloaded came with the required JDK (7.0).

Apart from these new features SQL Developer 4.0 it supports Oracle database 12C:

• Database performance monitoring'
• Database search
• Command line support now covers reporting and Cart
• Cart itself has enhanced features-multiple cart support; export ddl options, etc.
• Creating and drill -down on Reports with floating Editor and Navigation windows
• UI enhancements- Usability enhancements
• Data modeler is now 4.0 to support 12C with masking of sensitive data and ability to create Trasparent Sensitive Data Protection
• Oracle Migrations
• Oracle Data Miner

Installation cannot be easier than this. Download the zip file (Choose the one that you can work
with), unzip and start using.

While installing you may import your preferances from an earlier version if it exists. The
computer I am using did not have any previous installation.

The User Interface gets displayed as shown with a modal window requesting your permission
to track usage for product improvement.  I generally say, OK.

The View menu shows many of the features that you will be using.

Team menu lets you connect to GIT or to Subversion

The Start page also has important informative content such as Videos; Tutorials and Online demonstrations, etc

 

The Tools menu is also feature rich as it gives you access to many of tasks you may need to perform and the Data Modeler submenu shown above shows many features of database administration'



You must not forget to take a look at the Help | About which gives an idea of all the extensions

You will agree that SQL Developer has evolved vastly from its beginnings,

This vastly improved compared to the ones I used in previous years:

Here is a context for this article if you have missed the earlier ones:

http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2007/08/do-you-know-how-to-use-oracle-sql.html

http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2008/12/oracle-sql-developer-tool-15-with-sql.html

http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2009/05/articles-on-earlier-versions-of-oracle.html

http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2010/01/migrating-mysql-table-using-oracle-sql.html

http://www.packtpub.com/article/oracle-sql-developer-tool-1.5-sql-server-2005

Battery powered car is history

I was wondering why Toyota despite its 2.4% stake in Tesla decided to part ways. I suppose it was because Toyota did not buy into the idea that battery powered auto's are good enough for the long haul. Toyota is no novice when it comes to using batteries in autos. It appears that Toyota will finish off the collaboration with the current RAV4 EV model. On the details Toyota is not breaking up totally with Tesla but only as related to certain models. Read mode here about Toyota and Tesla regarding RAV4 EV ,
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/automobiles/tesla-and-toyotas-electric-rav4-break-up-no-reason-yet-given.html/?a=viewall

Here is picture of RAV4 EV from this site here: http://t.autos.msn.com/research/toyota/rav4-ev

$49,800

This end of contract make sense in view of Toyota bringing the ever first hydrogen powered car to the market:

http://t.autos.msn.com/news/toyota%e2%80%99s-fuel-cell-car-coming-to-us

Watch this video from CNBC:
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000286588

It is powered by a fuel - cell that produces hydrogen on board with a chemical reaction and probably does not need any hydrogen gas bottles. Probably there will be a battery for emergencies. Here is a picture of Toyota's Fuel-Cell Vehicle-FCV.

$69,000

It appears to be quite pricey. I am sure there are millionaire takers for FCV scattered over the globe.
It is rumored that Elon Musk called hydrogen powered vehicle something unmentionable, but those guys from Toyoda-Shi are not bluffing. They are serious. It will be interesting to watch TM and TSLA on MSN Money or CNBC.

The thing I do not like about FCV is its look. 

Packt is celebrating 10 years- Get any book or video for $10

 

Packt started 10 years ago publishing quality books driving deep into computer technology related area both Open Source and proprietary. In this short span they have covered a very large area with an impressive portfolio.

 

To celebrate this milestone event, Packt is offering any book or, video for a deep discount price of $10. This offer ends on July 5. This is the best time to stock up, enjoy the 4th of July; the World Cup and the Wimbeldon but make sure you place your order.

Follow this link for details:
 http://bit.ly/1nXKH56

I started writing for Packt in 2007 and I have had a great time working with them and learning
along the way. This was my first book and it is still selling!

This is a great opportunity for you to explore what's new and what is cutting edge. There is something for everyone with titles numbering over 2000.

More information is available at www.packtpub.com/10years