Friday, May 10, 2024

Attending the Electrify Expo...

Attending the Electrify Expo

This past Sunday, May 5th, I attended the Electrify Expo held near the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ.

Location of Electrify Expo
Location of Electrify Expo

 I saw an advertisement on TV (or was it the internet?) for the event and became curious. The price of admission was only $20. I was curious to find out more about electric vehicles (EVs), so I bought a ticket. After a short drive south on the 101 freeway from Bell Avenue in Peoria, I was at the parking lot for the Electrify Expo at State Farm Stadium.

Here are some photos from outside the Electrify Expo.

The Tent for the KIA Exhibition Booth
The Tent for the KIA Exhibition Booth

The Tent for the Tesla Exhibition Booth
The Tent for the Tesla Exhibition Booth

Electrify Expo Wristband
Electrify Expo Wristband

Electrify Expo Logo
Electrify Expo Logo

Electrify Expo QR Code
Electrify Expo QR Code

When I lived in Reston, VA, I once attended the D.C. Auto Show at the Convention Center in downtown Washington, D.C. several years ago. It turned out that attending the D.C. Auto Show was actually a fun way to spend a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon in Washington, D.C. It was fun checking out the latest and greatest models from the auto manufacturers. Since I was unemployed, I couldn't even consider buying a new car or truck. Still, I managed to pick up quite A LOT of swag at the D.C. Auto Show.

I was expecting more of the same at the Electrify Expo.

Inside the Electrify Expo

The Electrify Expo was all about EVs.

The first exhibition booth I visited was for Ford Motors. Ford had brought along the F-150 Lightning and an EV version of the Mustang.

The Ford Motors Exhibition Booth
The Ford Motors Exhibition Booth 

F-150 Lightning EV
F-150 Lightning EV

F-150 Lightning EV
F-150 Lightning EV

F-150 Lightning EV
F-150 Lightning EV

Ford Mustang EV
Ford Mustang EV

Ford Mustang EV
Ford Mustang EV


I also visited the exhibition booth for Volvo. You could watch a movie about the history of Volvo and the EVs they manufacture, but you had to sign up. The movie was shown inside a Volvo bus. I didn't get any Volvo swag, but the EVs were nice to look at.

Volvo EV
Volvo EV

Volvo EV
Volvo EV

Volvo EV


After visiting the Volvo exhibition booth, I then visited the Toyota exhibition booth. Surprisingly, the Toyota exhibition booth was small given Toyota's status as the world's largest automobile manufacturer. Toyota had the full EV version of the Prius on display. However, the hybrid Toyota Crown caught my attention. I didn't get any Toyota swag.

Toyota Exhibition Booth
Toyota Exhibition Booth

Toyota Prius EV
Toyota Prius EV

Toyota Crown EV
Toyota Crown Hybrid
More Toyota EVs
More Toyota EVs


After visiting the Toyota exhibition booth, I then visited the Kia Motors exhibition booth next door. Interestingly, the only piece of swag I got at the Electrify Expo was from the Kia Motors exhibition booth. It was just as I suspected. In return for providing my marketing information, I received a Kia Motors duffle bag.

On the way to the Kia exhibition booth.
On the way to the Kia exhibition booth.

Kia EV9
Kia EV9 

Kia EV9
Kia EV9

Kia EV6
Kia EV6

Kia K4
Kia K4

After collecting my Kia duffle bag, I then went over to the Tesla exhibition booth. The Tesla exhibition booth was probably the most crowded exhibition booth that I visited. Tesla brought along the Model 3 and another sedan (the Model S?) that had the butterfly doors similar to a Delorean. However, everyone wanted to see the Cybertruck. It had a long line. I'm not too sure if Tesla offered any swag. I didn't see any. However, people didn't seem to mind.

Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model 3

Tesla Model 3 Interior
Tesla Model 3 Interior

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model S

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model S

Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck

After hanging around the Tesla exhibition booth, I visited the BMW Motors exhibition booth. The BMW SUV EV is really nice for a list price of $185,000. BMW had some great swag. Once again, BMW wanted your information for marketing.

BMW iX All Electric SUV
BMW iX All Electric SUV

BMW iX All Electric SUV Interior
BMW iX All Electric SUV
 Interior

BMW i7 Sedan
BMW i7 Sedan


I then moved on to the Lexus exhibition booth before walking over to the Nikola Motor exhibition boot to check out the TRE BEV semi-truck EV.

Lexus RZ All Electric Sedan
Lexus RZ All Electric Sedan

Nikola TRE BEV Semi-truck EV
Nikola TRE BEV Semi-truck EV


That's a brief summary of the main exhibition area of the Electrify Expo.

However, there were some notable omissions from the main exhibition area. Notable omissions included Rivian, Lucid Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, Honda, and GMC among others.

I will cover the second half of the Electrify Expo in a subsequent post.

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Hiking the L.V. Yates Trail, Part 3...

Here is the third and final batch of photos that I took while hiking the L.V. Yates Trail at the Phoenix Mountain Preserve on Saturday, May 4th.

You can find links to the previous two posts here and here.

Enjoy.













Hiking the L.V. Yates Trail, Part 2...

Here is the second batch of photos that I took while hiking the L.V. Yates Trail at the Phoenix Mountain Preserve on Saturday, May 4th.

Here is a link to my first post about hiking the L.V. Yates Trail.

Enjoy.
















Module 2: Data-Link Layer...

Module 2: Data-Link Layer

Module Objective: Explain how media access control in the data-link layer supports communication across physical and logical networks.

Topic Title Topic Objective
Topologies Compare the characteristics of physical and logical topologies.
Media Access Control Methods Explain how devices access a LAN IOT send frames.
Module 2: Data-Link Layer
Module 2: Data-Link Layer

2.1.1 Physical and Logical Topologies

The Data-Link layer prepares network data for the physical network.

The Data-Link layer must know the logical topology of a network IOT be able to determine what is needed to transfer frames from one device to another.

The topology of a network is the arrangement, or the relationship, of the network devices and the interconnections between them.

There are two types of topologies used when describing LAN and WAN networks:

  • Physical Topology
    • Identifies the physical connections and how end devices and intermediary devices (i.e., routers, switches, and wireless access points) are interconnected.
    • The topology may also include specific device location such as room number and location on the equipment rack.
    • Physical topologies are usually point-to-point or star.
Physical Topology Example
Physical Topology Example

  • Logical Topology
    • Refers to the way a network transfers frames from one node to the next.
    • This topology identifies virtual connections using device interfaces and Layer 3 IP addressing schemes.
Logical Topology Example
Logical Topology Example


The Data-Link layer "sees" the logical topology of a network when controlling data access to the media.

It is the logical topology that influences the type of network framing and media access control used

2.1.3 WAN Topologies


The three most common physical WAN topologies are:

  • Point-to-Point
    • The simplest and most common WAN topology.
    • Consists of a permanent link between two endpoints.
Point-to-Point Topology
Point-to-Point Topology

  • Hub and Spoke
    • WAN version of the star topology in which a central site interconnects branch sites through the use of point-to-point links.
    • Branch sites cannot exchange data w/ other branch sites w/o going through the central site.
Hub and Spoke Topology
Hub and Spoke Topology

  • Mesh
    • Provides high availability but requires that every end system is interconnected to every other system.
    • The administrative and physical costs can be significant.
    • Each link is essentially a point-to-point link to the other node.
Mesh Topology
Mesh Topology

A hybrid is a variation or combination of any topologies.

2.1.4 Point-to-Point WAN Topology

2.1.5 LAN Topologies