Category Archives: presentation

CES: Self-Driving Vehicles

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Coming Soon – Self-Driving Vehicles

My first stop at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was to see several of the upcoming self-driving autos that are either already or soon to be in service.

In particular I saw offerings from Suzuki, Tier IV, Waymo and ZOOX. Here’s a quick look at what you may soon see on the roads in the near future.

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This Suzuki vehicle is being developed with partner Glydways. It was the smallest of the four brands that I encountered.
The Glydways vehicle has sizable sliding doors that allows passengers easy access to a comfortable interior.
The Tier IV vehicle is slightly larger than the Glydways.
Similar to the Glydway, the Tier IV has large sliding doors.
You can see the sensors that the Tier IV uses for operation.
This model Waymo has a body similar to a sedan.
Waymo is equipped with a large sensor on its roof.
This model Waymo style is similar to a minivan.
This model ZOOX has sliding doors.
The interior provides seating for four passengers.
The ZOOX is fitted with a plethora of exterior sensors.
Later in the afternoon I encountered this ZOOX on one of the streets of Las Vegas delivering a couple of passengers without a driver in a sedan model. Please excuse the dirt on my car window.

Maybe you’ve seen self-driving vehicles. They are already operating in several cities. You can easily identify them by seeing the large number of sensors on the vehicle’s exterior. Judging from the number on display at this year’s CES, we can expect to see more of them operating on urban streets in the coming months.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

CES 2025

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The Consumer Electronics Show

I’ve attended CES for many years.

Going back to the mid 1970s we atteneded CES as an exhibitor. Our company ABACUS faithfully exhibited at the Las Vegas venue showing our software and books to the trade and computer enthusiasts.

Since 1975 my guess is that I’ve been to the CES Show about 35 times.

Abacus bowed out about 2010, but I’ve continued to attend the show as an industry participant. My nerdy interests have kept me going back to learn about new and upcoming electronic gadgets of all shapes and sizes.

We started Stay Focused as a website to write books and articles about technical and photographic products.

This year management estimated that 4,500 exhibitors greeted more than 140,000 attendees this year. It remains one of the largest conventions in the USA.

Following this article I’ve written several “reports” on some of the products that I learned about at CES. I hope the articles give you a sense of the exciting products that were exhibited this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

A New York City Visit

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<br /> New York Visit<br />

Granddaughter’s First time in New York


While I’ve lived in Michigan since 1972, I still consider myself a New Yorker. I grew up just outside of the city in nearby Westchester County where I spent my formative years learning and enjoying the exhilarating pulse of the Big Apple.

One of our granddaughters wanted to travel to New York to see the sites that she’s heard about from her family for so many years.



We drove from Grand Rapids to the New York area about 750 miles. Here we are on the Ohio Turnpike about half way to our destination.


We’re crossing Hudson River over the Mario Cuomo Memorial Bridge where we will take up residence for a few days in Tarrytown, NY.

 

Tarrytown is a small village north of NYC along the Hudson River. Historically it’s famous as the setting for Washington Irving’s story about the headless horseman in “the Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. As a teenager I spent time exploring the cemetery in Sleepy Hollow.



We took a short drive from our hotel to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.


The cemetery is filled with many interesting gravestones. Some of them date back to the 1600s.

 

The following day we took the commuter train from Tarrytown to New York City. The ride to the city takes about an hour with stops at towns in Westchester county and the Bronx with familiar names – Irvington, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Glenwood, Yonkers, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvill, University Heights, Yankee Stadium – before the final stop at Grand Central Station.



Here we are after getting off the train from Tarrytown. This is the iconic Grand Central Station.


We walked out to the street and found a bite to eat from one of the food vendors.

 

The walk from Grand Central to Central Park takes us through mid-town Manhattan. During the day the streets are filled with workers, pedestrians and visitors. It’s takes about 30 minutes to walk the mile to the park.


This is a popular section of Central Park known as Bethesda Terrace.

Here we have two locals having a chess match in Central Park

 


Across ftom Central Park is the Time Warner Building with its impressive window that looks out over Columbus Circle.

Walking a short distance south let us view the golden statue that adorns Rockefeller Center.

 

A cab ride to westside Manhattan took us to Hudson Yards.


Edge Building at Hudson Yard district

We enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the newer Hudson Yard district. This area is close to train yards and was recently redeveloped for residential, office and commercial use.

Afterwards we hopped on the subway to Grand Central and then the commuter train back to Tarrytown.

 
 

The next day we wanted to take in some culture. So it was a car ride into NYC to visit the MET – Metropolitan Museum of Art – which is adjacent to Central Park.


We drove to the city to visit to the MET – the well-known Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Here we see a wall sized artwork on Washington and soldiers crossing the Delaware.

 

One last visit before the long drive back to Michigan. We wanted to visit New Rochelle , the city where I grew up.


This is the house in New Rochelle where we lived for many years. We wanted to see how much it has changed since we lived there.

So then we’re on our way home with this sticker on the car.

 

It was a short visit to New York but our granddaughter finally was able to see some of the sites that we have told her about over the years.

Written by:

Arnie Lee