Jason O’Grady’s Blog

In case you were wondering, here’s how to hard-reset (a.k.a. factory reset) the Nexus One from HTC and Google:

1. With the phone off, hold the Volume Down button and press and release the Power button.
2. You’ll boot into the menu you see above with the little skateboard guys. Select Clear Storage from the list by pressing the Volume Down button.
3. Press the Power button, and confirm by pressing Volume Up.
4. Sit back while your phone reboots in its virgin state.

Tip: Android Central

Google is getting into the energy metering game and I for one, can’t wait. Will Atlantic City Electric get on the bandwagon and issue smart meters?

Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” and we believe consumers have a right to detailed information about their home electricity use. We’re tackling the challenge on several fronts, from policy advocacy to developing consumer tools, and even investing in smart grid companies. We’ve been participating in the dialogue in Washington, DC and with public agencies in the U.S. and other parts of the world to advocate for investment in the building of a “smart grid,” to bring our 1950s-era electricity grid into the digital age. Specifically, to provide both consumers and utilities with real-time energy information, homes must be equipped with advanced energy meters called “smart meters.” There are currently about 40 million smart meters in use worldwide, with plans to add another 100 million in the next few years.

Read on.

A company called 3Prong Power in San Francisco is offering plug-in conversions to Prius owners for a mere $7,000.

3Prong Power is delivering enhanced Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) conversions for early adopter customers. Our goal is to meet and expand the demand for PHEVs that has been seen nationwide, starting in the Bay Area.

You bought your Hybrid because you care about the environment and you want to use less fuel. This technology enables using two distinct power sources and enhances fuel efficiency. Take it to the next level, make your car a true Hybrid…Plug it in.

One of the most annoying things about my Toyota Prius is the it beeps constantly while in the reverse gear. As in, it beeps the entire time you’re in reverse. If you’re like me, you just drove your new Prius home and you’re Googling for a fix. Look no further, my friend.

The second Prius hack (below) to disable the seatbelt beeping is meant to serve as a convenience feature only. I often put something heavy (non-human) on the passenger seat and the Prius will beep annoyingly to remind (my computer bag mostly) that it needs to wear its seatbelt. Obviously, you should always wear you seatbelt for safety reasons. As the sticker I recently saw on a UHaul said “Don’t get caught dead sitting on your seatbelt.”

To disable the reverse beeping on your Prius (tested on the 2008 model):

1. Without your foot on the brake, turn on your Prius and make sure you are in ODO mode (not Trip A or B). Power off the Prius
2. With your foot on the brake, turn on the Prius. As soon as the ‘Ready’ light is lit, press and hold the ODO button for at least 10 seconds.
3. Keeping the ODO button pressed, move the shifter to Reverse and release, then press the Park button again. At this point, ‘b- on’ should appear on your dashboard display.
4. You can now let go of the ODO button, and each press of the ODO button toggles between ‘b-on’ and ‘b-off’. To disable the reverse beep, simply set it to ‘b-off’, the power off the Prius.

And to disable each of the front seatbelt warning beeps, follow these instructions:

1. Be sure someone is sitting in the seat which seatbelt beep you wish to disable.
2. Without your foot on the brake, turn on your Prius and make sure you are in ODO mode (not Trip A or B). Power off the Prius
3. With your foot on the brake, turn on the Prius. As soon as the ‘Ready’ light is lit, press and hold the ODO button for at least 10 seconds.
4. Keeping the ODO button pressed, insert the seatbelt that you wish to disable the beep for. At this point, ‘b- on’ should appear on your dashboard display.
5. You can now let go of the ODO button, and each press of the ODO button toggles between ‘b- on’ and ‘b-off’. To disable the reverse beep, simply set it to ‘b-off’, the power off the Prius.

These instructions may work for earlier model years as well, although 2006 and earlier models may require no one be in the seat which seatbelt is being disabled.

(Tip: Cotton)

PPUG’s Bob Snow emailed me the following advice on battery chargers for low discharge batteries:

• I have two Soshine Hi-Tech LCD NiMH / NiCD Super Quick Chargers (US$13.98). Probably the best deal for a smart charger.
• The Maha C9000 (US$59.97) is very well thought of.
• Also La Crosse BC-900 (US$38.97, pictured)

Smart chargers indicate the state of charge, monitor temperature and voltage curves and adjust the rate of charge.  They charge a fully discharged battery fast and then throttle down to put a small trickle charge on the battery once fully charged.  This is not needed for low discharge batteries. Just take them out and store them for a year a more once fully charged.

Sanyo Eneloop is the most well known low discharge NiMh batteries.  Rayovac makes some called “hybrid”  and Duracell just calls theirs “pre-charged”  because they are sold with a full charge in the package and are ready to use.  You can really treat these like Alkaline batteries once they are charged, just put them away until you need them.   A trickle charge will just reduce their life and waste electricity. These chargers use independent channels for each battery so you can charge just one and when you charge several, each battery is monitored separately.

Although I wish could have bought it alone, I ended up buying the La Crosse BC-900 bundle. I got it from Thomas, because they ship it with 2400 mAh AAs (vs. 2000 mAh on Amazon) and they stock the latest version (33) which is important to me. I like that it has four individual circuits and with separate displays for each one (doubles as an excellent battery tester too).

I’ll continue to rotate out my older AA recyclables and buy low-discharge cells the next time I need more cells.

A CNet story discusses converting the Prius to be a true plug-in Electric Vehicle (Es) that runs exclusively from battery power:

The Petaluma, Calif., company is selling $5,000 conversions that enable a Prius to drive a maximum 20 miles on full, lead-acid batteries, or $11,000 with lithium-iron phosphate batteries. Professional installation takes a day or two and costs about another $1,000.

We did it today. We needed a new car so we bought a 2008 Toyota Prius. Cliché, you say? I hear you, but 48 MPG speaks for itself. Maybe more people should look into getting one. Unfortunately, just as we bought it the price of gas started dropping.

There is a 6-12 month waiting list for cars, depending on who you talk to. We got ours by getting on several waiting lists months ago and we jumped on the first one that came along in Seaside Pearl. I’ve heard that some dealers are taking the 1 or 2 Prius’s that they get allocated each month down to auctions in places like Florida where they’re selling for US$6-8k over MSRP at auction.

So far so good, it’s super-silent when running off the battery and I can keep the gas engine from kicking on by keeping it under 20MPH. I’m still trying to figure out if there’s a hack to keep the gas engine off longer.

The first fill up only required a little over nine gallons of petrol (US$33.33) in the 12 gallon tank and I was able to get about 400 miles on the first take. We’ll see how the MPG numbers end up over the next few months.

Stay tuned for lots of Prius hacks on this page