Quote from mrodgers :

I just shoveled about 15 inches of snow completely by hand from my 200 foot driveway including the approximately 30 inches that the snowplow dumped into the end of it. I don't want to hear about your problems with your little dusting of snow, hehe

I know that feeling. A couple of years back I dug out my Mini from a 2' dump. Did the drive to work on the single lane the plough had done. When I got back had to dig my way back in as the f*ing snow plough had done the other lane and blocked my drive again

That said, its well known 1mm of snow shuts dow the entire UK

Quote from tisy0 :

IMO PhysX will not die, but who knows

PhysX will not last. ATI not supporting is was the final nail. No developer will create a game that uses PhysX for core game functionality if it counts out half the potential customers. Crysis flopped because nobody could really run it, using PhysX for anything "core" is just asking for poor sales imho.

It is not possible to include PhysX in the "core engine" and have a non-PhysX version as well because that will count out online play between the two camps, further reducing your customer base. The cost of games dev is so high these days its just too much risk.

This leaves PhysX just being used for eye candy effects which do not effect the core game. A costly expense for many game dev teams.

As the article someone else posted says, Havok is the more popular system and well liked by developers and far better supported. Also OpenCL and DX11 mean the end for PhysX.

3D cards could gain traction when they first came in because they were just eye candy and did not effect the game play at all. Software and Hardware render was common for many years. I believe Q3 was the first hardware only render game, if not it would have been one of the first. This meant there were a good 3 generations of 3d hardware before the move to hardware only render.

Also the Laptop now outsells the desktop machines. No room for a PhysX card and most laptop GPUs have to work flat out for the GFX.

imho - physics on the CPU is the only way now multi-core is common. We are about to move into Quad core world with the current generation of hardware.

Only one I have used is Ubuntu.

All the *buntu distros are based on Debian, which is a stable well respected platform that only does releases every few years. Ubuntu does an update every 6 months with a long term support release every 3 years I believe but is considered less stable (Read more niggles).

Slackware is another popular distro you might want to try.

There are many others out there but is depends on how well supported you want. *buntu distros have a big pile of cash supporting them which makes them a good choice imho. Its the reason I picked them

If they stopped being supported I would move to Debian, but then I like Gnome as my desktop.

Pictures taken during rush hour would be better. Lets everyone see what you have to deal with and how crowded or not your trip is and a google street/map view if possible to put location of the photo into context

Just DONT put yourself at risk to take the photo!!

Quote from Michael Denham :

Nice idea for a thread! Mine is pretty boring though, I just have to walk through to the front room of where I live as I work from home...

I did that for about 7 years when I lived in the wilds of Scotland. Nice way to work

Quote from KiRmelius :

Hey, you're going wrong way!!!

Are you sure. That road has 2 end points. One is my home village and the other is the Christchurch outer limits. It's very hard to get lost

BTW: we drive on the left in NZ if that is what has thrown you lol

Quote from GenesisX :

Is there anything, in general, tips, that I can have to increase this speed.

Drive faster

Post a photo taken on your drive to work.

Here is mine, taken at about 8.15am on my way to work in Christchurch NZ driving across the Canterbury Plains at this location...

Street View Location

Last edited by Woz, Sat 10 Jan 2009, 06:17.

Quote from Shotglass :

the bit of effort is the thing... linux is a hobby not an os

Not true. I installed Ubuntu on my laptop and EVERYTHING worked out of the box, even the wlan. On first boot it even detected the wireless network in the house and asked if I wanted to connect.

I have kept an eye on Linux for many years but never jumped until recently. Ubuntu 8.10 is a huge leap if you have not looked at Linux in a few years.

There is new wireless code now that normally detects and correctly installs most common hardware. If you have esoteric hardware that is only used by 1 or 2 people don't expect Linux support otherwise you might be shocked.

Even the ATI drivers work well on my ATI mobility 2600. I can't even get new drivers for Vista apart from the one supplied with my lappy. Go figure!

And if you tweak the Compiz settings the effects make Vista Aero feel a bit dull. Months in and I am still not bored of windows being made of rubber when you move them

Quote from mrodgers :

... Recently, Vista came out, and everyone using WinXP complained about how horrible Vista is. Now look at how many folks moved to Vista and think it's great.

I avoided XP until SP2 when it got good. Win2K was a cleaner system IMHO.

btw how many of those that like Vista use it in a network environment where it just sucks balls.

Even this long after release a fully patched Vista just locks up reading large shares etc. Basic fundamental operations fail, not good. Then you have the UAC Disable it an some apps don't work leave it enabled and its nag ware central. They have changed UAC in Win7 and that breaks some apps again.

I have Vista on my games partition because getting some drivers I need for XP has proved a hassle but apart from that I have dumped Windows. That is how much I detest the OS, and I gave it a good chance and used for many months

Ubuntu is far nicer!

Windows 7 is Vista SP2 with a new UI to make people forget that it is still Vista

Quote from Becky Rose :

What a bunch of dogs.

The Onion just has too many classics to list them all, I can easily misslay an entire afternoon on their site.

lol I know what you mean

Some other Onion classics

Handy tips for oval driving from Nascar coach
http://www.theonion.com/conten ... car_coach_reveals_winning

World of world of warcraft
http://www.theonion.com/conten ... t_sequel_lets_gamers_play

Classified bill
http://www.theonion.com/conten ... osed_classified_bill_will

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I used to do that, but then someone suggested I try...

And I went quite considerably faster! So now I try not to give myself habitual distractions.

Yep, there is something about shift+f that does that. I think you have to be more aware of everything, no readouts, so you just drive better.

Only thing I keep doing is forgetting which lap I am on in longer races

I race in SHIFT+F mode. I prefer to do everythig by feel.

OK, its the onion but... what could be more simple than one big button?

http://www.theonion.com/conten ... _introduces_revolutionary

I am with a few others here, lock down the road cars so that they are road cars. I like the idea of the new VW because of this.

Racing in them will be improved a load. Driver skill only and each car feeling different.

Too many sets make too many cars feel the same. That sort of LFS feel because that config is the fastest setup.

1960 F1 car or Ariel Atom

To OP, I would spend the time finding out what is wrong with AVG. If its fooked something more serious might be up with your system. If you are on pista try a system roll back to before you removed AVG if possible.

As for the best free protection against virus infections try Ubuntu

Tin tops all the way. OW normally involves downforce and that is just dull dull dull to watch as it just becomes hotlapping.

Quote from RevengeR :

Autoish then, since its not manual :P

If you can say that you fail to underdtand the difference between a slush box and LFS gear help, they have NOTHING in common at all

Think of the LFS gear help as a "robot" that operates the clutch and gearbox for you. Do you see the difference now, not a nasty slush box in sight

The day the LFS devs implement a slush box is the day they lose sight of the product they are actually producing. Knowing about Scawens stance on driver aids it will not happen, cut and blip help used to exist but were removed to force people to drive correctly.

Having been a real hi-fi nut for years I have to say get the G25.

If you are a sim racer nut you will get far more from the G25 than the z5500. The G25 really is a great wheel, you will not get any better without spending SERIOUS cash (read 4 digits).

I am willing to bet most 2 channel sets for similar cash as the Z5500 will sound far far better than the Z5500. Everyone that heard the 2 channel setup I had before I moved to NZ (Linn LP12, Naim pre/power amps and Ruark speakers) said it beat ANY 5.1 they had ever heard. Most actually found it hard to believe it was one 2 channel due to the sound stage it could project with a good recording.

The real trouble with sound systems is diminished returns. Above a certain level you need to spend big to get tiny gains and the level this kicks in is VERY low.

Quote from RevengeR :

I don't think we really need a more advanced automatic tranny. It's not that hard to learn when it's time to shift, and with time, it will come naturally. It's just pure laziness and carelessness that makes people stick to auto gears.
Of course, later it would be nice to have a all-round sim, but for now most things have a lot higher priority than proper auto gear for cruisers.
Just learn how to use that stick, or paddle properly :P

LFS does NOT have an auto tranny at all. There is a helper to change the MANUAL gears for you, VERY VERY different.

I hope the devs do not waste time on a real auto, it is pointless

Quote from Nick. :

Currently, the automatic transmission system in LFS shifts when the car redlines. A real car doesn't do this. Normally cars shift around 3-4K RPM and don't really go any higher unless you floor it. Also, for the shift configuration, there should be P, R, N, L, and D. No numbers.

Don't bash on me for using auto. I'm a cruiser and I like to eat while I drive

There is actually NO auto tranny in LFS. There is a setting that will change the manual gears for you when it feels its the best time.

As others have said, nobody apart from drag racers really use an "auto" tranny while racing. They are just not suitable.

IMHO you would have to be insane to drive a high power RWD auto on a circuit. Not knowing the the gearbox will shift on you means you cant push the car as you risk spin outs in corners etc.

Here in NZ autos are popular. I always laugh when I see WRX, EVOs, Skylines, Commies and Falcons with autos, what a waste of time.

Last edited by Woz, Thu 1 Jan 2009, 21:23.

LFS runs fine when not as admin and no compatibility set.

As soon as you play with either of those settings Vista does all sorts both bodges and mirrored files etc. Avoid unless you have to use them.

I have owned both and clocked up large distances in both.

The old is a great car, communicates well and is good fun to chuck about. A true icon.

The new, as much as people bash them, is a great car. I sticks to the road, does what you tell it to and is fast. The internals are also nice to be in which is a bonus. The Works S is a real monster. I owned a Cooper for 1.5 years, put over 18000 miles on the clock and only lost 3000 from the 13000 purchase price. What more can you ask for from a new car

Both for me.

Last edited by Woz, Thu 1 Jan 2009, 22:41. Reason : typo

Quote from Dennis93 :

i dont get it, why is he using clutch in an ignition cut gearbox. and hes 'heel & Toe' is very very odd.. using 75-100% while on clutch? then releases both. even in a dockring gearbox, i never uses clutch. :o

The reason he uses a clutch on an ignition cut gearbox is easy to determine. His right foot is in control of OVER 600bhp.

Most V8 drivers tend to ignore the clutch in the higher gears but use the clutch in the lower gears to help keep the car in balance and stop the car swapping ends.

The driver in this vid is one of the best in the V8 series. Every driver uses different techniques. Guess this is what he has found best for him after MANY years driving these monsters.