So I select shutdown on my laptop and once I see it start the shutdown I would expect it was safe to close the lid.

no... I have hibinate on so what does vista do????

Yep, it hibinates the shutdown part way through so the next time I power up I can watch the rest of the f*ing shutdown I missed when I closed the lid.

I know the shutdown process has that nice looking shutdown screen at the end that MS does not want me to miss but FFS.

Rant over

Quote from tristancliffe :

Are people?

Are people what???

Be clear in your post!!

rotf

Quote from amp88 :

False. V8 Supercars is a prime example of this...

Greg Murphy upshifting and dow ... ch at all in V8 Supercars. The cars have a throttle cut that automatically removes load from drivetrain so the driver doesn't need to use the clutch. Drivers can opt to use the clutch when moving across the gate (2nd to 3rd, 4th to 5th), incase they wrongslot for the lower gear (accidentally go from 2nd to 1st, for example). If they use the clutch they can identify the fact that they've wrongslotted and keep the clutch in, moving to the correct gear. If they don't use the clutch they end up engaging the wrong gear and forcing a peak of revs, buzzing the engine and possibly causing damage.



I disagree. The gain may be very small (hundredths of seconds) but you certainly save time by flatshifting rather than using the clutch for every shift. Over the course of a lap (nevermind a race), those hundredths start building up into tenths.

And if you read ALL THE WAY through my post you will see I say that race cars (Like the V8s) use electronic cut so that clutch dip is not required which I say!

Whatever happens, does not matter how it is done, you HAVE to cut load to the gears to "flat shift".

And where I said the gains from flat shift are not worth it I am also talking about the "manual clutch dip" technique where the damage it causes to your gearbox are NOT worth it.

If you have a car with fancy electronics it is worth it but otherwise ONLY drag racers would consider it due to damage it inflicts on your drivetrain.

Quote from MemphisRaines :

This is incorrect, Flatshifting, in a manual H pattern, is shifting without lifting the gas pedal......something you commonly get in street racers in their little honda's and stuff... So this statement isn't 100% accurate

sigh.

You do realise I take it that to flatshift you HAVE to use the clutch dont you?

No you do not follow the standard

1) lift gas and clutch in
2) change gear
3) release clutch and get on gas

Instead you do the following with your gas planted

1) Yank out of gear
2) Start to force into gear.
3) Dip the clutch just enough until you can force into gear.
4) release clutch

So you are actually removing load off the gears to allow the change.

One way or another you have to remove load off the gearbox to change. Race cars use electronics to do it and the rest of us use a clutch.

BTW: Flat shifting does not really gain you ANYTHING in a race, it is only used in drag racing where you can accept a fooked gearbox after 1 run.

as a side note, by default the clutch of the G25 operate over the entire travel of the pedal which is of course VERY wrong.

Grab DXtweak and change it so it only operates over say 1/4 to 1/3 travel and place that band where you feel comfortable or where it appears in your cars clutch IRL. The last 1/3+ of your clutch travel should not really do anything and similar to when you start to press

Once you have done this it will feel more natural and you will not miss shift as much

Unless you like highly controlled DRM infected products because they are a "cool" brand. If you are happy not being able to even do something that should be simple like change the battery or use the drive as a portable USB HD get an iPod.

If you want to be able to use your device as YOU choose then get something else.

For me Apple are as bad as Sony and the current iPhone developer blocking farce has put them on my company black list. The fact you are FORCED to use iTunes as the ONLY interface between PC and iPod is just a joke. It is just a glorified external HD with a built in MP3 player.

Apple is about control over what you can do with your device. Buy one by all means, just do it with your eyes open...

Quote from Bandit77 :

that'd be only one thing of a bunch of engine-related stuff. I don't really know about the "bigger" cars, but the smaller road cars' engines are still quite a step away from the real thing. I don't think that a 1.3 would spill out 115 hp at a certain number of revs, still have 1000 more to go until the red line and have the ideal shift-point before. ideal shift-point would typically be AFTER the red line, mostly because power'd peak just a tad before the red line. (the LX4 comes quite close, iirc)

so then you could trade ideal shiftpoint and best acceleration against endurance... and set your limiter accordingly, maybe with the option to disable it completely during race.

as for the limiter's behavior itself: I don't care too much, as I don't want to hit it anyway. newer cars' limiters are very smooth though.

Ideal shift point has NOTHING, should I repeat that again... NOTHING to do with the redline point of the engine. The ONLY things that determine the perfect shift point is the shape of the powerband and the gear ratios for the various gears.

Create a missmatch between these and the "perfect" shift point will be well below redline.

Quote from eight6er :

No my logic is, I like to try every thing I can in a car so I have experience of every situation, breaking the car is not always necessary but it is fun.

Lol, breaking a car DOES NOT make you a better driver.

I have spent lots of time doing things like hitting large pools of standing water with wheels on one side of the car at greater and greater speeds or inducing understeer and oversteer (All in SAFE locations) because this DOES enable you to recover from situations when you encounter them.

But just breaking you car is just dumb and does NOTHING to improve your driving. You should have learnt not to put the car in the wrong gear WELL before you passed your test. If you still do not understand why you should NOT select the wrong gear your licence should be taken away from you as you are too stupid to be on the road!

You CAN change the point the shift light comes on, just change your cars gearing.

The shift light in LFS is "dynamic" in that it comes on at the point where you get more power by shifting and not at a preset point. So change your gear ratio settings and you can move the shift point.

No you cant move the rev limiter BUT if you could you would soon find that engine damage starts to occur not far past the limit point so there is actualy NO point moving the limiter higher.

Quote from Baboshi :

someone please hook me up with a voucher code!!!
im in love

If you want to mow my gardens through the summer I will buy you a code. You will have to pay for your flights, accom and living expenses while in NZ though.

Or just go and get a job and buy it yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote from motary :

Simple explanation of the problem:

On XR GT Turbo



On FXO GTR



Is there to fix this, besides changing it into red?

Red calipers such a cliche..

Sorry I must have missed something, what exactly is the problem?

Nine Inch Nails Did the soundscape for Quake 1

Quote from ColeusRattus :

Now the discussion becomes really interesting.

I for one think that if alien life forms exist, they would be similar to us to a certain degree, as physics and chemistry follow the same rules everywhere in our universe. Thus, life's origin where it is possible would be quite similar to the first forms of life here.
So it would also develop in a similar way. Of course, aliens wouldn't just be the same es we are, because there are loads of factors which decide which branches of life go extinct and which develop further, but the basic recipie of a sentient being would be the same throughout the universe: it would have to have nimble tools for delicate work, a well performing brain and means of communicating with one another on a level that allows talking about abstract matters. So I think that sentient life is actually quite alike in our universe.

Another thing is taking the latest quantum physics theories in account: in universes with different laws of physics, life of course would be radically different.

Yep, you are right. The universe is too large for the correct chemical soup required to start and maintain life not to be created in another location. It is more a question could they ever reach us due to the distance

Quote from Sueycide_FD :

I saw a video on TV where someone was filming a actual crop circle being made. There were 2 white orbs flying about the field in the air and suddenly the crop design began to form.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... -SbU0&feature=related

i disregard all the comments that say this video is fake...

It is a fake. It is VERY easy to film the field with the circle already in place and the make it look like it is normal field. Then you just make it look like it appears.

How lucky the camera man was to be in exactly the right place filming an empty corn field, something most people do every day I am sure. Also its great blur'o'vision to hide this simple technique. That clip has been doing the rounds for MANY MANY years now BTW

Don't you think that some race with the ability to create the ships required to travel the huge distance between us and other galaxies would actually try and contact us. Not just hide and make some symbols in some corn and then bugger off again?

Why do they alway turn up in unpopulated places instead of cities, do they just want to enter the mothership in the local tractor pull?

Here is how to make one BTW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7c5x5SCCk8

Last edited by Woz, Sun 21 Sep 2008, 05:31.

Quote from DieKolkrabe :

Valve/Steam bought by Google? Where?!

Ah, it was just starting to emerge on the wire yesterday but has been quashed now. Looks like it was fake news.

Good old internet

Quote from Dajmin :

Hey, I'm all for a rant. Check my blog, it's what I do

Last edited by Woz, Thu 18 Sep 2008, 19:30.

Quote from Dajmin :

How many 10 year old games do I still play? None.
How many 5 year old games do I still play? None.

Hmmm. Let me see..

Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Quake3. Q3 is over 9 years old now and still in the TOP 10 of online games played so go figure.

I have played LFS for over 5 years, some here have been with it longer.

Yes iD games have a protection system with their Master Server authentication BUT you KNOW they turn it off and open the source after the next tech is released. It also does not include VIRUS like hacks to work.

Try and uninstall Spore or any other SecuROM (un)protected game and it will leave nulled registry keys and damaged protection files in place that YOU CANT REMOVE without serious work,reading up and hacking. Their tool they tell you to use flags virus warnings as soon as you unzip it, nice.

I get the feel the LFS devs will follow iD's lead and turn off the protection when then finally finish with LFS and do not want to support it any more. Again LFS does NOT use VIRUS like hacks in it's protection.

I trust EA to do that as much as I trust Sony and CodeMasters. Sorry but the DRM is in Spore for ONE reason only, to stop you selling on the game second hand.

DRM has finally fallen for Music and it took the near collapse of the Majors to make them see the light.

DRM DOES NOT WORK. It is what is baked into Vista and made it an unstable crock of shite, everything DRM touches is damaged. I have purchased copy protected CDs in the past and found they will not play in my car CD player or my PC drive, so I took them back and got my money back.

Every copy protection known has been broken, most before the game is even released. The ONLY people it hurts is the people who buy the game, NOT people who pirate.

Having sold software I know that people WILL pirate you work, there is NOTHING you can do but they are also not people that would have bought it anyway.

The ONLY way to stop the madness is avoid ALL DRM infected products. Companies ONLY listen to their bottom like. If you buy DRM infected products you are part of the problem.

Rant over

BTW: You will not have to worry about Valve and Steam because they are about to be bought by Google!!!

Last edited by Woz, Thu 18 Sep 2008, 12:22.

Just keep the kitchen clean of ALL food. Wipe down all the counters etc.

It will only take a few days for them to leave.

ALL the time the source of the attraction is there they will come. Only takes one ant to find it and leave the trail for the rest.

I have the following and would not be without.

1) AVG - lightweight and free and every now an again will grab a dodgy spam email etc. Worth installing

2) SpywareBlaster - This installs a LARGE blacklist in IE and Firefox that blocks most of the advert tracking companies. I also sets the compatibility flags of most known ActiveX malware so it can't actually run in your browser (IE). Free and does not need to be run apart from periodicc updates after install.

3) Windows Firewall with PnP enabled. Not vital but I sometime take my lappy elsewhere.

4) NAT router - nuf said

5) AdblockPro and NoScript in firefox.

Is it worth it???

If you know what you are doing probably not. I only run because its a last line of defence as it only take one slip

All you can do is make sure all the food sources are away and they cant get to them. i.e. sealed.

Also trace back to the nest entry and pour a kettle full of boiling water into it

The worst place I have lived in for ants was Malaysia, at work you used to be able to trace a line for ages if someone left a drink out overnight.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

I believe the Alfa Romeo 156 GTA has 2 1/4 turns lock to lock, same as the trusty G25. FXO anyone?

g25 is 2.5 times which is 900. There are cars I know with 900. The BWM Mini CooperS and WorksS are 900 I believe.

Quote from [RF]-art555 :

Yes, BMW X6 is one of the latest models with 720* I know

Are you 100% sure of that considering the X series is a 4x4 style car? Even though the X6 is a coupe it is still NOT a car. 720 would make it too twitchy for the school run, which it would be used for.

Even the M series are NOT 720 so I seriously doubt an X will be. You know because you have one or know because you have read?

Care to post details that show the lock stats?

Quote from Gills4life :

900 degrees is less realistic than 720 ? I haven't heard of many road cars with 720 degree rotation. Just because the wheel in the game only turns 720 degrees doesnt mean that it is more realistic. Turn the steering wheel off in views and then it's just your wheel that you see anyway

errrr. Please tell me a SINGLE road car that has as little as 720 rotation? You realise we mean 720 from lock to lock and not centre to one side?

Most road cars run 1080 rotation and the more "sporty" might get down to 900. 720, no.

I asked Scawen about bumbing the lower cars to 900 instead of 720. Sounds like there is a bit of work required in animation and there is also the posibility it might make patch incompatible, probably due to way wheel position is recorded. So its on the work stack, not dure when though.

I would prefer sooner than later as most road cars are up in the 1080 range IRL. 900 is the logical limit for LFS as that is what the highest lock offered by most gamer wheels

Quote from Racer X NZ :

Don't believe him, them killer critters are EVERYWHERE.

I'm amazed that anyones still alive in the country, Croc's, sharks, spiders, Jellyfish, Snakes, Tigers ( wait, they've made them extinct ) Dingo's, and the list goes on.

Still, generally they seem to prefer English tourists to the natives so I guess you'll be ok.

And whatever you do DON'T DRINK THE BEER.

Got an up to date life insurance policy ?

Queue Jaws theme !

You also forgot to mention that the place is also awash with aussies, which are just as dangerous

On the bright side, you might find the "Where the bloody hell are you?" lady. Something worth the trip rotf

If you have come all this way it is worth the quick visit to NZ as you are down this way for a while.

Grab a camper and hack round South Island to places like the Sounds, some of the Lakes and Mt Cook and also do East to West coast through the mountain ranges. It is also still ski season with 5+ resorts within a quick drive of Christchurch.

Use MyGeneration and Doodads. Its a code generator ORM that you point at a DB and it creates.

1) CRUD queries to manipulate tables
2) Class that contains all load, walk, filter and manipulation code for the table wrapped in a nice object.

You create a concrete instance of the created class which you communicate with and can store customisation in.

Also provides a type safe way to construct queries against tables cia properties in the objects etc.

Have used on a number of large scale projects now and is a great system + free