$1000 Power Supply

Wow has it really been over a month since my last post? (Yikes) Well there really hasn't been a heck of a lot of things going on lately, outside of seems to be the endless amounts of snow and even more predicted possible for this weekend.

One notable but unfortunate things to happen to me over the past week was, what I thought was a catastrophic loss of my computer and data, when it inadvertently shut its self off and wouldn't re-start. I took the entire computer apart and reseated all the components hoping something came loose after I installed and upgraded sound card. Still nothing, fearing that it was the new sound card that shorted out my system I was quite upset that my need for better sound had cost me my system. So in a panic I started researching new computers and was looking to build a monster of a machine.

Having not really been in the "computer world" since building my last PC almost 4 years ago (besides the odd upgrade) I felt it was time to get back into it a little bit. After having talked to my brother about what's new and shiny in the computer world he suggested a few things and we complied a list of everything I would need. The only thing salvaged from my old computer was my Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse.

So after my trip to Infonec computers in Markham on a beautiful Sunday morning last week, I was set with my list and cash in hand. After I get the the components home I started to clear some space and begin with the tedious task of putting my machine together. Four hours later I was up and running and starting another tedious task of installing all the drivers and software, but let me tell you it was very well worth it as this machine is lighting fast and it has made working on my images and large files a delight, no more lag and waiting for my images to open in Photoshop.
This will hopefully save me a lot of aggravation in the summer when I bring home 500 images from a race weekend.

Now for the $1000 part. Out of sure curiosity I decided to hook up my old PC to the new power supply that came with my new case ( which I didn't need). After wiring everything up, I tried to turn the computer on, but nothing. Thinking that it was toast I tried moving the computer to a different outlet, and what do you know? It worked. So I guess you could say it was the case of a $1000 power supply and power bar, which apparently has a bad outlet as well (after testing other things in it).

Now for the good stuff, after all that here's what I ended up with

Intel Quad Core 2.4 mhz processor
2 GB ram
750 GB Sata II Hard drive
512 Mb Asus 8800 GT video card
Asus P5k Motherboard
Asus Sata II Light scribe DVD Burner
650 Watt Power Supply
Brand spanking new Black case

Grand Prix of Toronto No More?

Much discussion has gone on over the past few weeks about a possible merger in open wheel racing. We move forward now to the last couple of days and it appears a merger is all but done, but at what expense?

It appears as if a lot of Champ car races such as Toronto are on the outside looking in, which is puzzling because the Toronto Grand Prix was purchased by the owners of Champ Car, and you would think that Toronto would be included but such is not the case. The races that will be moved over to the IRL are Long Beach, Edmonton and Surfer’s Paradise, Australia.

My question are we willing to throw away years of racing tradition at tracks like Toronto, Cleveland, and Laguna Seca, just to name a few? I guess I should no the answer to my own question, because for the last 12 years there has been no tradition in open wheel racing.

Is this the sacrafices we are going to have to make in order to have everyone under one roof? I know that some of you are probably saying Scott, it's only for one year and after everything gets sorted out, Toronto will be back on board. The truth of the matter is, once it's off the calendar for one year what makes you think it will be put back on in years to come?

The picture at the top is of Justin Wilson coming through corner 9 at last years and possibly the last GP of Toronto.

Updated My Website

Man oh man, has the winter been long or what? The last few days has brought abnormal temperatures and we have experienced a bit of a January thaw, with highs around 14 degrees Celsius.

So with some extra time on my hands I decided to revamp my website. I decided to go with a more "photography style" website with a very clean look. I never really realized that a simple clean website could look so good. (if I say so myself) I wish more websites would go back to a more simplistic look to them. Sure the bells and whistles are cool, but sometimes they can be a real pain to navigate. So feel free to look around and tell me what you think. http://www.never2fast.com/

I am also itching to get out and shoot something, so it looks like I am going to have to setup a project or something to get me through these last couple winter months.

The picture posted at the top is of one of the Flying Lizard Porsche's taken during the American Le Mans weekend At Mosport this past summer.