Slipstream - June 2013

Cliff’s Ramblings: Computers and Club Races
By Cliff Blackshear
Editor’s Note: At
the Carrera of the
Americas Club
Race over Mother’s
Day Weekend, Cliff
suffered a mild heart
attack and was
rushed to the hospital.
As of Monday
night (May 13) he was well and resting
-- EKG and other tests were good. And
since he has more important things
to worry about, we are reprinting an
article of his from June 2010 about
-- what else -- Club Racing! Keep Cliff
in your thoughts as you read it . . .
I
wanted to just sit tonight and
write about something fun.
Instead I ended up battling
with weird computer glitches. I
open Word and immediately I’m
asked for a product key. Huh? So
after some digging I find the key.
Enter it and no go. Times like this
make me crazy. Now I’m using
Notepad and hoping Richard can
make it work. Had to figure our
wordwrap etc. just to get going.
It made me wish that I could
design a car for whomever is responsible
for the weird computer
glitches that the average citizen
has no idea how to deal with.
The car would intermittently not
unlock in any way once in a while.
It would start but not respond to
any driver input at times, unless
shut off and restarted. It would
require fingerprints to start it
and not recognize them once
in a while, and require different
fingers be used at least every 90
days. Plus, multiple fingers would
have to be used and none reused
until 10 changes had been made.
I would then require that person
to have to come see me and pay a
minimum of $1,000 to replace all
the system operating hardware,
and I’d replace it with something
that would require them to spend
untold hours learning how to
use it. It would appear to be an
improvement, and their vehicle
would need this at least every three
years. OK I’m over it. Arrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
It is mid May. The Mavs are
hosting a club race on Memorial
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20 June