For those who don’t know, heat kills electronic components. The hotter the temperature, the shorter the life expectancy; real hot temperatures will literally bake the silicon chips and ruin them. That’s why computer CPUs have heat sinks and fans on them so they don’t burn out. > more <

After making a comment on a fellow GIDBlog site, I realized that it would make a good topic of discussion. The original comment I made was that, by playing Gran Turismo, I’ve learned quite a bit about cars that I didn’t know before. Obviously, it’s a game so a lot of real life aspects can’t be duplicated exactly, but much of the premise of the simulation is still applicable.

For example, I never realized how much tires affect the car. It makes sense though. The tires are the only part of a vehicle that actually interact with the environment, in this case the ground. Having poor quality tires means your are more likely to lose that precious ground contact. Once you lose good contact, you no longer have control of the vehicle. This means not just when your tires actually leave the ground (like when you go over a cliff) but when you lose any type of traction. If you brake too hard without anti-lock brakes, your wheels will lock up and you lose control. If you go over a “washboard” road or hit a speed bump too fast, your tires will momentarily lose contact with the ground and you just can’t drive on air very well. > more <

For those who aren’t aware, I have another site (http://cmrpg.sourceforge.net) where I’m working on an online role playing game. I haven’t worked on it for a while because I’m working towards a Master’s degree so homework can be a bear, plus I do have a life (unlike other computer geeks I know).

When I get around to it, I’ll set up links between this site and the game site. However, the last time I tried editing it I kept getting an “invalid login” error, even though I haven’t changed anything. And I’m getting tired of having to use SSH to login (which could be part of the problem). So I might be moving my site (yet again) to a different host. I like the tools Sourceforge provides but sometimes I’d like to have a little easier control of it. > more <