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English Sports Cars, and High-Powered Computers


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English sports cars are a lot of fun to drive. I've driven them, but I've never owned one...because the most important aspect of owning an English sports car (aside from sufficient disposable income) is knowing a really good mechanic.

 

In late December, I bought a fabulous PC Audio Labs computer. This is not your off-the-shelf Dell. In fact, in a desire to future-proof the machine as much as possible, the motherboard is a bleeding-edge model for gamers. It has amenities like Thunderbolt, and lots of USB 3.2 ports. I admit that I stress my computers pretty hard, what with multiple DAWs and video programs, all of which think they're entitled to own their piece of the operating system.

 

Friday night the system had a graphics freakout, which was problematic because I was working on a video project that was due Monday. I called Obedia (the support organization that owns PC Audio Labs), and their tech Brian, working from New Mexico, made several remote desktop attempts to find out what was wrong. Ultimately he got it working, but when I turned the machine off and turned it back on again a few hours later, something was seriously wrong and the computer was unuseable.

 

Fortunately Obedia's headquarters is in Nashville. Amazingly, on a Saturday morning in the middle of doing a move to a new house, the head of the company (Jayce Murphy) met me at the office and proceeded to do digital poking and prodding. There had indeed been some BIOS changes and video card changes that need to be applied, and probably for that reason the most recent Windows update became corrupted. He also replaced the graphics card, because it seemed the hardware might have been an issue...so why not play it safe. After doing the BIOS and driver updates, he applied the scary Windows update, and...all was well. Amazingly, he did the whole Windows repair thing without my needing to do any program re-installs. That was a very big deal.

 

Jayce did a whole bunch of things I would never have been able to do, fixed the computer, and yes, I'm typing on it now. Time from total freakout to back in action was under 24 hours. Admittedly, I had the advantage of being local...but there was always next day shipping if I hadn't lived nearby. He also created multiple system restore points, cleaned out the startup programs, and did several other tweaks.

 

Moral of the story: If you buy an English sports car, make sure you know a really good mechanic. And if you buy a high-performance computer...make sure you know a really good mechanic.

 

(FYI - I know, some people will say "get a Mac." Obedia supports both Mac and Windows, so I asked Jayce about this. He said all the platforms have problems, but they come in waves - everything will be okay for a while, then some change happens that screws things up until other updates occur.)

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Ugh,... Wentworth thread system. You want an oil leak? We have that...

 

Once the Brits went metric things improved somewhat. For all that, there is no more beautiful automobile than a Jaguar XKE, that is a work of art.

All the Jags are pretty but the XKE is the best.

 

Still, I'll take a Toyota or Subaru. Takes a long time to drive one to death, I know.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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As to Windows, if you know how to make it work, it will.

 

I've always used a Mac at home but I am not a deep diver in computers. Basic use of a single operating system is more than enough. Deep dives of specific software tools can take priority. I was paid to know graphics software, not the system - it was just there so I could open stuff. That said, always a mixed bag in graphics - both Mac and Windows.

 

I could get along with either, I bet your hot-rod PC is able to handle some heavy workloads. That would be fun!

 

I get by OK with older tech for now and my Macs have always lasted a good long time. By the time I get around to snagging another one there will be some interesting options.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Many years ago a good friend had an MGB, and said exactly the same thing.

 

I read once (and don't know how true it is) that there is a class distinction in England and owning undependable cars puts you in a higher class. Almost anyone can afford a Jaguar or MG, but not everyone can afford to keep it running. So the people that own those undependable cars have real money.

 

Insights, incites and urban legands by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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Moral of the story: If you buy an English sports car, make sure you know a really good mechanic.

 

That's what I remember from the 1950s and '60s when I cared about cars. Better than knowing a good mechanic, you need to BECOME one, and enjoy it. I thought it was kind of neat that I could synchronize SU carburetors by ear with a piece of garden hose, and it was a revelation when neighbor Brit and former Jaguar owner (who said it's a beautiful car, but a 'pitch' to start) gave me his Uni-Syn that he swore he would never need again.

 

And just yesterday, I tried starting up my workbench computer to get some Audio Precision graphs of transformer performance for Kuru, and it didn't boot, just beeped at me. I believe the beep pattern means there's a memory problem, but now there's a new product for another day. Good thing I don't have any deadlines.

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As to Windows, if you know how to make it work, it will.

 

Or if someone else knows how to make it work :) Although to be fair, once either a Mac or Windows computer settles in, I'll get a long run of not having to deal with it. I suspect what Jayce did yesterday is all I'm going to need to a while. And after my last Mac fiasco that required a total operating system install, it's been running fine.

 

I've always used a Mac at home but I am not a deep diver in computers. Basic use of a single operating system is more than enough. Deep dives of specific software tools can take priority. I was paid to know graphics software, not the system - it was just there so I could open stuff. That said, always a mixed bag in graphics - both Mac and Windows.

 

True that. Apparently the only reason I can't upgrade my dual Xeon desktop Mac to true 64-bit operation is the graphics system. There are hacks to work around that, but for now, I'm willing to work with my 2012 MacBook Pro as my default Mac. Once the Mac world settles down, I'll look into getting a more modern machine.

 

I could get along with either, I bet your hot-rod PC is able to handle some heavy workloads.

 

It's really quite shocking...the difference with real-time video effects is mind-boggling. I would never know what an effect did until I rendered the video, so I was flying blind for anything more than something really simple, like brightness and contrast. Now I can see what the effects do, and watching a preview video is 90% as smooth as the rendered version. And of course, with DAWs I can run a ton of plug-ins at low latency, without having to freeze any tracks.

 

I don't have any Thunderbolt peripherals yet, but I did test a Mac-only Thunderbolt interface a couple years ago. There was no audible latency...pretty cool.

 

The bottom line for me is that yeah, my old computer was (and still is) a workhorse with a lot of power. It always came through for me, but I had no idea what spending some serious bucks on a modern computer could do.

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I"ve owned a pile of BMC roadsters over the years. I probably spent as much time repairing them as driving them if you count all the time required for scrubbing the oil off your driveway.

 

Ha! Well I'm a little luckier. The computer goes in for surgery, recovery time is minimal, and it won't need any more surgery again for at least a few years. No oil, either. Although I do remember to clean the dust off the fans and heat sinks every six months. :)

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Sports cars I've owned: 1962 Corvette, 1967 Fiat 850 Spyder (40mpg, rear engine, perfect balance), 1968 Corvette, 197? Opel GT (looked like a mini Corvette), 197? (or maybe 80) Triumph TR4, 1980 (last year sold in US, and only year that had an overdrive) MG-B (really learned how to fix a lot of things), and my present 1996 BMW 328 Convertible, bought in 2000 - I know it is a 4 seater, but it handles better than the same year roadster that I drove). Rode in a Jag XK-E once - really beautiful car, but would have needed double my income to keep the Lucas electrics going alone.

 

I do computer stuff for a profession. Both Windows and Mac. Have personally had issues with both. I will say that Windows is FAR better than back in the Windows 95, 98, and ME era. I don't buy new ones now, either refurbished almost new or refurbish-able (which I can do). There are a huge number of about 3 year old computers that come off leases, rather have a high end one of them than a new not as high end. Also have a couple of Linux computers. ALL of them can be a PIA at times. Still have an issue. I firmly believe in having spares for anything that I NEED to continue my business.

 

Latest infrastructure upgrade: Replacing three Linksys WAP-4400N Access Points with two TP-Link EAP245. The Linksys were a preliminary N standard, with considerably lower speed than N when it was finished. The TP-Link are dual band, with N for the 2.1 Ghz band, and AC for the 5 Ghz. One covers the entire home (had to have 2 with the older units), other is shop building. Thing that amazes me the most is just how much faster apps updates install on the IOS devices.

 

Being able to buy something in today's environment that one can get fixed quickly is a great benefit. Well worth the extra $$, especially for something needed for one's trade or profession.

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Jim

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I firmly believe in having spares for anything that I NEED to continue my business.

 

Fortunately, getting a new computer doesn't "overwrite" an old one. I always keep the older one around as a spare.

 

However, I've also learned the benefits of authorizing software to a dongle, when possible. Then all I have to do is move the dongle back to the old computer if needed. Authorizing to hard disk always ends up being more of a pain.

 

As to cars, I've owned two cars in my entire life: a 1966 VW bug and a 2000 VW bug. If it ain't broke...the big difference is that with the 66, doing tune-ups, changing oil, adjusting points, even checking brakes was easy to do. With the 2000, about the only fix I can do is add air to the tires, and fill it with gas :) Computers have followed the same curve. I used to swap out stuff, make changes, add another optical drive to be able to access more sample libraries, replace the power supply, etc. I wouldn't be confident about doing anything to my new computer...it's better left to the experts.

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I can't do much at all on the BMW (96), my wife's Miata (2006), and VERY little on the Volt (2012). I had a couple of Volvos in the 70's. Everything was available dealer only except gasoline, oil, and tires. Couldn't even replace brakes or other simple stuff - there was no aftermarket at that time (don't know about now, never got another).

 

I do still do a lot on the computers. All of my desktops are HP Z200, 210, and 220 workstations, small form factor except for a Z400 tower, and are not that difficult to service. The Macbook Pro is 2011, easy to service, Macbook Air is 2014 and I don't do anything inside it. The PC notebook is a HP Zbook 17 gen 2, whole access panel slides out easily, I've changed HD2 to SSD, put it in HD3 bay (had to buy a caddy). HD1 is an early M.2 "stick" I got a used spare, but it is easy to change. Some of the PC companies build stuff that is as hard to do anything inside as a recent Apple.

I try to specify stuff to clients that can be worked on without high end special tools. I do have an ESD mat for the workbench with the wrist strap, and it is grounded to an earth ground rod. But micro-miniature components - board swap time, if that is economically possible.

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Jim

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This Brit can tell you folks that English Sports Cars are still being built and sold.

 

Ignoring the Jaguar which is a GT and not a Sports Car there are two makers who produce traditional Sports Cars that are not inundated with electronics.

 

Checkout:-

 

Morgan Motor Company

 

Caterham Cars

 

And of course Lotus is still making Sports Cars.

Col

 

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The Brits want their government to lobby Apple to build their rumoured electric car there. I thought, "wait, can electric cars leave an oil stain on your driveway, because a British one would!!" :D

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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I once owned a Fiat 124 Spyder.

 

It went 135mph before the tach yellow lined, I got a ticket for going 95 on highway I-95, it had tuned exhausts / sounded great, and it hugged the road.

 

It was very reliable when I lived in Fort Lauderdale FL, but when I moved to Fort Pierce, nobody knew how to work on it, and some mechanic screwed it all up.

 

The problem ended up being he put the wrong distributor cap on it. When it got hot it moved the points too far away from the rotor. It quit at the 55-mile marker in the Florida Keys.

 

It had 2 sets of points, one for when the engine was cold and one for when the engine got warmed up. This guy in the Keys started jabbing a probe into the wires to see where there was voltage and where there wasn't, and when the engine cooled he got all confused. One after another, where he broke the insulation for his probe, the wires corroded.

 

I got over 150k on that car, so it was time to either have it completely rewired or trade it in. I traded it in.

 

Its name was Freddie (short for Frederica -- all my cars have female names).

 

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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