August « 2007 « The Racing Geek

Archive for August, 2007

Do you have the time?

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

I had an interesting experience this morning – my cellphone (which is set to get automatic time updates from the cell tower) suddenly reset its time back by 8 hours and as a result my cellphone alarm didnt go off. When I got up it said that the time was 11:30 pm when it was actually 7:30 am. I tried restarting the phone and even forced a network time update but the phone stubbornly said that the time was 11:30 pm and there was nothing I could do about it. When I was driving to work the phone finally set itself to the correct time and the alarm started going off about 2 hours later than it was supposed to. It appears that the cell tower closest to my home has some problem with its time server and has been giving incorrect time updates to all the phones in my area – as soon as I drove away from home the phone connected to a different tower and got an accurate time update.

And while this meant that I was late for work, the more interesting thing is that I’ve had to re-evaluate the reliability of the cellphone clock. I have gotten so used to using the cellphone clock that there was even a period of time when I went without a wrist watch and always used my cell to tell the time. The fact that the cellphone gets time updates from the nearest cell tower has always made it more reliable in my eyes. I never had to worry about day light savings times and the time would automatically set itself to the current timezone when I was traveling. I do not own an alarm clock and both Nithya and I rely on exclusively on our cellphone alarms. Even in at work we always assume that the time from the ZoneTag cellphone is more accurate than the time from the users digital camera. And while this is usually true, this mornings mixup has driven home the fact that cellphones aren’t 100% infallible – guess its time to finally buy that alarm clock.

[tags]time, clock, mobile, cellphone, network time, time update[/tags]

Posted in personal, thoughts | No Comments »

We’re in!

Sunday, August 19th, 2007

I am a huge fan of the 24 Hours of Lemons and am glad to announce that Team SFF1 has officially been accepted into the Arse-Freeze-Apalooza race to be held in Alatamont on 20-21 October. My co-drivers will be Guy Argo, Rob Dietsch, Gabriel Matus and Jyri Virkki. Since we are going to be racing an 1986 MW 325E we decided to go for a BMW F1 based team concept. Check out our accepted team concept and application:

Team Name
SFF1 BMW Sauber

Vechicle Make & model:
2008 BMW Sauber F1.08 aka renovated 1986 BMW 325 E with a broken timing belt and bent valves

Team Concept
After a fast, though unreliable, start to the 2007 Formula 1 championship, the BMW Sauber F1 team has decided that they need additional preseason testing to properly prepare the 2008 F1 car. After developing the initial chassis in secret, the SFF1 test team has been entrusted with performing much needed endurace testing by entering the car in the prestigious 24 hours of Lemons race. With a team of internationally reknowned drivers and backed by a full works pitcrew, the SFF1 team is expected to both compete successfully and gain valuable data to help the car compete for the 2008 F1 season.

Team Drivers
Guy Argo

In Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart, Scotland has produced two of the greatest drivers to ever race in Formula 1. However after the heady days of the sixties and seventies there haven’t been any true scottish champions – Guy Argo should change all that. He started autocrossing two months after getting his license and one month after taking delivery of his ’92 special edition Mazda Miata. Two months later he won his first autocross. He started indoor go-karting in 2000 and became part of the famous trio (Guy Argo, David Canavan, Paul Smyth) that dominated F1Boston’s indoor racing scene. In 2002 he transitioned to outdoor karts with a sponsored ride for All Kart. He took a brief hiatus after moving to the Bay Area. But as soon as gokartracer.com opened up, he was already making his mark on the Pro League with several podiums and an outright season win. Currently you can find him testing his mettle against all comers atthe Sunday Night Leagues LeManKarting.com in Fremont alongside his protege, Jay Gopal. Reknowned for his patience, cunning and spectacular passing, what he lacks in speed he makes up for in consistency and determination. We await his return to outdoor racing with bated breath.

Robert Dietsch

Robert Dietsch
Rob Dietsch has been involved in motorsport since the late 80′s doing a variety of AutoX and HPDE before graduating to club racing. After winning the SCCA SFR GT4 championship in his rookie year (2003) he progessed to Toyota Atlantic and had a fairly good season before taking a sabbatical from racing. Currently tracking his Lotus Elise and Porsche Cayman at NorCal HPDE, he has been tempted back to the world of competitve motorsport by the chance to go after the ultimate prize – the 24 hours of Lemons.

Gabriel Matus

Gabriel Matus
With the exit of Juan Pablo Montoya, F1 needs another Latin heathrob to bring F1 to Latin America. With his playboy looks and fierce racing determination, Gabriel has all the ingredients needed to become the next Latino Superstar of Formula 1. One of the main organizers behind the SFF1 group, his endurance driving experience includes commuting from San Francisco to Sunnyvale everyday.

Rahul Nair

1 billion people and the best India can come up with Narain Kartikeyan??? Rahul Nair expects to redress that balance by merging raw speed with tactical brilliance to become the first Indian to win in F1. This speed freak can spends as much of his life behind the wheel as he can. He has 2 years of HPDE and Autocross experience in his Lotus and is a regular fixture in the bay area go-kart tracks.

Jyri Virkki

Jyri Virkki
Where would any F1 team be without a “Flying Finn”? Jyri brings with him the same ice-cool personality that saw Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen win dozens of F1 races and 3 world championships. A Miata addict, he has been running track events since the mid-90s and instructing for about 9 years (currently instructing with Miata clubs, Thunderhill Street School and BMWCCA).