We are looking at getting a casual LAN party together in the Omaha area!

I have the switches and servers to support reliable low-ping gaming for up to around 90 people, and I’m sure some of you can contribute your own switches and servers if need-be.

I am currently looking for a date that works for the most people but I am thinking about:

Jan 8-9th
Jan15-16th
Jan22-23rd
Jan29-30th

Depending on how many people would like to come I will renting out a conference room out at either Marriott or Holiday Inn that we could all use and split the cost. I imagine it would be somewhere around $10-$20 a person if we could get between 10-20 people there, and cheaper if we can get more people to register.

Please email this site around to all your gaming friends so we can hopefully get casual LAN parties going every few months!

Please post up if you are interested and pick dates that work for you and I’ll add you to my mailing list!

Dan

Here is a small table of the minimum sizes (at 300dpi) high quality:

Here is a small table of the minimum sizes (at 150dpi) bare minimum:

As you can see, actual pixel count is fairly demanding for a “high quality” print. High quality meaning what is actually observed by the camera and not made up by some computer program. Typically computers are used with a algorithm called a Bayer Interpolation that will blend and “guess” the colors to make up missing information between colors and pixels when someone tries to enlarge them, so it is possible to get an OK looking 8×10 from a 5 MP camera, or an OK looking 24×36 from a 22MP camera. So keep in mind that if you are producing any of these sizes with less than the Megapixels listed your print is more a test of the quality of your computer software than it is your camera!

Also keep in mind that imaging sensors will see only one color and one intensity per pixel. So 1 px will see red at lets say a value of 210 (1 to 255 intensity, 16 Bit color). In order to record the real color emitted in real life you need at least 3 of these. Yes, just like your TV or anything else the camera will blend the 3 colors to create the real “observed” color. What is the caveat for this? Digital cameras (non-Foveon) only really “see” 1/3 of the claimed Megapixel value that they advertise (because they are using 3 pixels to record each “real” color) so that fancy 10 MP camera you own in reality only can record 3.3 MP worth of actual real life image, just enough for a high quality 5×7, the rest is blended and made up by computer software. This makes a strong case for the reason why REAL professional photographers still use film for all of their important work. This is because film CAN record a real color at each “pixel” which is still higher than digital (roughly 88 real megapixels for a 35mm piece of film).

“Are we looking at it with a view of adding subscription services in there and pay-per-view movies? Yes, we are looking at that. No decision has been taken yet.”

My personal favorite shows include: Family Guy, American Dad, King of the Hill, Simpsons, Naruto and a handful of others. Currently Hulu will only air these series’ past half-dozen or so episodes which really makes Hulu a bit boring for me after a while. I can remember in 2007 when Hulu didn’t have either the ads that currently plague every episode or the episode restriction that is currently in effect. After a while everyone saw the ads coming, but does Hulu really expect people to pony up a probable $10+ a month for something that will likely still have ads and likely still have episode restrictions? They should take a clue from the media distribution currently used by Microsoft’s Zune where a user pays $14.99 a month for unlimited, unrestricted access to every song on the planet, and every month you get to download 10 songs and keep them without DRM (digital rights management). That my friends is value. It’s a wonder why more people that actually like music don’t own Zunes. Hulu, get a clue, bait and switch won’t work on this generation when we can BitTorrent an entire season in hours or netflix and copy virtually anything we want INCLUDING movies.

What do you think?

Outlook is good, we anticipate recruitment, analysis, and publication to occur swiftly and efficiently.

HupA, an alkaloid initially identified from the Chinese herbal medicine Huperia serrata, is a potent reversible acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor with additional unique properties including NMDA-receptor antagonist properties, neuroprotective and antioxidant effects. In animal studies, HupA was shown to possess greater inhibitory, longer-lasting, and more selective effects on AChE activity than donepezil. In clinical studies HupA improved memory, mood, and activities of daily living in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia. Adverse effects have been reported at a very low rate in all the clinical trials, and are mainly cholinergic, such as dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal symptoms, headaches and depressed heart rate. Thus, HupA is an attractive option which may have beneficial effects not only on cognitive but also functional domains of schizophrenia.

After reading the article, I had a bit of fun reminiscing of my progress through the “seven levels.”

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/7.htm

My past mentor, National Geographic photographer Don Doll S.J., used to tell me exactly the same thing in as many words.

Showing up with the 70-200mm 2.8 IS USM  or a 50mm 1.0L or a Leica won’t make you a better photographer if you don’t know what to do with them and if you aren’t creative.

Granted I, like many people, didn’t start out as a splendid photographer but I would like to think that I have always had passion. Whether (or not) you produce top quality images or whether you have top quality equipment, its the desire to learn and to progress that really shows up in your work.

That being said, let it be known that my first real camera was the Canon EOS 3 but generally I think that by starting out on such an advanced piece of machinery I was given both a blessing and a curse.

I was given a blessing because I had to technically bring myself up to that level of camera before I could produce ANY images that were usable. I have boxes of blurry & poorly exposed photos sitting in my closet right now to prove this point… The camera itself has 4 modes: P, Tv, Av, and M. Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual respectively. Aside from everything I learned from reading photo.net, every chance I got I would check out a book from the library, or go to Barnes & Nobles to spend hours reading all the books in their photography section. Needless to say, my family got a bit pestered that I was always taking pictures of them, always trying to learn something, always trying to get something right. Even a simple trip to Chili’s or the mall would turn into a photo excursion for me, where I would load my gadget bag with my EOS 3 a few rolls of film and the beastly 50mm f/1.8. Slowly and slowly I got better. Through MUCH trial and error I have learned to make full use of every mode the camera has to offer. Not to mention by my constant reading I had inherited decades worth of experience from old news & wedding photographers. Those are the people with real skill, those are the images where you only get one chance for it to come out perfectly, that and there is no “review image” button to make sure your subject is in focus or you got the image that you would like. So I pity the new generation of photographers… those that start out on DSLRs. Being able to instantly review and tweak the pictures has caused most people to never really learn exposure, or focus, or aperture, or shutter speed. Being able to photoshop has blurred the line between pro and amateur. I hear talk of people who will spend hours and days in photoshop after a shoot making their prints usable. Why? Just shoot it correctly the first time, with the correct exposure, the correct focus, and the correct framing and no photoshop is necessary. After a shoot of 500+ pictures I will spend maybe an hour selecting the best from each location, then I’m done. That’s what starting out on film and with an advanced camera has given me.

The curse that was given to me was the fact that since I had to learn all this, I never was able to fully express my creativity and my style. Its hard to have much of a style when your picture comes out underexposed because your subject is wearing light colors, or when you accidentally mis-focus. Granted I can now “fully express my creativity” as canon calls it, there were a lot of missed opportunities in the past.

Never miss an opportunity to learn, and never believe that you know it all.

http://photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/007wWb

I’m proud to say after all these years it is the first search result when someone types in “Konica Impressa”

That type of thing means a lot to me. The fact that my sample pictures and insight have probably helped thousands of people all over the world in the past five years since that post was originally made.

I really hate to admit, but in the past 7 years since i first began in photography I still don’t have a concise portfolio anywhere…

I have hundreds of pictures in unique albums, hundreds of memories of friends, and pets, and sports…

And yet if someone asks me, “Can I see your portfolio?” I’m at a loss… Not because I am not capable of showing my best work to someone, more that some pictures are more than just a single image, its almost as if the pictures themselves get lonely when isolated.

Take my main page for example: http://www.vividomaha.com

Sure, its designed in the current flavor of the month. A diverse selection that might appeal to my target audience.

But to be perfectly honest those pictures mean little to me in their current presentation. Sure, a skilled photographer can see how expertly taken they were. But where are the memories? What is a kiss without a smile afterwards? What’s a smile without a friend who’s just out of frame cracking a joke? What’s a perfectly composed group picture in front of the altar without its sister image of laughing and crying family crowded behind the photographer?

A picture says a thousand words but several pictures tell of a lifetime….

F1 w/ a 200 2.8 w/ lenshood extended, metered at 50 ISO for the shadows with +.5 of a stop added to that reading.

F1 w/ a 200 2.8 w/ lenshood extended, metered at 50 ISO for the shadows with +.5 of a stop added to that reading.

F1 w/ a 200 2.8 w/ lenshood extended, metered at 50 ISO for the shadows with +.5 of a stop added to that reading.

F1 w/ a 200 2.8 w/ lenshood extended, metered at 50 ISO for the shadows with +.5 of a stop added to that reading.

Reala - EOS3 w/ EF 100/2 and B+W MRC Skylight

Reala - EOS3 EF 70-200/2.8 IS, B+W MRC CIR POL, MRC 81B, MRC UV

F1 kodak gold 100 shot at 400 ISO pushed 2 stops

F1 Kodak ISO 200 - Pushed 1 stop

Kodak Ektachrome g100x & EOS 3 70-200 2.8 IS. B+W MRC CIR POL, MRC 81B, MRC UV

All the welds look amazing, there is not one flaw in the craftsmanship of this item.

Overall it weighs about 7 lbs by my guess.

Here are a few pics to tantalize. I will install this when the weather gets better here. Granted the real test won’t be till I get a 95+ degree track day in as of right now I would feel comfortable paying much more than this radiator sells for. Truly is a work of art, from the welds, to the material, to the size and build.

Just sitting there it screams performance!

In comparison to the stock radiator:

• Thicker
• Less fin density (fins spaced apart farther)
• All-aluminum construction
• Better performing

This is a griffin source design. Griffin makes very high performance radiators for circle track and NASCAR applications. http://www.griffinrad.com/

Click on Pic to view other pictures.

Getting the parts required for this has taken me around 3-4 months.

I bought the FEED gear used from Murix, great guy. He said it took him 3 months to get from Japan new.

$600

Can be bought new from http://www.mazdaparts.com for $677 plus probably $50 in shipping

http://www.mazdaparts.com/ProductDet…000-1156400947

or http://www.japanparts.com for $726

Then I had to get the Mazda bearing Kit, which are the two bearings for the main pinion, the two bearings for the axles, the three oil seals, and the crush washer.

Diff bearings- 011827350A (2ea) MSRP-56.80ea Website-45.44ea
Axle seals- P04327238A (2ea) MSRP-8.25ea Website-6.60ea
Pinion seal- RA0327165A MSRP-21.50 Website-17.20
Pinion Crush spacer- R00427171A MSRP-10.00 Website-8.00
Pinion bearing #1- 060427220 MSRP-35.45 Website-28.36
Pinion bearing #2- R00127210 MSRP-61.20 Website-48.96

$202

I got mine from http://www.onlinemazdaparts.com a forum vendor. They also have great prices on coils

Then The install is going to cost $500 (note, this is just for the gear install, if you cant remove the diff yourself then it will probably cost around $800 bucks for the whole thing)

So this is a bare minimum $1300 install. But realistically this will probably cost you around $1700.

The shop in town specializes in transmissions. They said that the fittment was perfect and the backlash, meshing and preload set itself on the first try.

Maybe a lot of you haven’t heard of this before, but the 4.77 gear shortens the gear ratios for all the gears (shorten meaning that any given gear will seem to last shorter in comparison to driving speed). So driving around in third gear at 3000 rpm, you will no longer be at 30 mph but rather at some lower speed. Its a ratio difference so its not like this just raises every rpm by 1000 for any given speed but rather it will vary with what gear it is in.

4.77 means that the drive shaft coming from the transmission has to turn this gear 4.77 times in order to turn the wheels once. This is raised from the stock 4.44 gearing. This functions the same way that the low gear functions on your car or on a bike. Its very easy to turn the pedals because torque is amplified by the gears but you need to turn them very quickly to go fast. Luckily the RX8’s rotary engine has revs to spare and rather meek low end grunt. So this seems like the perfect mod to trade some revs for raw acceleration, this will let the rx8 zip through the gears right into the power band and be able to put more power to the ground in general.

Top speed is limited to about 163 mph now as opposed to the 185 ish limit of 6th gear now. So at about 9K in sixth gear you will be at 163 mph.

This drive promises a noticeable increase in torque in every gear.

chattering in video is only from the camera bouncing up and down, there was no background noise in the cabin other than the exhaust
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/10a68352-4964-4a40-83ff-99ad014d0acc.htm

Review:

This is easily the best mod out there for the N/A rx8. I honestly couldn’t feel my flywheel upgrade that much, but this is like 4x the difference that the flywheel felt like!

Even though it is pricey it really gives a lot of grunt to the rx8, Pulls feel stronger in every gear.

At 70 mph in sixth revs were at 3900

at 80 revs are 4400

at 85 revs are 4750

It is harder to drive though, engine braking is MUCH more pronounced. So I don’t really recommend this for someone who isn’t already well acquainted with rev-matching and smooth shifts.

Engine feels a lot more responsive and I can definitely notice MUCH more pull.

The gear is very silent, there are no abnormal noises from the differential. The gear is well made.

this easily tops my list for the best power mod to do for the RX8, really gives the car back some pull, makes it more fun to drive because it feels even more revvy than it already is.

Ground was wet outside so I couldn’t really do any serious starts because I wasn’t getting any traction in 1st gear.

It feels good, I’m very pleased with how this mod turned out and I will post some RX8 vs RX8 comparison vids when my buddy gets his out of the shop.

Overall, this makes my mod recommendation list:

1. Lightweight wheels
2. FINAL DRIVE
3. RP short shifter
4. AP pulley
5. coilovers & swaybars
6. flywheel
7. REVi + duct
8. test pipe + exhaust
9. mazmart water pump, gauges, koyo radiator, battery relocation, grounding kit, strut tower bars.

It Really is the best mod out there aside from some wheels <17 lbs (cause those help you not only in acceleration but also steering and braking)

Install took about 1.5 hours, I went ahead and changed the coolant while I was at it. All the bolts on the water pump were 12mm, with 10mm bolts for the water pump pulley. Spillage wasn’t too bad when I had already drained the fluid out, soaked a rag that I placed underneath the opening, but no massive floods.

I would rate this install at slightly harder than the agency power pulley install, since you are dealing with spilling liquids.

Everything went smoothly, except, when you are replacing the new water pump, dont put the pulley on before the pump is in the car, if the pulley is in place you wont be able to slide a bolt into place.

Order by calling Mazmart directly:
1-800-221-5156

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