2022 Week 1 – 2020 Too?

Here we go, another New Year! I’m hoping 2022 is better than the last two years. I feel like I’ve lost a lot of time & plan to make the best of 2022 by getting back outside and doing the things I love to do.

I typically write these Blog posts on the couch each Sunday morning from notes I’ve made throughout the week. A few weeks ago I started visiting the Fishers Test Kitchen and Sunking Tap Room to write. It’s a nice change from sitting around the house & the food/beer that’s available is a big plus. The iPad Pro has been a real rock star when it comes to mobile computing. I love how it instatly connects to my iPhone when I’m away from home.

We lost Betty White this week at the age of 99. She was quite the actress who had an impressive resume. I remember first seeing her in the Mary Tyler Moore show when I was a kid. She stood up to racism in 1954 in a move that could have ended her career. She also had quite the following by several Millennials I know. She will be missed.

The day before Christmas I finally received my new Tidbyt digital display. I backed this project on Kickstarter earlier this year & had been watching its development progress throughout the year. It’s an Internet-connected LED display with unlimited customization from Apps. The initial set of Apps got me up and running and developers are building more all the time. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with!

And finally, if you’ve ever wondered how a Formula One car really works this is the video for you. It goes into some amazing detail and helps explain the inner workings as well as why they cost as much as they do.

Has DRS & KERS Saved Formula 1?

I’m a guy & most guys like racing of some form or another.  I used to be fascinated with Indy Cars & then started following NASCAR.  My latest obsession is Formula One (F1).  I used to watch F1 years ago but it got to the point where unless the Pole Position driver crashed he normally won the race.  This was because of the crazy technology like active suspension and anti-lock breaks (common in passenger cars these days)…  There was little to no passing…

There’s a bit of this going on now in F1 (Sebastian Vettel seems to win all the time) but the introduction of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) has brought passing back to F1.  In a nutshell DRS allows a driver who is less than 1 second behind another driver to open their rear wing and take advantage of an immediate reduction in drag thus making the car faster & allowing for the potential for a pass.  It can only be activated in certain areas of the track and even disabled by race control should the weather make it unsafe to use (F1 races in the rain which is VERY exciting to watch).

This, along with the Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) has made F1 a lot more enjoyable to watch.  I actually look forward to each race and love watching these new technologies in use during the race.

Now we just have to get F1 back to the US