Re: I-card ??
 

Bingo!

While I don't hold an MBA and didn't stay in a Holiday Inn last night, in my humble opinion I don't think even Bernie Madoff could have made THAT plan work.

Re: I-card ??
 

Interesting. I don't ever remember you helpng Jeff Foster any of the many times I watched him try to get the system working. For instance, did you set up the system at Brainerd? Since it's fairly close to your home base, I guess it is a track that you go to.

Had that actually happened, things might not be what they are today.

So I assume you're willing to give your work away, in the same manner as you want the I card to be free to all racers? C'mon, Don.

So are you volunteering to maintain the system for all the Full Throttle and Lucas races?

Don, I remember when you showed up on CompuServe one day wanting to know all about data acquisition and record keeping. You even emailed me asking me for help in how the Pro classes handled things.

I'm not about to play "Mine's bigger than yours" with you on the Internet but rest assured that there are a bunch of people who know my history and reputation. I'm very comfortable when I think of who they are and not at all bothered that you are clueless.

Re: I-card ??
 

Yes, I occasionally I still help out at DRC and do a race here and there. But to be crystal clear, I am here on my own and each message I post is entirely personal. I am not even an employee, let alone a spokesman.

Ken, forgive me if my reply might strike you in the wrong way. I just wanted to make sure there was no confusion about where I'm coming from.

And thanks for reading the DRC bylines!

Re: I-card ??
 

No problemo Dan. I've been around the block a time or two.

Re: I-card ??
 

Ok Dan...... I'm going to ask this question.... please go easy on me.....
WHAT'S WAS WRONG WITH I-CARD?..... i sorta thought it was "great"
I believe everybody that used it "loved it".... (that's what I've been told by others).

I ALSO REALLY APPRECIATE "DRAG RACE CENTRAL" TOO..... and absolutely love it!
I guess I am a "information overload" kind of guy.

tom

Re: I-card ??
 

not to hijack this post but Dan You brought up some really fun times with the orginal Compuserve times i must be getting a little older these days as i relish the past when we all had some major fun with Compuserve.

Re: I-card ??
 

Can one of you "computer literate" guys with experience in the vagaries of NHRA's computer system AT THE TRACK tell me why NHRA doesn't just initiate a "live feed" of the on-site computer system that would (FOR A FEE) give us poor barstuds sitting at home, "live" access to the incremental times, reaction times, speeds and e.t.'s, etc.,. as they happen?

It seems a simple thing to do (but, what do I know???), and they could charge an annual "membership fee"for the service, or sell it on a race-by-race basis; or, whatever they could dream up....

It looks to me to be one of those situations wherein, since it's happening anyway, and would cost virtually NOTHING to allow access to it, that profits from the sales of memberships to the service would be considerable, since there would be no inventory, overhead, or much in the way of maintenance personell (beyond the maintenance personell they already are paying for the satisfactory performance of the extant system.)

It's like there's a bus going to Chicago... how much does it cost the bus company if I climb aboard and ride in one of the empty seats?

I am NOT advocating anything surreptitious; this should be a service that we could BUY for a reasonable price (whatever that is), and would have a few advantages over current setups; specifically, you'd get incremental times for every run, and it would be in real time. I appreciate FAST NEWS as much (or, probably MORE) than the next guy, but I have waited sometimes an hour or more for posting of results that I heard on the online broadcast. I realize that that was most likely not the fault of the Fast News poster, but it happens, nonetheless.

It shouldn't, with this "live feed."

Since they have never done it, there are probably good, legitimate, reasons why.... I just don't know what they are.

It seems that NHRA needs every nickel they can scrape up these days; this would seem to be a way they could make some extra cash....

I know I'd cough up a significant amount of money for such a service. And, I'm POOR!!! :(

Can somebody who understands this stuff a lot better than I do explain why this isn't a viable scenario?


Thanks for any information....

Bill

Re: I-card ??
 

I'll try to avoid spamming the thread and answer all the replies in a single message.

Bill, when you see a delay in the results one of two things may have happened. First, occassionally the software seems to go into limbo and leave the message in our outbox. We think it's been sent but it's still hiding on our computer. Second, even though Larry Sullivan's great program can generate an instant report as soon as the class is finished we always wait until we receive a sheet from the NHRA (or IHRA, etc. as the case may be) before we send the results. We have no way of knowing DQs for tech, centerline, etc otherwise and in any case until the sheet appears we don't have the official results anyhow.

Tom, as I remember you were part of the pioneers on CompuServe also. I'll try and address your question at the end of this message as soon as I get to reminisce a bit.

Don, I have very fond memories of those days also. We discussed, argued, and speculated and it was one of the more enjoyable times I've had online. I think back to the early days when the only results we'd get were when someone (on their own wallet) would attend a race and agree to share what was going on.

For FastNews to get to what it is today, three people were critical. First, Larry Sullivan spent literally thousands of hours developing what is now an amazing, retail grade program. Other people tried reporting but the task is way too intensive to do without a program organizing the data. Second, Ed Dykes had the force of personality to gain acceptance from the sanctioning bodies. His dogged determination brought what we were doing all the way from "fans with laptops" to an accepted and respected news source.

And last, Rick Green jumped in a very uncertain time and managed to pave the way up until now. He filled the shoes of Eddie very well and continued to lead FastNews in the correct direction. His insistence on professionalism and quality turned our group from a ragtag assembly of computer geeks into a service which the maintstream media often turns to for information.

Though Dykes and Sullivan were awarded a Car Craft All Star (how I envy them!) none of the three has gotten the recognition they deserve for the trails they blazed.

Sorry for all those words which really aren't on the subject of the thread. I return to it at the end because it's taken some thought as to what needs to be said.

Good, honest, questions have been raised but I have avoided answering them until now because I DO NOT have first hand informaton as to exactly what took place. I've never published something unless I verified it to my satisfaction; in this case I will break that rule as long as everyone reading this understands that what follows is ONLY WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY SOURCES CLOSE TO THE SITUATION and may or may not be 100 percent factual.

First, I have the understanding that some confusion still exists as to who owns the datastream. I have heard that both NHRA and Compulink have laid claims to it at one time or another. I have the impression that in the interest of serving the public, they've decided NOT to litigate the question and both simply agree to get the information out in the simplest, most effective way possible without further argument as to who actually owns it.

Second, I understand that though the founder of iCard had intended at one time to sell subscriptions to the feed, when it came time for that to happen one or both of the parties mentioned above objected to him selling something he didn't own. The money from the sale of the equipment evidently didn't last long and certainly wasn't enough to fund the yearly fees involved in running the service, which I heard were very modest.

Third, whatever payment for rights to the feed WAS agreed to, it was a problem almost from the very beginning. I know for a fact that the service continued for a considerable amount of time with the agreed-to payments considerably past due with more than one extension granted after the "pay or disconnect" date. I offer that fact to counter those saying "nobody cares about the racers".

So, sorry for the length of this message and again, please take my comments with a grain of salt.

Re: I-card ??
 

Thank you Mr. Bennett for filling us in!

The next question is what is it going to take to get I-card back in use with NHRA?

Re: I-card ??
 

Dan,

Thanks for your explanation of the way FAST NEWS came to be, and how the infrequent delays happen.

We had a reporting program at Prodigy with drag racing BB members posting, but it was nothing like what Larry, et.al., ultimately put together, though we did cover most national events in the early and mid 1990s.

I am, as I said, thankful for the FAST NEWS service, since I come from an era in time where you had to wait 3 months and read about it in Hot Rod magazine if you wanted to know who won what at a national event.

I'm not kidding!

I read your post with interest and appreciate the time you took to write it.

I didn't, however, see an answer to my main question, which was ,"... tell me why NHRA doesn't just initiate a "live feed" of the on-site computer system that would (FOR A FEE) give us poor barstuds sitting at home, "live" access to the incremental times, reaction times, speeds and e.t.'s, etc.,. as they happen?"

You did say that NHRA and Comp-U-Link are indecisive as to who owns that data stream, but wouldn't it be in SOMEBODY'S best interest to litigate it and find out, so that whoever DOES own it, could sell it, as I have described?

What am I missing here?????

Bill