riddler

People may SAY that they're not impressed with daredevils, but watch a crowd when skydivers are swooping. Both men and women watch in awe and the look on their faces will tell you that they are impressed. I used to teach AFF classes at one particular dropzone, and the S&TA made a point of swooping the peas every time I took the students out there to practice PLFs. If there was more than one cute girl in the class, usually the jumpers were lining up to swoop for them. Sure, it annoyed me because I just spent hours teaching the students how to made a safe, steady landing. But I also have to admit - it's neat to watch. There is often a difference between what people say and how they act. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

A better question is why has skysurfing dwindled in popularity? From USPA's website: Only a few years ago when I started jumping, I saw at least one sky-surfer every weekend. I really haven't seen any for the last year. OTOH, I rarely saw wingsuit jumpers back then, but today, I see them on nearly every plane load. There are only so many skydivers in the world, and our numbers aren't increasing at a rapid rate, but we have a wide variety of disciplines (RW, big-ways, freefly, CReW, wingsuits, et al), so each discipline has to compete for jumpers. Other than occaisional competitions, I haven't seen a lot of promotion of skysurfing. Go to a large boogie, and you will see reps from wingsuit manufacturers and organizers that promote big-ways, freeflying, etc, but I've never seen skyboard reps at a boogie (no, I haven't looked that HARD for them ). If skysurfers want their discipline to be promoted by USPA, it seems to me that they need to do more to promote it themselves first. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Finished OOTP last week, and I'm re-reading POA. That, and watching all the movies Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I thought I remember that too, but I can't remember for sure which book it's in. I also read that this book release is the most printed first edition in recorded history, and they expect to sell 1.2 million copies the first day alone. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I ordered two books from Amazon - one for my step-mother and one for me. Kind of nice - they deliver to your doorstep on the release date. Someone pointed out to me that another half-blood could be Seamus (one of Harry's fellow Gryffindors), who is known to have a witch for a mum, and a muggle dad. I'm still betting on Hagrid, though. Another question - Professor McGonagall is the transfiguration teacher, and routinely transfigures into a cat. So is that just a favorite spell of hers, or is she an animagus? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Porn - good sex, bad acting, terrible plots. Hollywood - sometimes good acting, sometimes good plots, no explicit sex scenes. So I have this theory that Hollywood movies that involve romantic couples should have porn scenes between said couples. The scenes are cut out for the movies, to appeal to the right-wingers, but included in the extended DVDs, with a way to block them for children. That way, you can buy the DVD and see your favorite actors' anatomy (barring genetalia-doubles) at the right moment and in a decent movie. Example - Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Not a bad movie, but I wouldn't buy the DVD. But a porn scene between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt - I would pay another $20 for that DVD. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've had a BB for over three years now, and it's the best phone/email device I've ever owned. Before that I had a Treo and hated it. The BB is reliable and works great as a phone and email. I don't use IM on it. The phone takes a bit to get used to, because it doesn't feel the same in your hand, and the speaker isn't quite loud enough on the old 2210 that I have. But I've dropped it on concrete a few times, gotten it wet and it still works. The new ones have Bluetooth, and I recommend getting a headset with it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've never been to Iraq, but I've been to D.C. a few times. With so many of our troops there, I think I'd feel safer in Iraq Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Very cool! I predict the next move is to a bigger home for everyone Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

For those who took off work on Thursday, here's your on-line, automated excuse form: http://www.geeksquad.com/content/absentee/work.html Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Hmm - this is a good question, and perhaps one for a different forum. But I believe that AFFIs already have the discretion to skip AFF levels for students if they feel the student is already capable, tunnel training or not. I don't know if that's a formal rule, but I do know several AFF instructor that, after a few jumps, have elected to skip one or more AFF levels. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

http://www.herobuilders.com/ Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was editing while you were replying Check out the above post. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

???????????????? If that's true, I would be very interested to see. Here are the only requirements that I see in the IRM (AFF, 1.A.4.): Can't find anything on the tunnel in the IRM. It would be interesting to me, because it opens up the possibility of the USPA later increasing the allowed amount, or increasing the required amount, or mandating tunnel time as well as - all sorts of possibilities here. *Edit* - after replying, I realized that I was talking about AFFI requirements (for instructors), and you might be talking about FJC AFF requirements (for students). So I did a search in the SIM, and I did find mention of tunnel training in the new ISP, but it doesn't seem to indicate any equivelant numbers. I'm not sure how USPA "recognizing" tunnel training really counts toward any qualifying requirements though ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I would be surprised if ANY experienced skydiver said this. Tunnels are a valuable tool to help teach one portion of freefall. They don't teach exits, and they don't teach tracking. They don't really even teach those times when you're pretty far from your group and need to catch up quick, or if you're very low or very high. The only thing they teach is the basic body positions you need to fly and working with others when you're already pretty close to them. But that's still a good thing, as I think many people seem have the most trouble with that one part. Also, USPA wouldn't count tunnel time toward any qualifying freefall time, such as the required six hours of freefall to get the AFF rating. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Or better yet, how the sport has changed you! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

100th - first jump with Jeannie 200th - cool 7-way put together by flyangel2, but also starring skr, mustard, Ralph W (owner of Brush) and a couple of others good friends. 300th - fun four-way with skr, Daena and Paul. I don't know why I remember the double-aughts. Maybe I just like BIIG ROOOOUND numbers Have a good one! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I once stopped a city bus But The Spleen definitely steals the show, IMO. Great comeback role for PeeWee. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This is a nice shirt, but I could never wear it because it's so obviously summer, and I'm an autumn. Edit - RATS - just saw Keith's post - he beat me to it Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Own the books (hardback), own the BBS DVDs. Was pleasantly surprised by the movie - it was pretty good. They caught a lot of the good points, and were creative about some of the harder effects (Zaphod's two heads, etc). Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I just realized that I have about six hours of freefall time, and eight hours of tunnel time. I'm not sure what to think about that. Who else has more tunnel time than freefall time? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think it's more about the small object, big sky effect. I would be surprised if polarized glasses help you. A better strategy is to pick good weather conditions for viewing. Clouds that are only a few thousand feet above jump run provide a white backdrop to make it easier to see jumpers in freefall from the ground. Normally, I would not recommend binoculars or a long camera lens, because the risk of sunlight coming through the optics would be very bad for your eyes (and also cameras). But if there's enough cloud cover to block out the sun, you might try binoculars or a zoom camera. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I saw a "Vote for Pedro" bumper sticker in Tampa a few days ago. YESSSSSssss Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yah, you think being a tunnel rat is glamorous, but on the skydiving hierarchy they rank just below toilet scrubbers (but still above packers ) At first I thought it would be cool to be a tunnel rat. But then I saw that they actually have to work pretty hard. I spent a half-hour in the Orlando tunnel Saturday night. After the session we gave a tip to the rat, and he looked pretty grumpy because it just started to rain, and he had to get back in Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

As the official camera guy, I demand to be invited to the next hot-tub and pillow fight Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD