riddler

I'll be over in 20 minutes. Congrats to you! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Was out drinking last night with a few cute girls and some seriously drunk guy and chatting about jumping. The one drunk guy *swore* he was right about this. Said he did two tandems in Florida. Said for his next jump, they would send him out with one instructor, and if he passed, they would let him jump solo. I think he was full of beer (or something). Anyone ever heard of getting certified in three jumps? The only programs I know of are static line, AFF, and that new-fangled integrated program (IFP?), and none of them are three-jump certifications. Sounds like he was BSing to me ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

7:3:0 Back up to my old digs for Friday King Air jumps. Three good sit-flies. One solo, one two-way and one three-way. I *almost* have the stand, but that's a tough one - used it for several seconds to get down to the low sitter. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was awesome doing our first chopper jump together! I was amazed I could actually hear you talk out on that strut - then I was looking down and didn't hear you say "three", but we seemed to exit fine. You did a great job tracking away, even though we didn't have a ton of free-fall. That one guy said we pulled at exactly the same time. Then next ride was even better - after Thomas and his friend exited, the pilot shot up to 6,000, so I got a nice free-fall out of it. I'm still having flashbacks of standing on that strut at 6 grand.

Software raid is standard on the Linux 2.4 kernel. I would recommend RedHat as an OTS Linux package, but they should all have pretty much the same base for RAID. IBM has proprietary RAID hardware/code that is much more optimized, but they charge an arm and a leg for it. Here's a link to start: http://linas.org/linux/raid.html Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I can't give you very good answers to that, I'm afraid, because I don't have them. I know the pilot said this was his first time taking skydivers, so it's not a circuit bird. I *think* he's local to Colorado. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yes, but has anyone actually been hurt by this? I could guess it's possible, but I'm curious if this has ever happened. BTW - sorry about your wife running off with Melissa Etheridge. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

On Saturday. I thought $40 per jump was reasonable, so I did two. Standing on a strut hovering a mile off the ground and falling head down from virtually zero airspeed to terminal is amazing! The second ride saw me at 6,000. Like (I think) most skydivers, I had never been in a helicopter before and have to admit they are very cool! The pilot warned us to fall (not jump) from the strut because jumping makes the bird swing and the rotors could possibly come down and give you a "haircut". It sounds unlikely, but I wasn't about to second guess him so I fell. Anyone ever heard of that before? Is that typical with a helicopter jump? Any skydivers been hurt by jumping and getting hit by the rotor? Obviously you don't jump up, but I wonder if you could get hurt jumping out. And yes, I brought a case of micro-brew with me

"He declined at the time to say where any of the trio was, disclosing only that one lived in an Islamic nation" I disapprove of cloning Osama Bin Laden. Regardless of whether anyone approves or how many laws there are against this, people will do it. One advantage is we will finally see working examples of the heredity/environment arguments. If you have clones, you have a standard for heredity, so you can see how much environment affects people. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

See PM P.S. - I got my helmet and alti back. Thanks guys. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

You guys both missed the helicopter jumps last weekend in Brush. $40 - not bad for a chopper ride, and I got six grand on my last ride. It was a TINY but chilly, though. Brrr. Looking forward to Eloy, that's for sure!! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My opinion: Aberdeen is bought and paid for by M$. I've sat in on too many M$ sales pitches when they used Aberdeen as a source for statistics. Do a search on Aberdeen and Microsoft and see how many glowing things they have to say about them, and how many bad things they say about their competitors. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yeah - like busting into people's homes without a warrant. Legal in Colorado if you're a bounty hunter. We've had a few people break into the wrong houses around here. What makes this interesting is if someone enters your property in Colorado and you feel they are armed and pose a risk to yourself (i.e. anyone with a gun will do), you can legally shoot to kill. We call this the "make my day" law. And yes, Clint Eastwood does own a house here. Sometimes I feel like I live in the wild west. Best I can do is not own a gun and hope no one shoots me. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

DZ.com poll: How many people procrastinate with both hands? Or has that one been done already? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

No truth to these rumors (which are probably started by other DZOs). Brush will be keeping the King Air all winter and will jump every weekend if there are enough jumpers. How was Canon City? I haven't been there yet. Apparently, the new owners of Brush used to operate down there before they bought the new place from Steve and Maria. And to whomever stole my helmet and altimeter!! Can I have it back? pleese? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

to cope with my problems by becoming an alcoholic. It's Friday, all the systems are crashed, the customer hates me and everyone at work is ignoring my cries for help. Time to raise the white flag, kick back with a brewski and laugh at the world. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

You act like this isn't already happening. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What would you call those? Crap-Circles? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Not having pets and working from home generally keeps me bacteria and virus free. Someday, when I'm rich, I plan to develop an acute fear of germs like Hugh Hefner. Right now, it's just a mild phobia. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Why yes, I would love to take PLFExpert captive. Thank you very much. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Cats' ability to fall gracefully stems from their evolutionary tendency to climb (trees mostly), and jump (or fall) from those heights. They have evolved no skills to fall from heights greater than 30 feet or so (tall trees). Anything they do in longer free-fall will be instinctual, based on falling from 30 feet or less. It may or may not save them from death, but if it does, it's purely coincidental - obviously a 30 foot fall does not let them reach terminal velocity, so if they do survive, it's just plain luck. My guess is most cats would not survive falls from more than 100 feet, but I have never seen a real study of this. http://www.petplace.com/Articles/artShow.asp?artID=4076 Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Usually stress until I get above 1,500, then relax. Think about my great uncle who was a paratrooper in WW2. Stress about equipment until I check it, then relax again. Think about how great it's going to be once I get on the slide. Stress about he jump until I remember that I'm a good enough skydiver to handle most situations, then relax again. If there's someone I like on the plane, I fantasize about her rubbing my thigh or falling asleep on me. Stress about having everything ready when the door opens and feel the cold, then relax before I go out. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think the government doesn't know how to deal with terrorism, so they are settling into a role of terrorist retaliation. Look for this to be a future trend with the US - small highly specialized teams that go in with one objective - to destroy one facility or kill a small group of people. It's what happens when we decide were going to be the world's police. But it's also nice to have the impunity when we are attacked to go after the attackers anywhere in the world. I suspect there will be many mistakes made and lots of cover-ups. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

0:0:0 it's COLD in Colorado, so went to a hot springs in Buena Vista to sit in 106 degree mineral water while letting snow fall on my face. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

In an attempt to completely hijack this thread, I shall make a stab at the conditions required to claim that a human has successfully taken a cat skydiving. Suggestions are encouraged, but may not be regarded with due seriousness, considering that every other thread on this forum tends to degenerate to sex, beer or skydiving: 1. The cat must not be severely harmed in any way. Damage that it causes to itself (e.g. wild and frenzied scratching, suicide attempts, etc) shall be considered incidental. Damage to the stupid human, even if fatal, shall be considered humorous. 2. Video and/or still pictures, along with witnesses are required. Editing out faces/names/dropzones to avoid trouble with the ASPCA will be considered an act of cowardice, but still acceptable. 3. The cat must be a loved pet of the skydiver or skydiver's family (with permission) or dropzone (with permission). No running out ot the animal shelter for new supplies. The cat needs some tie to skydiving to ensure that this is not simply animal cruelty. 4. No Kittens! 5. As cats do not display easily identifiable signs of enjoyment, determining if "the cat likes it" will be more of an opinion than a science. If so desired, the cat should be released after landing, as any other tandem passenger. If the cat runs away and is not seen for three weeks or more, the conclusion will be that the cat didn't like it. Further suggestions (but not requirements): - An emergency cat cut-away device may be advisable. I love cats, but if it gets tangled with my main - ka-chink! - Cat tandems should probably be done over spectator-free areas in the event that a cut-away is required. - If you lose more than three cats, you should excuse yourself from further attempts. - Binding claws/teeth is considered bad form. The cat should have a fighting chance. Likewise, just stuffing one is a bag will probably not get you points. Give the poor cat a view - remember - it's for the cat's enjoyment as well as your own. - Cat diapers might be a good idea if you want to stay friends with your DZO. Likewise, having ant EMT at the landing area to stitch up your scratches might mean the difference between life and bleeding to death. - Jokes about a cat landing on it's feet are punishable by a case of beer. I hope that people don't take me too seriously on this post. But if anyone does it before me, I want to see the video. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD