riddler

Man, if you were going to do Da Vinci, maybe Mona Lisa would be better? Sure it would be more expensive, and I doubt the artist could capture her eyes, but it's a masterpiece. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I remember when I started jumping, and my thoughts were about how much I needed to improve, what I could do to make myself a better jumper. I thought USPA seemed like a good organization. It seemed everyone was so much better than I was. Now, I kinda feel like you do - it seems USPA is somewhat worthless (they still provide some limited value, IMO). They care more about DZOs than jumpers. It seems like there are too many people that don't know their limits. A lot of times, I worry that *I* don't know my limits, either, and no one will tell me. And the worst part is, people that are trying to make a profit don't care if other people get hurt, as long as they make money from it. Back in the day, when there was a Cessna and a handful of jumpers, I think it was different. If you wanted to jump, you needed to get out of the plane yourself. If you were gonna do something stupid, people would tell you it was stupid. They wouldn't stop you from doing it, but at least you were warned. Today, it's about large aircraft, fast turnaround, tandem fun-rides, someone's hurt in the LZ, who cares? get 'em outta the way because we have other jumpers coming down, and we're losing money. 30 MPH winds? No problem, we'll still put you in the air if you want to risk it. Balloon jump? Sure, you can do that with only 50 jumps, as long as you pay. Let's put the cute girl with 20 jumps in the base of our 60-way - we can probably keep her stable, and wow, she's cute. At some point, you stop worrying about yourself, and your eyes open to all the other crap that's going on. And it doesn't feel good. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I never had them as a kid, but my two kids have Radio Flyer tricycles and one little scooter that looks like a snail. I've been very impressed with the quality of these things, despite that they are now made of plastic. Actually, I'm glad for the plastic because it saved them a few times when they were playing a bit rough with them. This company knows how to make toys. Thumbs up. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'd rather see a skydiver that does more than he talks. In fact, I know more than a few of them. Sadly, the world loves a good talker. Doers don't get that much attention. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

That would be pretty cool. My pick-up line would be - "hey, baby, I'm black from the waist down." Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Man, the heaviest thing I lift is my computer mouse But I know what a squat is, at least. I think you may be surprised at the toe-flex you get, so you may want to do very light to get a feel for it before you work up to your normal set. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

OK, so I've been wearing them every day for the last month or two. I walk about four miles every day to and from work. A few things: 1. I worked out a technique for getting them on, including the pinky toe. I can now get them on faster than getting on and tying my old shoes (FiveFingers don't have laces). 2. Yes, I wear socks. You can wash the shoes, but the do make your feet stinky in a synthetic-rubber way. Injinji charges a butt-load for men's toe-socks ($24 per pair for long ones ). I went to the women's section of Target today and found toe-socks there for $7. It's a bit of a conspiracy, because all the women's toe-socks are crazy colors that any homophobic guy would never wear. I found some that are mostly black and ended up turning these inside-out, just so the stupid designs don't show to the public. 3. A few people have mentioned it - these things kill your calf-muscles when you start to run, so take it easy. I walked for a few weeks first, then ran two half-miles, and I was sore for a few days afterwards. 4. I plan to get a second pair of the neoprene ones for walking when it snows outside. I think they'll still get wet, but I'm hoping, like my scuba wet-suit, that it will build up a thin layer of heated water that keep my feet warm in the snow. I have no idea if that will work, it's just a theory. For backup, I'll just hike to work with my ducks and change shoes at the office. 5. I think they are better than walking with supportive shoes, which have probably weakened our foot and ankle muscles. At the same time, we didn't evolve to walk around on concrete and asphalt all day, so I try to walk on grass and dirt as much as possible. 6. One poster mentioned weeds between the toes. Yep. Water, too. Pebbles, sticks, etc. Downtown is a dangerous place because of all the glass and broken metal/plastic and nails everywhere. I definitely ain't walkin' anywhere there might be snakes. You can't walk unawares - you have to pay attention all the time to where your feet are going. Probably a good thing. 7. You do stub your toe a lot - the shopping cart at the grocery store and the office chair are the two biggest culprits for me. And I'm more protective of my feet than ever - always scanning the ground, and watching out for other people walking too close to you. 8. People notice them. Don't wear them if you're not willing to talk about them, because you get a lot of questions. "Are they comfortable?" is a popular one. How am I supposed to know if someone else will think they're comfortable? All I can say is I like them. 9. They feel really good to run in. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Calcium plus magnesium. Frequently you can find it combined with D vitamin. You are dehydrated, and Cal/Mag is one way to get the muscles to relax. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't like to try to predict the future, which is far too complicated. But somehow, I don't really think we're going to have Sharia Law in the US (or probably even Canada). And I don't think fear-mongering will further anyone's agenda in that area. Right now, there are more Christians in the US than any other religion, and while Christianity was the foundation of our law, modern Christians haven't been successful in changing many recent ones (although there have been a few notable exceptions, such as Prop 8, teaching intelligent design in a small number of schools, etc). The worry that "they" will take over has been the historical foundation of nearly every social upheaval, from before the Roman Empire to the Armenian genocide to the Jewish Holocaust. Anyone that buys into the argument that "they" will take over becomes a tool for other people with an agenda. It makes more sense to focus on the root causes of terrorism, rather than ascribing it to any one religion. Terry Nichols didn't turn more people into Christians after he helped bomb the Oklahoma City Federal building, and no Muslim terrorist is going to win devotees by suicide bombing. It's terrorism itself that we need to defeat. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Apartheid? Didn't work in South Africa for people of different skin colors. Probably wouldn't work on a global/national level. Personally, I am amazed that talk of 9/11 always turns into an "us" (Judea-Christian) vs "them" (Muslim) discussion. No one questioned the role of Christianity after any of the Christian terrorists killed people (I have a list, in case anyone doubts Christian terrorism). Nut-cases are nut-cases, regardless of their religious beliefs. The 1.5 BILLION Muslims that live among us and all over the globe aren't running around stabbing the rest of us, just like most Roman Catholics aren't busy starting the Fourth-Reich. So the 9/11 hijackers were Muslim, so what? Pol Pot was a Buddhist atheist, who went to Catholic school, but I won't condemn any of those beliefs because he killed two million of his own people. Let's call terrorists and murderers for what they are, and stop trying to type-cast people of certain faiths or skin color or nationality. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yeah, I agree with Craigslist. It's mostly free. Maybe that's part of why I think a 9% sellers fee is outrageous. The other part of that is I'm just not used to it. I've sold things on eBay for years, and this is the first I've encountered such a markup. I've sold things on craigslist, too, and I'll stick to that for now. At least until eBay starts charging for that, too. I certainly think it was deceptive of eBay to change the terms and not put it in a large font when I logged in. My guess is that any revenue they are seeing is from suckers like me that didn't know they changed their pricing model. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, I guess this just changed a few months ago. I've sold things on eBay - maybe once a year, for over 10 years now. It's been over a year since the last time I sold anything there. I just sold a cell phone, and got hit with a 9% eBay selling fee. Well, that sucks! Anyway, avoid eBay like the plague. A 9% commission, when you have to do most of the work of posting and packaging, just isn't worth it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Oh yeah, you can now play Flash in web browsers on Android. It takes a bit to set it up, and if you don't use your browser a lot, it's probably not worth the effort. I got this installed a few weeks ago, and it works pretty well. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What's wrong with Adobe's? I use it, and it works. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Google Voice - free text messages. It doesn't work when the network is lagging (about 10% of the time), but did I mention it's free text messages? I don't use the actual phone on Google Voice, because it wasn't reliable enough. I use Shazam and Facebook apps a lot on my Droid. Addicted to Robo Defense, which is weird, because I don't play games anywhere else. Astro file manager is pretty good. Note Everything seems to work pretty well, and I use it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What would you call a circle-jerk on the Internet. Token-ring jerk? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm not planning on going, but if I hear anything good, I might plan a trip there Any suggestions? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Man, I did the same thing I don't know if it's because this is Bonfire, or because it's just me Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I went to a meeting at my daughter's new school yesterday, and two guys were wearing these shoes. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I didn't know bi-planes were predatory like that Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What I don't get is, what do the dogs have to do with anything? They didn't attack the officers, or anything. Are we supposed to have more sympathy for the guy because he was walking his dogs? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, most of them don't, but these guys sure do. Hey, I wonder if most of the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world also don't subscribe to the message of hatred and violence? Certainly food for thought ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

If more women just showed up at the bar naked, we could figure out who to buy drinks for in the first place. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Rat On! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

When I hear Old Spice, I think of what 60-year-old unshaven shrimpers must smell like, after coming back from two weeks on the boat, with no showers. I don't even know what that really smells like, but for some reason, I envision that. I don't know why. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD