riddler

He mentioned torrents, so I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say, er, free? I did the same thing about two years ago, and downloaded complete series of Japanese and German - I usually listen to one of each for 1/2 hour every day. My German has gone from poor to mediocre. My Japanese has gone from non-existent to being able to order sushi - strangely, I don't always get what I order The learning curve is much, much longer when you start out older. I hope to get my kids doing it very early, and often speak short phrases to them in different languages. I would also like to hear if anyone has a comparison of Pimsleur to Rosetta. Rosetta is usually the best-rated, but I've never used them. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I notice a couple of people have said flush toilets. They're convenient for sure. But I hate how often they get stuck and you have to jiggle the handle. Seems like the main apparatus is pretty good, but someone could improve the reliability of the flush thingy. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Another Vonage sucks story: I signed up for the service, with the understanding they would transfer my phone number. After four months and a lot of phone calls from me to them trying to fix it, they never transferred my number, so I canceled. Then they hit me with a $39.99 disconnect fee. The worst part, they never sent me a bill for the $39.99, they just turned it over to a collection agent. So I never knew about the remainder on the account, until I got a letter from a collection agent Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm not talking about the ones that you use all the time and frustrate you, like computers or cars or cell phones. I'm talking about the ones that you use, always work, never seem to have a problem, well designed, quality construction and worth every penny of the way-too-much price that you paid I'm also talking about things you own and have owned for some time, not things you've test-driven - what looks good in the store rarely works well at home. Top of my list - Bose Quiet Comfort 3 headphones. The sound is incredible, super comfortable, the battery last forever, and recharges quickly. The case is perfect and there's an attachment for just about every conceivable device (although not my iPhone). Granted, headphones only have to do one thing, but these do it very, very well. Nice job Bose. Second for me - Makita LXT power tools (all six of them ) If there's sex in a power tool, this is probably it. All the smooth silkiness of young lover, all the drive of an aged porn-star. What are your favorites? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Depends on who you are. Freefly coaching from Greg Gasson is worth slot+more than another slot. Canopy coaching from Brian Germaine, same thing. But for the most part, I agree with you. My coaches never asked me for extra, although I frequently paid them. I myself never asked for anything for coaching, and many times paid for my own jump. To me, coaching is more about giving knowledge that I learned the hard way, and I couldn't ever see a reason to charge for that. But it's a difficult decision, because there are coaches out there that do need the money - do you take away from them by not charging your students? Maybe someday, I'll have 10,000 jumps (although not at my current rate ), and maybe by then, my time will be worth slot+. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't think you need to be a master of any particular skill to teach someone that is new at it. The learning curve in the first 100 jumps is tremendous - someone with 100 jumps can impart a lot of wisdom to someone with 10. The problem with the coach rating isn't the coaches - it's the "I'm more of a skygod than you are" skygods. Sure, we all see coaches that have a lot less experience than us, and they probably don't teach the same way we do. But they've taken the coach course, they've proved they have the USPA skills required to coach, so let them do their job. We might even learn something from them if we pay enough attention. But I don't think this thread is about the Coach rating as much as it is about the AFFI rating, so I'll stop there. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I love the story of her almost freezing to death in the 30s. Son said she was "stiff as a 2X4". Maybe the cryogenics froze her DNA. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Joe Nacchio, too rich to go to jail. O.J., too famous to go to jail. Apparently jail is just a place for losers that aren't rich, famous or pretty. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'd love to see all the tests that prove it's environmentally friendly, or that it doesn't hurt jet engines. I'm sure eating a Flogo cures cancer, and it may just solve the world's hunger problems, too Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Never jumped in the U.K., so I can't comment on that. I will point out that there are plenty of un-friendly dropzones in the States, as well. Sometimes it's just one or two people, sometimes, it's damn-near everyone and the entire culture. I don't think your problem is the U.K. Just that dropzone. Find another. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The old link is bad, so here's a new one: http://www.physorg.com/news127499715.html 1:450 is a long shot, I won't start planning for the apocalypse just yet. It's more likely that we'll kill the human race over the next several decades through our own negligence. Edit to fix clicky. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Didn't bother to watch the video - I have enough drama in my life, thanks. But I gotta wonder - how could any judge see this and side with her? Isn't this harmful to her case? I guess she feels like she probably has no legal recourse, since she signed a pre-nup, and she's just taking it to the streets out of vengeance. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Oh man, that calc is so early 90s. I guess retro nerd is all the rage these days. I had one in college Funny 'nuff, after college, I interviewed with the company in Portland that made the cases for it - lol. Edit - I am referring to the TI 28S on the right. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

No truer words. I don't drink at all, but the first few weeks of April, my wife practically begs me to take a few shots and calm down. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Lol - finally a good reason to get that sniper rifle you've always wanted Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

A new type of tiny aerial spy-camera is starting to be used by law enforcement in the U.S. The Micro Air Vehicle can hover like a helicopter, weighs on average about 10 pounds and contains camera and wireless transponders. Here is a video of the Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle that is starting to be used for border patrol, drug enforcement, and probably traffic enforcement in the near future. These are a next-generation of the Predator, that fly at lower altitude, consume fewer resources and are quite a bit smaller. My question for you pilot types - are you afraid of running into these things when flying? They're only about a foot in diameter, and can hover at 10,000 feet, making them hard to see until they are already in your props. Will we need special designators on airspace maps to let pilots know about these things? Do they have built-in radar-avoidance? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I check my rig in luggage every time I fly. It's not worth the hassle of try to take it into the passenger compartment. United delays my luggage about 20% of the time, and sometimes I don't get it back for two days. Once it had my rig, but I was on the way BACK from a boogie, so I didn't need it right away. United in the only one that loses my luggage - every other carrier is fine. I can't speak for checking a rig internationally, as I've never done it. Edit - spelling. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This happened to me last year. The fridge was about 8 years old. I noticed ice condensation in the freezer (side-by-side), and it would sometimes be really cold in the freezer, or not cold at all in the fridge. The deal was a circuit board that kept the cooling unit from frosting. The circuit board had a relay that switched off if it got too cold. The relay broke. The fridge repair guy thawed out the ice in the freezer with a hair dryer, then replaced the circuit board. Charged me like $110 to do it. I can get the board online for $25, so next time, I'll just do it myself. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was poking around online. Apparently, the same insurance company just settled out of court to avoid penalties because they were involved with bid-rigging. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/12/travelers_settle.html I've never even heard of bid-rigging before. This company must have a think-tank that spends all day inventing new ways to scam people. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Another insurance scam. I usually order car insurance online. Last time, I got a good policy at a good price. Then I bought a second car. So I went online to shop for insurance again. The online form asked me how much I am currently paying for what amount of coverage. I entered I am paying price X for coverage Y. I got six different quotes, and I selected the second lowest (the lowest was a no-name company, and the second lowest was a large, well established insurance company). After I signed up, they insisted on a follow-up call, which I did and repeated the information. Two weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying they are raising my rates, because I wasn't getting the amount of coverage with my PRIOR carrier that I claimed I was. Apparently, I wasn't getting coverage Y with the prior carrier - I was getting less than that. It's still unknown what they think I claimed I was getting, vs. what they think I really was getting. Apparently, they aren't allowed to contact the previous carrier, so it's all guesswork. So I'm on the phone with them, and I ask point blank - "it looks like you are charging me a certain rate, based on what you think I was paying someone else." To which they answered yes. They didn't change the coverage at all - it remains the same as what they originally gave me. But they are changing the rates because they think I was getting different coverage with my previous insurance company. Also, they are retroactively changing the rates back two months to the beginning of the policy, so they claim that I owe them for the difference from the last two months. So, this is what I see from my perspective. I entered into a contract at a certain agreed rate for a service. The provider of that service later reviewed what I was paying a different company prior to our agreement, and without changing any other part of the service, raised my rate, after the fact, based on the fact that I was paying more to their competitor. And they are back-charging me for the difference. This has GOT to be illegal. Any US law-types want to comment? It doesn't fit the standard definition of price-gouging, but I don't know what to even call it. Bait-and-switch? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

But the question is, was it just like the real experience? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

WANNA BUY A DUCK??? Oh, wait, you're not wingnut ... he can spell. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I diligently recorded my dream for three years. It was a ritual - every morning when I first awoke, I went to the computer and recorded exactly what I remember from my dreams. If you do it right away after you wake, then the memories are fresh, and not corrupted by your experiences in the day. Typically, I wake up with a song in my head as well, and I would record that. Later in the day, I would review the dreams, and try to determine what the source was. I was interested in the same thing you were - are there premonitions that happen in the dreams? I would review past dreams to see if any current events were foretold by the dreams. I would also make a short journal of things that happened to me during the day, or things I witnessed. This isn't exactly a double-blind study, but it is more thorough research than I believe most ordinary people put forth. After three years, I did a comprehensive review of my dreams and analysis. I concluded that not once was there ever a premonition of a future event from my dreams. In every instance, the dream could be tied to an event that happened to me prior to the dream, usually just a few days prior, but depending on the emotional intensity of events that I experienced, I could get fragments of that event months or even years later in my dream. The songs? I had heard them on the radio or elsewhere a few days prior. Any "premonition" was tied to recurring coincidences in my life - for instance, radio stations tend to have the same playlist, so if you listen to it for several days, you will hear the same same song three or four times. It might get into your subconscious from a previous day, then you dream about it, then it happens the next day. Premonition? Probably not. There are a lot of events in our structured society that are repeated, and it may lead us to think that we have had the premonition, or deja vu. I did make once interesting conclusion from my own dream research. It seemed that I dreamed about experiences that I seemed to want or need at some level of consciousness. If I hadn't been afraid in a while, I would have a mild nightmare. If I had no romance in my life, I would have dreams about girls. I also used to have a LOT of flying dreams, but after I started skydiving, those dreams faded, and now I never have flying dreams. It was as if I wanted or needed certain emotions, and my dreams would indulge me. I'm tempted to think my brain is addicted to different flavors of chemicals, and I either get them in my waking life, or my brain will synthesize them in my dreams. Maybe you are addicted to the emotion of witnessing disaster? It's a pretty emotional event, and your brain my really love that particular cocktail. If I may suggest a resolution - turn off your TV. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Adolf Hitler himself attended the wedding of Mosley's parents, according to Wikipedia. Besides, the Nazi-themed orgies went out with the 80s. Everyone who's anyone knows that the safe bet is to dress up as Pol Pot and have your whores dress up as nerdy intellectuals that you can whip. No one really cares about that genocide If you want to do it on a budget, you can be a Turkish dictator with a few Armenian wenches in pre-WW1 garb - neither the Turks nor the Americans will own up to that one, even 100 years later. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I guess I'm not the only person in Colorado to have problems with abusive homeless people Boulder homeless man assaults two people outside of church. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD