Cajones

I've been looking at the pdX10, also, for some time. I tried the 950 after it came out after several attempts to get answers about the "floating iris" and comparisons with the 900 from Sony. The pdX10 is much smaller and lighter than the VX's, so it has more appeal at the same price range. I'd like to hear about your results if you give it a try... - Cajones The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Not necessarily. This is what I'd lean towards being the source of your problem. Make sure the card is showing up in your Device Manager as an OHCI compliant device, and it's on its own IRQ. The IRQ is most likely what's going to clear up your problems. During the Operating System install, it's likely the card was assigned an IRQ that's being shared with another device. IRQ sharing is less than ideal. Manually change the IRQ, tweak your BIOS, or try moving the card to another PCI slot. - Cajones The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I'm not sure if it was a "fun" air conditioner, but it kept my tent pretty comfy in Quincy two years ago. I have a fairly large tent that divides into two rooms. I brought the biggest window unit I could find that ran on 110volts (regular plug). It came from the pawn shop I used to work at, and ran very nicely for the $105 I'd invested. I used two register ducts, two flexible dryer vent hoses (the aluminum kind), and lots of duct tape. The register ducts reduced the output of the A/C unit down to the hoses, and they ran in one corner of the tent to each "room" in the tent. During the day, it could only keep one side cool, but the sweetest daytime slumber could be had by running one of the ducts under the covers, and the other pointed at your noggin'. One lesson learned after much retaping the hose/duct connection and taping the duct to the output of the A/C - duct tape is not waterproof. The condensation that gathered on the ductwork caused the ducting system to fall apart after the first few days. Insulating everything with cardboard and towels made it cool better, and kept it from falling apart. Of course, you have to have access to power, too - that's a different issue. - Cajones The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I'm not certain I follow you, completely. I looked at the posts on the Incidents Forum. I believe the poster was trying to say a lighter wingloading may have allowed a safe landing with the toggle knotted, as the situation pictured and described. I have no doubt lower wingloading would have reduced some of the injuries suffered by skydivers in the past. Arguably, a slight chance lighter wingloadings would have created some additional injuries due to off-LZ landings, does exist. It is still quite possible to injure or kill yourself under a lightly loaded canopy. Light wingloading does not prevent injuries, it simply give a more forgiving environment. That's why we put students under big, forgiving canopies. An "aggressive" turn at 100 feet under a 1.7 wingloading and an "aggressive" turn at 100 feet under a 0.7 wingloaded canopy produces two very different scenarios. Although discussion continues in another thread, a lightly loaded reserve landing an unconscious skydiver is a far, far better scenario than a heavily loaded reserve, that - yes - can mean the difference between surviving and not surviving. The direction you may be taking is to remind us all to not waste precious altitude deciding if we can fix something - regardless of our wingloading - I'd like to remind all of us - there is no guarantee your reserve will be perfect. I've witnessed more than one cutaway from line-twist that could've been kicked out. Sufficient time/altitude would've permitted "fixing" this problem. A decision the canopy was less-than-perfect, and that precious altitude was rapidly evaporating caused an emergency procedures scenario that was certainly preventable. At least one of these cutaways resulted in a reserve with line twists, putting the jumper in the same situation as the main had given. The jumper later commented "What if it had been worse? I had less altitude [due to the cutaway/reserve deployment] with the same problem." Altitude awareness should continue after deployment. Decision altitudes and hard-deck altitudes are part of our emergency procedures for a reason. We are taught "When in doubt - whip it out" because of the extremely low chance of reserve malfunction, but that does not excuse us from thinking on our feet. Rehearse emergency procedures often, exercise good judgment in the air and on the ground, and never forget - you can do everything right and still end up a statistic. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

The one-click to DVD is probably using the MPEG CODEC on the Vaio computers. The one-click program automatically compresses the target video and burns it to a DVD/SVCD. I doubt Sony embedded the hardware MPEG encoding chip in these miniDV cameras. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Not sure, actually. Two of my machines are dual-Xeons, running Advanced Server 2000, with multi-threading. They show up as 8 processors. I have 2 laptops, one a 2.4GHz/P4, recently added, the other a 1GHz/P3 - they don't run continuously. I have a Linux file/print/ftp server w/ 400MHz/P2 that runs 24/7, that chugs along like the little train that could. The other 4 processors belong to a client that is familiar with the Human Genome Project, and allowed me to install the client on the 4 1.7GHz/P4's I built for them, but they are setup for Genome unit preference (although they are processing more Folding units than Genome units, last I checked). I'm sure I'll start slipping backwards as more Genome units are available, again. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

This thread got the little flaming hot icon thingy in 24 minutes. I think I like that. Hmm... Does a nice warm swab clean better than a cold one? How about a nice hot paper clip? It should cut right through the wax if it's warmed properly... The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Isn't this more fun than war? The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

How do you clean your ears? Only one answer, so pick the one that best describes how you most often clean your ears. Tell us your story, and how deep do you clean? The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Congratulations on your tandem and welcome to skydiving. The problem you are looking at is one that has carried a good deal of controversy for years, now. My opinion is all I'll offer: You'd be just fine doing AFF in Lodi, inspite of their choice as a non-USPA group member. I feel this way, as the non-USPA Drop Zones I have visited and worked with have all been just as heads-up and safety conscious as those that have been USPA affiliated. If you feel uneasy about it, this may be a reason to look at other DZ's, to alleviate some fears that may be in the back of your mind. If you were comfortable on your tandem, and felt safe and confident with the instructors in Lodi, you can ask them to compare/contrast their AFF program with that of the USPA. You may find striking similarity. You can also ask the qualifications of your jumpmasters. You may be suprised to find some of them are USPA rated AFF Instructors. Wherever you go - Good Luck and Blue Skies - Cajones The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I heard he was leaving dz.com, because he wanted to "come out" and was afraid to tell us. It's okay Dave - be comfortable with who you really are. I searched and read the posts in question - how can a big strapping boy from Texas be so thin-skinned? I'm sure there are some really great guys on here that can guide you down the path of exploring these suppressed feelings. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Perhaps rules for wingloading will help as the rules for pull altitudes did, in the weight they give the Instructors and S&TA's. In the past, some people were reluctant to ground people for low pulls. In spite of the fact they were killing skydivers. With the implementation of standards for pull altitudes, this takes some weight off of those Instructors and S&TA's who are biting their tongues, right now. Give them some teeth, and guidelines to follow. When they have cause to approach a jumper about their canopy skills/wingloading, they're simply enforcing the rules - not being "the asshole." I take a bit of offense to the comment about S&TA and JM's recommending small canopies to jumpers. I don't doubt that a few may be - certainly not all (I certainly don't). If there were BSR's (the earlier comment about "written in blood" - very true - how much more do we need to write some more) concerning wingloading, perhaps those few S&TA's and JM's would point people in a better direction. I'm not big on regulation. I'm not a fan of seeing friends/potential friends injured/dead either. This is where the solutions start. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Let's not start comparing units on here, boys. Besides... What's wrong with being a geek? Actually I've come to prefer "Nerd," thank you. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I used to work in a pawn shop - one of the greatest jobs of my life! We used to get the ocassional wine-o trying to sell a broken watch or other shiney think they'd found. They were all quite thin. They didn't spend whatever money they had on food. Not when you can get a cheap pint of wine for $1.43. Every Christmas the shop owner has a tradition of giving them all a pint of wine. Buy the really cheap stuff by the case and the price drops to $1.31, including tax. They'd line up around the corner waiting for noon on Christmas Eve. Not one of them owned a watch, but we knew exactly when it was noon - they'd form a nice line and come in for their free bottle. Some of them would try to be sneaky - go outside and change their coats or take off their hats and try to come back through for an extra bottle. I can't count the hours of cheap entertainment I enjoyed from those people. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

There are a few other factors your experiment in middle school couldn't/didn't take into account. The main factor to look at is air friction. We skydive in the atmosphere (not in a vacuum, normally), so the air itself is a big influence in determining the maximum speed an object can obtain. This maximum speed, generally referred to as "terminal velocity" is the balance of the acceleration of gravity pulling the object toward the center of the Earth, and the opposing friction of the object moving through the medium (air). The simplest illustration is a feather vs. a bowling ball. The feather has a great deal of influence from air friction due to its tremendous surface area vs. its mass. The bowling ball on the other hand, represents the way some of us cut through the air as we skydive - lots of mass, with little to slow us down, except - hopefully - a fully functioning parachute. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I'm glad I'm not like "most men." Miniature girlfriends are nice to look at on TV, but kind of impractical. We can't borrow rigs from each other. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Excellent news! Thanks for the update. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

It looks like you are landing okay, but it looks like you might have some toilet paper stuck to your shoe... The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

It looks like the only arguement "for" a smaller reserve is appearance/container sizing. While I've never heard it expressed as a sort of achievement to jump a smallr container, I can see the "cool" factor. All of us are vain. A pretty broad statement, but to different degrees and in different ways I don't think any of us can say "No way - not me." I'll get straight to it - Loking cool is important to some of us. So long as we all realize the risks, and accept them as a calculated and educated decision - I'm okay with that. I can't count the landing injuries I've treated, and a few more I've witnessed and someone else treated. I can only recall one (I personally winessed) that would've been influenced by a larger reserve. The jumper suffered a badly broken wrist. His injury would've been prevented altogether if he was jumping a properly constructed container (he was jumping a VooDoo with improperly constructed reserve risers). If he were unconscious the rather fast turn created by the container would have caused a very serious situation. A larger reserve might (and I stress might) have slowed his descent to a tolerable landing speed. The landing in DeLand, recently, is one of a few I've heard of - but not seen first-hand - that many speculate about. I have NEVER heard of, or heard of speculation, or someone proposed a realistic situation - where a smaller reserve would've reduced injury or saved a life. Part of our freedom in this sport is the right to make these sorts of choices. Let's make them educated and well-thought-out. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

When you run more than one DC (distributed computing) programs, they run half-as-fast, or slower. Usually slower. I am running 4 processors on the Genome units, and 2 processors still running SETI. I wouldn't mix them on the same processor, as this would severely cut into efficiency. As far as pies... I'll take banana cream (with the Nila Wafer crust), and chocolate cream (with the graham cracker crust), if I can choose. I haven't had a pieable event in a few years, but this one is worthy of celebration. Skydivers coming together under a good cause. It's not money in the hands of science (like the excellent work of Jump For The Cause), but we can let them borrow our tools when we're not using them (our computers) - and that's worth a lot. I think Rantoul would be ideal. Just please don't do it right before I have to do initiations. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

WooHoo! It's going to be mucho fun. A Grande Fiesta as only the Rodriguez Brothers can do! I hope to see the whole family at this, our third, official anuual reunion! - Cajones Grand Master of Ceremonies Keeper of the Bullhorn of the Brotherhood Builder of the First High Altar of Debauchery Protector of the Most Sacred Traditions of Sacrifice The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Interesting chart, Mickee. Strange that no one is allowed to go below a 120. The very light people don't even go above a 1:1 loading, but the people in my weight range go over 1:1 in a few hundred jumps. Does this chart continue abouve 500 jumps, or are jumpers with more than 500 unregulated? Edit because English is my primary language and I should try to spell gooder. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I don't see myself ever downsizing my reserve. I don't have any "goals" for the sizing of my container. Mirage makes some very sweet G3's that'll carry my reserve paired with teeny tiny mains. My M2 looks just as good as any container I've seen (in my opinion - better). After the on-runway landing recently in DeLand, we should all consider the possibility we may land under our reserve unconscious or otherwise unable to control the descent of our reserve. It would suck to have my Cypress save me, only to be maimed or killed by an undersized reserve. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I think one of the greenies edited this thread. The author originally had several posts. He was set straight by Nac, and apologized. Edit: I just found the original thread a few lines down. Either this guy has a memory related disability and forgot about his original post, or he just might be a moron. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I don't think that counts, as I've got the same setup (150main/PD143 reserve). My rigger recommended it, as it actually measures a bit larger than my main. I have had the good fortune of putting a few jumps on the 143, and I'm quite comfortable with it. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.