murrays

A Windows program that you might find useful for renumbering/renaming files is ACDSee by ACD Systems. I used the Mac version before iPhoto came along and found it to be a good program. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

I also posted this in the CReW forum but thought some of the video guys would like to see it too... One of my fellow old boys dug this out of the vaults..... ParaCommander CRW in the early 80's. The video was shot by Kelly Bazin and the skydivers are Terry Dopson and Tom Mercer. Kelly shot this on a VHS deck mounted to his chest with a large camera on his helmet. If you watch carefully, you will see him attempt to fly right between the two ParaCommanders...causing Tom and Terry to shout things about Kelly's mother. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Hey CReW Dogs, One of my fellow old boys dug this out of the vaults..... ParaCommander CRW in the early 80's. The video was shot by Kelly Bazin and the skydivers are Terry Dopson and Tom Mercer. Kelly shot this on a VHS deck mounted to his chest with a large camera on his helmet. If you watch carefully, you will see him attempt to fly right between the two ParaCommanders...causing Tom and Terry to shout things about Kelly's mother. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Did this. The MP4 would -not- import into iMovie2. ltdiver Well, now we know. I guess the fix is to use QTP to export the MP4 as an AIFF...this you can do with an MP4 you've ripped yourself but I bet it wouldn't work with one you bought from the store. A good iMovie 3 update would sure make life easier wouldn't it? -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Scotty, You can burn an AAC from the Store to a regular music CD unlimited number of times...but you can only burn one playlist 10 times. So, it does convert to AIFF for the burn process. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Jim, The Apple Powerbooks have internal DVD burner equipped models....starting at $1,999 I believe. I believe Sony also has a DVD burning laptop. So, the hardware is available, but there are lots of other issues to deal with....time rendering and burning is quite lengthy. I think that as VHS disappears and the hardware/software for DVD production improves that DVD burning will become the standard..but not for a while. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Can't explain that post .... my mp3s play. I haven't had a hitch with iTunes4 of any description. The MP4/AAC encoded clips work in iMovie 3. As I believe they would in iMovie2. If you have Quicktime Pro 6 or up you can open an mp3 or AIFF in QTP and export it as an MP4 and then try importing that into iMovie2. I'm sure it works but can't test it as I'm still using iMovie3....which I just sent feedback on for the Effect preview not working. I really wish the rumored 3rd upgrade would arrive soon. The new features in iMovie3 are great but they certainly needed to do a lot more work before releasing it. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

In addition to the iTunes 4 update, the firmware for the iPod was also updated to allow mp4s to be played on them....which I really appreciate as I find the quality of mp4 is _very_ good. I think that the availability of music will improve as time goes on...depending on how well this store model is accepted. Here is a fairly good Business Week article on the Apple music store. 200,000 songs seems like a lot but it really isn't when you consider the size of the body of recorded music. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

No Lori, it plays mp3s, AIFF, etc. but the music available in the Music Store is encoded in MP4 which has digital rights management features. No problem at all playing mp3s...this I guarantee you!

Apple announced and started the iTunes Music Store yesterday. (You have to download iTunes 4 and Quicktime 6.2 to make it work.) It appears to be an interesting compromise between protecting artist's rights, collecting money for music and distributing music on the internet. The store works in iTunes. It seems very quick, searches are fast. You can listen to 30 second clips of any song. Songs are .99 each or 9.98 and up for an album. This gives you the right to have the song on 3 Macs, unlimited iPods, to burn it on unlimited CDs - subject to some restrictions I can't recall right now, and to use the song in iMovie, iDVD. There are 200,000 songs available right now. Appears to me to be a possible way to use commercial music on tandem videos and be sort of legal. Windows version should be available by the end of the year....and rumours are that this will be offered to AOL users. Oh yeah, the songs are encoded using MP4 or AAC. Very good quality at small file sizes.....a 128 MP4 sounds like a 256 MP3. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Thanks for the laughs! Good on you for hanging in there...keep it up...don't worry, the body count will take care of itself. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

I hear that some of the white stuff may arrive here overnight...should all melt tomorrow but man this is getting old! -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Jean Chretien is an ASS. It pains me to no end to have Canada represented by this corrupt, two-faced, fence-sitting little asshole. I am disgusted by Chretien, his employees and some of the other Liberal MP's remarks towards GWB and the USA. I can't believe the crap being spouted. The end of his time as Prime Minister cannot happen fast enough for this Canadian. Also, here's a skydiving reason to dislike him....Chretien's son, Hubert, used to skydive at a dz I jumped at in the 80's. Hubert's Dad didn't like him jumping and blamed skydiving for his son's academic performance at University, not accepting Hubert's feelings that studying in English was too difficult for him. Hubert would have preferred to go to a French speaking university but I think Dad wanted him to go to a prestigious English speaking school. Hubert stopped jumping shortly after I heard this and I think Dad forced him to quit. No proof, but the writing was on the wall. Jean Chretien is an asshole. (It's worth repeating) -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

I believe the Samurai _is_ built by PD...Big Air's design but they are using PD's production capabilities. I think a BASE canopy is also being built by PD for the designer as well. This page on the Big Air website explains how the relationship came about. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Hang in there! You will be glad you did. The worst is the first few days, and after a couple of weeks you're over the worst. I am rapidly approaching my 20th anniversary of butting out (May 3rd) after smoking heavily for 16 years. It is worth it. Count to ten, get up, go for a walk, deep breathing when you get the fits. Good luck! -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Rich, Very well said. The following piece was written by Ian Gillespie, a Canadian skydiver, shortly after 4 people died in 2 incidents in Canada in 1993........... Last Saturday, as the sun skipped and sparkled off Lake Huron and the evening shadows lengthened, ten skydivers jumped from two aircraft flying high over Grand Bend, Ontario. I was one of them. We jumped, all ten of us, knowing that four Canadian skydivers had died earlier that day in two separate incidents, when parachutes tangled or did not open or opened too late. Two of the dead men were our friends. Still, we marveled at the view, hooted at our freedom and exulted in our success. It was my 400th jump, and I will remember it fondly as a happy event. That night we talked, sometimes awkwardly, about our dead companions. Some of us cried. But there was also much laughter. And the next day, we jumped again. And today and yesterday and all this week, to friends and family and co-workers, I have tried to explain why. Why do I jump out of airplanes? Why did I jump after hearing of the sudden deaths of my fellow skydivers? And why will I jump again? I hear myself saying things like, "We all know the risks." Or, "Jumping out of an airplane is safer than driving down the highway." And, "When someone dies in a car crash, do you stop driving?" But I know these answers aren't good enough. They are banal cliches made hollow by the fact of four broken bodies lying lifeless. As a skydiver, I must justify my participation in a sport that each year kills some of its participants. I must try to answer "Why?" I first jumped from an airplane in 1975 when I was 18 years old. I did it because it looked daring and exciting and, perhaps, because I was neither daring nor exciting and I hoped this sport would make me so. But it did not. At first, it just made me scared. I flailed and tumbled in freefall, stiff as a board and white with fear. Once, in panicked confusion, I steered my parachute into a tree. And though I spent lots of time and money, it seemed I would never master this sport. But I kept jumping -- four jumps one year, five the next, 11 the following summer. And slowly, sometimes painfully, I started learning things - - how to fall controlled and stable, how to pick an exit point and land on target. How to turn and flip in freefall, how to move forward and back and up and down toward other jumpers in the sky. How to think and relax under stressful conditions. And how to fly. And I have continued learning. The skills are different now -- how to launch a four person formation from the step of a Cessna, or exit from a DC-3. How to dive straight down at 150 miles an hour, then use my body to brake and swoop and softly touch the arm of a friend. And although these acts are uniquely thrilling and have given me pure moments of joy, I do not study them for their own sake. No, I study them because they teach me how to live. Like many people, I am good at wearing masks and adopting attitudes to hide and shield my true self. But when the door opens at 10,000 feet, there is nowhere to hide. Like many people, I am good at conveniently forgetting that myself, and all the people I know and love, must eventually perish. Jumping has taught me to fight and fear death, and to never forget that it's there. Like many people, I am good at concentrating on the mindless details that pass for normal -- like watching TV and getting the brakes fixed on my car. But when I jump, I forget all those endless inconsequentials. Instead I concentrate on the moment, and I remember how to live. When I choose to step from an aircraft and then, 45 seconds later, to open my parachute, I control my destiny -- an opportunity often lacking in a 9-to-5 existence, and missing in a life forever threatened by disease or sudden highway death. Skydiving has taught me that confronting fear (and I am always afraid before I jump) and risk is always important. Not only physical risk, with its rewarding shot of adrenalin, but also the importance of taking chances with the heart -- of risking friendship, love and laughter. Though that weekend's tragedies flood me with remorse, they do not fill me with regret. Though I mourn the loss of my skydiving companions, I will not stop celebrating life. Next weekend, I will try to keep learning. And I will jump again. -- end

Top skin replacement cost is $75 US per cell. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

No, I need to hear that...it gives me hope that this winter will actually end sometime

So, I just had a little nap on the couch and decided to head upstairs to bed. Looked out the window of the front room and everything is covered with snow....again! It is blowing and coming down hard. I can hardly believe it! -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

I just sent my Stiletto to PD to have it relined and inspected. It required more than just a reline as two top skins also had to be replaced. The person in the repair department, Donna Wagner, that kept me updated on what was going on was just excellent to deal with. I had earlier exchanged a number of e-mails with Kolla Kollbeinsdottir, also of PD, regarding line trims and other matters. Kolla also was excellent. So, if you jump anything made by PD and have any questions, don't be afraid to call or e-mail as I think you will receive excellent service. Sending your canopy to PD for a reline is also a good idea as the $15 charge for an inspection is money well spent...particularly if you live in an area where riggers are few and far between. Kolla, I hope you read this, thank you very much for all your help. Please pass my appreciation on to Donna as well. Happy PD customer, -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

No reading - Muay Thai Kickboxing - Chad Boykin Just finished - Red Dragon - Thomas Harris Favourite books: hmmmmmmm... Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey History of the Second World War - Winston Churchill (Six volumes) In The Spirit of Crazy Horse - Thomas Mathiessen The Virtual Community - Howard Rheingold Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

To see some very cool shots using a handheld download "Base Forever" from Headdown.net -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Was that an X210? -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

The latest we hear in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is that Michel Fournier and crew will be back late this month/early May to await favourable conditions. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

That is funny! -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey