Ron

Thanks for the info... Just like we were afraid, no super simple solution. Any idea of the range we should expect to pay? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Already have a successful brick and mortar store and looking to start an online side of the store. This issue we have run into is that most 'online' retail applications do not have a good POS interface. Currently, all of the business is FTF standard retail and we are looking to expand online. I/We can use most applications, but I/We do not have any serious computer exp. I have taught basic computer programs for my day job... But that just means I am a good user with teaching skills... Not as an example of actual computer skills. Radio Controlled hobby supplies. What we want to be able to do is to have a single inventory system that has good POS and internet sales applications. The physical store has several thousand SKU's, but looking to have a few hundred SKU's to start eventually ending up with 2k or so (Currently have around 800 planned). The issue is everything we have looked at has terrible interface either on the online portion, or the POS. The big issue is that we want both POS and online to draw from the same inventory, so we do not have to try and keep track of both systems. This has been a project that has been put in a "parking lot" for a while (I moved and am no longer physically at the location). We are buying a building and moving, the new building has plenty of warehouse space... so the renewed interest. So basically: * Good online and POS interface * Drawing from a single inventory * We have basic user skills, but not serious programing skills. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Need a good software solution that has a single inventory with good Internet sales and POS interface. Thoughts? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It is a safety issue. Please look at which side brought data to the discussion. BillV brought a good video showing how people never actually cross the line. Kallend is a physics professor and used that crazy math to show why it worked. Those that seem to come from the 45* works camp seem to bring anecdotal evidence. I used to think that 45* works. Then after some discussion with Kallend I realized that I was actually not looking at 45*, but rather seeing how far the previous group was away from me. And BTW, anyone that just counts without looking is stupid. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It has been debunked over and over and over as a crappy method. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

What?!?!?!? I'll go slap my Mom... BRB. Oh my God...... The things I have seen from 'advice' my students have been given. You know how tunnel time is good for students? Did you know that the technique for flipping over taught to tunnel students is TOTALLY different than freefall students? YEAH........ So AFF L6 and my student tries a back flip... Screws it up and ends on his back... I start to get closer (just in case) and the student arches and flips over perfectly.... Sweet! They try again and flip on their backs... I move a little closer, but not much since they did so well last time and the student arches and flips back over... AWESOME! Third time the student flips over. I just watch since they have been doing so well, and the student GOES FETAL AND STARTS HAULING ASS!!!!! The student is unable to flip back over, but keeps trying to roll over while being fetal (hint: that ain't gonna work at that skill level). I got opened a little South of 2k. So on the ground after all is said and done, the student tells me that he wanted to try what the tunnel told him to do...... In the tunnel, we do not want people to arch while on their back because they will fly up and risk getting hurt by flying asymmetrical into a wall and then falling to the floor. But in freefall, they can't push against the net to help roll over. Same basic problem, two totally different fixes. SEEMED like a good idea to the student. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

No, but that does not mean that there are others that do think that. You do claim to be able to separate the "wheat from the chaff" so to speak, and that may or may not be true, and it may be hit or miss. But just because it may be true for you, does not mean they guy next to you can, yet he may still think he can. There are two points that I'm trying to get across. 1.) Many "students" are NOT conscientious enough to take what they read on DZ.com with a grain of salt and run it by a trusted party before they make any changes to their gear, habits, or procedures. SOME "students" are going to run out and immediately try something they read in a YouTube comment or somewhere else on the internet. NOT ALL "students" I know have the common sense to check information against multiple trusted sources. WE'RE NOT ALL IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNG CHILDREN THAT WILL DO ANYTHING THAT ANYBODY TELLS US TO DO, BUT SOME OF US ARE. 2.) Obviously, anyone of any skill level can post anything they want on the internet, so everything you read on here should be considered carefully and taken with a grain of salt. There is plenty of good information, but... DROPZONE.COM DOES STILL CONTAIN SOME CRAP INFORMATION FOR SKYDIVERS, whether you like it or not. This "I am a smart guy so I don't have to listen you you and your experiences" attitude is not working either. I have been skydiving 18 years. I can recall many times dealing with a problem student, or asking a guy that just screwed up where he got the idea to try 'X'. Many times that answer was recdot, DZ.com, my buddy.. etc. I had a student try to turn bending his spine... Yes, it can be done. Yes, it used to be taught. But it is far from the best method and can easily roll the student over... So, I had to grab and roll the student back over. After grabbing and rolling the student back over 3 times on one jump.... Imagine my surprise when on the ground I ask him what he was doing and he tells me he that his buddy told him to turn that way. It was not what I briefed before the jump, it was not what he showed me on the ground, it is not what was taught by any instructor on the DZ and maybe ANY DZ in the US. But, he did it anyway. You keep harping on that..... No one is saying students are stupid (well, some are, but so are some Instructors). We as an experienced group are saying that information without vetting the source, information not TOTALLY understood, information not executed in the right way, information used at the wrong time.... ALL are bad things that in this sport can kill you. In that light, it is better to get your information from people you know, and that know you than some dude with a cool user name. You can't get a mentor online. You seem to think that I am harping on you... No. But you also seem to think that you have the ability to prevent from taking bad information.... That remains to be seen. I had a young jumper tell me he bought a new canopy that was ZP and sized correctly for him. When he told me the brand I told him to never jump that canopy. Now he had selected what he thought was a good canopy, and by almost every parameter he had done a good job. But he missed in one very large detail that might have killed him. He bought a Nova. Do a search and then tell me if he bought a canopy that was good for him. The point is, that most students do not know what they do not know. For that reason it is best to check with an Instructor and not get advice from an untrusted source. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Wear a JS.... 1. It will protect your handles, people have died because they could not get to their handles. 2. WHEN you biff a landing, the JS will provide some protection. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Anyone that blasts you for asking an honest question is an ass. Welcome to the club! I have a national record in 16way RW and I STILL am working on RW. Have you actually worked on this? Gotten an Instructor (that actually knows how to do this, many don't have a freaking clue) to discuss this with you? Go find a guy with a PRO rating, or an old style and accuracy guy and buy him a beer and ask him how to spot. Then start doing hop n pops working on this new skill till you feel good about it. 30FT????? Big deal. Really, this is nothing. 90 is not really a lot, not bad, but not a lot. Look at it this way.... you have about 2hrs of practice in a high speed sport. 2 HOURS!!!!! That is NOTHING when compared to other activities. How good of a driver do you think you would be if you only had two hours of instruction? You do know that pilots have to have 40 HOURS to get a pilots license right? 1. Ease up on yourself. 2. Get spotting/accuracy coaching. 3. Ease up on yourself. Yes, I know what it says. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep, that's what I remember. I *thought* it mentioned the waiver in the block, but I guess not. The fact is that when the coach program came out the DZO's read the SIM as it was required to be solo or have a coach... That a "D" license was not enough. This raised quite a stink. And I can recall at least once where a competitor with medals at the nationals was not going to be allowed to jump with his buddy that was off of AFF. Then they changed the SIM again to spell it out. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Does not matter... It still applies in most cases. Every single person likes to think they are smarter than average. Every single person likes to think they are more skilled than average. Almost every single person that died in this sport thought they could handle what they were doing (suicides not counted). No, but it does mean that they lack the experience to separate the good information from the bad without outside assistance. Again, I know you think you are smarter than the average person.... And you might be.... But that does not mean that 99% of the population is as well. AND it does not mean you know enough to know what you don't know. Hell, when I had 500 jumps I thought I knew it all... Now with 5,000 jumps I realize all that I don't know. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You are assuming this would work. We have rules now, and they are not being followed. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

OK, that is what is says NOW.... you happen to have a 2008 SIM lying around? THAT is what I am talking about it USED to say something else. (IIRC) I remember a stink being raised about it before and it was changed... I do not know what year. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

We knew this was going to happen. As we try to be more 'professional' and get professional full time instructors we are going to have to find them work and this is going to cost someone. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Stuff like this makes we wish I was still in Memphis. Then thinking about Memphis makes me glad I moved But good on ya Mike "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I believe it USED to say that you had to be coach or above, OR a 'D' license with approval from the S&TA. They changed it a year or so ago, iirc "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I wanna know who this "Nick" guy was they kept talking about I gave gummy all sorts of grief about that one. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not a jump pilot, but a jumper that is a pilot and has flown jumpers. From the pilots perspective... I'd want you to follow my instructions. From the jumper perspective, I'd want out. So, my personal rule is that if I think the plane is under control*, I wait for the pilot. If I think the plane is going to have issues that could lead to a loss of control... I am outta there. * Losing an engine is not 'out of control', a canopy over the tail might be a good example of something that could lead to out of control (although several have really been non-events). I have 4(?) emergency exits. 1. Queen air engine went out at 10k. Pilot told us to get out, we put out floaters.... Yeah, don't do that. I had

Did you land on target? If so, that would have been AWESOME to see. ETA: Any reason for the 'healthy' delay?? And anyone see the irony of calling a long/low delay healthy????? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=canopy+for+bigways&search_type=AND&search_fields=sb&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=score&mh=25 "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It is bullshit. Coaches should always be an option, but I started in the sport I was a broke ass. I avoided AFF because I could do 3-4 SL jumps for the cost of a single AFF jump. I can appreciate wanting to make better jumpers, but I have been at DZ's that have tried this and it just drove students away, only to *maybe* come back after they got a license. The DZ has the right to do anything they want.... I would suggest that students go to another DZ. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Your instructor does not shut off the engine and make you land in an unimproved field. And it totally could cause a real problem. Very experienced jumpers have died trying intentional cutaway jumps.... It is too much to ask a student to handle. Yes, no. Hanging harness "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It still works; if you do not have work, you do not call in your PT's. Then he just tells the DZO that he can only work on Sat and needs Sun off. It can easily work. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You have to do that, otherwise the students might sit on the ground. *personally* I like how Dallas did it, they called you out for a specific duty. You were primary on one list and that was your main focus for the day. The CI would have 30 tandems on the books and 10 AFF's. He would call out 3 TI's, and 3-4 AFFI's (based on the levels needed). If you were called out for Tandems... You were only on the Tandem list that day. Same for AFF and Video. Near the end of the day we would all join up to ensure everything was done, but it worked very well. The place I work now has a "master list" When you are on a job, they mark a slash on a box next to your name. When you are done they "X" it out. That way they know who is free, who is busy, and how many work jumps you have done. So if guy "A" has 10 and guy "B" has 7, they can give a jump to guy "B" to make it more even. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

There is a HUGE difference between not passing a level and failing at skydiving. Say a person just didn't get the 90* turns... They had a great exit, nice body position, they pulled, had a great pattern and a stand up landing. They didn't pass the level, but they didn't fail the jump. And those that know me.... Know that I do not sugar coat stuff. Hell, people on here call me an ass. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334