ChasingBlueSky

According to PC Gamer - the game relies more on GPU power than CPU. Upgrade your Video card first - and PCI x16 won't increase anything. Also, sound card won't matter - the game will do all the 5.1 processing (which will cause a slight hit on the CPU). So, if you have at least 512mb DDR and over 1.5(1500) CPU - make sure you upgrade your video card. Apparently they have made the game idiot proof when it comes to setting up the graphics and the game will decide what gets turned off or down, or in multiple passes so the experience is not lost. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Cornholio that is so going to rock!! Will this server be a private locked game or public? We can fill it up with DZ.commers No you won't - at least at first. 4 person limit on multiplayer out of the box. I'm sure the mods will change that over time. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Team Funnel www.TeamFunnel.com _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

No it's Chris' first party at the trailer and he's not only buying a case he's buying a keg And I was going to bring some Corona, never mind now! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Ditto - and if anyone has seen my pictures this year you will know I have some great black mail shots!!! Gotta love that "silent" mode! Besides, I have a few people I need to take pictures of to get back for some of the shots taken of me last year! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Opie, Is this the first big party you have had in that trailer??? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Is anyone else having this problem today? All my emails sent from my yahoo email account (via the website, not a mail client) has bounced back with this error: Message from yahoo.com. Unable to deliver message to the following address(es). Sorry, I couldn't find any host named hotmail.com. (#5.1.2) I even tested it to my own hotmail account and this happened. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I don't think that was the slant of the article. The author is actually very critical of how extreme & shrill Helen Thomas is, and makes her look kind of ridiculous. Good to see someone actually read the article. The knee-jerk reactions that have been posted here are some of the main reasons I don't post in this forum anymore. The article does nothing to give Helen Thomas credibility anymore, yet the PRO-GW camp here jumped all over this and tried to dismiss it outright because of the quote I choose from the article. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Did anyone catch the Simpsons last night? I've been trying to find a copy of it to watch. Apparently it was a full half hour of bashing the political status of our country. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Yup, a little thing I have been putting together is a file of all the good stories on the GWB admin, and all the bad. It's my own little study on political fairness in the news. I found this story interesting, and don't remember it ever being posted before. So, old news is bad news? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I'm not sure if this has been talked about yet, so excuse the repost. slate.msn.com/id/2080034/ Screw You, Mr. President Helen Thomas used to ask questions in press briefings. Now she makes speeches. By Jack Shafer Posted Wednesday, March 12, 2003, at 2:34 PM PT At his televised news conference last week, President George W. Bush deliberately snubbed several reporters he ordinarily calls upon, including journos from the Washington Post, Newsweek, and USA Today. But the most conspicuous recipient of the 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. freeze-out was longtime UPI reporter Helen Thomas, who has barbed and grilled every president since John F. Kennedy and almost always gets to ask a question. Bush pointedly ignored her. Bush then dealt Thomas a second slight. By custom, Thomas concludes White House press conferences at the president's signal by saying, "Thank you, Mr. President." Bush denied her that supporting role, ending the conference with his own sign off, "Thank you for your questions," and flushing a decades-old White House custom. Bush's slaps at Thomas are consistent with the psy-ops his information wranglers conduct day-in and day-out on the White House press corps. Bush's news conferences have become increasingly scripted, with the president calling on reporters from a preset list and refusing the follow-up questions that might trick him into saying something substantive. Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has lobotomized the White House press corps in official briefings by jawing more and more and saying less and less. (The smarter reporters play hooky these days rather than endure Fleischer obfuscations.) Last October, Fleischer maliciously tampered with the corps' self-esteem by reassigning seats in the briefing room. The new chart demoted scribes from Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report from the Park Place of the second row to the Siberia of the sixth. (Pressies live for their little perks, and the White House reporters revealed their Ted Baxterian pettiness for all to see when they bellyached about the reshuffle.) But the reason behind Bush's double dissing of Thomas isn't directly related to his basic contempt for White House beat reporters. Bush ignored Helen Thomas because she is no longer the Helen Thomas of yesteryear, a deadline artist writing news for tens of millions of UPI readers. She left the waning wire in silent protest, after convicted felon Rev. Sun Myung Moon's News World Communications rescued it from collapse in 2000, and took a job at the Hearst News Service. There, Helen Thomas the Pundit writes a sharply partisan syndicated White House column about what she thinks—as opposed to Helen Thomas the Reporter, who wrote about what she'd learned. How bad is the column? Only a couple of Hearst papers, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Houston Chronicle, publish her pieces with any regularity. I dare say that if you were Bush or his handlers, you'd pass her over at a press conference, too. Her loathing for Bush is palpable. "This is the worst president ever," she told the Torrance, Calif., Daily Breeze in January. "He is the worst president in all of American history." Though Thomas never masked her crush on Democrats when she worked as a news writer, she comes completely out of the closet in her columns, ripping "Bush's headlong drive into war, his favor-the-rich economic policy and his campaign to put right-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court." As the child of Lebanese immigrants, Thomas knows exactly which religious button she's pushing when she repeatedly condemns Bush's plans for war on Iraq as a "crusade." But Thomas' opinion columns are a model of restraint when compared with the snarky speeches she delivers in lieu of asking questions at White House briefings. In the past, Ari Fleischer usually gave Thomas first shot, and in recent weeks she rode a constant theme: Thomas to Fleischer: Will you state for the record, for the historical record, why [Bush] wants to bomb Iraqi people? —March 5, 2003 Thomas to Fleischer: [W]hy is [Bush] going to bomb them? I mean, how do you bomb people back to democracy? This is a question of conquest. They didn't ask to be "liberated" by the United States. This is our self-imposed political solution for them. —Feb. 26, 2003 Thomas: At an earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the president deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? Fleischer: Well, Helen— Thomas: And I have a follow-up. Fleischer: —I refer specifically to a horrible terrorist attack in Tel Aviv that killed scores and wounded hundreds. And the president, as he said in a statement yesterday, deplores in the strongest terms the taking of those lives and the wounding of those people, innocents in Israel. Thomas: My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis? —Jan. 6, 2003 Thomas' talent for speechifying at news conferences dates to her career as a reporter. The day after the allies started bombing Iraq in 1991, President George H.W. Bush denounced Hussein's Scud attack against Israel in a news conference. Back then, Thomas had a very different idea of who qualified as an "innocent civilian." Thomas: Mr. President, two days ago you launched a war, and war is inherently a two-way street. Why should you be surprised or outraged when there is an act of retaliation? Bush I: Against a country that's innocent and is not involved in it? That's what I'm saying. Thomas: Well ... Bush I: Israel is not a participant. Israel is not a combatant, and this man has elected to a—to launch a terrorist attack against the population centers in Israel with no military—no military design whatsoever. And that's why. And it is an outrage and the whole world knows it and the whole world is—most of the countries of the world are speaking out against it. There can be no—no consideration of this in anything other than condemnation. Bested by Bush, who was never particularly quick on his feet, Thomas changes the subject with a new speech. Thomas: Why is it that any move for—move for peace is considered an end run at the White House these days? Bush I: Well, you—you obviously—what was the question? End run? Thomas: Yes, that is considered an end run, that people who still want to find a peaceful solution seem to be running into a brick wall. As someone practiced in the art of vitriol, I'd be the last to deny Thomas her right to extend a middle finger at the president. And as an 82-year-old, Thomas possesses more energy and exhibits a stronger work ethic than anybody on her beat. One reporter says she's the only person with any testosterone in the White House press room. She starts each day at 5:30 a.m., reading the newspapers at a coffee shop near the White House. She responds to e-mail and answers her own phone—although she's known to hang up quickly if she doesn't like the direction the conversation takes. But she can't give Bush the what-for and expect the White House to treat her like the grande dame. And I don't think she does. For a crabby person with a big mouth, Thomas complains very rarely. When the Moon cult bought UPI, she left in protest but didn't trash the place on the way out. Nor has she griped about receiving Bush's cold shoulder. "That was his privilege, I guess," Thomas told the New York Observer. "I think he had a right to do that." We could applaud her for stripping the varnish off standard-issue White House lies with her acerbic questions, but rarely are her questions tailored to produce an intelligent response from Fleischer. When you repeatedly ask the question, "Why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis?" you're mostly venting your spleen. Not that Fleischer would give a useful answer to a direct question in any case. The same goes for his boss. White House briefings and presidential news conferences have become so ritualized and substanceless that many of the beat reporters have begun exhibiting all the classic symptoms of depression: guilt, worthlessness, pessimism, restlessness, and irritability. While Bush dislikes Thomas, he and his news managers are still savvy enough to recognize her usefulness to the administration. When Fleischer changed the seating chart in the briefing room last year, he could have exiled Thomas to the back row. Instead, he kept her down front, where he uses her as his foil, addressing her liberally by first name so other White House officials reading the transcript can chuckle to themselves—We're safe! It's another question from that wacky Helen Thomas. When Fleischer calls on her, he hopes she'll heckle him and savage Bush with her eccentric, combative, accusatory, and unreasonably phrased questions—because they're so easily evaded. "We will temporarily suspend the Q & A portion of today's briefing to bring you this advocacy minute," Fleischer responded to a line of Thomas questioning at the Feb. 26 press briefing. The moment of comic relief lifts Fleischer and soils Thomas. Which brings us to the saddest part of Thomas' decline: She often raises serious questions that are on lots of people's minds—questions that other critical journalists in the press corps might want to pose. But when spoken by Thomas' lecturing lips first, the questions sound absurd. She ends up taking the air out of the room for intelligent criticism of the president and helps make the press corps look like a Saturday Night Live skit. You can almost hear Fleischer squealing behind closed doors after the briefings: Thank God for Helen Thomas! *** _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Yea, she did cut out a little early! Thomas - I met you and didn't even realize who you were until today! Hopefully Val drives better than the ride we had Saturday night, huh? I don't think the Tracker will ever be the same. But, I have to admit, that thing ran great even after Matt tore the muffler off of it with his bare hands. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

What was the reason for having it at the same dz two years in a row? Are bids now going to be like the PIA symposium? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

ditto _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I thought it was her sugar tank? BTW - that was the first time I ever drank the worm at the bottom of the bottle! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

John, I'm sure you have seen a few pencil packs work over the years. I have heard stories of pencil packed reserves working a year later. Luckily it was stored in a closest in a garbage bag most of that time. From my understanding, miliarty ejection parachutes have very long repack cycles. I don't think the issue is how long it can go without a repack! I like the current 120 day cycle just for gear maintenance issues! I don't know many people that clean their cutaway cables (dirt on the cable adds to the pull force), I've seen rigs get tossed around on the ground and in the plane and rub up against a lot of stuff. I've seen people that got wet on a swoop not pull the reserve and go back up on a few more loads and then put it in their car at the end of the day because "there is no AAD to ruin." I watch people drag their rigs across the carpet to pack it and ruining their risers, etc..... Yes, gear should be looked after by the owner - no argument there. However, newbies don't always know what to look for (I know someone that was jumping an out of trim HP canopy with soft housing that someone sold to them recently) and those in the sport a bit longer get complacent. My reserve opened and flew just fine with 5 jumps on it. I'm sure it will do the same with 10 jumps on it. If I felt otherwise, I would burn the canopy and get a new one....my life is worth the extra couple hundred dollars I would have to spend. In fact I spend an extra $5 per repack to have my main fully inspected and packed, even thou I inspect it at the end of every jump day. Talk to the parachute manufactures - they put jump and age limits on reserve for our own safety, not so they and the riggers can make a couple extra bucks! Does everyone really feel that one extra pack job a year is going to be that harmful to the gear and to your wallet? I see zero reasons on why we should change the current 120 standard. Money is not a good reason - and if money is what motivates you for this change, then you should reconsider your own safety. BTW - did anyone notice the year long rigger package mentioned in Skydiving this month? A rigger in KY is offereing a service to do all the repacks for you in one year for a discounted price you have to pay up front. If you do this, it will also get you discounted prices for ALL work on your rig and canopy during that year time frame. I think if more riggers offered something like this, you would hear less people bitch about the 120 cycle. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Yea, I'm sure those are how they found their way to the floor! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Where did you check the weather? Accuweather shows good stuff for tomorrow in Southern WI. Looks good for IL as well! But thanks for the concern! If I get stuck in the rain I'll call you and let ya know _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Nope. Why would I want to do such a thing for my hobby? In my job every phone call, mouse click and each time I get up for the bathroom is measured, managed, evaluated and placed in front of me to figure out where I can improve by .98%. Seriously, every day I have a 10 page report given to me that updates me on my monthly progress towards the goal given to me, and the progress may only change by less than 1% in a given day. It all starts over again on the 1st of the month, and then I have my 2 month goals, 6 months goals, and one year overall goals to consider as well. Goals? Sheesh, I have enough of those to worry about already. If I turn 9 points or 10 points I am going to be happy. If if funnels, I am going to be happy. If I go out an fall flat and stable so a 20 jump newbie can practice fall rates, I am going to be happy. Yup, every jump is really a fun jump for me. Don't get me wrong, I come down from a skydive and think "hmmm, if I had pointed my toes this direction and put my legs like this, I could have gotten that spock down a lot easier" and then I go up and do that on the next jump. I do the same thing while flying my canopy. I do want to improve my skills, and I do post-dive, however, I do not need the ego boost of the entire community saying "wow, that guy can skydive." _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Looks like I will be heading north of the border this weekend - just curious who all will be there? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I think the 80s Hair Bands are now in control of the makeup companies. Either that or the crab people are trying to take over the world again. BTW - it's just freaky to see a guy like this in person. It's like a car wreck, you find it hard not to stare. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Ditto - this is a really good program. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

The Harley looking ones have been for sale at PetBoys. Just up the street from me they seel gas and electric scooters like this for $160-$200. I'm not sure they will be as good of quality, but they seem to be fun. I know someone at the dz has one like the one you purchased....it can move surprisingly fast. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Is that code? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

sweet ride! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....