mdrejhon

I already have one of those (exact same model as one of those), but I actually find I prefer these; they are much faster to touchtype on and are much more comfortable (solid IBM Thinkpad style feel). And better cool factor, too. And no wires, due to Bluetooth!

Have you seen me touchtype? I type at about 110 WPM on standard desktop keyboards and about 70 WPM on BlackBerry thumb keyboards. (I keyed at 363 thumb presses in a stopwatch, so that's approximately 74 words per mininute on a THUMB keyboard). However, the OQO is not comfortable for me; I can't type fast enough on an OQO keyboard for it to be useful, while the Sony, I can still type 110 WPM on -- I adapt to any good well-spaced keyboards approximately 16.5mm through 19mm keyboard spacing, and the Sony Vaio P series fall into the smallest possible "high quality touchtypeable league" laptops. Also, I don't have to be constantly holding up a device more than 0.5lbs to type long emails or messages. Attendes at the Perris Big Way events, will vouch for my typing speed. Just ask Kate Cooper to others such as Jan Meyer (who helped tutor me during my first 100-way event) etc. As a deaf guy, typing speed is numero uno, and Sony Vaio P has proven to be one of the smallest possible touchtypeable devices.... (Not quite - There's also that Japanese unit that I've heard of, on Pocketables.net, that's got a smaller size, due to the creativity of relocating the colon and quote keys on the right side, so that the touchtype homerow ends nearly at the edge of the laptop)

Yeah, the Sony is a very slow Atom 1.33 Ghz. But the "go-to" site is the Sony Vaio P Forum at Pocketables. There's even instructions on how to use SetFSB.exe to software overclock the CPU, as well as tweaks to make video playback properly. (Mostly disable SmartWi and a few other utils, and also switch Vista graphics to Basic mode). Some people, amazingly, got 1080p to playback smoothly (downconverted, but still sharp, on 1600x768) on the screen (video subtopic area), using PowerDVD Ultra. Also, get the SSD version, not the HDD version -- it greatly makes up for the performance limitations. I need a netbook for typing purposes, so CPU speed is not as much of a concern. I may get a MSI Wind, or some other netbook, but I really dislike being stuck with 1024x600 -- I wish more netbooks came with 1280x768 or 1360x768 -- newer models come with that -- And Sony Vaio P 1600x768 is extreme, but fits my bill well... I'm still leaning towards the Sony due to its size, but time will tell... I'm still using a 2003-era Dell laptop for basic Internet/email/communication use, and the netbooks performs similiarly (more or less). Expectations are WAY too high regarding performance, IMO -- but in the Sony store, web browsing seemed pretty snappy anyway. Not as fast as my desktop -- but that's to be expected anyway. If still I get the Sony, I definitely will be more than doubling the speed of Vista by doing the tweaks recommended in the Pocketables forum.

That's pretty neat! I'm booked for the tunnel camp during the last weekend of April. That chamber sure looks big. Can't wait to fly there!

At the Sony Store, I got a chance to see the Sony Vaio P series at the (world's smallest Windows Vista PC with full size keyboard), only 1.4 pounds: Sony Vaio P Series People who have seen me use a folding keyboard at the Perris camps for communications (because I am deaf) -- this laptop is the same "footprint" as my folding keyboard when it's unfolded! (the one some people have seen me using at Perris) So the whole thing almost fits inside my in-chest jumpsuit pocket. Funny I can, in theory, skydive with a fully functional laptop in my pocket - one that can also store an entire library of photos/videos (and maybe useful to some people for on-the-spot forget-the-laptop-bag video editing -- in theory, with this pocket laptop, you can skydive with all your video editing equipment, although they use underpowered Atom CPU's)... Then there's also GPS built in, and the laptop is small enough to sit on top of a dash, to behave as a high-def GPS nav system (Garmin Mobile is available for laptops too, so it can behave like a "Nuvi HD" too.) Anyway, I'm interested in this laptop mainly for ground/chatting/email purposes (as I am deaf) and am getting one of these soon as a super light travel laptop -- as I like to communicate by keyboard, but it's pretty neat to see these things be so small, yet I was able to touchtype at full speed (in the Sony Store) on this thing!

Most people agree that a PD-143R is much safer than a Raven Micro 150, for other reasons -- even though the area is roughly the same. Me and a friend of mine, replaced our Micro Raven 150's last year with a different reserve, and mine is a PD143R, the biggest that would fit my container without paying a fortune for a PD160R Optmium.

The way it currently works for experienced tunnel flyers, and this is usually the safest. You cannot control the airspeed directly but you CAN signal the tunnel operator to control the airspeed for you while you fly, assuming they are familiar with your experience with the tunnel airspeed you're requesting on the fly. Long answer below: It can be done upon request, under controlled conditions, to test a persons' fallrate range: How slow they can fall, and how fast they can fall. It's typically done like this. Before entering the waiting area, notify the tunnel operator that there will be a planned fallrate range test (coach does this). In one of the rotations (typically 2 minutes), the coach will wait for you to be in the middle, and then when you're ready, flying at waist height, the coach signals the tunnel operator to crank the speed down and up, while you try to maintain your level. They slowly adjust the wind speed until you struggle to stay level. (Falling to net at slow airspeed, or slowly drifting upwards at fast airspeed). They repeatedly test the upper range and lower range of your fallrate. Sometimes the coach asks you to do some motion exercises (i.e. 360's) near the upper limits and near the lower limits of your fallrate range. This tests your body's ability to fly at extremes of fallrate range. Your comfort zone typically is somewhere in the middle between these two extremes. With some body form exercises, and further practice, the tunnel can re-test your fallrate range another time to see if you now have a wider fallrate range (a good thing) This is not usually done on a first timer, but after about half an hour of tunnel training, and with an appropriate coach (usually an RW coach, like Perris Fury or Canada's Team Evolution, etc), especially if it is requested by the skydiver. I've specifically requested this fallrate range test four times in the past; to see if my slow-fall skills has improved (slow fall is quite a pain in the ass in the tunnel, but it's an essential skill to improve, for big ways) Now -- once you're experienced enough, you can stare at tunnel operator, and finger-up or finger-down to request tunnel speed changes. It's best that you fly close to the net and very stable, when you signal the tunnel operator -- basically this signals you're very able to stay close to the net despite the current tunnel speed. The tunnel operator will be reluctant to crank up the the speed of the tunnel while you're flying high (except to crank down the speed slightly). If you fly too high too often (even if intentionally), the tunnel operator WILL often crank down the wind speed, so if you don't want the tunnel operator to slow down the air, definitely stay low (waist or chest height is common). Obviously, the tunnel operator will be more trusting and abrupt in speed adjustments if they've seen you fly often; especially for hours, and are very familiar with your tunnelflying skills. And if other coaches frequently signalling speed increases for you, then they're more likely to listen to you to crank the speed when you signal a "finger-up" while staring at the tunnel operator. If they don't think you can fly well at the cranked-up speed, they just ignore your request.

You're the student of this 1988 jump where the videographer went in? I'm impressed you stayed in skydiving -- especially if this was your first jump -- most first jump students would probably have decided not to come back if confronted by a situation such as this. How many jumps do you have, as the jumps haven't been defined in your profile?

I'm going to be probably camping if I can. Also, there are fare sales that bring the fare down quite a bit, to about $500 plus taxes, for about $800 total roundtrip. You have to experiment with things like Sunday versus Monday return, to things like morning and afternoons, and try multiple sites, at different times of the year. From time to time, I've seen JFK-to-Brussels for only $300, plus taxes, for about $550-ish. Sometimes flying on a different day costs a few hundred more. Anyway you do have to keep an eye on fares every few weeks, and time it well. A fare alerting service can also help. Also European has lots of frequent train service, so you may be able to catch an airfare sale to a different European city... Also, it's usually cheaper to buy airfare two-to-four months prior, rather than 8 months prior. Start saving money anyway for a probable summer-time event, but be prepared for late spring time and early fall time. Test search: Air France flight from JFK to BCN (Barcelona, near Empuriabravia) Tues May 19th - Tues May 26th, from www.expedia.ca -- only $400 U.S. INCLUDING TAXES ROUNDTRIP right now (search done March 1st). See.... It's not $1500 ... It can be much cheaper if you time the searches about 1 to 2 months prior, and catch the cheap fares. Don't buy 8 months prior (too expensive), don't buy 1 weeks prior (too expensive) -- always buy medium-term cheap tickets -- usually approx 1 to 2 months before the vacation, and save about 50 - 75%. But bottom line, do the fare searches every week, beginning 6 months prior the vacation, and buy only when the tickets drop to within 25% of the cheapest known fares for that particular route...

Once again. Please explain to me how your happiness or the deceased's family's happiness is more important than his/hers. I think the dictionary definition of 'selfish' is often elastic in this situation ("concerned chiefly or only with yourself and your advantage to the exclusion of others"), and it does appear to clearly define suicide for a great many people in one way or another. Even in the cases where the suicidal doesn't even have any anger at other people but only upon himself/herself (like my John's case -- a different John, the one I was referring to), it can be argued that not even thinking about others at all, may denote selfishness. But anyway, out of respect, I've never used that word to define John because he wrote such a sad but friendly goodbye letter to everyone he knew -- it didn't even contain any bad words to anyone. In this case, the suicide letter was ironically very unselfishly written. He even said genuine good words about his last few ex's! Even friends that got lost and couldn't be bothered to help him, but somehow he understood he scared them away (he did) out of delirium of his low situation, not too different spiritually from people such as Nataly's (and in some ways, even worse; he had a really long way to fall). Yes, it is ironic to have such a sad (yet friendly) suicide letter that looked unselfish, yet the act itself, is generally considered matching the dictionary definition of 'selfish', technically. Going by the Merriam-Webster New Collegiate Dictionary (9th or 10th), I find it hard to disagree that the word often fits a person in a suicide case, even though I do not like to use the word to describe my friend. But that's not my reply to your text exactly... My reply is to address my opinion: Iceburner's comment understandably only commented on the selfishness itself; not a "he shouldn't have been selfish" (although that is often automatically implied when someone says "X is selfish" in suicide, which thus automatically imply family's happiness). But clearly, that isn't Iceburner's intent. Although Iceburner's John may have harboured anger at others and my John did not seem to show it at least on his surface (rather, he was more too focussed how disastorous his life was). One may never know the entire spectrum of feelings though... I searched and I can find no other post that Iceburner made, that specifically referred to the suicidal persons' own family/friends happiness, in the context of using the word selfish. I interpret and understand the comment differently than you do based on my personal experience, as explained above. The word selfish actually can be interpreted in so many ways, and differently for different cases.

Nataly, I just wanted to reply to your post and thank you for taking the time to write about yourself. Some of us can relate into how a miserable situation gets compounded by yet another layer of miserable situation, and it keeps stacking on, and on, and on, and then it comes to the point where anybody decent would succumb, or somewhere close to it. At this point, I just want to give you a hug. It's all I know how to do...

UPS needs to adopt a thief-ferreting policy by using a satellite tracker embedded inside similar items, to ferret out the UPS worker thieves. Ship along the same route, and monitor where the item goes. Package will need to be clearly labelled and tempting/easy to open - so that dishonest workers can be tempted to steal the package. This technique was recently used to trace a broken TV in the UK sent in for local recycling, and it ultimately ended up in Nigeria slum recycling pit (where they actually burn circuit boards and wires in a pile of burning rubber tires to get at the metals) SKY NEWS Exclusive: Satellite Tracker embedded in TV sent away for recycling (And more about this) P.S. I like my two Bev suits. I now soon need to return my original for bootie repairs and attaching additional grippers to the insides of my legs.

It is my general experience that most boogies tend to get organized about 6 to 12 months prior; I wouldn't expect specifics of 2010 to be solidified until late 2009. Hopefully the details come sooner -- but it would certainly be nice. Even big boogies such as Skyfest don't often set dates this far in advance. So a little patience

A dear friend of mine did what you said -- took his own life. I have put up a memorial site for him, www.johnbriggs.net John took his life back in my hometown, while I was travelling with my spouse to Argentina. We left for Argentina exactly one year ago - February 22nd, 2008. The photo on this website was taken in Bariloche, Patagonia and printed for the ceremony. It is an inukshuk sculpture (or more accurately, an Inunnguaq) built lakeside by both of us in memory of him, when we were thousands of miles away. Everyone at the ceremony saw the pictures as we had them printed over the Internet in a hurry, in lieu of our prescence. He took his own life February 24th of 2008. I still miss him very much. I'll be keeping www.johnbriggs.net alive for the rest of my life for him. I do still have wonder in me, about what I could possibly have done. Miss him always,

Skyride's at it again. Recent February 2009 Craigslist ad: Craiglist: Adventure Skydiving in Clarksville, The Gay FRIENDLY Skydiving Ctr. (Clarksville) I'd rather people come to Rainbow Boogie 2009 instead. (See my sig)

There's a camp here: Skyventure Montreal Camp (April 3-5th) But keep an eye on Skyventure opening; it may be delayed slightly, I hear April is the opening time. Keep tuned...

I've made a decision: Straight back to Performance Designs for reline. Straight to PD, don’t pass go, don’t collect $200 [monopoly reference]. Apparently I'm told by a local rigger, that it's cheaper to do this than to do it with local riggers; maybe that's cuz PD has a good speedy "reline jig" of some kind... And yes, I'm certainly going to stick to Dacron, I'm not going to be swooping professionally or care about that extra few feet... Update -- I recalculated the number of jumps; including loans to others, but excluding rentals I did (which means I didn't jump Sabre), the canopy actually has only a hair above 500 jumps not 600 -- my miscalculation.

When I pull while flaring my track, I'm at a somewhat head-up attitude, which is more comfortable. Although I do have some residual forward motion leftover, I don't seem to swing forward, partly due to this head-up attitude. I'm not thinking of timing when I am pulling, just happen to pull while in mid-flare of a track as indicated, and it happens to feel best for me during this time. Habits may gradually change when I downsize to a new canopy with different opening characteristics... And clearly, each jumper develop their end-of-track pull differently... I've deployed head-low in that pull-in-a-track, and it's a little uncomfortable to say at the least as you can imagine.

I do agree with davelepka.... I should stress my post is not supposed to be a howto for 100 jump wonders - I did stress safety is #1 but I shall stress that again! My post is more of a "how can it?" than a "how do I?" post. But we all know dropzone.com is to be taken with a healthy amount of salt. I do not wish to jeopardize jumpers. Just yet another interesting topic. Some of you are lucky enough to have pilots or sail sliders to open soft in the middle of a high speed track - I certainly notice that. Gotta go to work, so have to keep this reply short. Good talk going on here!

Thanks for the compliment. I promise I'll write better next time. (clicky)

True -- and a good observation. I do requote what I wrote: Even though my Altitrack told me I can 88-90mph in a track for more than 20 seconds if I do my best possible track in a tracking practice dive, I recognize that it's distorted/semi-"fake" by factors like this, burbles, as well as SAS versus TAS measurement modes. I could very well be going 100+mph vertical fallrate. However, the bottom-line point is, for the vertical fallrate perspective (ignoring the horizontal for now): Normal terminal - belly fly Slightly less than belly-terminal - regular track Significantly less than belly-terminal (briefly) - flaring a track I am not a pro tracker and I have my own inconsistent moments (not 'getting in the groove'). I'm probably now a 75th percentile tracker in a 100-way (basically usually in the top 25), essentially I get surprised about 1 out of 4 times by a person who can track better than I can. One doesn't need to be a top tracker to gain the benefits of a soft opening (on a normally fast-opening canopy) after a track...

You're right. I apologize for omitting that info: I believe I have probably the original dacron lineset for a 1993 Sabre that was a closet queen for most of its lifetime; it's not microline. I bought this canopy used as 175 jumps, so the lineset/canopy now has nearly 600 jumps after I began jumping this rig/canopy at jump #57. The brakes got relined about 300 jumps. (Even though it is one of the early manufactures of the Sabre 1, during a Relative Workshop factory rigger inspection they have commented that my canopy is in excellent shape. A couple of other riggers have remarked that my canopy is in such excellent shape for its age.) At the base of the lines is completely black now with dirt (this started happening only during 2008 due to my 70 jumps at dusty Skydive Perris), and a rigger at Perris confirmed it's fine for 50 more jumps. A hundred jumps before that, a different local rigger said it was good for 100 more. So it's definitely a reline that's needed "sometime in the near term", confirmed by two separate riggers. Now it's a couple dozen jumps later since that Skydive Perris rigger said "about 50 more jumps". The lineset's served me well, but whether it needs relining is no longer in question, especially after a hundred extra jumps at multiple dusty dropzones to the point of blackening/minor fraying at the S-links area -- and minor fraying on all lines now ("25 more jumps league" fraying) -- yes the S-links are finally black with dirt -- so I'm relining before my next jump. The 2008 Perris dirt is amazingly abrasive... Reline isn't the question here -- I'm just concerned about the grapevine reports that relining can create slammers. (ouch) I'll just have to do a few test jumps (non-bigway-camp events) and determine whether to upgrade the slider... Some people just do semi-major rig maintenance then go straight into a bigway or swoop event (and I'm even guilty of doing that too, at least once); but it looks like I'll have to pretend to be a testjumper before I go to an event; and get my rig fine-tuned (slider, etc) if necessary after trying out the reline in some easy jumps -- I don't want to witness Sabre 1 slammers (though I haven't experienced them in the last couple hundred jumps). ________ Softer openings in a track: Actually it's true: You can get a brief moment of slightly-subterminal fallrate when you do a good aggressive flare at the end of a track. This is many peoples' personal experiences with a good high speed 25 second track at the outer of a 50-way to 100-way bigway; doing your best high-speed track and then flaring aggressively (backslide/stopping motion) converts your horizontal speed into reduced vertical fallrate; leading to a small window (about 2-3 seconds worth or so) of subterminal fallrate, so when a pull is timed within this window, you get a subterminal opening after a track! See my article: How Pulling At End Of A Track Can Lead To Softer NOT Harder Openings; If Timed Right. Note: Obviously, this shouldn't be #1 concern; safety (swivel headedness, clearing airspace, etc) is #1.

I post this because a few people (in the past) brought up a point that you can't flare a track to get a softer opening. I disagree with this; you actually can soften your opening to an ever-so-slightly sub-terminal opening at the end of a track! (And still pull relatively quickly) How? (Note: This assumes that your canopy opens softer in a slightly-subterminal opening, than a 120mph terminal opening. And that your canopy opens like a slammer when pulled during a high speed track.) Flaring a track can sometimes soften a canopy opening because you're converting horizontal airspeed into temporarily-reduced fallrate. During a tracking jump, my altitrack shows my vertical fallrate goes to about 75mph for a period of 2 seconds after a moment into a VERY aggressive body-flare at the end of a track. When I time it just right, I can *feel* a soft near-subterminal opening. The sequence is as follows: Flare track hard with my legs while waving off, pull, then put my arms way out in the front - giving me 1 additional second of flaring my track while I wait for the PC to inflate and go to full line stretch, and finally open my canopy. I've opened 5 seconds after flaring a track (normal opening), and I've opened without flaring a track (slammer opening - OUCH), and I've opened at a very good timing (*softer* opening) -- as a bigway jumper, a properly timed pull after a flared track definitely leads to a slightly-subterminal opening, because you're falling slower for a couple seconds. A good body flare at the end of a track, converts your very high horizontal speed, into temporary reduced vertical fallrate while you're decelerating horizontally. Normal fallrate: ~120mph vertical fallrate Sustained track: ~90-105mph vertical fallrate (but LOTS of horizontal airspeed) Aggressive body flare a track: briefly ~75mph vertical fallrate approx (and much less horizontal airspeed) - you actually have slightly less than 120mph diagonal motion vector, which results in a slightly subterminal opening, if your deployment sequence occurs before you re-accelerate back to terminal. These are approximate mph numbers - not necessarily accurate. My Altitrack electronic logging function shows clear brief moments of slow fallrate during a tracking flare. Some inaccuracy is injected by burbles, but the point is -- flaring slows things down -- for a moment. In a track, think of your body as a wing that can be flared too. Just a high speed wing, one that can't plane out but fallrate can still be temporarily slowed in a flare. Just like when you flare your canopy, you fly slower for a moment before recovery to regular glide(track). Same thing can happen with your body. Whether you wingsuit, or use regular tracking techniques, or canopy or whatever -- a flare can briefly reduce your speed (both horizontally and vertically). A reasonably decent tracker with a reasonably good body flare, with good timing, can execute a properly-timed opening to gain a ever-so-slightly-sub-terminal canopy opening immediately at the end of a track. Time it early, you get a slammer. Time it late, you get a normal bellyfly terminal opening. Time it right, you get a slightly subterminal opening! Thus, my conclusion: A properly timed pull at the end of a track, can lead to a softer slightly-subterminal opening. Most people who witness this softer opening, don't do the timing on purpose, the timing is instinctive: One tries to avoid a slammer by pulling too early in a track. Pulling in a track can be painful, because of your high horizontal speed. Many people automatically flare before they pull, but try to still pull as quickly as they can tolerate. Especially when you're a bigway outer, tracking for 25 seconds from a 100-way formation, and then pull at a hair under 2500 feet. The body flare sequence at the end of a track, tends to become: As you're near the end of the track, be aware of your airspace, before, during and after your pull. It's important to clear your airspace before you start to execute your end-of-track-sequence, in case you need to keep tracking away from meat missles near you; but also keep an eye to the airspace in front of you too. 1. When it's time to pull and your airspace looks clear, begin flaring your track (i.e. Fold legs inwards and put your arms out, as usual, and simultaneously trying to fall slower -- as if you're trying to brake/backslide as quickly as possible while not increasing your fallrate). 2. (T+0.5 to 1sec) Immediately swivel your head above-below-around to clear your airspace; while starting to wave your outstretched arms in a wide-sweeping-motion in front of you; maintaining your body flare while you wave. 3. (T+1.5 to 2sec) If your airspace is clear and your wave motion is complete, go into pull motion and say goodbye to your hackey. You still have lots of forward motion. 4. Immediately put your arms back outstretching in front; continuing your body flare position while you wait for linestretch. Your forward motion and vertical fallrate continues to decrease until it hits a low (sweet spot of flare) 5. (T+2.5 to 3sec) Softer opening occurs, if timed correctly in that narrow window of your slowest motion vector where you're ever so slightly subterminal. (combined vertical and horizontal motion). 6. As your canopy opens, at this time, arms are automatically reaching for the risers, for immediate evasive action if necessary. (Safety IS still #1) (Of course, done more 'naturally' and 'gracefully' than a step by step based approach, the above is just to explain the end-of-track technique that some of us bigway flyers typically do) Most people who are just learning to bellyfly and track, simply begin RW flare first, stop all horizontal motion, continue a normal bellyfly briefly, before they wave off and pull. This can consume time, which is typically fine for small-ways. However, bigway flyers often need to optimize things that they maximize the maximum possible amount of tracking before their pull, while not ending up in a slammer, and while not pulling too low -- many bigway flyers have needed to start pulling while they are flaring their track if they are at an outer and are commanded by load organizers to deploy no higher than 2500 feet; which makes many of us, by necessity, develop a quick ballet of multitasked motion (#1 key one being your head on swivel to clear your airspace; while you're doing other things such as simultaneously flaring&waving). By accident, experienced bigway jumpers over hundreds of jumps, observe some pulls are unusually gentle; and then they often adapt their pull timing in their regular end-of-bigway-track, to soften their openings if they're flying canopies that open too fast when being pulled in the middle of a track. Thus, many experienced bigway jumpers have optimized pull timings that work best for their canopy. The optimized pull timing just naturally eventually happen by instinct when you're trying to deal with low pull altitudes at the end of a bigway -- it's done without 'thinking'. Since then, I've never, ever had a slammer again during a track (since Deaf World Record 2005, when I pulled early in a track) and my openings at the end of a track is now almost always softer than a regular bellyfly pull. In reality, not everyone ends up doing their track-flare-pull sequence this way, and some canopies are designed to open soft even at higher speeds (not all of us fly fast opening canopies). However, the important thing is that you be safe and that opening softness is a secondary importance to respecting the safety of your airspace. You're timing your body flare to the safety of your airspace, not to your pull. The timing of pull just 'comes' naturally/automatically/gracefully; as a result of experience; not too rushed but not too slow; just right -- just Goldilocks.

Hello, I have put more than 300 jumps on my Sabre 170, and it is now due for a reline due to the fraying. Now is a good time, as I'm between major skydiving trips. Riggers, in your experience, is the Sabre canopy very sensitive to openings with a reline? I've been happy with its openings in the last couple hundred jumps, but I'm kind of hesitant about getting slammers the Sabre can be famous for, especially since I often have to open right near the very end of a long track after at the end of a big way. (I open while I flare my track, which helps soften the openings)

My spouse doesn't jump but will soon. As soon as we're back to a two-income couple, it's such an expensive hobby