MB38

...but it's just one of many. Don't put blinders on. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Not so. Some manufacturers do background checks, and ask for references before they sell gear. I get reference check calls from manufacturers more than once a month, and I'm sure others do, too. I thankfully stand corrected. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

The unsolvable problem is that anybody can lie. I could email somebody about a rig tonight, buy it tomorrow and kill myself by friday. I could also go to a gun shop, lie about my experience, buy a gun and accidentally blow my head off. Or I could go and buy a hang-glider, drive to San Diego and crash onto some nude beach aficionados below the cliffs. The list goes on. People will always do stupid things. Unfortunately, BASE is one of those things that doesn't strike your average joe as incredibly dangerous until he's learned a thing or two about it. It also doesn't seem remarkably difficult... just jump and pull! That's all there is to it! Right? The only thing that manufacturers could do is require referrals from past customers or people they know. If everybody had to have another jumper or two call the company before that company would make joe a rig... it might add some security. That said, if average joe really wants the rig... he can just tell his two whuffo buddies to vouch for him. Idiots travel in packs. The only way that a manufacturer could *actually* be sure that they were selling a rig to a "qualified" jumper would be if there was a USPA equivalent for BASE. They could require the person's APOOOPA membership number or some nonsense like that. Lets hope that never happens. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Does your dropzone have a rental program so you can rent and downsize slowly before buying? I really don't know what I'm talking about.

What canopy are you currently jumping? I really don't know what I'm talking about.

That's an absolutely awful idea. Is it April 1st again? I really don't know what I'm talking about.

When I'm too high to see the flags, I look at the swoop pond. Generally one side of the pond will be smooth and the other side will have waves/ripples. The smooth side is the direction the wind is coming from. The attached picture is a crop of a picture taken at 4,200 feet. Note the smooth areas on the left-most sides of the pond versus the choppier water on the right-most sides. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Yes. If not Tuesday, Wednesday. At the absolute latest, a week later. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

It isn't an Intel Mac, they all ship with iLife '06. But your point remains: If you have an Intel Mac... don't buy Photoshop until CS3 surfaces in 2007. It's still functional, but not exactly fast. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Most rumor sites are not trustworthy, unfortunately. Big Mac dorks will agree... just think of the iWalk or iHome as a few examples. The only one I come close to trusting is Think Secret... and I only believe about 75% of what's on there. Re: Aperture... it's absolutely sub-par when compared to Apple's other Pro apps. That said, it's still a cool app and it has its place. It's also a 1.0 [now 1.1, I suppose]... most 1.0 releases suck anyways. So who knows. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Wow, fantastic. I love that manufacturers are lurking on these boards. Thanks! I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Have there been any generational changes to Aerodyne's Pilot since it was introduced? I seem to remember reading that the Tri has had several changes/generations since its introduction... just seeing if the same was true of the Pilot. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

While your point is wholly accepted and respected, it leaves me in a peculiar situation. When all I'm doing is relaying something that I've learned on the forums, how can I know if it's good information or not? I generally judge the source of the information based on jump numbers and post count, but sometimes that's not enough. I specifically remember reading the very point that I made above. When I originally found it, I was so surprised that I took note. The general point made was that if one finds themselves terminal at a high altitude with only a reserve on their back that they should take it down to a standard deployment altitude [say 5,000 and below] before pulling. Of course one should deploy their reserve immediately after cutting away from a malfunction - this only applies if something has prevented that. There was no negative reaction to the post so I filed it away in my growing library of knowledge as something to keep in mind should I ever find myself in the situation. I, of course, cannot find the thread... though I specifically remember the post. For argument's sake at this point I may as well have made it up. Now judging by how negative the reaction in this thread is, I'm sure I've made a mistake. Perhaps I misread it, misremembered it or the post was overlooked when it was originally made. Either way, I'm truly mortified that I've posted misinformation on these forums. I really do fully appreciate your point that somebody could take the misinformation in my post as the truth... because that's exactly what I did with somebody else's post. So my brain, having read the information I read in the mystery thread, saw somebody's post in this thread about pulling high at terminal and freaked out. That's not right, I have the answer! I read it earlier! I'd better pass that information on and potentially save somebody's ass... after all, that's the point of these forums. So that's why I said something. If I thought I didn't know the answer, i wouldn't have tried to post it. But since I thought I knew the right answer and had no way to know that I was wrong, I posted. So thank you for catching me on this one. I made a mistake and I am sorry for it. The good news is that the error has been corrected and the truth has been posted. I assume it's the truth because you have a lot of jumps and I don't. The same qualifications that I used the last time I read information on the subject. That's the peculiar situation I alluded to above... how do I know what information to trust and what to ignore? In this case, I'll trust the info in this thread. Several people have posted contrary to what I think I remember, so I'm wrong. Anyway, I'm still typing. I think my point's somewhere in there. I do actually appreciate it, I hope this post doesn't come across as cynical. [And I do plan on jumping a reserve as a main once I am allowed to do so. The largest demo reserve my DZ has is a 176R. Since I'm still on 190 mains, it's too small to safely jump. Of course with that said, the rig that I rent from them has a 176R in it. I suppose that's another point altogether.] I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Yeah, looks like you're using iPhoto 5, I'm using iPhoto 6. That would explain the discrepancies. Beyond the location of export, the features I described should remain the same. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Model 1 and 3 are priceless. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

In many versions of the Mac OS, you must have adequate free space on your hard drive to burn a disc. For example, to burn a 700MB CD you must have at least 700MB of free space on your hard drive for the computer to play around with to create the CD. If you don't have the appropriate amount of free space, the CD cannot be created and an error will be presented. Do you have enough free space on your boot drive [Macintosh HD]? I really don't know what I'm talking about.

First off, it is under the file menu... not the share menu. I just double-checked. And for most [99%] of people, there is no reason to lower the resolution of a picture until you are trying to get the picture out of the application. Lowering the resolution and quality to 640x480... then saving that picture in iPhoto? That's nonsense. You lower the resolution so you can email it, put it in a website, etc. Most of those features are covered with single buttons [like the "email" button], but the "export" feature is left for the sake of getting a picture out of iPhoto. That way, the original/high quality version stays safe in your iPhoto library. For example: I want to post a picture here. I fire up iPhoto, find the picture and export it at 640x480 to my desktop. I then choose the file [which is really easy to find because it's on my desktop] and attach it to a post. After it's uploaded, I just trash the 640x480 picture... because I have no more use for it. The high resolution original is still safe in my iPhoto library. Putting "export" in the File menu is standard across the industry. Personally, I feel that it is the most intuitive place for it to be. Make sense now? I really don't know what I'm talking about.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The difference between opening shock at 10,000 feet and 1,000 feet is insignificant. When in doubt whip out your reserve ... the higher the better. For example, during my last reserve ride, I "saddled out" at 3,000 feet. That gave me lots of time to follow my main and freebag. Are you sure? I've read many a thread where the dangers of a terminal reserve deployment at high altitudes have been warned against. Not high-speed premature deployments while freeflying, I'm talking about normal belly-to-earth deployments that ended in broken lines and a mess of other complications due to altitude. I'll do a search to try and find the threads I'm talking about. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Yes it will. It's actually quite simple. I'm sure you've already done some research on your own before just posting a thread, but here is where you want to be. Cropping if you can't find it. To resize, just select the photo(s) you want to resize, go to the File menu and select "Export". Just choose the size/format/whatever in the window that appears. iPhoto has brightness, contrast, exposure, saturation, temperature, tint, clipping, levels and sharpening control, as well as the ability to straighten an image, crop an image, resize an image, correct red-eye, eliminate blemishes and minor lens flare, etc. For 95% of people, it's overkill. RTFM, hope this helps. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Yeah, that's Troy Hartman. He did it years ago. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

I've only jumped with about ten people on these forums. Probably about twice that many have seen me pilot a canopy. I've fallen two times on landing: jump two and seventeen. I have flying experience - including gliders - so I am quite aware of how wings fly. I built two functional miniature ram-air canopies of my own design when I was 14. I've been around dropzones for almost ten years. I've seen two people kill themselves under open canopies. I've been reading safety and canopy-piloting articles for about five years. I've read The Parachute and It's Pilot twice, I use it for reference daily. I have canopy coaching hiding in my next paycheck. I like to think of myself as decently well informed: I do what I can to learn everything I can. I'm one of those people who has an intellectual curiosity about everything. But I have flown a canopy 57 times. Not 58, not 500. I mean no offense. I'm sure you're a solid canopy pilot, probably better than I am. I just don't agree with somebody flying a canopy designed for people with ten times their experience. Of course, what do I know? I'm a rookie. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Psh, no way, that's my number! I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Be very careful with that. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

There are very legitimate reasons why. Do a search for posts on the subject by Bill Booth to check it out. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

JP, when is the balloon brought to the DZ? I remember seeing it the day of my FJC but not since then. I'm sure I just haven't been there on the right days, but how often does it make a showing? [do you happen to know ticket prices as well?] I really don't know what I'm talking about.