DSE

It should work with all the Sony camcorders that have the D-shaped A/V port on them.

I also routinely check quarter-million dollar cameras. 'nuff said.

Who is responsible if the "instructor" isn't fully informed, isn't trained as an instructor, or is self-taught but is perhaps missing part of the program? Is it the fault of the student for not knowing what needs to be known prior to the first jump or new technique? Or does the instructor bear some responsibility? It's easy to say "he knows/knew the risks" but if the student isn't properly informed, isn't that just rationalized bullshit?

Clicky

You shouldn't have to ask.

Yeah, that's so. Jay Stokes helped me find a camera suit that had booties. You shoulda seen my first jump w/it (jump 26). You'da laughed your ass so hard you'd likely have broken a leg on landing. I'm amazed I got stable enough to deploy, and did have what I thought at the time, was nasty line twists. Little did I know. Note to self: don't buy a camera suit before finishing AFF. DZO taped up the booties, and I didn't have any problems after that, and didn't undo the booties until around jump 100. I quit using that suit around jump 150, as I didn't like the smaller wing, and don't need the booties for most things, but occasionally jump with that suit for giggles or four-way.

You're like my wife; she's great about being sure everything is in it's place and well-stocked. But in those rare moments (22 years) that she might make such a request, I don't mind, in fact like feeling that she needs me to do something menial for her. I guess I'm pretty lucky to have her, rather than the other way around.

I suppose experiences vary. I regularly check mine as baggage, and ask the TSA to hand inspect the bag containing my rig prior to "locking" it with colored zipties. Haven't had a problem traveling to dozens of destinations in the USA, and probably a dozen international.

If something unethical and most likely illegal is going on and an elected official has knowledge of it and does NOT do anything then you can get into REAL trouble. Exposing Fraud going within the organization that someone is elected to represent is protected by whistle blower statutes. In fact if the USPA does move forward with this, Jan may have a pretty good case for her own lawsuit. This is bordering on ridiculous. There is no fraud taking place within the USPA. Whether there is or isn't fraud taking place within Skyride (we both believe there is) isn't the USPA's place, it's the State of Georgia's place, and they've undertaken action. Until Georgia wins or loses their case, it's not for USPA to comment upon. In any event, the BOD is aware of whatever their responsibilities are to the membership, and their misguided expulsion of the Skyride DZ's is what got them into this situation in the first place. Having a board member be a maverick isn't in the best interests of the BOD, the members of the USPA, nor the industry. Having met *most* of the BOD at either PIA or other events, I think *most* of them are very decent, honest, dedicated people. The bottom line is that during and following the litigious process, Jan made public postings and then made derogatory postings about the USPA an Skyride after receiving notice from the USPA legal team. This is not in dispute by anyone that I'm aware of. If it is, then use the SEARCH tool as I did a few days back. In a corporate setting, that would be (typically) grounds for termination. C'mon J, you know this stuff! It is absolutely absurd to think that Jan was exposing corruption within the USPA BOD. Jan may be pissed about the outcome of a legal situation the USPA should never have found themselves in, but on the whole, BOD responsibility is to the organization's members. It's debatable whether the majority of the members of the USPA give a shit about the lawsuit, so long as the USPA continues to serve the general and legal needs of the skydiving community. If you're looking to DZ.com as a representative group of the entire USPA...then your basis is extremely flawed. If you really believe Jan has an "extremely good case for a lawsuit" then offer up the cash. I don't believe any board member would have any grounds for legal action if they're removed from the board by a vote based upon preponderance of viable evidence or not. It's an industry organization. Have they been yet convicted of fraud? Have they yet had their business license revoked by the State of Georgia? No. Therefore, they are not "known" to be anything but another skydive business. They're believed to perpetrate fraud, most intelligent/rational people know they commit fraud, but no judicial body has yet found that they do. Therefore the USPA cannot judge them as such either, and cannot/should not take any action against them as a group, until a judicial body decides otherwise. And at this point, they can't do much to them if it is ever determined Skyride is a fraudulent business.

you pay for the slots, I'll jump with every fixed-lens camera we have in the shop (roughly 15 different models) and I'll post the raw results.

Can't agree with you there, Jay. If anything, Lee's continued position on the board demonstrates a willingness on the part of the USPA to attempt to be fair. Jan is a decision-maker, industry leader in a "corporate" position whose statements carry great weight both within the skydiving industry and outside industry simply by the position which she holds. IMO, the elected official does not have the right to publically document anything when there is litigation involved. Ever. If it is felt the public needs to know what is going on behind closed doors, then the elected official owes it to the board to step down. Facts are only what you make of them. Fact One-Skyride is unethical, commits fraud on a regular basis, and is an organization filled with scumbags and cheats. Fact Two-Fact One doesn't impact how the USPA represents the skydiving world. USPA doesn't regulate commerce. I don't believe that Lee's continued presence on the board would make an iota of difference to a jury or judge. I just happen to feel that his remaining on the board is an unethical position on his part. I don't know Lee, so only see this in black and white. Since you feel the board won't vote to impeach and remove, it seems this argument is now moot.

Not quite so. If you are in a corporate, social, elected, or religious representative position, the courts have ruled many, many times that the representative has an obligation to present themselves in an above-average manner consistent with the ideals and values of the group. Not related to Roberts Rules or anything else, it's general conduct. As mentioned in a previous post, if you had one BOD member making public comments about another BOD member's business practices, it's likely that one or the other couldn't remain. However, read the USPA Governance Manual, and you can see in Section 1-6 and 1.8. There is nothing in there that specifies restrictions placed on Board Members and their extracurricular behaviors, so that particular issue is one that may or may not hold water. If the BOD said anything to Jan about quelling the statements/pages, it probably would hold water. As far as "who is in bed with" Skyride; take the emotion out of that statement and let it stand on its own in concept. It's well-known that Skydive Dallas accepts Skyride certificates. Does that put them in business with Skyride? I believe it does. I believe Lee should have stepped off the board the moment his business partner sued the USPA. Alternatively, his dropzone should have discontinued the business partnership the moment Skyride sued the USPA. But I'm not on the BOD to have suggested this. I did write a letter to the EC saying this, however

ASA 25 -- 0 32 40 50 -- +1 stop 64 80 100 -- +2 stops 125 160 200 -- +3 stops 250 320 400 -- +4 stops The 400 will be significantly more sensitive to light than the 100. Interesting they'd have you working with Tmax before they've taught you much about exposure sensitivity? HERE is a dev time/solutions chart for both TMax100 and 400 stock. HTH

I'll have a review up in a few days. Just got notification from Customs that it cleared the US late last week, so expecting it in a day or two.

this is what I did, but the tape kept failing, so eventually had a rigger tack a small section down. Coupled with the tape, it worked well. However, I disagree with booties for beginners, as I did have them, and it screwed me up in my progress, IMO.

Or the time a student on his level 7 flew into the ILS system antenna wires, breaking both wires, bending one of the towers. USPA paid for that one.

touche'! I never would have thought someone would think of booties as being something to keep their pant legs down, either. We both learned something new. Velcro on the bottoms of the legs of a jumpsuit will keep those legs from creeping, but if you're on your belly, this likely isn't a big issue for you yet. FWIW, I'd recommend looking for used for the time being, with baggy arms/legs, in a slow fabric. I'm not as larg as you, but I'm large at 195/5'9" or so. Eventually, you'll figure out what best works, but you probably don't want to spend the $$ for new just yet. Once you've got 100 jumps or so on a used suit, you'll start to have some ideas about what you want in pockets, zippers, cuffs, grippers, maybe booties, and the ever important color that must match your rig, shoes, headgear, and altimeter color. Grips can be added to most jumpsuits by a rigger, so don't worry *too* much about those, either. I met a guy at Eloy wearing Porsche mechanics coveralls with added grips and velcro ankles/sleeves, and damned if it didn't look great (red with trim that looked like carbon fiber fabric). He told me his employer had given him the suit, and he had a rigger add the velcro and grippers. they looked kinda like these. [edit] In the event you can find a great deal on an RW suit w/booties, you likely can find a rigger or seamster/seamstress that can remove the booties and make them regular legs. Just be sure the cost of the suit plus cost of mods doesn't add up to more than a new suit or a good used one w/o booties

Better?

Ahh the magic of editing. They'd have done better dropping the dog from about 2' above the ground and tilting down with the toss rather than a static lock-off to create the landing though. Of course it's not real. It's clever though!

I voted. I helped a candidate with his election process. I attended a Board meeting. And am attending the next board meeting in Orlando. Does my opinion count?

My recommendation is that you capo to the same fret/key he's in and play along with him. Point your pinkie finger on your right hand out like a British sissy drinking tea. Think "Thumb down" on the downbeat, low E string. Think "ring finger pluck" on the 2, "bird/middle finger pluck" on the 3, and "index finger pluck" on the 4. Get that going, and then once you're following that sequence comfortably, you'll change out the ring and index to eighth notes on the 3/4 beat so it's "Thumb, 3,2,1,3, Thumb in the four-count. I wish I could show you, it's easy. Years ago, i'd have students buy a drum kneepad to practice finger picking, thumping out rhythms on the rubber when they weren't playing guitar. Watching TV, you can match beats/rhythms on the rubber pad and this creates muscle memory that will translate nicely to finger picking.

Booties on beginners isn't a good idea in part because it's a better idea to get used to how your body flies first, before adding performance enhancements. If you're learning RW, you don't need booties right off anyway. The people teaching you may or may not have booties, but they'll likely also know how to work with you not having them. Yes, they can affect your landings, too, but some people flip em' off once under canopy. It's more about learning to fly correctly first.

You know he's locked up, yeah? (Capo) It's a nice style. If you were on this side of the pond I could teach you fairly easily. It's a common style, and was huge in the late 60's cuz it's an easy teach/learn. too bad the camera work on that YouTube vid sucks so bad, he's got a nice style, nice voice, shitty light, and hand-held cam.

We could have a lot of fun playing with the semantics of the discussion, but it's the mere existence of the copyright that gives the holder of the copyright to choose whether or not to grant license, and in most discussions, it doesn't need to be torn apart to discuss whether or not a sync, performance, and compulsory are granted. Most folks (I hope) are aware that buying a CD and ripping it to your computer doesn't grant any of those licenses, as you point out. CreativeCommons, Broadjam, weedmusic, etc grant you varying degrees of limited license to use their works without additional compulsory, sync, or performance fees, and in most cases, also negate the requirement to report usage of those copyrighted works to which they've granted a license. In the case of our VASST royalty-free works, we grant freedom from compulsory, sync, performance, producer, master royalties or license fees when the music is purchased. Upshot to all of the above mumbo-jumbo is that some of us understand and avoid the risks of using "Free Falling"/Tom Petty or "Jump"/VanHalen, and have elected to use some form of risk-free, license cleared music. It's the smart thing to do. Especially if you're a big DZ.

Why? BTW, the "hospital" at PD is very nicely appointed, I've been there to watch a canopy go through the entire cycle, and they are incredibly thorough, so if there is anything else about the reserve that you missed, it's extremely unlikely that they'll miss it. Did you visit the PD factory while you were at Deland? Why? I use my main every time I jump and it will end up with lots of wear. I believe a patch is an additional wear area. The reserve merely sits packed in it's container should I need it. A properly installed patch won't hinder a reserve from working. I know a lot of jumpers view the reserve as a piece of black magic but at the end of the day it's just another parachute trimmed and packed a little differently to open quicker and more reliably. -Michael Fair enough. I don't mind patches on my main, because I see them each time I pack. I don't think I'd like a patch on my never-deployed reserve, as the necessity of a patch would indicate something inside the reserve pack tray is rubbing or causing some other form of wear. I'm speaking out of my ass, but I suspect *most* tears in mains are due to weeds, obstacles, line burn, grommet/apex problems, etc. I can see those each and every time I pack. Therefore, I'd prefer to see my main having patches vs my reserve. Great that you were able to see those manufacturing facilities. It's very impressive to see how much design and care go into what we use in our sport, isn't it?