DSE

I just hope you don't wind up in hell because you were stubborn. Unfortunately, I seem to find evangelicals everywhere I turn. By my definition, the experience *IS* hell. I feel bad that Christians lead a deprived, debased, and deluded life in hopes of a very specious and ignorant belief in heaven or hell. It's unfortunate. I hope one day you're able to see the follies and perils of your path. Christians in general need this awakening so that they can be productive members of society rather than hand-wringing instruments of corporate America. I do find it rather amusing that once again, Catholics are deemed to not be Christians. Catholicism is responsible for the very book Christians claim to follow, and they're responsible for protecting and generating the myth of Christ. I guess that's kinda like how Christ was once king, then Elvis, then Michael Jackson, and now it's probably Paris Hilton.

Not like some CEO. Like a holy, good, righteous, and just God, Creator of the Universe, who gave you the very breath for you to breathe. Right...kinda like how the CEO of Haliburton gives me the "very right to breathe." According to the book that is barely fit to wipe my nose with. Wowsers! So YOU have seen God yourself? With your own eyes? I thought that would immediately strike you dead to be in the presence of such perfection? That could be the lyric of a hit song.

No matter how he concluded these values, I'm sure that religion provides a better answer based on faith. I saw pictures of the new museum in Kentucky; I now understand the stupidity that drives some people. They're easily distracted by shiny things and dinosaurs that electronically roar, and they'll believe anything thrust upon them.

Dunno about the soul, but the body is worth around 20.00, last I checked. Of course, you could get quite a bit for it on the international market, but thanks to the religious right, it's illegal to sell your body parts. I've got a few parts I don't need, wouldn't mind selling them if it meant retirement. this argument is so ridiculous....Even a half-wit is capable of figuring out the non-existence of God as a physical individual that oversees the universe like some CEO. If there were a god, it's arrogant and naive to assume that because one gets on their knees to worship, that this god would pay attention to you specifically. Christian religion for the *most* part is about the satiation of ego ie; "I didn't mean to fuck my business partner, please forgive me." "I'm so sorry for having a bad though, please forgive me." "I'm deeply pained because I flipped that lady off when she drove by too fast, please grant me absolution." "Thank you god, for letting me come into heaven (but not that other guy) when I die." It's all about "I want, I want, I want" and then judging someone else because they don't ascribe to your thought process. Individually, Christians and other faiths will say "We don't believe in that," or "I'd never do/think/say that sort of thing" but history and actions of the group as a whole show that the entire concept of most religion is one of power, put-down, pressure, and imprisonment. God is an invention of man, no different than roads are an invention of man and animal combined with natural forces. The invention of god and subsquently the writings "of god" can be compared to Rand-McNally maps; a guideline from point A to B. The concept of god provides comfort and a focal point for otherwise lost souls. Is this bad? I don't think so, until those lost souls begin to judge others for not being on the same path.

I'm lousy at putting things in simple form, aren't I?

NTSC is 29.97Fps

I didn't want to be the one saying "get more jumps" but Dave is right about that...Even as just a fun jumper/up jumper not shooting anything, the camera *can* become a significant distraction, which is frankly...a bigger deal than snag points in some sigutations. Back to point... A bullet cam recording to a body pack already exists, has done so for years, and will be even more common. You want small, light, cheap. Pick two. And if you want quality added on top of that, pick two.

But the instructor ISN'T "right there" when you are landing on an AFF jump, although they may be "right there" in freefall. They're not? Perhaps our DZ's have very different AFF programs. Either way (to the original poster) as an instructor, I strongly urge you to absorb as much information from as many resources that you are comfortable with absorbing. However, your instructor isn't vicarious; he/she is with you, aware of you, and looking out for you based on visual contact, verbal communication, and body language during the landing process. Regardless of any thing else, your instructor is your single best resource at this point in time. If you have concerns about your PLF, get to the DZ early and voice those concerns. While your instructor may or may not be able to address them, he/she will find someone who will. Everyone there wants to help you achieve a successful exit, freefall, and landing that has you jumping for joy as the last bit of fabric touches the ground. Now that it's "tomorrow" from your original post, it'll be nice to hear how your first jump went.

Perhaps a different way of looking at it: Dr. Laura, Dr. Phil, and Dr. Demento can easily dispense with platitudes, homeopathies, and advice because they bear no responsibility for their listeners well-being. DZ.com is kinda like that; I can't begin to quantify what I've learned reading thousands of posts here. But at the end of the day, I still go see my doctor for health problems, even if I can find the symptoms and remedies online, simply because my doctor can see me with her own eyes, and have an almost instant grasp of what's wrong vs me or an online community second-guessing based on experience, book learning, or suppositions. In other words, good as all this advice may sound, at the end of the day, it's your ass on the line. Do you want to take advice at this critical point in your skydiving career from a bunch of nyms on the web, or from an instructor who is right there with direct focus on only you?

No HD camcorder in the sub .5 chip will perform as well as it's counterpart in the DV world. Impossible to do so. Squeezing 1440 x 1080 pixels (or in some cases 960 x 1080 pixels) onto the same .3 chip as DV squeezes 720 x 480 pixels means something has to give, and what gives is light performance. The HC3 is adequate, the HC5/7 are fairly better due to DSP, not greater sensitivity. Additionally, the HC3 isn't a 3 chip camera and 3 chip vs single chip isn't really related to light sensitivity. The diff is CMOS vs CCD in this case, and CMOS is noisier than CCD in light that is not optimal when dealing with inexpensive CMOS sensors. Sunset dives shouldn't be any problem for you; night jumps definitely would be. You might see some noise in the low end of the HC3 image, but nothing that I think you'd find objectionable. The HC5 image would be more clean, but the colors (IMO) would be a bit off, given the way the DSP processes color in a heavily processed frame. If you're dealing with HDV delivered/viewed as SD, you've got the equivalent of a 4:2:2 SD image, so you can reasonably clean the image if the noise is objectionable. http://www.vasst2.com/search.aspx?text=HC3 has a prerelease review of the cam I did last year.

Coupla comments.. ~if you're looking for cheap, why not get an HC90 then? Same cam, just cheaper. ~with AVCHD coming at slightly higher price, significantly better stills, easier use on the CF cards than tape, less to break down...why not look at AVCHD instead? Longer lasting format. The HC96 is already done in terms of manufacturing. The CES allotments are starting to hit the stores now, deals are aplenty, no doubt. But if you're looking for long life, reasonable quality, and don't need to buy right now;today...why not wait 60 days and get twice the cam at only a little higher cost? As far as the helmet, I don't understand the concept of limiting yourself to one class of camera, particularly one that's already discontinued. if it's just for freeflying and having fun, then I suppose it doesn't matter, excepting that the widescreen DV is half-resolution, so image quality is very poor. Play it back on an HD display, it'll be pixelated and washed out. But...not everyone is HD yet, and it may be that long-term compatibility isn't important for your goals. HC90's can be picked up cheap all over the place, and it's the same body as the 96, FWIW. I was unaware that the 96 could shoot to mem stick while recording DV tape?

many thanks to all that replied. Between Jennr8r, Doug, and some PM's, looks like I'll be meeting some folks when I go to Orange. Looking forward to it.

I have worked with the Schneider HD converters, but only the 72mm, not the 30 or 37mm. The 72mm's don't cost too much in rez, I'd imagine the smaller adapters are pretty good as well. I'll be down at Bandpro later this week, perhaps I can steal a couple for an afternoon.

Bear in mind that if you jump much at all, buying new is a waste if you just got your A, IMO. You'll be wanting to resell it in a couple hundred jumps, and used gear tends to hold its value pretty well, while new doesn't seem to keep. I've downsized twice in 400+ jumps, I'd imagine that's fairly normal? I just bought my first all-new rig, but have had three used rigs, and sold two of the three for about what I paid.

Whoooosh!

You're preaching to the choir here, but I guess you don't realize that. "God" is a proper noun. Using the term or not using the term bears zero relevance to the existence of "God" outside of vocabulary. Could it be possible that the name was given to a process, emotion, id within ourselves that is inexplicable by ourselves? Quantum Evolution....contains no "God." Just protons, neurons, electrons and measures of generational dynamics. And an interesting position on why prayer might actually work, in spite of evidence that it does not.

Well...my life ain't so perfect, so I guess I should be rewinding more, y'think?

Bruised my heel; lots of weird air and when my canopy suddenly lost air, rather than flaring better, I stabbed it and hit a heel harder than I should have. What did/am I thinking? Ouch. Dammit. "Pull your foot back up cuz you've maybe already broken it." Whew, I didn't. Remember to not do this again. If you're thinking you'll do this again, you probably will. Remembering means walking through it and thinking what you could have done better. Thinking about what you could have done better should help you visualize a better/more proper landing. Focus on the good landing in your mind, and you'll likely have the better landing. If you're really concerned, you might want to hire an instructor to help you with a radio for a couple of jumps, just like in AFF. It might be that your canopy is out of trim if it's a rental. It might be your wingloading isn't proper for your experience. It might...might...might... But as far as the pain, it's usually fleeting in the bigger scheme. Consider it part of the learning curve. More information about "why" you were hurt might be more helpful.

You need to get comfortable with other canopies around you in the air; that's important. You also need those around you to feel like you're comfortable, as uncomfortable often means unpredictable. If you need to know that others can see you, communicate with them by kicking your legs, kinda like "skywalking." They should respond in kind. Phoenix, I've purchased 2 of those little plastic orange cones from a skateboard shop; they grow legs and disappear. We have a very weedy LZ, so I just choose a patch of weeds these days. Even mowed down, it's easy to spot.

your theory is quite possibly what David Chase had in mind, but it's probably appropriate to credit the Courier-Post from where this theory came, which Hollywood Insider is now saying may have originated with a cast member.

Well...if you'd watch Scarface, you'd have a PERFECT template of how to live your life. Scarface for President~

it's only not silly if he truly believes (based on past experience) that we're heading for another Holocaust. I don't believe we'll see a racially-driven extermination or physical extermination of a group of people, no. I do believe we're witnessing an intentional, systematic extermination of the middle class and history shows if that happens, a revolt will occur and a lot of people will likely die. Do I believe that we're heading for a Nazi-like government? If the course of American society isn't drastically altered then yes, I do. It won't likely be in my lifetime, but I wonder about my daughter's future. We've lost our balance in government over the past 7 years, and while that was recognized in the past election, I don't know that enough has yet been done to rebalance the scale. Given that most of my business can be operated outside the US, my business partners and I often discuss leaving the US. My cultural ties are likely the only major issue preventing that from occurring. If we could achieve a government that wasn't controlled by an elite group of wealth with primary loyalties to big business...America stands a chance to be the greatest again. It's a great country, still overall the best place in the world but the decline is easy to observe, IMO. We need another New Deal (would it still be called a "New" Deal?) Conversely, I'm a godless fool who should be ashamed of opinion based on living in a non-level world anyway.

"first you get the money, then you get the women, THEN you get the power."

I don't believe the story as anything but a modern parable either, yet I disagree that it's a silly way of thinking. It's only silly if you can't see the perspective of the Holocaust survivor. C'mon over to our place. Happy to show you what the US Government has consistently done to our culture and race. Our/my perspective is one you'll likely never grasp because you haven't existed in this environment for any length of time. But you'd probably think the majority perspective here is "silly." Incidentally, wouldn't you agree that most news today is second hand?

Duct tape a laser to your video camera (temporarily) so it's hitting a point on a wall that is centered in your video camera display. Now mount your still camera so it also sees the laser at the same point in the camera's viewfinder. This is much easier than it sounds, and overall, at the distances we're shooting in skydiving, it's all very close regardless. My method of figuring out where to drill is to cover the mount area with wide masking tape, put the mount approximately where I think it needs to go, position it properly, and then draw lines on the masking tape to indicate exact positioning. Then I remove the camera, leave the masking tape in place, mark the place to drill, drill it, and then remove masking tape. You can also use thin doublestick tape, so the mount stays in position and you don't have to use a pencil/pen to mark the position for drilling. HTH