indyz

Check out Katamari Damacy. It's unusual (to put it mildly) but addictive. And it's only $20.

When I was a student at UIUC I was asked three times in two semesters to give somebody money for a bus ticket so that he wouldn't miss the birth of his child. It was the same guy, all three times. I never gave him any money, and the second and third times I didn't have the guts to call him on his obvious lie.

I, for one, welcome our Winged Overlords. Also, don't forget....in Soviet Russia, wingsuit flies YOU! Natalie Portman! Hot Grits! In my pants!

In many cases it actually is legit. Insurance companies have a right to investigate fully any claim, and to attempt to recoup their loses in the event that they make a payment. I don't know anybody who complains when their car insurance company (or their car insurance company's legal representatives) investigates after they get in a wreck. This is the same situation. I don't think that there is anything wrong with an insurance company wanting to know exactly why they wrote that check, but I'm still afraid that someday I'll be hurt, make a hefty insurance claim, and my insurance company starts suing the DZ, gear manufacturers, riggers, and people on the skydive to make their money back. Even if I don't want them to sue I can't stop it, and it's my reputation that's going to be dragged through the mud. People aren't going to say, "Brian's insurance company sued X, Y, and Z even though he didn't want them to", they are going to say "Brian sued X, Y, and Z" . It's happened to at least one skydiver already.

Just got my grades yesterday, 3.7 GPA. That completes degree number one (associates). The transfer paperwork is all finished and I'll start on the bachelors (second attempt) in a few weeks. I'm right on track for the five-and-a-half year plan.

Very nice. The video system is better than any other pure-Flash solution I've ever seen (which is to say, it works on my Linux box and it even looks good). Just a couple of points: - If I don't have Flash installed I get a blank page. If an HTML version of the site isn't possible, I'd at least consider some text for the non-Flash users explaining why the site doesn't work for them and what they can do about it. - I really really hate it when a site makes plays music without my permission, probably because I'm the type of person who forgets to turn the speakers down at work or when I'm up late surfing while the rest of the family is sleeping. But I'm just nitpicking. Overall it's great.

This was a very practical Christmas. I snagged a new jacket, an I-Pass (cool, 'cause tolls for cash users double starting this Saturday), Kohls and Best Buy gift cards, and cash.

Just about 200. I was hoping to break 400 total by the end of the year but the Wisconsin winter, studying for final exams (3.7 GPA this semester, and a diploma, so I think it was worth it), and a couple other obligations have kept me on the ground since November 28th.

I'm only saying leave it off because I wear a camera on most of my jumps.

The Xbox 2 processors will be built by IBM, based on PowerPC technology, so I guess a Mac makes the most sense. link And a diagram (three 3.5Ghz cores?!)

You are going to be waiting a while - at least the end of 2006 or Q1 2007 before those systems come out. Not one developer has a SDK yet to start making games, and most companies take at least a year to make a console game. Why wait? The games made for PCs right now will be what the next gen of console games will look like. Rumor has it that the Xbox 2 dev kits (dual G5s, ATI R500s) are shipping, and that Xbox 2 street date is 1Q05. Then again, I was supposed to be running Longhorn by now.

I'm buying myself a new canopy. Not sure exactly what I'm getting yet, but the contenders are: - Pilot - Stiletto - Crossfire - Nitron/Nitro I promised myself I would demo everything before I spent any money. So far I've jumped the Pilot and Stiletto. I really liked the Pilot, and I'm still considering a Stiletto because it's pretty good and there are tons of deals on used ones (spend the savings on getting my wingsuit repaired). I figured I would demo the Crossfire and Nitro(n) in the next month or so, and put in an order in February. Then yesterday I noticed that Aerodyne has a really good sale going until the end of this month. Shit shit shit. Now I'm feeling spendy. Must... resist... check... writing... urge...

What versions of those browsers are you using? For what it's worth (not a whole lot, I'm sure) I've been using Firefox/Linux since it was called Phoenix (0.6?) and Firefox/Windows since 0.9 and have never noticed either of those issues. I'm not sure why the behavior would be different on a Mac.

Actually it is a whole lot better. Obviously a true CRW canopy is ideal, but for casual CRW Spectres work wonderfully. 7-cells are just so much more stable than 9-cells. They're so much more stable that you can feel a night and day difference just flying them around... I'm sure you're right, I just never noticed. About half of my CRW jumps (only about 20 total, so I'm hardly the voice of experience) were on Spectre 150s and 170s, one on a Lightning, and the rest divided between whatever happened to be in my container and my Hybrid Triathlon. I notice my Hybrid Tri is a lot more stable than anything else I've used, not countning the Lightning.

Errr, a Spectre isn't any safer than a Sabre2 for CRW. You really should be using CRW specific canopies, or at least a reasonable compromise like a Hybrid Triathlon. That said, I have done CRW with a Sabre2 and other 9-cell canopies. Disclaimer: I am in no way a qualified CRW instructor, I am just relating my experiences. Do not interpret this post as advice one way or another.

They just raised their prices to $.02/Mb. Still incredibly cheap, about $1 an album average.

Click on "Edit Profile" then "Display Settings". Adjust the "Textbox width" and "Textbox height" settings to whatever you like best.

The Kegelciser bit had me rolling, and had my roommate asking his girlfriend, "What's a kegel?"

Compatible goals, compatible personalities, and commitment.

Oooh, if you find one within driving distance let me know. For me: - More CRW - More video - More swoops - More fun - Don't get hurt

I don't believe that psycho packing slows down openings. Over the course of almost 200 jumps on my old Spectre 170 I psycho packed it maybe 150 times and pro packed the rest. I noticed no significant difference in opening characteristics with either method.

The Dells would probably be the best spot in Illinois/Wisconsin for tourist traffic. Not incredibly convenient for skydivers, though, and the town pretty much shuts down after the water parks close. I was going to suggest putitng it between Chicago and Milwaukee, on I-94 right by the Six Flags and the (proposed) hotel/water park. And I'm not saying that because I live right there. I remember hearing talk of a Navy Pier tunnel. I guess that fell through?

Yes, you can. You just have to remember to multiply the focal length by 1.6 for the 10D, 20D, and 300D. So your 24mm lens on a 10D would be equivalent to a 38mm lens on your Rebel G. To make your 10D roughly equivalent to what you are getting now with your G you would need a 15mm lens on the 10D.

Put a period as the first character inside the brackets. For example, [..i] shows as [.i]

In the example mailin posted the braces are implicit. The compiler should generate the same code, whether the braces are included or not. Just tested it with gcc 3.2 and the generated assembly code is identical.