AndyMan

Congrats to both of you! I'm so out of the loop, I didn't even know you were dating.... Perhaps more appropriately, Welcome to the club! It's a good place to be. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

SQL is whats called a 5th generation language, and is characterised as being most like human language. Literally, SQL is the kind of language where you write out a sentence that asks for a specific result. I'm entirely self-taugh in SQL. There are countless very good books on how to teach yourself. I won't recomend any, because I haven't seen one in about 8 years. I will say that SQL is by far the easiest "programing" language you'll ever learn, if you use it regularly. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

and What software? __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Robyn, I love you to peices, so I'll help you out here. Paul has spent pretty much the majority of his career working for the LA ABC affiliate. It has been his job to watch network news. Odd, a guy who spent most of his life creating the stuff, is suggesting that parents spend time with their kids, instead of kids reporting back what they saw on their own... To answer your other question, I'm pretty sure Quade is pretty critical of what he hears and sees in the news. Its been his job. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

One thing I've noticed on my two javelins, is that the loop will wear faster when it is "appropriately" tight. IE, they seem to last rarely more than 10 jumps if the mail pull-force is 10-15 pounds, but last much longer if the main pull-force is only 5 pounds. Has anyone else noticed that corelation? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'd love to, and given the chance I'd do it in a heart beat. Unfortunately I don't have a 3-canopy rig handy, so its something I won't be able to do for a while. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

?!?!?!?!?!??? I dunno about Smart, but its real easy to find out for yourself how a PD reserve lands. Call them up and ask for a demo. Then jump it hooked up on main risers. When I wanted to know how a PDR143 flew at 1.6, that's what I did. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Most likely. I don't know a lot about your skills, but with most people, their reserve is of different shape and form then their main, and they've never flown it before. When you do use it, you're most likely to be landing off, and you're most likely going to be opening low. Reserve rides are rarely "normal". I don't know you, but I suspect that even with your bigger reserve you're in better hands under your main, because you know well how it flies. I'm really surprised you're so reluctant to downwind your main. Do you crosswind it? To be quite honest, I'm really surprised that youi're jumping at the wingloading that you are, if you're unwilling to ever downwind your main. Certainly if you're unwilling to downwind your main, you definately should not go downwinding your reserve, unless you first put a huge number of jumps on a demo one. Well this really is key to my point. I don't argue that people must do a downwind in 20mph winds, I argue people should do them in the worst conditions they'll jump in. The next time somebody is looking at questionable conditions, Even though they're cocky and know they can land their main in those conditions, I want them to think about landing their reserve in those conditions, downwind. Ultimately, I want people to be prepared for the worst. This means two things. a: it means preparing for those things we are capable of preparing for, and b: making wise choices about what conditions we jump in. BTW - If you have a good reserve, (I jump a PD143, the best, I think...) I think you'll find that downwinding it is really quite similar to downwinding your main. Since your reserve is so much bigger then your main, I think you'll find it slower, uses less runway, and shuts down easier resulting in a shorter slide. It's not terribly dangerous if you have a good landing area, and it IS a hell of a lot of fun. I hope it goes without saying that throughout this discussion, I'm talking about a DEMO reserve, setup on main risers. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I know you're asking facetiously, but I'll answer anyways. My point is that you should be able to land your reserve in the worst conditions that you jump in. Doing so ensures that: 1) that you're jumping a reserve of a reasonable size, and 2) that you're jumping in reasonable conditions. So to answer your question, No. Because 1) You did it on your main, not your reserve. Your main is your best case, your reserve is your worst. Plan for the worst. 2) Knowing where the DZ is located is something you can control. For most people, not knowing where the DZ isn't an option, so there's no need to plan for it, or prepare for it. 3) Not flaring helps nothing, and without additional info, it sounds like a stupid thing to do. Certainly not something I'd recomend, nor something I plan on doing, nor will I prepare for it. On the other hand, 1) Drifting backwards? If you're going to jump in high winds, I certainly hope you know how to land while backing up. Landing downwind in less than ideal conditions is a very real posibility on every jump, which is exacerbated when under your reserve. It's a very real possibility, and a whole lot of people died last year because they thought they HAD to turn into the wind. Be prepared to land downwind so that you don't make a stupid choice. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

For those people using editing boards, how are you creating DVD menus? Do any of the menu titles have customer specific info - like their names, or do you just us standard menus? Or... have people doing DVD's gone completely NLE? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Does anyone have good recomendations for a US based online used camera retailer? thx, _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I presume you're using Internet explorer? Go to your Tools menu, select "Internet Options". Look for the section that says "Temporary Internet Files", and hit "settings". Under "Check for newer versions of stored pages", make sure you have selected "Every Visit to the Page". I'm 90% sure that will fix your problem. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Bill, how/where do you keep jumping? Have you found a DZ that allows you to jump without a CSPA membership? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It is perfectly acceptable and reasonable for packers to do basic maintenance on non-TSO'd compents of your rig. Replacing closing loops, and rubber bands is very common. It is also perfectly acceptable for jumpers to expect packers are doing it properly. If I were in your shoes, I would thank the packer for being so carefull to replace the closing loop, then I would hand them a copy of the Vector manual and ask them to please read it before making any more modifications. I would also ask that they consult with you before doing any work in the future. Odds are that even if you ask packers to check with you first, they will probably forget and do minor maintenance work without asking. If that's a problem for you, then you should probably be packing for yourself. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

No. Whenever you buy a song, book, or movie, you're not actually buying the CONTENT. You're buying two things: 1) a transport mechanism. 2) certain rights to use what is physically stored on the transport mechanism. So, when you buy a music CD, you're buying a hunk of plastic, with some metal layred thinly inside. You're also buying the rights to personally listen to that music yourself. The fact that you now own the transport mechanism (CD), does not mean you own the content. The copyright holder still owns the content. You just own the right to listen to the content. You do NOT own the right to reproduce the content. (exceptions apply). You do NOT own the right to redistribute the content, which is what you're talking about. What most people don't know, is that you don't even have the right to resell (say, at a used CD store), or even lend it to a friend. Granted that this part is rarely enforced, and is legally debatable. Buying more copies of the transport mechanism does not give you any more rights then just buying one copy. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Using your hook-knife for tasks like cutting rubber bands, opening beer bottles, and cutting pull-up cords is an EXCELLENT way to guarantee that it will be completely useless if you ever need it. A hook-knife is an emergency life saving tool. Treat it as such and you'll thank yourself. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I agree with the theme of your post, but one tidbit: You most definately can not "report" lyrics, as they are clearly copyrighted. There's a long list of "lyric databases" online getting shutdown by the RIAA. Fair use notwithstanding, of course. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

So would I, I know very little about that incident. Specifically, I don't know how old the unit was, and if it was serviced under the manufacturers instructions. It could have been what... 10 years old? With older electronics there are countless reasons why it could malfunction. We do know though, that whatever happened to that unit is not widespread. It's not like there's a whole batch of "bad" cypres's out there. The vigil is different, though. We know that all the ones that have failed are brand new. We know that the ones with static issues have been maintained according to manufacturers instructions. We know that a simple and very common act (dragging accross the ground) is causing the problem. We also know that the manufacturer is fixing the problem. I'm not terribly concerned about the Vigil, though. It's new. Personally, I expect new hardware to fail and require fixes. That's why I'm still unwilling to buy one. I'm pleased to see them being fixed properly, but I still won't buy one because they're still new, and I still expect them to have more problems. That just comes with the high-tech territory. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Allow me to jump to dave's defence... If a lowtime jumper asks for camera advice, a response which tells him that it is innapropriate to jump camera at his level is entirely appropriate. If that jumper continues to argue that "he's special", or "he's different", or "he's extra-special-safe-plus-good", then a stern warning of the risks he's undertaking is also completely appropriate. It does not strike me as out of bounds to include thoughts of ambulance rides or worse. It *is* an appropriate response to a hundred jump wonder strapping on a video camera, just as it would be an appropriate response to a similarly under-skilled jumper strapping on a 79 square foot swoop monster. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

In Phantom, the singers do use microphones, and the sound system is impresive. This is true for most broadway shows. I'm really amazed by the opera singers that don't use microphones and amps. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Yes. A skydive is a skydive, when it comes to jump numbers. It's more important that you have a properly filled out proficiency card. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Hook knives are cheap and innexpensive tools to occupy your mind while you're plummeting to your death under a spinning reserve. I have two. Never give up. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Doug Smith - dzo of Chicagoland pretty much does it all, just at different times. He fliew for Fayard over the winter in florida, does tandem/aff/video in the summer. I think the only rating he doesn't regularly use is rigging. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think there's a very valid point here, which is that the PLF as taught in the first jump course will be of very little benefit to someone with a lot of forward speed. Practicing by jumping off a picnic table has absolutely nothing to do with what you'll end up doing when you've got 20MPH forward speed. The idea that we're going to plant our feet, fall to our knees, butt, shoulder when surfing at 20mph is ludicrous. I can't think of a better way to femur. When I cartwheel accross the landing area, I do something I learned in jujitsu, which is similar in principle to a PLF, but more suitable for the forward speed. In jujitsu, from a running start, we'd jump jump out, and link hands. We'd take the first hit on one shoulder, then one elbow, then the other elbow as we literally cartwheel over. The next hit is our shoulder, then butt. Keep rolling if necesary. That move is obviously complicated by the harness holding you up, but the technique I use under canopy is similar. I hit first with my shoulder, roll over the top to the other shoulder. It goes something like shoulder, shoulder, butt, roll. The standard PLF was designed for round parachutes, designed to take a nearly verticle hit. It does very little to help when the jumper has tons of forward movement, especially if the legs are dragging behind it becomes virtually impossible (and undesirable!) to hit with the balls of your feet first. Jumpers do need to be aware that a good breakfall with a lot of forward movement is very different then the PLF's as taught in a first jump course. Breakfalls are very cool things, but there is not one that is correct for every possible scenario. Jumpers should become aware of different types of breakfalls. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Many of the moves in that linked video are from the martial arts, specifically jujitsu. The PLF is a modification of just one of the countless breakfalls used in jujitsu. Anyone wanting to learn more about breakfalls would do very well to take some lessons in jujitsu. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.