AndyMan

I didn't criticize his instruction. I know nothing of his instruction. I did criticize how some people think courses like his are "a license to swoop". _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

USPA's "Femur is not a verb" campaign is rediculous. Femur *is* a verb, because it's a comon injury. Insisting that it is not a verb is to insist that it does not happen. That's just dumb. Saying it does not make it happen. Wishing it does not make it happen. Paying for canopy coaching isn't the final answer. You do not have to go far to find people who've come away from canopy coaching with an air of superiority, only to femur (or worse) immediately afterwards. I remember a fatality or serious injury at Perris (i think...) a while ago that happened literally the first jump after Jim Slantons course. Many people seem to think that attending a canopy course is a 'license to be swoop'. Far too frequently, I think a canopy course actually is "a license to be stupid". I've decided that for myself and people that (occaisionally) choose to listen to me, the secret to living without titainium implants is simple: An attitude open to learning. Approach dangerous activities with your eyes, ears open - but don't forget to keep your mind open, too. Learn from everyone, even those who do it wrong. I think it's dumb for self proclaimed experts around the country to be charging for canopy lessons. Since there's no such thing as a "canopy coach rating", there is absolutely no quality control. Any idiot can open up a "swoop school" and charge for it. Along with a "canopy coach rating" there needs to be a standardized curiculum. For example, I constantly hear myths of aerodynamics from expert canopy pilots. These people who are excellent swoopers should never even consider teaching people, because they don't know what to teach. So my answer is two-fold: A canopy coach rating, so that we know who we should learn from. A canopy coach course curiculum, so that we know what should be taught. Once that's done, then coaches should be plentiful and well dispursed, so that their knowledge can be dispursed frequently and cheaply. There's no point in requiring somebody to fly accorss the country to pay hundreds of dollars to self proclaimed "experts". Real certified experts, with real factual knowledge should be sharing a case of beer at the end of the day, with people who want to learn. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I tend to think of the Lotus as being more like a Saber2 than a Pilot. Meaning, the Lotus openings are a bit more "interesting". It's a bit more prone to off-heading openings than the pilot, and it is also a bit more succesptable to the effects of leaning in the harness during opening than the pilot. Those are usually seen as negatives. The flipside is that it's a sportier canopy once its open. The Lotus will lose more altitude in a turn, will turn quicker and sharper than a Pilot, and will plane out better when you learn to nail the flare. These are usually seen as positives. The Lotus is airlocked which adds some stability in turbulence, but its biggest effect is that it keeps the wing pressurized during slow flight. This should help during low/no wind landings. It's been a while since I've flown the Lotus, so my memory may be a bit off. I have flown the Lotus, the Pilot, and the Sabre2 all at the same wingloading. All 3 are great intermediate canopies when flown at an appropriate wingloading. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You have a brother? Who knew? A very nice shot! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This is the important part. You'll lose a lot more altitude in a turn up high than you will down low. You'll also have lower riser pressure up high than down low, too. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

More opinions? I put a Stiletto 150 in my J3. It was pretty loose. A J4 would be very loose. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

From the straw man, to the ad hominem. Got it. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I thought I explained that. I got my theories from the tobacco companies, who did this exact thing, and were prosecuted, and convicted. Tobacco companies loved to send their product up to Canada so it could be sold on the street for a fraction of their real market value. Tobacco companies LOVED to court people suing them for the criminal actions others commited with their product. Tobacco companies LOVED supplying criminals. The people who ran tobacco companies did have loved ones who fell victim to smoking related illness, they just didn't care. You mean the tobacco companies? That's well documented. Start here: http://www.google.com/search?q=tobacco+convicted+smuggling+canada+lawsuit&btnG=Search If you mean the gun companies? It's called a theory. I came up with it myself. Time will tell. Usually your attempts at a straw man are slightly more original. I am not impressed. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

"AndreVideo" has a setup he pulls out a few times every year. I think it's VHF based, and the quality is not as good as you'd like... but it's pretty cool. What's really neat is that he's got the ground station rigged up to start playing music off a tape deck once the signal comes in. Andre is a bit odd that way... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I used to run my 95 Prelude in Toronto. We'd run on the streets, but we'd try to make it as safe as possible - blocking traffic with tow-trucks, etc. The dificulty was that the things that make it safer - like blocking traffic - make it easier for the cops to find you. I upgraded the airfilters and pipes on my Prelude (front to back), but kept it otherwise stock. It was an assload of fun. I destroyed the engine in 2000 and got $500 for it on a trade-in. Now I drive something far too practical - an Element. Street racing really is far too expensive to keep up. There's so many things I'd rather do with the money, having a tricked out car just for that purpose is silly. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That's pretty harsh. I'm very curious why the cops couldn't tell the difference between flour and cocaine. I mean, really! The lawsuit said that cops tested the flour and detected cocaine. If true, that's very disturbing to anyone who ever has to undergo drug testing. Either the cops are incapable of doing a simple drugtest, or they're lieing and they held her for 3 weeks without bothering to do any test. Not sure which is scarrier. In a situation like this, I think it's reasonable for someone to be detained while the tests are done. I do not think its reasonable to hold someone for 3 weeks when a simple test would completely exhonerate her. It is not against the law to be stupid. It is against the law to frame people, or hold them without evidence. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

So, you live in a cave? Yah, seriously. Development is society. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's true that they CAN do more than that, but the points you mentioned are not the controversy. The controversy is that they used cookies that expire in 2037 when the rule says they can only use session cookies. I assume all websites do this. All websurfers should assume all websites do this. If the NSA was doing this, indeed there would be a scandal. There is no accusation of the NSA doing this. Most browsers are set to block 3rd party cookies by default. The NSA is not apart of Google Ad-word. The fact that Google collects data and keeps it private is not relevant to the NSA "scandal". Google does not release data it collects. Google has one of the best privacy policies of any of the major sites. Websites can not use cookies to collect private information - unless users post that information on the internet. Value your privacy? Don't post private information on the internet. There's a legitimate problem of privacy on the Internet. The fact that the NSA used the wrong kind of cookie on their website is not one of them. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I am very up on what kind of information they would have been able to extract, and it is not very worrying. The only information they would have been able to extract was a count of the number of times you visited the NSA website, something everyone should assume every website can do (and does!) every time you visit. They can not corelate that information to a name, a SSN, a drivers license, or anything. All they know is "anonymous user 123234965234 visited 18 times last year, and spent 18 minutes each time". If you don't visit the NSA website, they don't even get that. Cookies as a privacy concern has long been mooted. The ONLY issue here is that they seem to have mistakenly broken a rule. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It occurs to me that many here may not be in possession of some very critical knowledge. Gosh! Get with it, John. Tin Foil Hats will not stop "them". Strangely, tinfoil actually amplifies signals allocated to the US Government. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/10/1839224&tid=133 __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I once bought one, because I thought it was a good cheaper option than a bonehead. After a year or two I replaced it with a bonehead, and mine largely gathers dust. You might get better answers by posting in the Photo and Video forum. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've never heard of stitching risers.... what are they stitching? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I too have a Rebel 2000. In the two years I've had my Digital Rebel, I've used my film Rebel once. Your milleage may vary. If I could sell it, I would. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've had minor hangups on my sidemount a handful of times - not really a hang-up as much of me being able to feel the riser torquing my head out of the way. I've also had a few openings where a riser scraped the tip of my nose. In a nutshell, I've had enough minor experiences to know that a major one is possible, and even likely - so I do my best to be prepared for when that happens. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That rig fits you terribly! To me, the fit is a much bigger concern than the top flat popping open... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I wrapped my FTP in a towel and checked it. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've been threatening to jump my Speed Graphics. I want to helmet mount it, but my wife thinks I'm nuts, she says I should belly mount it. Between me and my wife, we've got more photography hardware lieing around the house than I care to count - including the Speed Graphics, a Leica, 3 canons and 2 Nikons. The one that I choose to jump is one of the cheapest DSLRs on the market. What makes a great camera on the ground is often a whole lot different then what makes a good one in the air. As for the Hassleblad, I know one former jumper who took one on most of his jumps. He helmet mounted it, and it worked well - but I don't think he got as much from the camera in the air as he did on the ground. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Dbuys is an authorized vendor for everything they sell. They're a good place to buy online. So is B&H _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A suggestion, spend some time in the sport before you start giving out advice.

Some day I hope to meet both you and your partner. The bits of your lifestyle I've glimpsed have been an inspiration. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.