AndyMan

It's not about paranoia. You should not be so quick to be so insulting. All of the important innovations in software have come through procedures exactly like this. I think you'd be quite amazed at what some people can do with a device like the Neptune. Alti-II would be wise to publish an API. At least that way they get to be involved. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

They don't pay the bills off the code. The code is relatively straightforward and similar code has been written countless times for endless applications. What makes the Neptune (and any other gadget) special is the hardware. I can easily write an algorithm to approximate freefall speeds. What I can't do is manufacture the device. It might've been rocket science 40 years ago, but it certainly isn't anymore. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

So would I. Of course, you could always figure it out for yourself. I would be willing to help, but reverse engineering is not my forte. Especially the communications protocol. I really don't like some aspects of Paralog and would love to write my own. Quite frankly, the explanation they give is dumb. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's certainly true that you can get away with a weak flare on a windy day. That doesn't mean it's recomended, though. The aerodynamics of the wing in flight does not change when the wind does. A perfect flare on a no wind day is performed exactly the same as a perfect one in strong winds, the only difference is ground speed changes sooner. Let's keep this conversation centered on no-wind days. Landing in windy days is a different thread (gusts, and going backwards). The advice I give to new jumpers struggling in no wind is to ensure they're finishing the flare. After videoing countless people in that exact situation, not finishing the flare is almost always the culprit. Telling people to flare higher on no-wind days has no basis in physics and does not help, especially on a 9-cell canopy. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It really does depend on the specifics of the storm. Most jump planes take 20 minutes to climb to altitude. You have to plan your jump not for the current weather, but for the weather 20 minutes into the future. That can be tricky, but sometimes it's easier, too. In Chicago this last weekend we had conditions where a storm was moving to the northeast, but was passing a few miles south of the DZ. Lightning was visible when the load was preparing but it was clear from watching Doppler RADAR that the storm would be well off to the east by the time the jumpers were exiting. This proved to be the case when the jump went off without a hitch and the jumpers were thrilled to see some spectacular weather safely from altitude. To be honest, I was jealous I didn't make the load. They all landed with a clear blue sky overhead. Pilots and jumpers do try to avoid jumping through clouds. Often times jumpers find themselves on the edge of a cloud and end up briefly falling through the edge of it. In those cases radio communication between the ground can be used to ensure the safety of those jumpers. I know at Chicagoland this weekend there was constant monitoring of Doppler RADAR and constant communication with the pilot during jumping. To answer your question, concerns are always a good thing and it's always a great idea to speak up if you feel unsafe. You don't ever have to jump. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Forgive me if I don't value your opinion highly. Real Name: No name entered. Email: No email entered. Home DZ: No home dropzone entered. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The Vengence seems to be no longer advertised, although they will allow you to demo and buy one. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I almost bought the pro-tec FreeCarve (i think...) a few weeks ago. I liked the ear protection because I figured I could mount an audible. I liked all of the snowboarding helmets because they all offered real head protection, where all of the skydiving helmets are completely useless when it comes to whats most important - protecting your nogin from serious trauma. The downside to a lot of these helmets is they don't offer any sound insulation - be prepared for loud freefalls. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

We've known that for ever. Senator Kennedy, and the Canadian defense minister were also both refused boarding due to the 'no fly list'. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I wouldn't go quite that far. Mine work great with my tight fitting FTP, but depending on how the wind is hitting my face I'm nervous about them when wearing a looser helmet. I wouldn't wear mine without a helmet or a croakie. They are good, but I don't recomend them to newbies. Doing a whole skydive without any eye protections sucks. My wife says: "I hate it when people I'm jumping with are wearing dark sunglasses. I can't see their eyes, and it annoys the piss out of me". _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

We have one from Comcast. It's manufactured by Motorola. It works OK. Pros are that it's usually easy to use, and the interface is definately easy to pick up. Cons are that it occaisionally freezes up, sometimes fast-forward and rewind don't work as well as you'd think they should. Generally we like it, we've never filled it past 50%. We do watch and record a lot of TV, but we don't archive shows. There's more than enough space to record a few weeks of regular TV while away on vacation, then watch and delete it when you get back. In general, the fact that its integrated in with the digital cable set-top box makes it much easier to use than a TIVO, but we'd prefer the actualy usability of TIVO. We hope some day Comcast will make TIVO available, but until then we're happy with the Motorola unit. We didn't program the remote - instead we programmed our pre-existing über remote to control the Comcast unit. Comcast didn't provide any directions for programing their remote, even though the thing does have buttons to control the TV. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You're not only endangering yourself, but also the plane. If the plane did crash later, expect to be arrested and prosecuted for the deaths. That said, the biggest problems are clearly logistical - most of the doors won't open under pressure anyways, and surviving the airspeed will be tough - human bodies break under 300+mph exits, never mind clearing the engines and wings... I can't think of any situation where I'd actually consider it. In every commercial aircraft emergency I can think of, I'd take the odds with a landing. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The most perpetuated un-truth in the lens industry... It's more than just an "un-truth", it's absurd. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Chicagoland in Hinkley, illinois has 802.11g. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I use the Sony .6, which is actually wider than my Kenko .5. Your mileage may vary. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Remember that Bill's Reflex has the reserve closing pin against his back, not pointing up like most rigs. For Bill, checking his reserve pin is only slightly more complex than scratching his back between his shoudler blades. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It never shows up in Device Manager, nor does it make the "da ding!" connect sound. My next guess is to buy another cable. Both my older cables aren't working. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Yup, no love. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

For a hundred bucks more you can get a 3-chip camera, with waranty. To me, that's a no-brainer. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Ding! As far as I can tell, this is an issue only affecting the very highest level of performance swoopers. At DZ's all around the world, this issue is catching the attention of swoopers everywhere - but the reality is that most of us are nowhere near the activation speeds required to set it off. It really is that simple - the kinds of dives where you want a Cypres are not the kinds of dives where you have the altitude to do a multiple rotation setup. If anyone is doing ludicrously high speed approaches, they can leave the AAD on the ground. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That is a very reasonable fee for a major repair. I paid a similar amount to PD for repairs to my Stiletto. Buck up and pay it, or buy a new canopy. Your choice. Any canopy can (and will!) open hard. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm having firewire issues with my new (beige box) desktop. My PC120 will not autodetect to XP Pro. I do not get any notifications when I plug in and turn on the camera. Nothing shows up in the Device Manager. I have an external firewire disk that works fine. I've tried plugging my camera straight into the ports on the computer and into the spare port on the back of the external disk. No love. I've tried two different firewire cables. No love. I tried my camera on someone elses computer, and it works fine. How do you troubleshoot firewire connectivity issues? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I have an Icon, my wife has a Mirage. They're both quite good. Buy what you like. To me, I want to see real differences to make me spend more money. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This isn't too hard to find by looking at the manufacturers websites. Chicagoland uses a combination of Javelin, Mirage, and Aerodyne student gear. All of those are fundamentally the same as these manufacturers sell to the general public. That means "velcroless" toggles with tuck tabs and brake lines held to the back of the riser with binding tape. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

They shut down yesterday after being chased by the RIAA. Apartently they're going to relocate from Canada to somewhere more unlawfull. . read more here: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/21/1948213&tid=95&tid=17 So, this begs the question. What's everyones current P2P of choice? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.