nacmacfeegle

Mama is NOT post whoring, she is keeping abreast of technological developments, and business performance enhancements. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

So all you want is a portable, high capacity, relatively secure document reader? Assuming all the scanning and OCR stuff is done in a normal environment. Why bother with OCR when you can just scan straight to PDF format, same with drawings, specs, etc. Updating or synching them is a piece of cake. My Clie can be used for maps, photos, wee movies, and of course documents and spreadsheets. Brand new it cost me £300 (about $450)over a year back, nowadays they would be about 200 bucks a hit. The storage capacity is limitless as they use 256meg cards and you can hot swap them. A quick google later..... Seriously look into them. http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=PEGSJ22/U 200 bucks, buy a spare large memory stick for another 100 bucks and this might be what you are after. I used mine to haul docs drgs, spreadsheets etc between Houston and Aberdeen a lot last year and it worked fine. It fits in a shirt pocket! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

10 kids! Nononono...the bandwidth requred for the cutie smackdown would be excessive! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

I use an IBM thinkpad, its been bounced around all over the world, had hard abuse in Nigeria, and Khazakhstan, and has been thrown on and off helicopters offshore countless times in its 4-5 year history. A Pelican case is essential, and will probably pay for itself in no time at all. http://www.pelican.com/cases/cases.html But If I were to do it all again, I would rethink my requirement for a laptop and consider using PDAs which can be synch'd with a desktop, or office based PC for a fraction of the outlay of laptops. If you are basically spreadsheet bashing on-site, or taking minutes at meetings etc, a PDA with a wrap around keyboard might serve you well. I have a Sony Clie which runs all of my regular engineering spreadsheets, but as I understand it, Palm, and Psion have equally good PDAs. To use a building trade analogy....If you think about the job you want to do before you go out and buy the tools, you might save yourself some loot. PM me with what you have in mind in terms of workload for these'notebooks' and we can discuss away from the madding crowd. Happy Easter! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

20 ft round doesn't sound all that much fun for most Hi Rise corporate types..... I certainly would not relish the thought of putting 200lbs + under a 20ft round. Not mention non steerable, landing more than likely on asphalt and concrete, dodging round lampposts, power lines, and normal urban clutter. "Either way, it'll give the vast majority of people who own one a false sense of security." That should really have a capital F for False.... Plus it will probably bog down EMTs with minor fractures and sprains. I think anyone putting their hopes in one of these really ought to try one under controlled circumstances. That way their sense of security would at least be realistic. My feeling is the risk doesn't warrant the expense of of these. Basic cost benefit analysis is likely to lean towards a much cheaper mitigation, for what is essentially an unlikely event. ---I hope. The site of 3000+ escape chutes being deployed (god forbid) under a similar scenario to 9/11 would be spectacular though. The current record for a mass civilian jump is 572 and that was impressive enough! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"In the event that you have to use this device, it opens rapidly in 1.9 seconds to full inflation. The descent rate is approximately 1000 feet per minute. The fast descent is important so it gets you to the ground quickly. You will avoid floating around precariously on air currents. The chute has been tested from as low as 125 feet. The deceleration and landing results were very acceptable, and survivable. " 125ft...wow, check out the 'test drop' video, sub 5 seconds from step off to abrupt halt.....I sincerely hope PLF training is included.... -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

G'day Mark, "As car adverts go, it certainly beats the "Nicole! Papa!" school of commercial" Yeah but Nicole was a Hottie! I'm sorry but valve springs rolling about in oil comes a poor second to Gallic totty flouncing around in a skimpy summer frock! But it sounds like a cool ad nevertheless, The flash version on the link doesn't do it justice I suspect. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

I like that silver effect, what about going with a NASA theme? Back to your q, coloured or black options either looks kickin' -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Try this, google for 'stone circles' or go direct to this page http://www.stonepages.com/ Which lists a number of sites with descriptions etc for further googling. Worthy examples being Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, and the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney. I live in Aberdeen just now, there are quite a few stone circles around here.... The GKs and the Red Devils jumped into Stonehenge last year, which must have been pretty cool!

currency convertor.. http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi currently 1 GBP = 1.57461 USD or there abouts... -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

And thats a bloody good price as well! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

This link appealed to my cynical sense of humour.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2955231.stm And the action figures site for Dubya, Saddam, and various props is here... http://herobuilders.com/ I've gotta get me some of these! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

The only one I was at was a long time ago, but yep thats basically it, if your not ready to jump, your not ready to manifest.....Somebody always tries to cheat it, and the manifest ladies need a lot of support. You need a fast turbine and a shitload of jumpers to make it worthwhile. If you organise it they will come! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"but I would like to see their face when you tell them that little digital readout connected to the electronic device inside the "locked" backpack is for flying a parachute." What you don't want to tell them is that its really a barometric detonator........if you do, be prepared to assume the position! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"What is a $99 boogie?" Hey Ferdi, its like an all day pass, jump as much as you can, no double manifesting, and normally only a single rig allowed. 99 bucks, normally good value, also known as "boogie till ya puke" days.... -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"Do you have to be going terminal to "use" a track effectively?" Nope 'super floaters', and camera guys often describe their antics as tracking back up the hill, moments after leaving the aircraft, ie still sub-terminal..

"My air conditioner is broken because...." You are HOT and overloaded it!

Wendy voiced my thoughts on your opinions Gary, thanks gal. "I think I can live without your trust." And I'll certainly get by without listening to any more of your drivvel. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"Now that's actually a good idea. " Actually, its the law on offshore oil rigs in the UK sector, every person has a grab bag in their cabin which contains the stuff I described, and spare ones are located around the rig if you need them. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Hmm, extend your request for maintenance records to say, normal commercial flights, taxi cabs, busses, trains, freinds cars, etc and why not? What about checking the qualifications of the guy that just changed your tyres and checked the brakes on your car? Maybe take a quick tour of the kitchen at the restaurant you are about to eat at? At some stage you have to just accept a little risk in your life, give out a little trust, or exist in a paranoid state forever. If you don't trust them, don't use them....simple as that. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

There are 3 DZs in Scotland, stick with StAndys till you find your feet, each has its attractions, I started at Errol, but have jumped at Strath, and StAndy's. I'll be more regular there this year. By the way the 'other ' golf place. Gleneagles is virtually next door to Strath, and Carnoustie is not far from Errol, so if golf and jumping is your bag, come to Scotland! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"I think I may have still had too much forward speed out fo the track when i deployed and the bag was spinning as a result." I doubt it Tas, I suspect you may have dropped a shoulder, its easy to do without noticing. I used to dump in a track regularly and although I took a few harder openings frequency of spinning was more or less the same. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Just watch out for the 'big beers' they drink there.... Maybe see ya around.

www.headshield.com/ Nice to see a new company sponsoring teams. From the site "at the price of a floppy polythene surfing helmet (I'm sure you know the one were talking about! GAFF or something like that ;o)." Anyone who pays 95 quid for a Gath needs to get their head examined. But the price is good compared to say, Binhead.... Chris Miller runs this company?, Hmmmm, I like it more and more.... -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Any canopy can twist up on you, though none of those listed are notoriously bad for this phenomenon. The biggest contributor to line twists is uneven loading of risers at deployment due to poor body position, as any packer will tell you. That and shoddy line stows, and d-bag design. Your ability to kick out line twists depends on a couple of influencing factors. The speed at which you respond to developing line twists, the wing loading, and how much energy you can generate from thrashing around. My advice? Go with a spectre, I have about 450 jumps on a fairly high loaded (1.5-1.6ish) spectre, and have never experienced any drama from line twists. If anyone at your home DZ jumps wingsuits, or skysurfs, ask them what canopies they use, its difficult to kick out twists wearing a birdman, or if your feet are strapped to a board. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson