TomAiello

I just deauthorized and reauthorized an account on my machine, and it re-downloaded all of my purchases. Can you deauthorize your computer and then reauthorize it? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm sure it's because they want to make sure you aren't pirating the file over and over. It's kind of silly, in my opinion, but I think it's part of the legal framework whereby the whole business of downloading purchased music becomes possible. I'm now futzing around with iTunes trying to replicate your problem and see if I can find a way to solve it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've actually had very good luck by calling AAA and asking who they recommend. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

On my iTunes (Macintosh OS X, iTunes 7.02) it's in the "Store" menu (5th selection down). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ah, that's your issue, then. I haven't ever used a windows machine for iTunes at all. The whole iTunes-Mac-iPod cycle is pretty seamless. It sounds to me like you've got a screwed up download of that specific file. Did you try refreshing your account? I'm not sure how to do that on a PC, but on a Mac you can either "de-authorize" and then "re-authorize" your machine (which forces it to download all your purchases again), or you can just erase the screwed up file and then hit the "Check for Purchases" button to re-download it. I'd try running the download just as you go to bed, so that it doesn't annoy you with how slow it is. I once tried to get 20 hours or so of video downloaded and onto an iPod in time to make a long flight (I didn't quite get it all, but it increased my stress level tremendously). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I bought an entire season of a TV show off iTunes, and watched it all. It worked just fine for me. The download took forever, but it was 20-some hours of video, after all. What kind of computer are you using? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You want to read my PM inbox? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm so sorry. Normally, I'd be pulling for an SEC team to win the National Championship. But this year one of my two favorite teams is playing. My favorite is UGA. But my second favorite, of course, is whoever is playing Florida. Go Buckeyes! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No, they can't. The pilot of an aircraft is the person who is in the _best_ position to know if the aircraft can be landed or he needs to bail out. He has all the data, and is accustomed to making decisions about and based on that data. The random occupant of a high rise is one of the _worst_ people to know if he needs to jump. He doesn't have the data, he's not trained to interpret it, and he's in no way accustomed to making those decisions. Very different cases. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Except without the "military" or the "air drop" parts. it would be more like a bunch of scared office workers with no training and no experience, trying to make their first ever parachute jump under incredibly stressful conditions. Worse, they'd have to make the decision to make an emergency bailout in those conditions. You want to bet on their decision making percentages under those conditions? How about their ability to successfully execute the jump? And especially how about their ability to successfully execute the jump after making the wrong decision and deciding to jump when they shouldn't have? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Who decides there is no other option? A scared office worker? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I just don't see this as a logical argument. There are people in the twin towers who jumped WITHOUT a rig. Yes, but in every other case that the rigs would likely have been used, it would have been safer to stay in the building. How about the next time some kid flies a cessna into a building in Miami, we see 30 office workers jumping round systems with a 50% surival rate, instead of staying in the building with a 100% survival rate? If you want to logically consider the use of parachutes as a means of building evacuation, you need to consider the potential for misuse. Some people are going to panic and jump when they don't have to--and then what? Here's another thought: If those people in the Twin Towers had the current generation of "escape chutes" they'd all have died anyway. There is no way their static lined rounds would have made it past the extreme heat, flames and turbulence. I'm guessing that they would have actually ignited, and then we'd have gotten to see flaming parachutes dropping those people to their deaths on CNN. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I saw testing for several of them. The HOPE system was probably the best one, because it had the least oscillation, the slowest descent rate, and the most reliable static line deployment system. I haven't seen any new development or work on any of these systems in several years. As an experienced BASE jumper, my opinion is that you'd have to be a fool to think that using one of these would lower your chance of injury or death. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

um, isnt that just about the only time where that can be survived? or has ever been survived? Actually, no, but that wasn't my point. Freefall object strike has been survived off low cliffs, other bridges and even in one case at a significant (slider up) subterminal delay off a tower. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hmmm. Does the 3% include the dead Jaap PC pack job? I think your underlying point, if I am reading it correctly, is very valid, and I'd restate it thus: Jumpers approach safer jumps more recklessly, and that additional recklessness overcomes the added safety margin of most "safer" BASE jumps. Another thing to factor in may be that, overall, the injury rate and the fatality rate are not consistent between different object types. Terminal walls, for example, might have a much higher number of fatalities per injury, while slider down cliffs may see a lot more serious injuries, with less likelihood of each incident resulting in a fatality. Nor is the same type of accident likely to yield the same injury from a different object type. Freefall object strike has been shown to be survivable at Bridge Day, for example, but is pretty much a certain death sentence at terminal. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You probably want to check out the Frequently Asked Questions at the top of this forum. That'll answer most basic questions. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

One of the guys posting to this board has subzero naked BASE. Maybe he'll tell the story. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes. I believe the technical name is neural ablation. Basically you cook the nerve to kill it, so that you can't feel the pain that it would be transmitting. I don't think it's such a good idea for something like that, though, because pain is there for a reason--it warns you when you are going to do further damage. Without it, you'll be much more likely to re-injure yourself, I think. If you want more details, you should talk to my wife. She does a fair bit of pain management from a rehabilitation perspective. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I haven't watched the video, but if it's the one I'm thinking of, the answer is none. Dano did a full rope length whipper on one of those videos in which he ends up with an armlength of gear stacked up on his rope, because he cut most of the way through all the draws. When he jumped the remaining webbing snapped, and the rope end carabiners slid down to him, while the pro stayed in the rock. He then climbed the pitch and retrieved the gear. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's general liability insurance. It is _not_ health insurance, so it won't cover medical expenses. I have separate health insurance. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

There is a regular poster here who was part of Dan's rope jumping crew back when he was in high school. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Around US$200 per year, with a limit to the coverage of US$ 1 million. It's the same policy that Joe Coucher would buy, so I'd say it costs the same. The requirements are that you must have a certain amount of homeowners and auto insurance to qualify, and that those policies must be used first for incidents that they cover. The vast majority of people using these types of policies are using them to cover catch-all "risks" like defamation suits, or damage to other's property, or liability from rental properties. Sure they do. They also have the right to pay out in those cases. But they're legally required to tell you if they will or will not, in advance, if you ask them a specific question. Paying out in those cases probably creates very little additional risk to them (since the number of those cases is very small) but gives them some additional marketing power when they try to sell you the policy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Mine does. I had a very specific conversation with the underwriter about that. I layed out a scenario and asked him what they would cover. The scenario was an illegal building jump in which I damaged the building by breaking a window to exit from. The underwriter had no questions at all about rescue and liability (if I hit a car under the building they'd pay for that no problem). His real concern was the cost of the broken window (since I'd broken it intentionally). He had to go do research and check with higher ups, then got back to me and said that yes, they'd cover the broken window too. He even had several examples of cases in which they had paid out on roughly similar circumstances (for example, they paid out to cover the damage to a car that had been keyed by the teenage child of an insured party). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You might have a look at Randy Pacheco's old post about total ankle reconstruction, and see what you think of that. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can you tell us where you got that estimate? Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com