TomAiello

I'm pretty sure that ptwob means "Parachute Team Wings of Blue" so I'd bet you can hook up locally. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ever hear of United Way? Even the United Way is more efficient than the government. And that's really saying something. I don't have them handy, but I've seen some (appalling) statistics about percentage of dollars that actually go to helping people (as opposed to employing bureaucrats, lining pockets, etc). As I recall, religious charities were the most efficient, and governments by far the least. If I remember correctly, the most efficient charity organization surveyed was an Islamic charity giving food aid in Palestine. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is a personal attack. Please review the forum rules, and consider yourself warned. I will ban you for 14 days at your next offense. Thanks. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Perhaps you need to provide your definition of "Socialism" and "Marxism" (I'm assuming that you define those identically? I'm not sure I would). The basic conflict between a centrally controlled provision of "things the individual would purchase anyway" (how do you decide what the individual would purchase, if you never give them an opportunity to do so, by the way?) is that it must force individuals to give into a central authority, which does the purchasing. If individuals fail to contribute, the system must either (a) expel them from group, or (b) force them to contribute. Otherwise, the whole system falls apart as the free riders graze the commons. The use of option (b), forcing free riders to contribute, is fundamentally at odds with the principle of Liberty (that adult citizens may not be coerced). As a side note, the use of option (a), expelling the free riders, is fully compatible with Liberty--only those who wish to contribute do so, and remain within the system. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to expel non-contributing individuals from large systems (like modern nation states). This is one reason that the only things that come close to functioning Communism (distinct from Socialism, but it seems like this is as close as I can understand your definition of "Socialism/Marxism") are very small systems--nuclear families, small villages organized on communal principles, and the like. These small systems really can resort to expelling non-contributing members, although the closeness of the community usually obviates that necessity, as members bound by ties of friendship and family usually choose to contribute. I don't believe that has anything to do with my point. We were discussing the ideals of "Socialism" and "Liberty." "Capitalism" is a whole different discussion. The current US system, which, like all the others, is a melange of various things, does draw some things from a purely "Capitalist" ideology. However, to characterize it as "Capitalism" is as much a misnomer as to characterize it as "Socialism." BTW, if you prefer we can start this discussion over using a "purely" Marxist example. I've got my copy of Capital handy, but if you haven't, there is one here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I actually know people who prefer smaller PC's at lower altitudes. The general feeling is that a smaller PC inflates more quickly, so that in the end it cancels out the greater extraction force of the larger PC. In my experience, the real killer at low altitude is not slow inflation. It is PC hesitation. Larger PC's are marginally more prone to weird hesitations. Stowing big PC's, in my opinion, greatly increases the risk of hesitation. So, I think DexterBASE is on the right track here. Downsizing the PC when you stow is definitely a good idea. Keeping the big PC's in your hand helps reduce the chance of a hesitation. There's definitely something to the "smaller = less hesitation" school of thought. I know people who take this as far as using 42's on 200' freefalls. I'm not quite all aboard for that, but I can definitely see the logic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My point was that you had started using the name of someone who hadn't even posted in this thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Was there a reason you wanted to turn this into a personal argument? Why not just talk about the issues, rather than open fire on other people who post here? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The thing that bothers me is that they come up with different numbers each time they recount. I mean, come one, it's not rocket science. It's freakin' counting. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If you don't pay your taxes you go to jail. Hence, forcibly seized. A threat is just as forcible, but perhaps I should have been more precise in my language. The IRS can also garnish your wages. That's a pretty forcible seizure. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I agree with Kennedy. I like to think I have a fairly good grasp on both concepts (Liberty and Socialism), and I do think that, as "big idea" concepts, they are fundamentally incompatible. Socialism is basically on the idea that the government ought to force those with more "stuff" to give up some of it for the benefit of those with less "stuff". Liberty is basically on the idea that government ought to have no right to proactively coerce adults citizens. It's very difficult for the "socialism" folks to force people to give things up if they are following the "liberty" idea that the government cannot proactively coerce the citizens. You can argue a fair bit of semantics around the ideas. For example, what is "freedom" and how does it differ from "liberty"? Or, what is "socialism" and how does it differ from "communism"? And when you begin to examine the real world systems, you find that nothing follows any ideal purely (or even closely). Still, if you boil the concepts down, I do think that Socialism and Liberty are fundamentally incompatible ideals. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That's a personal attack. I've banned you from Speaker's Corner. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

BASE311 was kind enough to give me this diagram of block and bias. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In my experience, the problem, 9 times out of 10, isn't the PC manufacture. Almost everyone is getting their PC's from a handful of (generally good quality) manufacturers. There are still some "garage specials" floating around, but fewer and fewer all the time. What I've seen, more often than not, as the cause of orbiting or oscillation is asymmetric attachment, not manufacture. Even a perfectly made PC can oscillate if you attach it assymetrically, and most of the modern designs allow assymetric attachment (I have some Paratech PC's that will not, and Marty made me some custom that won't either--I heard a rumor that this is standard for Asylum now, but I'm not certain). I'm actually fairly convinced that they are a fix for poor attachment. So most of the gains from this gear advancement have gone to allowing us (jumpers) to get away with sloppiness. Back to the original question: I think that if you learn to attach the PC symmetrically, it's not going to be much of an issue, the vast majority of the time. If you attach the PC wrong, then the vents aren't going to save you (they'll help, though). If you have a properly constructed (most PC's) and symmetrically attached (unfortunately, not most jumpers), PC, then you may see some improvement from vents, but the improvement will be at the margin, and not noticeable on the majority of your jumps. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No. As long as it's manufactured correctly, it'll be fine. People used them for years. A vented PC is probably better, but not so much that I'd throw out the brand new unvented one. Before the vents make a difference, everything else needs to be done correctly, so you may as well use that one to learn everything else. Once it's worn out, you'll have the other stuff down, and you can buy a shiny, new vented PC to use with your new skills. Ray did a pretty good job explaining. If that's not clear, post a follow up and I'll try to find diagrams. It's _very_ important that your PC be constructed properly, and tapes sewn on the block of the ZP means it is _not_. In my opinion, a poorly constructed PC is a much bigger deal than the apex vents (or lack of them). Most of the attitude is done with your best interests in mind. Although it may not come across that way in this form, most of those folks are genuinely concerned to not see you end up as a statistic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Probably best to ask the owner of the website that, don't you think? I'd guess that they've found the advantages of the venting minimal on larger PC's/shorter delays, or that they've found some problems (increased hesitation rate, maybe?) on the larger vented PC's. You'll note that the other manufacturers of vented PC's _do_ offer vented PC's in the larger sizes, so it's obviously not something that everyone agrees on. To make a link clicky, put {url} before it and {/url} after it, but use "[" where I'm using "{" here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You realize you just said you're not going to let a hot skychick get your clothes off, right? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have some video of a Norwegian BASE jumper off a big wall there, taking fins (and a scuba mask and snorkel, actually) to terminal. He actually had a massively good track, but he porpoised quite a bit, because he kept going head low and recovering. Interesting stuff, though... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Jinx! In other words, "look what happens when I start posting and go looking for links..." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Obviously, things will be different in the UK and US. But, the US Supreme Court has held that a roughly similar slogan (this one read "Fuck the Draft") was to be permitted in public buildings, in [url "http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/cohen.html"]Cohen v. California (1971)[/URL]. The quick summary of the case is (emphasis added by me): -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In my opinion, assymetric attachment will overcome venting. I think that venting is only going to matter when everything else is done correctly (i.e. PC is attached symmetrically, constructed correctly, etc.). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Vented PC's have a mesh vent on the topskin. Different vent configurations have been tried (my personal favorite is the configuration currently used by Morpheus). The idea is that air is vented out the top, instead of the sides, so that the PC is more stable. Orbiting PC's can cause off headings, by switching extraction directions during deployment. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

And so it is... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's also my understanding that not all the "S2's" were the same. They sent out variations to try different things out, as I recall. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

http://www.alti-2.com/Titan/titan.htm Clicky -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You put {url} before it and {/url} after it, with "[" instead of the"{" I used (if I try to use it, then the "before it and" would become a link. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com