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That's a good point. WAY TO TAKE THE FUN OUT OF THINGS! cavete terrae.

I just had someone "defriend" me on facebook because I was baiting him into an argument just out of Sunday morning boredom I have to paraphrase because I can't screenshot the conversation now that he deleted me, but: He posted something about having "Scottish pride", and I replied with something along the lines of "How can you have pride about being Scottish, it's not even a real country" "How are we not a real country??" "What's the internet domain for Scotland? Australia has AU, Canada has CA, Ireland has IE, Spain has ES, etc…" "We don't have one" "QED, not a real country" "Well we're part of the UK" "Yeah, a real country DEFINITELY doesn't have someone else's head of state on their money" "Well the Queen is head of state of a lot of countries" "Yeah that's why we can't take England seriously either. They've got Canada's leader on their money, for fuck's sake!" It's all in good fun, and hopefully he'll calm down later. Surely he should know me after this many years, right? cavete terrae.

My grandmother related a story to us a while back. She and grandpa were out at some fancypants place for dinner, and he declined to order dessert and she ordered something or another. When it arrived, he reached to take a sample, and she slapped his hand away and said "Is there a problem with our finances that I should be aware of? If not, order your own damned dessert" cavete terrae.

Wrong side of the country, but all my balloon jumps have been at Perris. cavete terrae.

Good ol' SudsyFist set a downwind pattern on me when we landed after my first jump in a year and a half "Wait is he… oh god dammit" cavete terrae.

[Insert Cairns joke here] cavete terrae.

The new Splinter Cell game just came out 9.5 hours ago at midnight here, it's installed on my PC waiting to be played, and I have to work. WHERE IS THE JUSTICE. cavete terrae.

baahahahahahahahahahah cavete terrae.

You may be correct, but based on my relationship with Apple on a corporate level I'd be surprised. cavete terrae.

I understand what you're saying, and conceptually agree, but in this case it's for the best. If Apple patents things like this with the intention of never using it because it's awful, and never licensing it, we theoretically never have to worry about seeing someone actually using these ideas. This is NOT a case of Apple wanting this feature to make money. It's more like Apple trying to prevent a horrible thing from happening in the only way they can. cavete terrae.

Apple frequently files for patents on things they never want to see used by anyone, actually. If they hold the patent, in theory nobody can implement it and users never have to worry about it. Of course, that's not nearly as fun as fear mongering... cavete terrae.

Eh it kinda depends. You don't HAVE to upgrade your PC yearly, some choose to. You can always run at lower settings (and get the console experience, lol). I have to keep mine upgraded for my job, so it's moot for me. That's all irrelevant though because I just fucking hate playing most games on a console. cavete terrae.

I hear ya...im surprised I havent gotten my ass kicked around the dz for all my antics. You're gonna hate Saturday. cavete terrae.

I only endorse skeleton designs if they'll add embroidered screws and plates to match hardware you add to yourself during your career. cavete terrae.

Jerry, et all, Not stiring the pot this time... so what does this mean? IOW... what is the new activation altitude for post Jan 13 mfgr CYPRESes vs. pre Jan 13 mfgr CYPRESes? It just means the ones made in the last half year or so can be user-defined. The default value hasn't changed. cavete terrae.

Am I correct in believing people can have this software update applied to earlier units? cavete terrae.

I've got a bit of experience in this realm. My first canopy was a 210sqft loaded at 1.2 or so, and then I downsized a bit later and also gained weight. Eventually I was at a 1.5 on a 190 (same model canopy as the 210). Since that peak I've lost a bit over 50lbs, and my wingload is almost back to that 1.2 (and will be below that within another 6 weeks or so). It is DEFINITELY like being back on my original canopy to an extent, but that said since it's still smaller it's a bit more responsive. I'm a cheapass so I probably won't downsize (unless I just start stealing my girlfriend's 168 occasionally) but if it weren't a finances issue I would definitely consider it. However, it's just like any other downsize, especially if you've become complacent on your current canopy: make sure you're prepared for every situation on your current wing before you potentially make those situations worse on a smaller one. cavete terrae.

I was considering getting a PS4 next year for The Division but now that they've announced a PC release, I can once again ignore consoles and save a bunch of money cavete terrae.

cavete terrae.

My streak of being a loser continues Congrats to winners. cavete terrae.

Check with your DZ. I'd honestly be surprised if they shut down jumping altogether in winter. My original DZ was in Minnesota and we jumped year round, and I did some of my student jumps in the cold. If you wait until everything is perfect you'll wait forever. cavete terrae.

I've had two rides on my Smart 220 loaded at a 1.2 or so, never had any sort of issue, nice soft standups both times. However, I "grew up" as a student on beat-to-shit F-111 7cells going through static line progression, so I think I had somewhat more of an idea what to expect. Hell, I think those also helped me simulate a terminal reserve opening, on every jump Also, I think this is just another downside to the tiny rigs that everyone seems to want, but nobody considers the consequences of. Not only are a lot of people using reserves smaller than their main so they're downsizing when they chop, but a lot of jumps have never flown ANY sort of F-111 canopy let alone a 7cell one, so like you said they don't know how to fly it, and don't know how it's gonna react. I for one will not downsize past my 220 (reserve, anyway… my main is a 190, I might consider a 170 some day but meh…), even though I'm loading it lighter because I lost weight. The downsides are a bit too strong, as far as I'm concerned. cavete terrae.

Isn't that precisely what project Hyperion was gonna be for? Not sure what ever came of that company cavete terrae.

First off: In a case like that when you're jacked because you just got a slammer and if you've never played with your rear risers prior to that moment, I'd say you shouldn't feel bad about a chop. You weren't comfortable with landing the configuration, and got one you were comfortable with. Secondly, I'll relate a little story that may be applicable and hopefully you'll check it out: When I had somewhere around twice as many jumps as you do now, I had a similar event with my Fusion 210, loaded around a 1.3 or so. I had a very brisk opening, everything looked fine except for the canopy being in a firm left turn. I unstowed the brakes, and found myself holding nothing more than a toggle and some line in my right hand. I had been going through Ye Olde Downsize Checklist prior to this point and had experimented on rear risers, but not yet landed on them. I stuffed the toggle in my jumpsuit, and got on the risers to do some practice turns and flares, and headed for the DZ, where I had a nice smooth landing. That's not the important part, though, this is: We replaced the lower steering line and I got back in the air quickly. About 3-5 jumps later (I'd have toi check my logbook), I got absolutely rocked by the canopy. I looked up, saw HMA lines snapped and trailing, attachment points torn off, and a blown up cell. That particular situation, I was not game to land. I executed my EPs and landed under my reserve. What's the takeaway here? Get your main checked out, make sure there's no other damage. If you don't, and there is, you might be finding out about it a lot differently than you might prefer. cavete terrae.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bridge.png cavete terrae.