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This will be my last post on this subject - I just want to clarify why I suggested a 'verified' expert status while pushing the importance of anonymity. Anonymity is important because it allows people to ask questions they may be embarrassed to ask if they could be identified. Some people abuse this, but I strongly believe more people will benefit from this than will abuse it. An identified 'expert' status will allow a new skydiver to make some sense out of threads containing many posts - especially threads with dozens of different opinions. I used to do that with large threads using the moderator responses as a starting point. I would scan through the posts and read the moderator posts, then read the posts they were responding too. The moderators have an implied level of trust that the general posting community does not have. I was thinking of something similar for someone who would like to contribute their expertise but does not want to moderate others - the expert status. And last but not least - I am not trying to say I KNOW what is best. Just making a suggestion on what I think. And this site has always been great!

Seems like now is the popular time to add suggestions for the site. Here are mine suggestions on a couple recent topics: User Ratings: Use jump numbers + member since for most all of the members. Post numbers is too much of a competition for some people. For the pessimistic out there - yes you can fake you jump numbers, but that's life - some people lie. Continue to identify the moderators and add an 'Expert' rating that you have to apply for. In the application you would need to meet certain skydiving requirements such as 2000+ jumps, or whatever. This could be automated with several verification steps, or an application could be processed manually. Set the expert criteria high enough so you don't get too many applications. You can verify identity of the expert application with PayPal. Anonymous Users: Many people will want to remain anonymous in an online forum, but they still have positive contributions. I am a perfect example of someone who does not want to list my real name. That does not mean I am trying to deceive anyone - I just don't want my name listed in a forum with so many different kinds of viewers. I have limited experience and rarely post, but I have read hundred of posts over the last three years and learned some things I never heard about at my DZ. If I do post some information that it wrong, or if I have a 'dumb' question, it is then open for discussion on the board and everyone (including me) can learn from it and I don't have to hear about it when I go back to the DZ this weekend (I am speaking hypothetically here). I promise there are also frequent posters who do not want their identity known. If you try and identify everyone you will eliminate some potentially great skydiving threads that will never be started. It is also harder for a new user to post important information if they need to be identified first. You will get trolls among the anonymous but that is impossible to avoid. If you get too strict trying to enforce rules you end up punishing the community as much as you do the troll. Voting system for users and posts: This gets too political. People will manipulate polls, and voting favors emotion over fact. TalkBack Although this can be a very interesting place to read posts, it is distracting from the intentions as a skydiving related site. Having an online 'hangout' for the skydiving community is cool, but should be separated from DropZone.com.

Any Sun certified Java folk out there? I am looking to take the certification exam and am wondering how hard it is.

I have been thinking about opening a bar for a couple years, and I now have the money to fund it. I have worked in restaurants for about 8 years so I have a pretty good idea of how they run. But I was wondering if anyone else has gone down this path, or even owns a restaurant/ bar themselves. I am trying to find a good resource on what it will take to get off the ground and the pitfalls that make so many startups like this fail.

Anyone know where I can find some nice empty cigar boxes? I don't know if they have them empty at a cigar shop or not. I looked on Ebay but then it has to be shipped and that adds at least $5 to the price.

You should have just used your real name and you could have found yourself the beneficiary of much "attention". You wouldn't need anymore forum replies because you would have plenty of "hands on" advice at the dropzone. I'll have to say though, the image of you putting on condoms all by yourself is a little weird. Don't do that anymore. Instead, go buy 1 Trojan, one Trojan Magnum, and 1 Trojan Magnum XL. Then find a girl, tell her what's up, give her the three condoms, and let her have a little fun (I promise you will have fun too). Good Luck

That is good news. What drives me crazy about this issue is that people get so worked up about marijuana when there are other LEGAL drugs that are far more dangerous and addictive. Rush Limbaugh's recent publicity has shed some light on this. Some of the more serious pain killers are classified as opiates - known to have some of the most powerful addictive characteristics of any drug. They also have potential for serious side effects and there is even a risk of death if you overdose. Sounds like pretty bad stuff, but it is also a miracle drug for those with intense short term pain and others with painful terminal diseases (which is the reason they are legal). So if a group of doctors is stating that there are medical benefits to marijuana, what is the big fricken deal!??

Another picture: http://xsport.hu/Articles/31/normal/dwain2k.jpg And some articles he wrote: Getting into base http://www.basejump.org/discus/articles/gettinginto.html Go Long, Not Hard http://www.basejump.org/discus/articles/golong.html Center Cell Stripping http://www.basejump.org/discus/articles/stripping.html Nose First Inflations http://www.basejump.org/discus/articles/nosefirst.html Pilot Chute Sizes http://www.basejump.org/discus/articles/pilotsizes.html Aerials In Base http://www.basejump.org/discus/articles/Aerials%20in%20BASE.pdf Blue Skies Dwaine...

>>Being an incredible dufus is, unfortunately, not >>against the law. >> >>Being a diabolical genius, intent on doing the >>same thing he does every night, trying to take >>over the world, well, that might have some >>repercussions, depending on how he went about >>it. My thoughts exactly. I used to think Bush was just a dumbshit trying to do what he thought was best. Now I think he is a self serving smartshit. He's lucky there is no country more powerful then us or he might find himself the target of a 'strategic military strike'.

There has been quite a bit of debate here on the California recall, and it got me thinking about something far more important... when are we going to get George W. recalled???

>>Ooh, no more fun in my life, no more spending >>on anything other than that which is absolutely >>necessary. Government expenditures are not supposed to be luxury items to begin with. It is supposed to provide what is absolutely necessary for the community. The government should not be buying 'fine ale' and 'good coffee' to begin with. I know that is does buy stuff it doesn't need, and I completely agree that this should be taken out, but that will not come close to solving this severe of a budget problem. Lets look at the big expenditures that are causing the problems - and can't be stopped on a dime. Large road improvement projects take years to plan and build. There is a current road project in Denver, CO called TREX with a construction timeline of 7 years. Boston's Big Dig took something like 10 years and a labor force of 5,000 people. The Big Dig may or may not have been a mistake, but Denver's project is a required improvement to their interstate that can no longer hold the number of people who are moving there. These projects have HUGE budgets - should we stop construction in Denver because their tech economy has gone to shzt. It's not like the construction is out of the way from normal traffic. Bridges are down, cars are rerouted, temporary lanes are being used. This is a multi year plan that needs to be followed through on and will continue to cost money. Emergency and rescue services cannot just be cut back on a dime either. You don't wait until people die because you don't have enough emergency vehicles to cover an expanding city area. You see an area is getting bigger and you plan for it. You may stop buying that cup of coffee, but you are forced to buy car seats to keep your new family safe in the car. When I say you can't stop momentum on a dime, what I mean is you shouldn't. You CAN decide to not buy that car seat for your child - but it is irresponsible. Lack of forecasting would be irresponsible for the government.

What if your wife or significant other suddenly becomes pregnant... with triplets! If you don't have a significant other just play along. Now you are forced to increase your budget. And what makes this worse for you is those triplets do not bring in any additional income for you. If a city is growing you have to increase the government budget to accomodate it. Fortunately the growing city also brings in more money for the government to pay for the extra expenses. But when the city stops its previously predictable annual growth, now your budgeting get all messed up and you can't just stop the momentum on a dime.

OK - that revenue graph shows the following (numbers rounded) 1996 - $48billion 1997 - $53billion +5billion from previous year 1998 - $58billion +5billion from previous year 1999 - $70billion +12billion from previous year 2000 - $75billion +5billion from previous year 2001 - $67billion LOST 8billion from year 2000 2002 - $74billion LOST 1billion from year 2000, although up from previous year So from 1996 to 2000 we are on a nice revenue growth trend averaging 12% per year. Suddenly in 2001 everything goes to hell and revenue falls 8billion. From the previous 4 years we have average growth of 12%, but lets use a forecast of 10% growth to start that year. The growth forecast would be for $82billion in revenues for 2001, so we actually fell short $15billion of that forecast. Lets stay in the year 2000 and forecast through to the year 2002. Forecast for 2001 is $82billion +10% growth is $90billion. We fell short of that by another $16billion. So for those two years we have fallen short $31billion of what may have been forecast in 2000. Did they fugk up the forecasts? Absolutely, but you will NEVER find someone who can predict the future. You also must keep in mind that budgets are built on forecasts for the following year. You don't wait to find out how much you made then spend it. And when the economy is building and revenues are increasing, spending has to increase with it because of bigger business, more people, etc. The basic fact is when the economy falls apart, it sucks for everyone. That is what we have to deal with right now. It sucks that we have to pay for forecast growth that didn't happen. It sucks that elected officials are blamed for the losses. It sucks that some of us have been out of work or at least out of the high paying job we used to have. But as much as it sucks we still have to try and fix it.

So if you have the source for California revenues during the past 5 years, can you post them rather then just using a name? I am also very skeptical that revenues continued to rise after the recent decline in the economy. I am also sure everyone reading this thread would love to see that information.

>>For most people, what matters is what they take >>home at the end of the week; what fund it comes >>from doesn't matter. Most people care only if the >>TOTAL changes. Actually most people do not look at the 'total' picture. I bet if this same tax or fee or whatever was DEDUCTED from our income income tax, then people would still be raising a big ruckus. If the average registration fee has increased by $250 per vehicle, then you would get about $10 more per paycheck (per vehicle). You think people would compare their income and vehicle taxes and realize they were still the same? I don't think so. They want no fees or taxes to go up and all fees and taxes to go down. If one goes up and the other down, most would just complain that one went up.