indyz

0:3:0 -- Brian

Before I begin, I should point out that I have started over twice. I wrote a pretty lengthy diatribe about how frames are unnecessary, but I thought it was too preachy, so I got rid of it. After I was a paragraph into my rewrite, I went to actually check out the site for myself. That forced me to start over, and here we are: Please note that I am have not seen skydivenaples.com myself, because of the Flash requirements. Since I don't have flash installed, it redirects me straight to macromedia.com. Now, if you want to use frames, fine, that is a mostly aesthetic decision. But I absolutely hate requiring users to have a certain plugin to view a site. Many public computing installations, such as libraries and the university that I attend (and do computer work for), do not allow the Flash plugin to be installed, and will remove it in the event that somebody installs it on their own. Requiring Flash loses visitors to your site, and for a business, that means losing money. Period. If you are going to use Flash, you must, MUST, allow users to navigate the site and view your content without it, unless you don't mind having potential business walk away. I've heard that the profit on a tandem can be $100. Is that an acceptable loss? After I wrote that, my roommate came home an I used his computer (with Flash) to check out the site. I was happy to notice that Flash was only used for the intro movie. How about instead of sending somebody without Flash to the Macromedia site to download it, you give them the option to continue to the main portion of the site or download the plugin if they want to see the video. My parents, for example, use iCab on their Macintosh, and there is no Flash plugin available for it. They would be stuck even if they were willing to download a plugin to view the site. Now I come to the realization that I could have said all of that in one sentence: Use Flash on the intro page if you want, but for the love of god, let me skip the movie if I don't want to watch it, or if I don't have the plugin installed. That ends my criticism. The Flash intro video is actually quite well done, and much more tasteful than average. Also, the main site design is well thought out and makes sense, even though I would still prefer to see tables instead of frames

I was originally thinking that the server was on GMT, but that wouldn't be adding hours, would it? -- Brian

I remember your original reply (boobs + squeezing = my attention

On some links (i.e., the "Dropzone" link on the forums footer, and the Javelin ad, among others), the IP address of the server is shown, instead of the hostname. This isn't really a problem except you have to log in again if you follow one of those links because the cookies aren't passed. On a related security note, passing a username and password as plaintext in cookies is a _bad_ idea. They can be very easily recovered from a user's cookie file. If the system is designed properly, only the "sid" cookie (and possibly the "Username" cookie) should be necessay. -- Brian

Huh. Me too. -- Brian

Typing "skysurf" into Yahoo! brings up some interesting results (team Yahoo! skysurfing?). I'm guessing other search engines find similar results. -- Brian

rec.skydiving is a USENET newsgroup, not a website. Type "news:rec.skydiving" into your web broswer (if you are using Internet Explorer or Netscape). If your newsgroup settings are correct, it will download the articles and you can read them. If it isn't set up, I can't help you, you will need to contact your internet service provider. Or, you can go to groups.google.com, and read it there. USENET was extremely popular "back in the day," (the 80s and early 90s) before the web was even a glimmer in Tim Berner-Lee's eye, but has since been overrun by spam, and many of it's users have moved on to web-based message boards. Outside of us geeks who use it to discuss boring stuff like programming languages, the only things keeping it going are the massive amounts of hardcore pornography and erotic literature that you can find there. -- Brian

And another picture of Chuck Blue, along with that helmet I love so much: http://www.perriscam.com/Images3/dse00016.JPG -- Brian

... if you're lucky. -- Brian

This has been noticed by everybody, and Sangiro is aware of it. In fact, the move to a dedicated (read: fast) server is underway, and is in testing as we speak. Fast surfing is on the horizon. -- Brian

If you think that looks uncomfortable, check out this video: http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~bjmarti1/parachut.mpg I can't remember where I got it from originally, otherwise I would post the source. -- Brian

That's a really cool paint job on his helmet. -- Brian

I know what you're talking about. I was sitting by myself in the student Union, eating my lunch, when this really hot girl just sat down across from me. Since this happens to me, ummm, never, I got suspicious right away. She told me that she was in a class that was having a competition with another class to see who could get the most applications, and the class that won would get cash. When I asked her just what class gave away cash for getting students to sign up for credit cards, she took about 10 seconds to come up with a b.s. answer ("uhhh, a business class that I'm taking..."), then gave up and left. I told one of my friends who works there about it, and it turns out that some guy was hiring attractive girls to go around campus getting guys to sign up for credit cards. The sad thing is, it probably worked more often than it failed. -- Brian

No. -- Brian

I think the original Pilotwings was actually more accurate, because you had to flare when you landed. We can just ignore the part about pulling at 500 feet and making a perfect landing right in the center of the target. I downloaded an emulator a few weeks ago and finally beat that thing (never could never get past the first helo mission back when I owned an SNES). -- Brian

Are those SportRX goggles that you're wearing? I've been looking into getting a pair, and was interested in hearing the opinion of somebody who has tried them. -- Brian

So I was hanging out at the mall, and I saw this game in the cheap crap bin: "Skydive! - Go Ahead and Jump." It was only three bucks, so I went ahead and picked it up. Anybody that plays computer games will tell you that an exclamation point in the title means that the game sucks. This was no exception. The concept is simple: You pick one of three modes: Landing Accuracy, where you try and hit a target on the ground, Freefall accuracy, where you dive through loops for points, or Freefly, where you don't really freefly, but you don't get points either, so it doesn't really matter. At least, that's how I think it was supposed to work. I could only play for 20 minutes until I couldn't take it anymore, and I never did get around to reading the manual. Honestly, the most fun activity in the game is not opening the canopy and letting the jumper plow into the ground. The only redeeming point about the game: On the CD is an awesome QuickTime movie of a pond swoop competition, including some pretty spectacular chows. I would upload it somewhere everybody could watch it, but it's about 20 megs and my college only gives me 10. -- Brian

Somebody's excited... -- Brian

I'll let actual instructors decide if the game has merit as a training, but let me point out a few things that aren't explicity mentioned in the article: -First and foremost, this is a game. It has been in the arcade for years, and now they are selling the exact same product as a training aid. -The goggles are not in 3D. While they do follow your head motion, it appears that you are looking a very large flat screen from up close (i.e., no peripheral vision). -- Brian

Check out this article: http://www.koyn.com/clouddancer/articles/23KJump99.html It's the procedures for a high altitude jump at Quincy. They didn't go on O2 until 10K. -- Brian

It's the first line of a limmerick. And since I'm a Chicago boy, here's my favorite version of it: There once was a man named Curtis Enis He had a very large [censored]. He plays for the Bears Like anyone cares And that's all we know about Curtis Enis. How about another Simpsons quote: "You've heard of Elvis the Pelvis? I'm his cousin Enis."

I've been thinking about getting a set of prescription goggles from sportrx too. Since I'm still on student status, do you guys think that my DZ would let me wear them if they had a slight tint? I know, I should ask at the DZ, but it's gonna be a few weeks until I can get back, and I'm the impatient type. I was looking at a pair with changeable lenses, but they cost twice as much (unless I only want one set of lenses, but that sort of defeats the purpose) . -- Brian

I'm so jealous of the Illini that can afford to go every weekend. Have fun. -- Brian

That's pretty tame. My first draft involved the word "cornhole," but I decided that might be a little bit too much. -- Brian