jdfreefly

I realize this is non trivial, but g-force sensors could be added. People that approach speeds in excess of activation speed while under high-g load...of course the flat spin needs to be accounted for so it only goes into g-sensor accounting mode after opening. Trivial! Methane Freefly - got stink?

I was on one of those jumps and aside from the need to be very careful on the ground, people also should use extra caution for planning them. Those things can change direction in a hurry and with no warning. That combined with everyone fixated on trying to be the closest to it...could very easily turn ugly if the skill level isn't there. Methane Freefly - got stink?

Crosskeys did over 400 in one day, all from 13K Methane Freefly - got stink?

I have found one and only one reference to who makes the decision on what got shut down: This would imply to me, in a pure "the buck stops here" sense, the white house gets the final say in what got shut down, not Boehner. If you have a decent source for who has the final say on this stuff, I would love to see it. Methane Freefly - got stink?

I've had similar issues. I found that if I played HDMI out to a HDMI tv, no problem. If I used VLC to slow it down just less than realtime speed, no problem. If I try to play it at normal speed however, I get skipping and shittiness. This happened whether I was playing from the card, from the hard drive or from the camera (mounted as a usb device) My conclusion is that something in the chain of getting the data from storage to turning it into a video on my screen is not able to keep up. Methane Freefly - got stink?

People often want to know, "How dangerous is skydiving?" Usually when they ask this they are thinking about getting into it, and they want to know how dangerous is this for me, but that's only part of the question. The real question is what will I likely lose, and what will I likely gain if I stick with the sport. Also, this question becomes hard to answer over a longer and longer period of time spent in the sport, there are two ways people stop skydiving…either they quit or they die, so you need to also think about from the aspect of how long you stick with it. What might I lose? Obviously, you may die or be injured so badly that wish you had died. But that is a small portion of the risk. If you stick with it for 1-2 years, the odds are pretty good that you will lose a lot of money. Somewhere on the order 0f $10K in the first year would be my guess, but I speak from my experience of learning to skydive in 1997, I'm sure it's more these days. Assuming you're a straight male (this is my experience so I'll speak to it) you will probably also lose at least one relationship to the sport, either because she gets sick of taking a back seat to jumping, or because you just seem to be a less stable choice than the guy who just wants to watch football on the weekends. You'll probably lose some friends as well. Some friendships can't really survive the neglect that a skydiving obsession will bring. What about if you stick with the sport for 5 years? Well, there the odds of "bad" things happening changes significantly. You will likely go to a funeral of someone you knew who died in a skydiving accident. Maybe not a close friend, maybe just someone you've shared a beer with around the campfire, but you will be somewhat disturbed by the fact that your fun now has a body count. The odds of you having done something to require metal be inserted into your body also go up significantly. With any luck, one of your closer friends at the same experience level will have ponied up their body for the metal insertion in front of you, so you'll have a chance to learn from them and not make the same mistake, but the odds are real good that if you and 10 friends of the same age started together and stuck with it for 5 years one of you would have been carried away by an ambulance or a medivac helicopter. What if you stick with it for 10 years? The odds of you yourself dying start to go down significantly, you find your sweet spot, you stop taking so many chances with canopy selection and you've acquired the skill to not only get yourself out of trouble when it shows up, but to see it coming and avoid it before you even get on the plane. The odds of you having escaped the phenomenon of a close friend dying in the sport however are quite low, as are the odds of you not having done something to require metal being inserted into your body. Man…lost of downsides and loss or life events to deal with. So if that's the case, why would anyone do it? What might I gain? That is entirely up to you. It is a sport and community where you get out what you put in. But you may gain all of the following: A life less ordinary. My friends who's lives revolve around the weekend golf outings listen with sincere interest as I talk about my New Year's skydiving trip to Mexico or my weekend skydiving outings. I've given up a lot to get where I am in the sport, but there are no regrets there. You may never look at a clear blue sky or a limp flag the same way. I have an almost pavlovian response to these stimuli now. It's interesting to me to see people going about their day, blissfully unaware of a world that exists right above their heads. You may have a group of friends who you may not see every day, but you feel closer and more connected to than you ever did before. You may gain a perspective on life that few get, the little things will bother you less and you may even learn to focus more on the things that matter and less on the things that don't. You may notice changes to your problem solving abilities. I think that seeing the world inverted or facing life and death decisions on a regular basis has some effect on the way our brain works, and in turn improves our ability to solve problems. You may learn to care more about others. As I stick around the sport longer, and have experienced more than my share of loss related to it, I find my self becoming more passionately devoted to keeping others safe. I try to keep the skygod attitude to a minimum, not because I'm humble but because it just doesn't help me get people to listen. This is just off the top of my head. But for me, while I don't easily dismiss all I have dealt with, lost or given up to be a skydiver for 15 years it has been well worth it. Methane Freefly - got stink?

Are those dimes sewn into the top skin all over the place, or just the three spots? I would think that PD would keep dimes off the assembly floor. Methane Freefly - got stink?

I think the main reason is that he sees his ideals as what a true republican should be and he's devoted to "saving" the party from itself. I wish he'd give up and go full libertarian. That ship has sailed and sunk and everyone is already clinging to the life rafts. Methane Freefly - got stink?

Bummer. I lurk and almost never post. Over the years I've watched you transform into a solid voice of good advice, and I can only assume your home dz will be worse off for this. I feel like I 've watched you go from, "Oh let me see what this arrogant know it all said this time." to, "Sweet, Dave's posting on the topic, I gotta read this." I think having you around and active only makes the sport better for people like me, and I'm a selfish bastard, so I'm not happy to hear it. In all seriousness, best of luck in the stage of your life, and thanks for being a source of wisdom. Methane Freefly - got stink?

Good advice from Dave. Given the OP's experience level, I think this is where they should be focused for the next 50 jumps. Accuracy in the pattern, not just the final 5 feet, is just so important for a consistent and safe approach. Dave, maybe expound a bit more on what is meant by accuracy in the pattern? Methane Freefly - got stink?

From what I've been reading, it sounds like historically, they typically had a 10K cap and cost about $25-$50 a month. With the changes mandated by the healthcare bill they are pushed to a 100K cap, but this has resulted in them doubling the premiums, which means most college kids can't/won't afford it. Methane Freefly - got stink?

So, $600 for a semester. Is that up or down from last year? What was it before the health care law? From many college's point of view, it's not esentially worthless. It's adequate for 90% of the students out there. Yes, it will not adequately cover someone who gets cancer or needs some type of expensive care, but that doesn't mean it's worthless. Methane Freefly - got stink?

I've been seeing a lot of noise about this in the dark libertarian corners I frequent: http://reason.com/blog/2012/06/04/sorry-students-colleges-cease-offering-s Any truth to this stuff, or are these guys just telling the libertarian/anti-obama side of things? Methane Freefly - got stink?

http://browncardigan.s3.amazonaws.com/imagesfarm/2012/Cf6aJFRNkVSBfYu.jpg Methane Freefly - got stink?

I have this crazy idea that people should be allowed to run their businesses as they see fit as long as it is legal. DZOs don't owe you ANYTHING. They take on a shit ton of risk, to provide us a playground. Methane Freefly - got stink?