Mak

Hey hey - look who it is!. Prepare to strap in and feel the G's... I'm getting in to LAX at around 10:30. I have a rental car booked and I should be able to give a ride to a couple of people if necessary.

Isn't this a good reason not to trust BISTs (Built In Self Tests) over the life of a system? If the Vigil passed its self-test on the third try and showed a normal set-up, it wasn't that unreasonable to conclude that it was good to jump. To be fair, it's not easy to design a really good self-test for any system, far less in the absence of the primary parameter the system is observing - altitude-induced changes in air pressure. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take the higher life-cycle cost and accumulated experience of Airtec until the test jumpers have finished with the Vigil.

I'd have to go read Newsmax's reporting of the survey. My point was that the tone of your post made it appear as if Newsmax was showing a bias toward Fox, and pointed out that the polling company's own report, as well as the other reports listed all confirmed the same story. --break break-- Ok, I've read the Newsmax report, and see the part talking about it leading the network news... I still disagree with your point. Fox News garnered 10% of the vote, ABC/NBC took 4% each, and CBS 3%. For Newsmax to say "Fox news led the broadcast networks by substantial margins" is certainly the truth, but perhaps a bit shaded, if you want to look at it in that light. The bald words are certainly true. A better gambit would have been to say "Fox News and CNN News both led the broadcast networks", and would certainly have been equally as true. I agree completely. Unfortunately if a reader did not actually go and look at the globescan results they'd never know how much to weigh the conclusion. Another detail that is relevant to the results is that the survey had a margin of error of +-3%. When you factor that in, Fox may lead CNN by a little over 6% (very very unlikely) or CNN may lead Fox (by a little less than 6% (also very very unlikely)!. Finally, Yahoo, ABCNews and the other outlets are repeating what Reuters reported without actually analysing whether the Reuters writer drew an accurate conclusion. That's one of the drawbacks of syndicated news. The only way to really make sure is to read the report.

I didn't dispute that the survey showed Fox led CNN. 11% for both indicates that they were close, and with the ordering of the networks names it is clear that Fox News led CNN. I said : 1. "CNN and Fox are about even according to the survey" 2. "The more appropriate comparable is CNN (and MSNBC or similar)" That you chose to attribute my response to a preference for CNN vs Fox is an example of the jump to conclusions and the eventual degeneration of the discussion that I was talking about to start with. FYI I don't depend on either (though I read both, along with the WSJ and the BBC). Regardless of what my personal views are, can you in all honesty say that Newsmax reported what the survey found, completely and accurately after having read the actual survey results?

This is an excellent example of two things: 1. Laziness - it took me all of 3 minutes to find the actual survey data. I wish some of the more prolific posters on this board would do the same instead of immediately launching into the usual right-vs-left debate. We'd save so much bandwidth and rancour! 2. Confirmation bias - The "report" agrees with what I already think, therefore it must be right (or the other way around). Here are the actual results from the company that ran the survey for Reuters and the BBC: http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbcreut.html "The most trusted specific news sources mentioned without prompting by Americans include FOX News (mentioned by 11%), CNN (11%), ABC (4%), NBC (4%), National Public Radio (3%), CBS (3%), Microsoft/MSN (2%), USA Today (2%), New York Times (2%), CNN.com (1%), Time Magazine (1%), and friends/family (1%)." Now, go back and read the Newsmax report and see if it sounds like they reported "the whole truth". Fox News is not a broadcast channel like NBC, ABC or CBS. The more appropriate comparable is CNN (and MSNBC or similar). But, because Newsmax is presumably pushing its own agenda, and the facts(that CNN and Fox are about even according to the survey) does not fit their plan, they've selectively chosen to omit that little detail. You couldn't do much worse than believing what Newsmax publishes without at least occasionally checking for yourself.

Hey CSS'ers, Long time no see - I'm trying to catch up on the threads. Joe - congratulations on making the big time! Foxes - congrats on switching from purple to pink! I'll be stuffing my face at the fund-raising breakfast and joining the punters at the raffle. I've been missing you all and CSS terribly, and want to make it down for one more weekend of jumps over the July 4 boogie. I'm in New York today and all signs point to me living in a van down by the (east) river! Wonder why I thought finding a place to live in a crowded city would be easy... See you guys (hopefully) this weekend! Cheers Mak

Hey CSS'ers, As much as I try to deny it, my vacation from the real world is rapidly coming to an end. I'm going to be moving to New York in a couple of months to rejoin the rat race. Thanks for showing me such a good time. I couldn't have asked for a better group of skydiving friends or a better DZ to call home. I will really miss you all. I'm going to be traveling and jumping as much as I can over the next two months, one last blast before I head out. See you at the DZ! Much love, blue skies, calm winds and all that other sentimental stuff

Who is this Max Power of whom you speak?

Yeah - who *was* that geek? I hear they came this | | close to making the second point before they impacted!

Hey! I guess I should've been paying attention to this thread. It was great to see so many CSS'ers at Z-hills. I had a blast (esp the New Year's Eve party) - hope to see you guys soon at the DZ. Mike - congratulations! Sorry I wasn't able to make it to Deland.

Hey Marion, yes that's me and Joe - yes there were a lot of us "Dukies" at PDC last night (and some of us until early this morning!).

Hey Eric - I guess I found the thread. UNC vs Duke skydiving? Hmm - tell me more :) A bunch of us from school are going to be in Chapel Hill tonight at Players for an early Halloween party. An open bar and bus rides back mean this could be trouble...

Sikhism has very little to do with Islam other than having evolved at a time when Islam was spreading into the Indian subcontinent. The faith is very different from Islam and some Sikhs would be very offended at being called a branch of Islam.

That's pretty convenient. So you're calling it a "slang term" now? Have you considered that some of the readers on this board may be objecting not as members of the PC police but as members of the "raghead" community (or other "slang terms" as you now call them)? There are many other "slang terms " I'm sure you don't bandy about quite as flippantly. Honestly - would you try to defend your definition of a raghead to an Arab friend? If not, you should ask yourself why you use it online.

Sorry to butt in again (this thread's got me worked up!) - but why should one have to choose? Both are reprehensible and there is no compulsion to agree with either one. Edited to add: I don't mean to imply I support suppressing non politcally correct viewpoints - I just think there's a difference between racism and PC.