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Nov. 21st, 2009 @ 03:43 pm That's why it's called Grand Staircase

That's also why it's a soaring paradise.
Photo by Kerk Phillips
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Nov. 20th, 2009 @ 01:37 am First loser?
My '800 is the second fastest in the world:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/champion.html?st=olc-league&sp=2009
The guy in #31 is also an '800 -- and he beat me.
Damn.
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Nov. 20th, 2009 @ 01:10 am (no subject)
<<...what matters is not experience per se but "effortful study," which entails continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one's competence.>>

Note to self: and what if sticking beyond one's competence can kill?
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Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 11:50 pm Blast from the past
http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/public/startrek/st.html
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Nov. 1st, 2009 @ 11:52 pm Сезон 2009
170 часов, 14 тыс. маршрутных километров. Бывало лучше, но бывало и хуже. Забавно, что в среднем маршруты удлиннились, но замедлились. Иначе говоря, километры больше не умом, а задницей.

  Flights  Hours XC km h/flight km/flight km/h
2000 63     108.2 1731         1.7        27    16
2001 40     129.9 3113         3.2        78    24
2002 50     124.0 5016         2.5       100    40
2003 35     105.7 7277         3.0       208    69
2004 46     154.3 8869         3.4       193    57
2005 44     184.8 11870         4.2       270    64
2006 56     239.3 18801         4.3       336    79
2007 48     229.1 17818         4.8       371    78
2008 42     211.2 17971         5.0       428    85
2009 30     170.4 14046         5.7       468    82


Update:
2009 OLC ranking:
      OLC:  164/12265
  OLC-FAI:  717/9193
Speed OLC:   32/9599 (Hey! That's me on the first page!)
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Sep. 22nd, 2009 @ 02:20 pm King Mountain - Yellowstone
Just because I am lazy does not mean I can't steal...


Yellowstone 2009-08-30
Aug 30, 2009
photos: 33


Yellowstone 2009-08-29
Aug 29, 2009
photos: 8


Yellowstone 2009-08-26
Aug 26, 2009
photos: 16


Yellowstone 2009-08-25
Aug 25, 2009
photos: 26


Yellowstone 2009-08-24
Aug 24, 2009
photos: 10


KingMountain 2009-08-22
Aug 22, 2009
photos: 4


KingMountain 2009-08-21
Aug 21, 2009
photos: 5


KingMountain 2009-08-19
Aug 19, 2009
photos: 5


KingMountain 2009-08-18
Aug 18, 2009
photos: 13


KingMountain 2008-08-17
Aug 17, 2009
photos: 10


And here is a relevant slice of Gen's blog.
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Sep. 11th, 2009 @ 07:42 am (no subject)
http://www.macwebguru.com/2007/04/09/sled-driver-humor/
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Sep. 8th, 2009 @ 06:43 pm I Want to Be a Pilot
I want to be a pilot when I grow up because it’s fun and easy to do. Pilots don’t need much school, they just have to learn numbers so they can read the instruments. I guess they should be able to read maps so they can find their way if they get lost. Pilots should be brave so they won’t get scared if it’s foggy and they can’t see or if a wing or motor falls off they should stay calm so they’ll know what to do. Pilots have to have good eyes so they can see through clouds and they can’t be afraid of lighting or thunder because they are closer to them than we are. The salary pilots make is another thing that I like. They make more money than they can spend. This is because most people think airplane flying is dangerous except pilots don’t because they know how easy it is. There isn’t much I don’t like, except girls like pilots and all the stewardesses want to marry them so they always have to chase them away so they won’t bother them. I hope I don’t get airsick because if I do I couldn’t be a pilot and would have to go to work.

A Fifth Grader

http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/newsletter/newsletter-2009-09.htm
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Sep. 4th, 2009 @ 06:07 pm На злобу дня
Here’s a self-enforcing protocol for determining property tax: the homeowner decides the value of the property and calculates the resultant tax, and the government can either accept the tax or buy the home for that price. Sounds unrealistic, but the Greek government implemented exactly that system for the taxation of antiquities. It was the easiest way to motivate people to accurately report the value of antiquities.
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/08/self-enforcing.html
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Aug. 11th, 2009 @ 10:30 pm Re: Sunday
--- In hgcgroup@..., <dlbraun@...> wrote:
>
> Whitney was for left for the big dogs.

I object! Size-wise I am as small as the dogs go :) .

Actually, good things seem to happen when clouds are fairly low over the high Sierra. Remember Peter Deane's 750 O&R in 2002?

Close to the cloudbase there usually is strong guidance from the clouds -- the wisps and tendrils, the darkest spots, the sunny/upwind side etc. -- all the usual signs that can be fairly reliable once you learn the day's character.

Down low there is equally strong guidance from terrain. The wind-facing bowls, the sun-facing slopes, the peaks and the crests -- all the usual thermal generators and convergence lines.

It's in between -- too far from the terrain and too far from the clouds -- where the things get tricky. All guesswork and no guidance!

Now, when the two get closer it is a perfect one-two punch, the synergy of the two. Lower clouds are usually spaced closer together, so there are more hints from above. And they are also easier to match to the terrain below. When the two give the same signs, running is easy. Sure, the working band is shallow, but who needs to *work* if you can just cruise from bump to bump, and sometimes in continuous sheets of lift for miles, and fast too!

Anyway, I was reasonably happy -- in fact a bit surprised -- with 132 km/h over 810 OLC km. The fastest 2.5 hour, 355 km OLC-league stretch was at 142 km/h exactly over the high Sierra, and the altitude band was almost entirely between 13.5 and the "measly" 15.5 Kft. In this whole stretch I essentially had to circle three times -- once to jump onto the high ground without scaring myself too badly, once to similarly get on top of Mt. Whitney and once to top off just before leaving the high terrain.

Interestingly, unlike the Sierra, the Whites don't seem to work quite as well under low clouds. Is it because the tops are wider there, and the terrain features are generally less pronounced?

> Darren "U2"
--
Yuliy "L8"
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Aug. 10th, 2009 @ 11:57 pm What a good day is supposed to look like
# Points name km km/h Take-off location Club Aircraft Start End Info
1 665.51 Yuliy Gerchikov (RU / R11: CA-N GU HI NV) 809.12 132.44 Truckee-Tahoe (US / 11) Northern California ... DG 800B/18m 19:09 01:45 info
2 649.74 Ramy Yanetz (US / R11: CA-N GU HI NV) smiley 741.39 110.62 Truckee-Tahoe (US / 11) Northern California ... ASW 27 18:38 02:13 info
3 537.08 Peter Deane (US / R11: CA-N GU HI NV) 581.97 107.93 Truckee-Tahoe (US / 11) Williams Soaring Cen... LS 8 18:23 00:12 info
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Aug. 7th, 2009 @ 03:37 am И снова о Скайпе
...а может, и не Скайпе:



Вот. Альтернатива, короче.
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Aug. 6th, 2009 @ 10:33 am Подумалось...
"В ногах правды нет" -- а где она тогда?
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Jul. 30th, 2009 @ 09:52 pm Four Corners High
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.621706,79.013672&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=36.903063,-109.109001&spn=0.006426,0.009645&z=17&iwloc=A
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Jul. 30th, 2009 @ 02:37 pm И еще два слова о Скайпе
В продолжение поднятой темы:

Спасибо [info]lemondaddy за наводку.
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Jul. 23rd, 2009 @ 11:28 am My SPOT shared page
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=04S0uKyc0ISqO34usHMgVeSJWsj5hFBDE
(Did I post this already?)

Also linked from:

http://www.norcalsoaring.org/spot.htm
http://www.soarhollister.com/xc_spot.htm
http://soartruckee.com/SPOT.html
http://www.valleysoaring.net/spot/
http://soaringnv.brinkster.net/main.asp?pID=32
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Jul. 23rd, 2009 @ 01:38 am Don't try this at home, kids!
"...the vapor pressure of water at 37 C is 47 mm Hg. As long as you keep your blood-pressure above that (which you will unless you go deep into shock) your blood will not boil...

The saliva on your tongue might boil, however."
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Jul. 20th, 2009 @ 09:50 pm А вот чего я в прошлую субботу в пустыне нашел
71.94 КБ
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Jul. 15th, 2009 @ 09:59 am А вот за что я люблю своих соотечественников:
Products & Features Skype To Go

Where can I call with my Skype To Go number?

You can use Skype To Go to call nearly everywhere in the world. Unfortunately, because of a precedent of fraud and misuse in certain countries, we have to limit where you can call using Skype To Go. The list of blocked countries includes Algeria, Belarus, China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macedonia, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Serbia and Montenegro.

(https://support.skype.com/faq/FA1325/Where-can-I-call-with-my-Skype-To-Go-number)

Спасибо, родные.

Upd:
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Jun. 30th, 2009 @ 10:00 pm За что мы любим Неваду




Ну и Калифорнию с Аризоной и Ютой, в общем, за то тоже.
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