Hagen

...yep, works on my windows box with IE, but not on Linux with firefox.

...unusable website. They blow up the browser window to max and then the flash site is unreadable, on my screen anyway...

It has a 22.5 cm waist.

I used mine in powder - not the really deep stuff yet... ...it worked pretty well after I moved the bindings back a little bit and reduced the binding angle.

You need a 3/4" clip. But be carefull there are two different designs out there. The first buckles that I bought at REI were a newer version - more roundish and don't have the hooks to the side. I went back and found the right ones... ...more square looking and the right hooks. Stay away from this design:

I have one of those - and it's my favorite free carve board. It holds an edge well and also does well in not so perfect conditions. One could argue that edge to edge transitions are not that fast because of the wider waist. But that's not a problem for me...

Looks a lot like Northstar at Tahoe during the holidays...

I just went through that decision process for my wife - bought her an mp3 player for the gym for x-mas. First I looked at flash based players (preferably extendable with memory cards). I thought those would be perfect because of size/weight. I found out for price to memory size ratio they are not that good and also in reviews some of them had bad ratings for battery life, user interface or sound quality. Then I looked at hard disk based players from different manufacturers. Almost bought the one of the creative players. ...but ended up getting her the iPod mini. There are a couple of reasons for this decision. First of all I really like the design and user interface of those players (own a first generation 5GB iPod myself). I know it works great with either iTunes or musicmatch. I also don't really need wma support - ripped all my CDs into mp3 files. Memory size wise the 4GB of the mini should be good enough (on my 5GB I have 2.5 days of music at high qualite VBR mp3s). If I want better compression ratios I can go to AAC which apple supports. So I again won't need wma support. Another alternative that is out there is the latest XM radio receiver - the Delphi XM MyFi. It's basically a XM walkman that can also store up to 5 hours of XM program (TiVo like) for when you don't have reception. I probably would get that one for myself if I didn't already had a XM receiver for my car... Hagen.

Most times I don't carry a tool on the mountain. As Tommy D said - usually you don't need one. Exceptions are when I want to try a new setup/stance. Then I usually carry one of those small ratchet screwdrivers - which reminds me I still have to get a hex bit for it.

That's quite an interesting article - even though he simplifies quite a bit in there. I have seen that kind simplification quite a bit in management/marketing for the kind of products that I'm working on. That makes it sometimes hard to get products out in time because they tend to underestimate software efforts... But I also would not agree that open/free software is bad for the software market. And there is some really good software out there that you can get for free or really cheap. On the other side in my opinion illegally copying and using software can be bad for the software industry...

...I guess I just started with my pre-season workouts too late - just 5 weeks before the first day of riding. But I found out that those eliptical machines or cross trainers seem to work those quads quite well - especially in reverse mode...

...Randy, you finally made me order some of that sports legs stuff. On my first day on the mountain this season my quads were bothering me quite a bit... ...let's hope this stuff helps.

...I have added an extra rule for myself: Don't expect people to follow (or even know) the rules and ride accordingly. I got too often into a situation where people just don't know how a carver will travel. Even skiers who you would think know what they are doing. ...almost got run over by someone in a speed suit on skis while carving - those guys quite often think they own the mountain and straight line the mountain to warm up for some race. It's a good idea to stay away from racing kids on race day... But also beginners can be quite dangerous. My only impact crash so far was with some woman who was standing in the middle of a somewhat narrow slope and decided to start going a second before I would have passed her... ...could see what was gonna happen but couldn't do anything about it. It also didn't help that she was standing downhill behind her friend which made it impossible to predict what she was up to...

...90% of us writing applications for in house applications? Where did you get that number from? What is considered an in house application? I myself write embedded software for consumer electronic devices. And we shure have to charge for that kind of software. We also use GNU software and give back the sources for that software. ...the interesting thing though about GNU software is that it is not necessarily for free. E.g. if you want support for your Linux system you will have to pay for that - that's how companies in this market make some money. I guess skype makes there money through the skypeOut service - even though they don't charge much for it... ...and last but not least IP telephony is not really free. It's more like a flat rate since you (or someone else) still have to pay for your internet access. Just my 2 cent... ...oh and I didn't know that Marxism is a scare word.

...about TV quality - to make it look good on an actual TV it should also record interlaced video (i.e. 60 half frames per second). Otherwise you will see artifacts on fast action in the video. As far as I know only video cameras do that. So if you want your video to look good on a TV you are stuck with a video camera. I guess the Samsung Camcorder that Ben mentioned has the best of both worlds...

the ones two or three years ago did have an orange side wall. Not sure about the newer models. But they also have the ligth grey colored stripe on the base at the edges (and I think they kept doing that in newer models). I guess that's what you are seeing on the picture...

...my 2 cents: Video camera that also do stills: I bought one of those a few years back. I barely ever used the still image feature. Instead I bought a compact digital still camera a year later. I guess ergonomics and also technology are too different to make a good video camera that also does stills. Most better point and shoot digital cameras now also do video - and those videos are not too bad. If you mainly intend to use that to share videos on the web then that's probably the way to go. Also Olympus makes a few point and shoots that are sealed to be somewhat waterproof - might be a good idea to get one of those if you want to use it on the slopes... But if you are serious about video and still image quality you don't really have a choice these days - you'll need two cameras.

...I'm not waiting any more. I got my new TD2 SI bindings just in time before turkey fest so that I could try them out on my first day in the snow for this season. :D ...love 'em! The only problem was that the 3 hole disks are not available yet. And most of my boards are Burtons. So I'm actually still waiting for something - hope the 3 hole disks ship soon...

I liked my flow bindings. They are pretty convenient and give decent support. But I did the mistake of not buying their boots (or boots shaped to match their bindings). I had Vans Fargo boots - and those didn't work too well with the flows (might have changed with later models). I either had preasure points or if the bindings were comfortable they were a little bit too loose - I once almost came out of the binding on a toe-side turn in a boarder cross. ...hurt my ancle quite a bit and was pretty scary. Bought some regular strap bindings the next day... But I also have friends who love those bindings - with the right boots. If you look at the flow boots they are wedge shaped to match the design of the bindings. So you want to stay a way from more square designs (as my vans are).

On a second thought - the one time a release on the front binding could be usefull is when you exit the lift, especially for beginners. But that mechanism would need to be disabled once you get into the rear binding and start riding.

...besides my knees I guess my '97 Burton Johann. Nice board for powder days and it was my favorite board before I started to ride hard boots.

...would not want to get into the situation where only one binding releases. I guess Fin is right, unless they come up with a mechanism that would release both bindings at the same time it's a nono... But then we would have another problem - the board being attached to you by the leash. I would think sliding down the mountain with a board next to you asks for mor insuries...

...I also just checked the carvers almanac - check out the resorts link. No known instructor in heavenly . But as we said before you might find help in Kirkwood. And there might also be someone who can help you in Sierra - it's closer to south lake tahoe than Kirkwood.

...I got my first carving lesson a couple years back in Heavenly. I got lucky though - my company paid for group lessons (was back in the good days here in silicon valley when companies would take you to Tahoe to ski for a weekend). When I showed up for the group lesson I was the only somewhat advanced snowboarder and that way got a private lesson. :D And they had an instructor who knew how to carve... You could call the resort and check if they have an instructor this year that can help you... Randy's sugestion is pretty good too - just drive to Kirkwood and try to hook up with the tahoe carvers crowd...

Scott has some good information on tuning