Windy Goodness

Ok folks, just so you don't think i abandoned the world's only antisocial network, I'll let you in on a big secret. I'm a rebel. Actually, not. The thing is...I like kites. Whew, that felt good. Now that's off my chest I can share the gory details.

I saw a bunch of amazing kite-boarders out at the beach. After watching them for awhile, I started wondering what the kiting world had to offer old guys. So, I started digging.

I found a worldwide industry roughly split into two main categories: foil kites and inflatable kites. There is some amount of crossover in that some foils can be inflated and used on water.

Of the brands I looked at, the most impressive are Peter Lynn, Ozone and HQ. Within these are more categories. Though lots of folks break kites into numbers of control lines, I really only care about the 4 and 5 line kites. Within these most controllable of the kites, there are fixed bridle and sheetable (adjustable bridle kites). It appears that it's probably easier to learn on a fixed bridle kite and then transition to a kite with an adjustable bridle.

The sheetable kites have a significant advantage in a couple of respects. First, they are usable and controllable in a wider range of winds. They are also safer in high winds and/or gusty winds.

More control means more complexity. And, where your life is on the line, it makes sense to have some serious practice and comfort with the controls.

So, the basic progression is to go with a starter like the Ozone Imp Quattro or the HQ Hydra. Then, it might be good to go with a good fixed bridle trainer like the HQ Scout or the Ozone Flow. Once comfortable with the controls, it would be good to go with something with more responsive controls and more safety features.

There are many options, among the sheetable (aka depower) kites, but, in my opinion, the foils are safer, sturdier, and seem to offer the maximum variety of applications for snow, land, and water kiting. In this bunch, I like the HQ Apex, Ozone Access to learn on. Once comfortable with those, I like the HQ Neo and a really innovative inflatable from Peter Lynn Kites called the Charger.

The Charger is referred to as a twinskin or an ARC. It is a depower kite and is inflatable. It can be used on land or water. It is also the only kite that has the ability to automatically return to the zenith (another safety oriented feature).

There is a lot of info out there. I've done lots of reading. This is certainly an oversimplification of the topic. But, it sure takes less time to read this instead of all that stuff.

Later Dudes

I'm Not a Doctor but I Play One Online

Let's say you had a smart little brother who went to med school. He's really really smart and he has the school debt to prove it. But, did he go to Harvard? No. But, you can. Best of all it's free.

Remember the OCW Initiative?

Harvard Medical School offers a ton of courses online that are OCW. As long as you don't need credit for the courses or any teacher interaction (like you get any teacher interaction at med school anyway), you can take these classes. You just might be able to one-up your little brother.

http://mycourses.med.harvard.edu/public/

OCD About OCWi

Open Courseware, Open Learning, and other acronymically tempting word combinations are being slung around by some big players in the educational community. Namely, Harvard Medical School, MIT, UC Berkeley, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon and a few others. There are quite a number of smaller schools in the same boat. Utah State University is a good example of a not-so-famous school with an extensive commitment to the Open Courseware Initiative.

What is this all about? Well, it's about sharing and improving curriculum for teachers and schools. For the rest of us it's about free education. Unless I need credit and/or teacher interaction - I can get a number of years of advanced education, including medical, without spending a dime.

Eventually, I'll share links.

Goldenfleece