crackers

Well, have you ever done a scatterplot/analysis of 10,000 rand() outputs? I honestly haven't used Excel past 2003, so maybe it's better -- it's trivial enough to make them all positive -- but in 2003 and before it's just a terrible random number generator if you're doing any kind of simulation or light modeling. When there's money on the line (financial / risk modeling) and you have to do it in excel, I just wouldn't trust or use that random generator... I used faure sequence psuedo randoms for small models, it's easy to program and works much better. If you're generating 5k+ randoms, then just do rand*rand*rand*rand*rand*rand*rand and that will be as good as it gets without sacrificing computational speed and efficiency.

btw, the rnd function is total crap. if you need a random number generator, don't use rnd()...

afaik, ctrl-f3 calls the "name" definition window, or if the appropriate cell is active, you can type in a name in the left side of the formula bar. If you want to make a cell absolute, you should be able to just hit f4 when the cell is active. First f4, $a$1, second, $a1, third a$1 and fourth a1. That's off the top of my head. You should name things the right name. Do not use something like average, or mean, or any other function name or single letter that might create confusion. MatLab is good for some stuff, STATA is good for others, coding is good for others, and excel is great for a simple GUI that people who shouldn't be allowed near those other systems or the data.

Actually, Panos, it's exactly the same thing. The MEC one is cut a bit thicker and it's longer and wider than the "expedition" one being sold by Needle Sports, but at the end of the day it's the same foam made by the same process in almost identical factories. So I'd guess that the MEC one has a better R value; although I'd agree with EWolfe: it's about the hardman-value, not some specious measurement designed for buildings... And yes, I've visited the factories.

panos, if PMS doesn't have it (which they will), would you consider a miracle idea called "mail order"? mec would probably send you one... also, it's called evazote by folks who don't know what yellow hardman pad means.

Is it waterproof or water resistant? Replacing waterproof zippers is a godawful chore, and you might try your local industrial diving shop if its a big zipper. Your best bet though is the manufacturer of the product. If it's just a water resistant zipper...rainy pass or any tailor could probably pull it out and replace it with a normal or a reverse bail slider zipper...

yeah, i'm afraid I'm here in istanbul where it's cold and raining. But we're making the new packs, and I think the new 30L and 75L will really be worth checking out. Bring your pack by and show it off, and shoot me an email with a pic or two and we'll get you sorted out. I won't be back in the states till basically after thanksgiving. The 75L has a big hole with a zipper for a big sleeping bag, and an innovative method of bringing the whole load down to your hips. It has the crampon pocket. The 30L has a removable lid, is lighter, and more streamlined. It also has a removable hipbelt. With the belt on, it's one size fits most, with the sweet spot from 18 to 22 inches of torso. All of the V3 packs have a number of upgrades and new features like the pocket in the framesheet closure lid. We should have 3 to 4 of the nonwoven Dyneema packs available when I get back as well. Maybe a few more...

i am sitting in a cafe in istanbul right now...so I won't be at Rep Night. But they've got a wide selection of the packs and have been playing with them for awhile...

i am sitting in a cafe in istanbul right now...so I won't be at Rep Night. But they've got a wide selection of the packs and have been playing with them for awhile...

There will be a 45L Dyneema WorkSack there...go check it out...

Have a look at a 45L Dyneema worksack...it will be there...

was a financial engineer kinda consultant. and strategic/economic consultant in Turkey, Georgia, Azarbaijan, KG and KZ. now i make and sell packs for cashflow and do the housework & cook for my wife for health care. Hey, Feck, are paulownia trees still worth selling to the Japanese?

Couldn't agree more. Now his second comment, well, I'd like to imagine that I would have noticed that...

It was gorgeous here in NY too, but I was in the factory making new dyneema packs all day. Three days in a row of perfect weather, and all I get to do is work from 5am to 7pm...

You might consider accupuncture...it's done a ton of good for my wife.

thanks porter. that's what i thought, but i don't remember dru's comment, and i'm kinda tired... it looks like the part where moominpapa or moomimmama actually talks to the groke and makes you feel guilty for hating the groke in the last couple of books. ok, i'm a dork. i remember books i read when over twenty seven years ago.

What's the name of G-Spotter's moomintroll character? That is what it is isn't it?

I think it behooves me to comment. The long awaited cilogear pouches are out of testing and in production. I am flying over there on Wednesday, and will be bringing them back with me. They carry snowboards and snowshoes with aplomb, keeping them slightly away from plumb, and under tight control... The below picture is of a snowboard, but I'll find one of the darn thing with snowshoes...

Ok. I've got five minutes... Basically, your point about the overthrow of Mossadegh, and the overthrow of the MRS in 1979, portrays US foreign policy as something that is implemented seperately from domestic politics. I don't believe that. I think that US foreign policy is implicitly tied to domestic policy agendas. Eisenhower came into power, and trusted his British friends significantly more than Mossadegh. Ike thought Mossadegh was a wet handed thief. Mossadegh was, as I'm sure you know, rather ill at the time, and thought that he had lost his best hope of retaining the friendship of the Americans. Sure enough... And of course, Carter's election and his implementation of the human rights based foreign policy had a drastic and immediate effect on SAVAK and people seeking change within Iran. Reagan sought out the extreme islamofascists in his negotiations to secretly resolve the hostage crisis...again US domestic politics played trump over our foreign interests. While I probably agree with your conclusions, I prefer a significantly higher level of granularity and knowledge in my prognostication. Of course, black swan type events continue to happen, but it does make the conversation with my taxi drivers in Tabriz significantly more interesting. Finally, I believe, but am not sure, the one of Speaker Pelosi's oldest and best contributors has been lobbying for the armenian genocide bill. it's dinner time, have fun...

right on...funny ass quote...no wonder they edited it...

No, but then again, my friendships don't tend to be dependent on lame duck presidents and I will do my best to make friends with the incoming administration, I promise! Shoot. I was trying to make a point about the counter revolution, the take over by the islamofascists and their usage of the war and the help from new friend in DC (pesky american elections again)... Oh well. edited for bad grammer and the forgotten words "don't tend to be dependent"

btw, the tudeh party was the iranian communist party...

Of course, let's ignore when Mossadeq called Truman "his best friend" and the fact that Mossadeq and the US Ambassador were thick as theives. We're also going to go with a very simplistic view of democracy, and keep the vote away from those pesky peasants over in Bam. I hate it when people start talking about voting when they're not landowners. Of course, the pressure exerted by Carter had nothing at all to do with this. I mean, how could stopping the funding of an oil rich country exert any influence on their actions? Anyway, it's a good thing that Carter's do-good-ism died with the realpolitik of the Reagan administration. Could you imagine if Shariati had lived? Good thing the Imams killed him... or not.

The russians have little to no direct leverage over the turks. Then again, neither does the EU right now. We're doing a fantastic job of being friendly...oh well, more work for the merry, huh? Does anybody else know where the southern most Turkish Army base is? I'll give you a hint, as recently as in 2001, they had tanks here . But they're a bit further north now... The hot pursuit thing is 85% internal turkish politics. I'm pretty sure that if somebody googled hot pursuit doctrine and international law and Turkey PKK, you'd find plenty of stuff about it. You've just won an election, you have a mandate, but you want to take the opponents' issue for your own. There are persistent rumors in the local conservative press that you've been losing soldiers since a depressing and embarrassing incident a few years ago when you actually had to visit a town to calm things down after your security forces fucked up while off the ranch. So what do you do before introducing serious reforms to your constitution that are going to raise hell and change the nature of society? Anybody? The other 15% is telling Talabani's friends to toe the fucking line before somebody loses a toe. I know, I know, Talabani keeps saying "Biz iki parti olarak Türkiye'ye karşı PKK'ya hiçbir yardımda bulunmadık" but come on, whoever protests loudest that our two parties have not given any support to the PKK against Turkey must be a little guilty...why else would he feel that an understanding with Turkey would be a compelling reason to not work with the PKK? Of course, wherever this alleged bombing took place is probably only a few miles from Turkey. It sure would be a bad thing if those nasty bombing planes didn't get their passports stamped at Ceylanpinar as they leaving turkey. I mean the Turks, who control virtually all flows of water to the Syrians and have repeatedly said they would stop the water if a convincing argument was needed, wouldn't care whether or not the Syrians had a bomb, would they? Serenity, somehow, I don't think you've got all that much to worry about...I'm sure the situation will take care of itself nicely. Anybody want to go climbing in the Cilo/Sat range? I've heard it's marvelous at this time of the year... edited for url clarity

It would be remiss of me, to borrow a line from FF, not to comment. We're currently clearing out our last four or five 60L larges and our last 8 or 9 40L small packs (make an offer...). We'll finally be in production of the new packs next week, and we'll be selling V3 60L packs and the new 75L pack. Folks summit Everest with our 60L and use it for doing the Continental Divide Trail. In between such august achievements, people have attempted many routine climbs on K6, Cerro Torre, Changabang and, yes, Denali and some of them have even summited Mt Hood and Ranier with their packs! The packs are alleged to make pretty decent luggage as well. The 75L will be slightly heavier than the 60L, but has a significantly increased load carrying capacity. However, you can still strip it down to be a light weight pack for the mountains, and it's a lot cheaper than competitive packs. Our materials are all made in the USA, and we do our cutting and sewing of most of our packs in our factory in Turkey. Other stuff: XGK. If cannister, then probably superfly and a Heat-it. My guys just got back from K6/K7 and were pretty happy with the Heat-It's performance. Tent: single wall. Either the aforementioned Eldorado or a integral designs tent. Maybe a Nemo if you can find one...I've spent plenty of time living in a single wall tent on the Turkish Coast, and it was pretty nice most of the time. Ice tools: Just go to Ouray and demo your brains out till you find what you want. The new tools from BD, from Grivel and others just haven't been used enough for consensus to build out IMHO, and you might as well wait three months and try them all out there. Go to Marmot or Feathered Friends and try all the boots on... Hope it helps!