parachute

Entry-level SLR plunges 3,000 feet--and survives

Camera makers tout the ruggedness of their higher-end products, but apparently even an entry-level SLR can withstand a 3,000-foot drop under the right circumstances.

So discovered Marius Ivascu, a parachuting instructor in Florida whose Canon Rebel XT detached from his helmet mount and took the fast way back to Earth on a skydiving trip. The camera mount detached when Ivascu deployed his parachute, recounted Calin Leucuta, a photographer and friend of Ivascu who earlier had sold him the camera.

After searching for less than a half hour after he landed, Ivascu found the camera and a video camera that had been mounted next to it.

"The video camera cracked open, dead, done deal. The Rebel took the fall a little better, just a crack in the left side of the plastic body," Leucuta said on his blog. "With a glimmer of hope, Marius presses the playback button: Quelle surprise! The camera turns on, displays the last image taken, like nothing happened." … Read more

Yahoo offers severance with a soft landing

A pink slip for corporate America's newly laid off typically means a severance package and a "see ya."

But when Yahoo issued its layoff notices to 10 percent of its workforce on Wednesday, it came with a twist, according to several sources.

Yahoo's 1,520 pink-slipped employees will remain on the payroll through February 13, retaining the ability to continue vesting any options that may come available through that separation date. Vacation accrual, however, will not apply, noted one source.

By the same token, those laid off employees will be "on call" to answer … Read more

Yahoo outlines golden parachutes for employees

Yahoo laid out its golden parachute plans for all of its full-time employees Tuesday, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing outlines two change-in-control severance plans, should the Internet search pioneer find itself under new ownership, aka Microsoft.

Yahoo, which is facing an unsolicited buyout bid from Microsoft, will offer both full-time employees and executives anywhere from four months to two years of severance pay, depending on their job title.

The parachute, or cushion, will kick into effect should that employee lose his job within two years after a new owner takes over, should she get … Read more

Mini-parafoil delivers on a dime

This just in: Bin Laden wants to defect, but he needs a new ID and a plane ticket. Just kidding--but should there come a day, there's a miniaturized guided parafoil system that can deliver these items, along with a can of Barbasol, right to the cave door.

This patented sensor guidance system developed by STARA Technologies of Gilbert, Ariz., can deliver almost anything from 1 to 400 pounds, according to the company. Its Web site includes a helpful list of suggested air dropable items any turncoat may need, such as money, passports, cell phone, or blood packets.

It's … Read more

Crave TV: Microsoft pushes journalist out of plane

You can call Microsoft many things--but you definitely can't call it boring. Or sane. In a fit of undeniable lunacy, Bill Gates' staff invited us to jump out of a plane last week, so that we could experience some new features in Vista. It didn't make any sense then, and it makes even less sense now.

According to Microsoft's public relations guy, the idea was to film us skydiving, and then send our adrenalin levels through the roof by letting us edit the footage in Windows Movie Maker. Stupidly, we went along, and this accompanying video is … Read more

Another reason to throw stuff out of a perfectly good airplane

The old way is to shove a pallet of beans and bullets tied to a few parachutes out the back of a C-130 Hercules and hope it lands in one piece. The new way is to release the CQ-10A SnowGoose from 18,000 feet and allow the 110-horsepower Rotax 914-driven prop and laptop-programmable navigation system to land the payload within 50 meters of a customer up to 500 miles away.

Manufactured by Canadian company Mist Mobility Integrated Systems Technology, the SnowGoose represents the latest in a class of guided parafoil systems that are blurring the line between unmanned aerial vehicles (… Read more