WillMontu

Also, Ultra Twister had a vertical lift in its early days Here's one Then Now

If you have Windows XP, you can import using Windows Movie Maker. It's not the best thing around, but at least it can dump raw AVI data onto your hard drive (make sure you've got a nice big hard drive). I know this works using IEEE 1394 between my PC and camera (if you need a cable, I got a cheap one for $15 at Target - works perfectly), but I'm not sure how this works with USB (partly because I can't get USB working). As for controller cards, my sound card (Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS) came with two ports, one on the back and also a header for connecting a front panel port. This end plugs into the PC This end plugs into the camera

Looks like they also come in Wood: Steel Terrain Lie-down Stand-up Strange that the images don't work. You may have to copy and paste

There were 28 people on the bus, but then the evil terrorist detonated the bomb and there were zero people on the bus. Oh, and I don't drive.

Paint Shop Pro is a cheaper alternative, and some of us still use MS Paint I created mine with Animation Shop and Paint Shop Pro, both part of the PSP suite.

This one's big, so I reduced the quality a little bit.

I've noticed a few problems: "Fence - The Ride" needs some work. How about "Superfence - Ultimate Escape" or "Batman - The Fence" If it's a coaster, by California law (or maybe just Six Flags policy), it's required to be built in a parking lot. Obviously, the pictures don't show a parking lot. It can't be an Escalator. SFMM doesn't do that sort of theming. It would work nicely though.

All of those shows were old. Scream Parks was the newest, first airing in 2000. The other two are even older. The third one was simply "Extreme Rides" with a new name pasted on top. Still, it's the one with the Alpengeist footage with Megan Clark screaming, and Danny Biggerstaff (aka. CoAsTeRDaN as he used to call himself) going crazy. There also used to be a decent show (though old) on TLC before it went all reality shows called Secret World of Amusement Parks. There was another old (though bad) one called Top Ten Coasters. Kennywood Tunderbolt was #1, Magnum was 2, and other rides included Nemesis, GE Comet, and Steel Force. Still, the new shows are nothing to be excited about...unless you love SLC's

Incredible Hulk. Both launched, owned by Universal (and both well themed)

Amusement Parks - Persuit of Fun is actually a fairly old show. Covers a lot of Kennywood (and the Steel Phantom). Also some old footage of BGW (Drachen Fire, Escape from Pompeii), Cedar Point (Raptor), and Universal Orlando among others. There's only a "little bit" of SLC footage. Scream Parks - Goes behind the scenes at Magic Mountain. Of course, there's Jim Blackie (?) explaining how Superman works (when it works), the Goliath construction crew, maintenance people doing some adjustments to Viper, people getting tortured on Colossus during Fright Fest. For some reason, they kept the duct tape out of view. If anyone's got extra bandwidth, I can capture some video clips from these.

I have an eMachines m6805, and it runs fairly well (despite the brand name). The wide screen is good for gaming and movies, and it's equipped with an ATI 9600 (runs No Limits pretty well). WiFi is included, along with a DVD/CD drive As for CPU's, AMD based chips are good value. "Mobile" processors are generally better because they are designed to be able to run at a lower speed when idle to prolong battery life. Other must haves: PCMCIA slot(s) - Used for expansion USB/1394 ports - USB 2.0 is standard, and runs reasonably quick for external hard drives, input devices, and such. 1394 ports are generally used for video equipment. Network card - Along with WiFi, a standard network card is useful for plugging into a home network where WiFi isn't fast enough. I use WiFi to go online when on campus, and when at home when a network cord isn't available. Hard drive - size depends on what you want to do with it. Bigger is better. Faster is also better, but may take a toll on battery life Video output - Good for connecting an external monitor or projector. Memory - More is better. 512mb is a bare minimum Also consider: External mouse Power adapters (ie. auto, aeroplane) Carrying case - get a good one Extended warranty

According to RCDB, that butterfly coaster does count as a credit http://www.rcdb.com/model91.htm There was even an April Fools prank some time back with this type of ride going into No Limits.

I don't know if Vekoma makes Vipers Viper SFOG - Schwarzkopf Viper SFAW - Schwarzkopf Viper SFGAM is a wood coaster, not made by Vekoma Viper SFGADV - Togo (recently dismantled) Viper SFMM - Arrow

Check out that awesome Vekoma engineering. This is SFOG's Deja Vu, which works sometimes.

As said above, No Limits is among the top games out there. Occasionally there will be updates, such as one that added woodies. The editor is fairly powerful, and is like a CAD program. RCT and RCT2 are fun. I downloaded the RCT3 demo, but wasn't too impressed (had too much of a cartoon feel, and the interface wasn't as good as RCT2). You might find either in a bargain bin at the local software store. Be sure to look for trainers, and the famous Drexler Patch.

Do Motion Simulators count? I think some of them are fairly bad.

Stars begin as a cloud of mostly hydrogen with about 25% helium and heavier elements in smaller quantities. In the Sun, with a 107 K core, hydrogen fuses to form helium in the proton-proton chain: 41H → 22H + 2e+ + 2νe (4.0 MeV + 1.0 MeV) 21H + 22H → 23He + 2γ (5.5 MeV) 23He → 4He + 21H (12.9 MeV) These reactions result in the overall reaction: 41H → 4He + 2e+ + 2γ + 2νe (26.7 MeV) In more massive stars, helium is produced in a cycle of reactions catalyzed by carbon, the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle. In stars with cores at 108 K and masses between 0.5 and 10 solar masses, helium can be transformed into carbon in the triple-alpha process: 4He + 4He + 92 keV → 8*Be 4He + 8*Be + 67 keV → 12*C 12*C → 12C + γ + 7.4 MeV For an overall reaction of: 34He → 12C + γ + 7.2 MeV (Source: Wikipedia) Why does Manhattan Express suck so much?

Looks like Florida's going to keep the Starliner too. My youngest brother is going to have to go down there soon. When he was five, he wanted to ride Python "for the credit", though I'm not sure how he will fare with the Vekoma rides.

I went on some "no rules" bumper cars (aka. Dodgems) when I was in the UK a year ago. They were at a travelling fair in Wandsworth Commons (London). The operator would stand up, drive backwards, and just act dangerously. The ironic thing was he growled at me for going backwards myself (it's fun though, but he should practice what he preaches). The travelling fair itself was kind of "ghetto". They had a strange truck mounted rocket motion simulator that just went up and down, rotated a little bit and played a poor quality weird movie. They had ride operators who were more interested in their cigarettes than collecting money from paying customers. In addition, they had "Magic Kingdom" displays, aka "Disney Lawsuit". Also, when I went to the UK in 1999, Thorpe Park was really run down (every ride broke down when we were there), maybe it's gotten better. Are you guys going there?

Blue...no, Yellow! How many ACErs does it take to change a lightbulb?

Nemesis Inferno @ Thorpe Park

Windjammer! Just kidding How about the lost BGT monorail?

No, but my brother does What's your favorite TPR video?

Incredible Hulk @ IOA

Back in the early Coney Island days, they actually experimented with a ride that jumped the track. I think they later closed it off for obvious reasons.