If you are like HYPOXIC and most online sales companies you generally accept payments via Paypal and perhaps even use PayPal as your merchant services. In addition you probably use quickbooks for your books and possibly have a method to suck your sales transactions into your books. I use a program called t-hub to do this but others do exist. The problem is at the end of the month, reconciling PayPal is a pain in the butt and takes hours to enter in all the PayPal fees. Many years ago I noticed this and had my buddy write a script that gets these fees from a paypal exported IIF file and creates another IIF with just the fees included.

If this is like you here is how you use it:

• Get the latest python build if you don't already have it
• Download getfees.zip, extract just getfees.py and place it in a directory such as c:\scripts\
• Download the iif file from Paypal of the dates you wish to reconcile. This under the other options on the dropdown. You need to rename the accounts exactly as they show in quickbooks. You probably have to wait a few minutes for it to be generated
• Download the generated iif file into c:\scripts and rename it to something readable ie nov_2013.iif
• From the command prompt type:

cd\scripts 
python getfees.py nov_2013.iif > nov_2013_o.iif

• If python is not in your path you may need to type this instead (where python27 is the install directory of python)

c:\python27\python.exe getfees.py nov_2013.iff > nov_2013_o.iif

• Once this is done import nov_2013_o.iif into quickbooks IMPORTANT: Do not import nov_2013.iif or you will have multiple transactions

There is a slight bug with international payments in other currency and also one with refunds. Both just do not import any fees. None-the-less, this is a great start if you got a bunch of transactions per month. 
Please send me updates if you clean up the code. 

Thanks to Jose Diaz for originally writing this code!

This is a quick guide on what skydivers need to know about the new GoPro Hero3 (GoPro3).

There are three editions:

GoPro 3 - Black - "Pimp" Edition ($399) -  Available Here

• 3 Editions: Adventure (Outdoor), Surf, or Motorsports
• Adventure and Motorsports are EXACTLY the same, just packaging!
• 4kp 12 fps, 2.7kp 30 fps (Explained below)
• 1440p48/1080p60/720p120 fps
• Glass Ultra Sharp Lens
• 12MP / 30fps Burst
• 45Mbps bitrate
• Wifi Remote
• "Excellent Low Light Performance"

GoPro 3 - Silver - Middle of the Road / No Wifi Remote / Lower def shooting modes ($299) - Look into buying the black!

• 1080p30/960p48/720p60 fps
• Basic Lens
• 11MP / 10 fps Burst
• No photo while recording!
• 35Mbps bitrate

GoPro 3 - White - Store Bought Edition  ($199)

• 1080p30/960p30/720p60 fps
• Basic Lens
• 5MP / 3 fps Burst
• 15Mbps bitrate
• Only shoots 170deg in 720mode

Hypoxic will only sell the Black and perhaps the Silver Edition since they are only available at speciality outlets like ours.

Major Body Changes:

• Smaller 10% lighter / 16% thinner (The advertised differences are with wifi bacpac vs. bare bones)
• Lens moved
• New smaller battery
• Rubber body and lens hood for use outside of cage
• Mounts compatible with old accessories. However the new ones do seem beefier
• Removable rubber access port for mulit-function USB port, micro HDMI port, & MicroSD card
• New 6-element aspherical lens 
• No Composite-out or mic-in stock - Need to buy their adapter(s)

We did the boogie tour last year and going to do a shorter one this year here are some pointers:

• 1) Get long acid handling gloves for dumping the waste
• 2) Always were shoes when dumping. I personally only used one old pair for this. Sandles is too close to the action.
• 3) Get a good dumping hose. It coming off is just discussing
• 4) Get a book called "The next exit" It is a must!
• 5) Find or print out the manuals for everything in the RV. Everything! You'll need it
• 6) Get a strong set of wrentches and sockets
• 7) Get a breaker bar for the lug nuts
• 8) RV stores have a little ramp thing for changing tires so you don't have to jack up the RV get one of those.
• 9) Check tire pressure often and then check it more often
• 10) Have the shop ensure spare tires are full pressure when you get them
• 11) Learn how to service your generator if you have one. There is an adjustment for altitude on them too. Change it when in the rockies.
• 12) An air compressor to fill up your tires is a nice thing to have.
• 13) If you have the time, have a shop break all the bolts on the tires of your RV and then retighten them by hand. Replace worn out lug nuts.
• 14) tripple check any type of leveling jacks are up before you leave. 
• 15) Watch for over hanging trees and branches.
• 16) Get a GPS

That's all I can think of for right now, good luck!

I haven't modified a Sony NEX camera with a hardwired jack in a while since there are several new mirrorless SLRs out there with remote jacks (our article on mirrorless SLRs for skydiving). This article just shows the picture differences from the NEX7 mod since it's pretty much the same thing.

Previously, I've disassembled and modified a Sony NEX-5 and Sony Sony NEX-7. The NEX-6r disassembly is not much different than taking apart the NEX-7, but there is one new clip that you'll need to carefully use a "Spudger" on. To dismantle the camera, simply remove the screw above the USB connector, the one under the flash connector, two from deep within the battery port and one underneath the neck strap connector next to the shutter switch. At this point, the top should be fairly loose but stuck above the SONY lettering on the front. At this point, gently pry this plastic out to dislodge the clip as seen below. Use a plastic spudger or pick for this.

Now that the top is off, you can wire it as shown below. Black is ground, red is shutter and yellow is focus. Note that this switch is very sensitive. Do not get flux in it or it will be destroyed. I have not been able to find a replacement, so if anyone knows the source, please comment below. It's around a 3.7mm to 4.0mm 6 pin, where pins 2 and 4 are connected to the top. I always ohm these out before closing it up. I also use a drop of crazy glue to hold down the wires somewhere on the assembly since we are taking this in free fall.

I removed the back, just like the NEX-7, so that I could run the wires to the bottom. There is a single screw under the USB cap, two on the bottom (the one under the 1/4-20 is not necessary to remove) and one shallow screw in the battery compartment. The back should slide right off when the display is raised up.

This is how I ran the leads. Note that I drilled 3 tiny holes and affixed the connector with epoxy so it would not come off from a yank.

I tucked the excess between the battery bay and the hand grip, then put the camera back together.

HYPOXIC is obviously not liable for ruining your camera or any other negative things that may result from using these instructions. Use at your own risk. Please read the Adding a hardwire shutter release to the Sony NEX-7 before performing this so you get a full description. This article is just bare bones changes between these cameras.  

-Trunk