1-meter simulated resolution from aerial imagery of Colorado Capitol and Downtown Denver

.5-meter simulated resolution from GeoEye

Fourth US airline to go Wi-Fi: Aircell says they have a fourth airline--after American, Delta, and Virgin America--on board for its in-flight Wi-Fi service. The aerial broadband provider's latest partner will be announced soon. Aircell's service went live in 15 American Airlines planes two weeks ago, and there's been a surprising lack of reporting from regular travelers or journalists since the big splash at the launch.

Microsoft, two universities research methods for better Wi-Fi handoff for vehicles: The researchers developed a method they call Vi-Fi, writes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Todd Bishop, which allows a system to maintain connections with several base stations at once, using a primary access point for traffic until a discontinuity is predicted or encountered. This allows seamless handoffs and continuous voice conversations.

Speaking of autos and Wi-Fi, concerns raised about Chrysler's in-car Wi-Fi option: Randall Stross wrote nearly two weeks ago in The New York Times about the problem of distraction. With the Internet at your fingertips, can you restrain yourself? The only problem with the humorous and accurate analysis is that millions of business travelers have 3G access via laptop cards already, so you'd think we'd already be seeing the bad effects of automotive area networks.

A Wi-Fi booster can't post availability signs on highway: The Nebraska town of Louisville has free Wi-Fi downtown, and wanted to post "Visitor Wi-Fi" on a highway sign as another amenity. The state highway department has a policy that doesn't allow the promotion of Wi-Fi, because they believe they'd be inundated. A resident who runs a local Internet firm installed his own signs on the highway; the roads department removed them; he remounted them; they were removed again. The idea of zoning and mounting a billboard apparently hasn't come to the city officials' minds (or perhaps they're prohibited).

The folks spreading misinformation about Wi-Fi health effects cause Ulster school to disable network: I can understand why non-technical folks might think that Wi-Fi has been proven to be unsafe, given the kind of information that's available on the Internet about wireless safety. While there are ongoing studies about the safety of cellular signals--and I'm convinced at this point there's no increased risk to an adult's health by using a cell phone--there is no specific and credible research linked to Wi-Fi, which broadcasts signals at a far lower level than a cell phone, most of the time in most uses.

Washington state shuts down rest-area Wi-Fi: The $3 for 15 minutes, $7 per day, or $30 per month Wi-Fi service at 28 of Washington's 42 rest areas has been turned off after a year for lack of use. Figures. The fees charged by Parsons and Road Connect aren't unreasonable for a nationally scoped plan, but are ridiculous for limited use. States should either bite the bullet and offer these service for free, partner with national roaming operators who can resell service into large networks of business travelers, or use ads to support the service. Highways in remote areas can typically pick up cell data networks, and ongoing costs should be minimal to operate such networks.

IEEE approves fast-roaming standard, 802.11r: This new standard is designed to improve the handoff of devices between base stations. This is accomplished in part by allowing base stations to communicate security and quality of service information so that a VoIP over WLAN phone can immediately reassociate without the delay of authentication and other handshaking.

Denver airport sees 7,000 connections on a single day last week due to Democratic National Convention: FreeFi released the usage figures recently to show how their service is operating. The network started with about 600 daily users when the switchover from fee to free happened 10 months ago, and now carries about 3,500 daily connections.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf goes free: The chain of about 700 cafes will have free Wi-Fi installed by now in all its company-owned stores (about 300).

The state of the airline industry is a travesty.  Today United announced that they are joining American in charging a fee for even the first bag of checked luggage.  Combined with the ban on liquids that makes it hard to carry on anything, you are forced to pay up.  This is on top of the already jacked up prices and fuel surcharges they are already charging.  They also charge if you want to fly stand by now, extra for exit seats, aisles, etc, etc.  It is not one airline worse than another, they are all pretty bad. 

Today's travel nightmare though comes courtesy of Continental Airlines.  I rarely fly Continental because in coach I find their seats are to close together and my knees get crushed.  But flying home from Denver today, they were the cheapest so I booked the flight. 

I was scheduled to be on a 4:50 flight out of Denver into Houston.  An hour layover, an 8:55 flight from Houston to Ft Lauderdale and I would get me home around midnight.  Long day for sure.  So I finished up my meetings and stuff early in Boulder and saw that Continental had a 2:30 flight from Denver to Houston and a 7:10 connection to Ft Lauderdale that would get me in around 10:20pm.  I left StillSecure HQ around noon and was at Denver airport by about 12:45.  I went to the Continental counter and asked to get on the earlier flight.  Because I am a platinum medallion member of Delta, as a Sky Team member, I am an elite plus level passenger on Continental. In days gone by that would qualify me for same day ticket changes for free.  Not anymore it doesn't!  I don't understand what the price of fuel has to do with charging me for same day ticket changes.  Anyway, they said I could fly stand by for free until June 17th, when even standby is going to cost an extra fee (again they blamed it on fuel costs).

So they put me on standby and told me my luggage would go on the earlier flight.  I then went to the 2:30 flights gate and waited.  The ticket counter agent told me about 20 minutes before take off that they only had me as a silver medallion and due to my low status I was far down the list and would not make the flight.  My luggage would though.  OK, so I will hang at the airport and work a few hours.  Just before the plane takes off they call my name and tell me to wait at the end of the jetway.  They are checking the plane and if there is a seat I can take it.  I get the last seat on the plane, a middle seat. 

I arrive at Houston and proceed to the gate for the 7:10 flight to Ft Lauderdale.  I check in with the agent and she tells me the folks in Denver only put me on standby for the Denver Houston flight and I am not on stand by for the Ft Lauderdale flight.  She can put me on and I will probably make it, but my luggage will be going on the later flight.  Now mind you I can see the plane I just got off of out the window and could have gone to the jetway and told the guys unloading the luggage to grab my bag.  Not wanting to wait two hours in Ft Lauderdale late at night for my luggage to arrive and not wanting to drive down the next day to pick it up I say thanks, but no thanks and decide to wait another two hours for the later flight that my luggage will be on.

I board my 8:55 flight as scheduled and we take off headed for Ft Lauderdale, due to land at 12:15 or so.  The plane is hot as heck and about a half hour into the flight the pilot says that we have a pressurization problem and am turning back to Houston!  We turn back and upon arrival near Houston, he tells us we have too much fuel to land and will have to fly around to burn it off.  We have no air conditioning, it is hot as can be and they are telling me how much they charge because of the cost of fuel that they are now flying around in circles to burn off!

We land in Houston, they find another plane and we finally take off from Houston around 11:45 or so. I am writing this on the plane and am due to land about 2:30am. If I find my luggage came on the earlier flight I am going to kill someone.  In the meantime, I have had enough of Continental for a while and they won't see me on their planes very soon.

End of story, we landed around 2:45 and my luggage was waiting for me, having arrived on the earlier flight.  The Continental employee at the baggage claim will remember Alan Shimel for a while, as I gave him a piece of my mind.

The state of the airline industry is a travesty.  Today United announced that they are joining American in charging a fee for even the first bag of checked luggage.  Combined with the ban on liquids that makes it hard to carry on anything, you are forced to pay up.  This is on top of the already jacked up prices and fuel surcharges they are already charging.  They also charge if you want to fly stand by now, extra for exit seats, aisles, etc, etc.  It is not one airline worse than another, they are all pretty bad. 

Today's travel nightmare though comes courtesy of Continental Airlines.  I rarely fly Continental because in coach I find their seats are to close together and my knees get crushed.  But flying home from Denver today, they were the cheapest so I booked the flight. 

I was scheduled to be on a 4:50 flight out of Denver into Houston.  An hour layover, an 8:55 flight from Houston to Ft Lauderdale and I would get me home around midnight.  Long day for sure.  So I finished up my meetings and stuff early in Boulder and saw that Continental had a 2:30 flight from Denver to Houston and a 7:10 connection to Ft Lauderdale that would get me in around 10:20pm.  I left StillSecure HQ around noon and was at Denver airport by about 12:45.  I went to the Continental counter and asked to get on the earlier flight.  Because I am a platinum medallion member of Delta, as a Sky Team member, I am an elite plus level passenger on Continental. In days gone by that would qualify me for same day ticket changes for free.  Not anymore it doesn't!  I don't understand what the price of fuel has to do with charging me for same day ticket changes.  Anyway, they said I could fly stand by for free until June 17th, when even standby is going to cost an extra fee (again they blamed it on fuel costs).

So they put me on standby and told me my luggage would go on the earlier flight.  I then went to the 2:30 flights gate and waited.  The ticket counter agent told me about 20 minutes before take off that they only had me as a silver medallion and due to my low status I was far down the list and would not make the flight.  My luggage would though.  OK, so I will hang at the airport and work a few hours.  Just before the plane takes off they call my name and tell me to wait at the end of the jetway.  They are checking the plane and if there is a seat I can take it.  I get the last seat on the plane, a middle seat. 

I arrive at Houston and proceed to the gate for the 7:10 flight to Ft Lauderdale.  I check in with the agent and she tells me the folks in Denver only put me on standby for the Denver Houston flight and I am not on stand by for the Ft Lauderdale flight.  She can put me on and I will probably make it, but my luggage will be going on the later flight.  Now mind you I can see the plane I just got off of out the window and could have gone to the jetway and told the guys unloading the luggage to grab my bag.  Not wanting to wait two hours in Ft Lauderdale late at night for my luggage to arrive and not wanting to drive down the next day to pick it up I say thanks, but no thanks and decide to wait another two hours for the later flight that my luggage will be on.

I board my 8:55 flight as scheduled and we take off headed for Ft Lauderdale, due to land at 12:15 or so.  The plane is hot as heck and about a half hour into the flight the pilot says that we have a pressurization problem and am turning back to Houston!  We turn back and upon arrival near Houston, he tells us we have too much fuel to land and will have to fly around to burn it off.  We have no air conditioning, it is hot as can be and they are telling me how much they charge because of the cost of fuel that they are now flying around in circles to burn off!

We land in Houston, they find another plane and we finally take off from Houston around 11:45 or so. I am writing this on the plane and am due to land about 2:30am. If I find my luggage came on the earlier flight I am going to kill someone.  In the meantime, I have had enough of Continental for a while and they won't see me on their planes very soon.

End of story, we landed around 2:45 and my luggage was waiting for me, having arrived on the earlier flight.  The Continental employee at the baggage claim will remember Alan Shimel for a while, as I gave him a piece of my mind.

How many times did your parents tell you that when you were growing up?  Well it looks like someone at United was listening.  I was scheduled to fly out of Ft Lauderdale today on a 8am flight to Denver.  Last night around midnight (OK, they woke me up as I went to bed early to get up for flight) they called to tell me that the flight was late and would not be leaving until about 11:10.  Well knowing that I didn't wake up at 5:00am and insteady slept a little later.

Hey it doesn't make up for the fact that I wanted to be in Denver early and get work done, but it was certainly better than getting up in the dark and going to airport only to find out I had a 3 hour wait.

How many times did your parents tell you that when you were growing up?  Well it looks like someone at United was listening.  I was scheduled to fly out of Ft Lauderdale today on a 8am flight to Denver.  Last night around midnight (OK, they woke me up as I went to bed early to get up for flight) they called to tell me that the flight was late and would not be leaving until about 11:10.  Well knowing that I didn't wake up at 5:00am and insteady slept a little later.

Hey it doesn't make up for the fact that I wanted to be in Denver early and get work done, but it was certainly better than getting up in the dark and going to airport only to find out I had a 3 hour wait.

A couple of weeks ago I was offered a free year membership in the Clear airport security program for registered travelers.  Though my home airports of Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach don't yet offer Clear access, I fly enough in airports that do like Denver and Regan that I thought for free, what do I have to lose.  I filled out the forms on line and last time I was in Regan airport I handed it in along with fingerprints, Iris scans, passport, etc.  This past week my Clear card came in the mail and I have been looking forward to using it.

I thought that with my background check and all, they knew that I was a low risk for terrorist or other type of activity and therefore would not be subject to the same scrutiny and testing that we all endure when we have to fly.  Turns out that I don't think that is exactly the case.  However what it does do is allow you to go right to the front of the line in security, much to the dismay of others waiting on those lines.

The experience was great.  I went to a special entrance for Clear members where I was met by a very helpful young lady.  She escorted me to a Clear machine where we inserted my card and did a fingerprint scan.  After that was done she escorted me to another young lady who walked me past all of the people waiting on line (and a long line it was).  At the head of the line, the Clear lady gave my boarding pass and ID to the TSA person.  The TSA person checked my id and pass, same as always and they passed me through.  Than my Clear escort brought me to a special metal detector line which had no one on it, just waiting for me.  Again skipping another line.  I put my computer and other metal objects in the same old grey bin, took off my shoes and went through the metal detector.  I thanked the Clear escort came out the other side, scooped up my stuff and proceeded to my gate.  The entire process took less than 3 minutes I bet!  That was great!  The looks on the faces of the people I bypassed on line also gave me a perverse pleasure as well, I will admit.

After finishing this though I sat down and thought about it.  What security did bypass?  They still checked my ID and boarding pass. I still went through the metal detector and took off my shoes.  In fact if anything security was added to my check in, as they now did a fingerprint match.  So fact is, with all of the background checks and everything, having the Clear program did not relieve me of any security obligations and tests. In fact it added to them.  What it did give me was a "first class" personal escort to the front of the line and than a first class que for the metal detectors.  Because I was willing to pay some money and have a background search, I got the first class treatment.

To me this is not a scalable solution.  As more Clear passengers come on board, having a dedicated person walking me through the security line is just not going to work.  Also, lets be clear (no pun intended), this is not about going through less security.  Why the background check and all?  This is about paying money and skipping the line, but still going through the same security procedures that everyone else goes through.  Just faster.  Hey, don't get me wrong.  I loved it!  But I was wrong to think this was about bypassing security, this is a "first class" traveler lane.  As long as you are "clear" with that, it is good by me!

A couple of weeks ago I was offered a free year membership in the Clear airport security program for registered travelers.  Though my home airports of Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach don't yet offer Clear access, I fly enough in airports that do like Denver and Regan that I thought for free, what do I have to lose.  I filled out the forms on line and last time I was in Regan airport I handed it in along with fingerprints, Iris scans, passport, etc.  This past week my Clear card came in the mail and I have been looking forward to using it.

I thought that with my background check and all, they knew that I was a low risk for terrorist or other type of activity and therefore would not be subject to the same scrutiny and testing that we all endure when we have to fly.  Turns out that I don't think that is exactly the case.  However what it does do is allow you to go right to the front of the line in security, much to the dismay of others waiting on those lines.

The experience was great.  I went to a special entrance for Clear members where I was met by a very helpful young lady.  She escorted me to a Clear machine where we inserted my card and did a fingerprint scan.  After that was done she escorted me to another young lady who walked me past all of the people waiting on line (and a long line it was).  At the head of the line, the Clear lady gave my boarding pass and ID to the TSA person.  The TSA person checked my id and pass, same as always and they passed me through.  Than my Clear escort brought me to a special metal detector line which had no one on it, just waiting for me.  Again skipping another line.  I put my computer and other metal objects in the same old grey bin, took off my shoes and went through the metal detector.  I thanked the Clear escort came out the other side, scooped up my stuff and proceeded to my gate.  The entire process took less than 3 minutes I bet!  That was great!  The looks on the faces of the people I bypassed on line also gave me a perverse pleasure as well, I will admit.

After finishing this though I sat down and thought about it.  What security did bypass?  They still checked my ID and boarding pass. I still went through the metal detector and took off my shoes.  In fact if anything security was added to my check in, as they now did a fingerprint match.  So fact is, with all of the background checks and everything, having the Clear program did not relieve me of any security obligations and tests. In fact it added to them.  What it did give me was a "first class" personal escort to the front of the line and than a first class que for the metal detectors.  Because I was willing to pay some money and have a background search, I got the first class treatment.

To me this is not a scalable solution.  As more Clear passengers come on board, having a dedicated person walking me through the security line is just not going to work.  Also, lets be clear (no pun intended), this is not about going through less security.  Why the background check and all?  This is about paying money and skipping the line, but still going through the same security procedures that everyone else goes through.  Just faster.  Hey, don't get me wrong.  I loved it!  But I was wrong to think this was about bypassing security, this is a "first class" traveler lane.  As long as you are "clear" with that, it is good by me!