The pie-in-the-sky dream of having Internet access while on a plane just moved one step closer to reality. Delta Airlines announced that by mid-2009, it will offer Wi-Fi-based Internet access on all of its domestic U.S. flights. I bet flight attendants never imagined they’d need IT training.

First, the facts and figures. By next summer, Delta says all of its U.S. flights will provide Wi-Fi Internet access to passengers. The Internet will come via AirCell’s ground-to-air technology, which beams wireless signals up to planes and receives whatever the planes send back.

This means anyone on the plane with a Wi-Fi radio-equipped device will be able to use it to access the Internet. That includes smartphones, PDAs, MIDs, and laptops. For flights less than three hours, the cost will be $10.00 USD. For flights over three hours, the cost will be $13.00 USD.

Worth it? That’s up to you. Speaking from experience, however, I can say that no fee is too large when something really important and timely needs to be passed through the Internet. In general, however, I can last a plane ride without Wi-Fi.

That’s one issue, but what about on-plane support when the system encounters turbulence?

I can picture it already. You have a flight full of business people shuttling from New York City to Chicago on Delta Flight 80211. They’re all very busy, very important people who have much work to accomplish. They pay the $10.00 USD to access the Internet while en route. They don’t want to be behind when they land in the Windy City.

Halfway through the flight, the Internet cuts out for one reason or another. Not only will flight attendants have to deal with surly suits who were working on very important stuff, but they will probably be the ones in charge of troubleshooting the system and getting it in working condition. That is, unless Delta plans to have an Internet tech on board each flight, which I highly doubt.

Flight attendants are, of course, extremely hard working people that put up with a lot of crap from passengers. Adding in-flight Wi-Fi is just one more system that they will likely be in charge of. They won’t necessarily need a Cisco Certification to troubleshoot the problems, but they will need at least some level of additional training.

Fair to flight attendants or not, it will be a nice perk for those passengers who really need it.

Source: Yahoo! News

Early in the evening on August 4, Apple released a firmware update for the iPhone. The new version — 2.0.1 — was issued to fix bugs. Does it fix anything, and did it add any new functionality?

The stability of iPhone firmware 2.0 has already been properly beat severely by the media and users alike. Application crashes, keyboard lag, and other issues made the new firmware less than a joy to use. In fact, quite the opposite, it was often infuriating. Apple heard our pleas, and issued a firmware update for the device less than 30 days after its release.

The firmware download was a whopping 250 MB. It took a few moments to download, but the install process took far less time than I imagined it would. It was up and running with the new software in less than 30 minutes.

Lo and behold, the darn bug fixes appear to have worked. I haven’t had any applications crash since updating the firmware. Crashes were pretty consistent prior to updating. I opened every application, played with it for a few moments, and then closed it. Everything worked as it should.

I also tested out sending some text messages and emails. The annoying keyboard lag is mostly taken care of, though I noticed a few short lags here and there. They definitely weren’t as bad as previously.

Lastly, switching between pages of the home screens appears to be faster and more fluid.

So far, no new functionality has been reported. But that’s fine with me. As long as the darned thing is more stable, that’s all I needed for now.

U.S. federal agents have been given new powers to seize travelers’ laptops and other electronic devices at the border and hold them for unspecified periods, the Washington Post reported this morning.

Under recently disclosed Department of Homeland Security policies, such seizures may be carried out without suspicion of wrongdoing, the newspaper said, quoting policies issued on July 16 by two DHS agencies.

Agents are empowered to share the contents of seized computers with other agencies and private entities for data decryption and other reasons.

Full story and source: Reuters

Researchers announced Wednesday that a geared device dating to the second century BC was used to calculate the dates for the first Olympic games.

It has long been known that the Antikythera Mechanism — recovered in 1900 or 1901 from a shipwreck off the Greek coast — was able to calculate and display celestial information, including cycles and phases of the moon and sun.

Now, newly deciphered inscriptions on the device referencing the Olympics, and a dial designed to calculate the four-year Olympiad Cycle, reveal more about the device and how it was used by the Greeks.

The first Olympics were held in Nemea in 776 BC. Reuters reports that “The name ‘Nemea’ was found near a small dial on the mechanism, a reference to the site of one of the prominent games in the Olympiad cycle, the researchers said. Locations such as Olympia also appeared.”

A report published Wednesday in the journal Nature says:

The Antikythera Mechanism is technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards. Its specific functions have remained controversial because its gears and the inscriptions upon its faces are only fragmentary

Here we report surface imaging and high-resolution X-ray tomography of the surviving fragments, enabling us to reconstruct the gear function and double the number of deciphered inscriptions. The mechanism predicted lunar and solar eclipses on the basis of Babylonian arithmetic-progression cycles.

Technologists from HP joined the scientific team and contributed imaging analysis. See their amazingly detailed ‘reflectance images’ here.

If you still want more, watch a fascinating video of how researchers deciphered the purpose and properties of the mechanism.

Source: Nature Journal

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium.

In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals:

In Memoriam: Randy Pausch (1960-2008). For more, visit www.cmu.edu/randyslecture

What if an advertising agency took the brief to create stop signs for intersections, and tried to incorporate ALL of the clients’ suggestions?

Indeed, this video shows what would happen. Very painful, but so true.