Internet: An airline extra that might be worth paying for

by Jamie Rhein on

American Airlines may have actually come up with a way to make more money without ticking people off. Instead of charging for a service that used to be free–did anyone say checked bags?–the airline is piloting a system to charge passengers for Internet privileges.

Yep, that’s right. While you’re winging your way through the skies, you can log on. Need to e-mail? No problem.

You’ll also be able to instant message, download videos, and connect to a smart phone through a secured network using your own laptop.

Passengers on one lucky flight today from Kennedy in New York to Los Angeles and a flight from Los Angeles to New York will be able to test the service for free.

In a couple of weeks, American will expand broadband to other flights on Boeing 767-200 jets. Flights to San Francisco and Miami are next.

These Internet capabilities are being developed through a partnership with Aircell LLC. Aircell’s network is large enough to handle a whole plane load of Web surfers.

Knowing that you need to diversify in business, Aircell is also working out details with JetBlue and Virgin America for similar services.

American Airline’s latest money scheme is one I like. Adding a new service and charging for it instead of wringing money out of folks who used to get the same thing for free seems smarter. The price isn’t bad either. Internet will cost between $9.95 and $12.95 depending on the length of the flight.

And in case you’re wondering about the chances of pornography showing up on the screen next to you–or on yours, not a chance–at least not much of one. According to the article, the flight attendant will stop the funny business. There are already policies against bringing pornography on the plane. The same applies to Internet, even though such sites won’t be filtered out . Blocking them might disrupt service. Mind your manners, and the skies will stay friendly. [via AP]

Postcard of the Week: Dolores Park, BYOB

by Justin Glow on

Starting today, we are teaming up with our friends over at the awesome Everywhere Magazine to bring you a weekly Postcard. Instead of spotlighting an image from the Gadling Flickr pool on Fridays, we’re going to highlight one from the pool of contributors’ photos (including you!) from Everywhere. Today’s image is from contributor Sloan Schang. He writes,

“I happened to be in San Francisco during a rare run of 90+ degree days. In this city where air conditioning is rarer than Republicans, a superheated weekday is almost the equivalent of a Midwestern snow day. Computer servers were crashing, commuter trains were backing up, and at least one man walked downtown streets muttering, ‘It’s too hot…too hot…we’re screwed.’ But at 4:00 on Friday afternoon, people poured from stuffy old office buildings and sweltering Victorian flats to revel in the breeze and views of city oases like this, the Mission District’s Dolores Park.”

If you’d like to submit an image to be considered for Gadling+Everywhere’s Postcard of the Week, please sign up for a free membership on Everywhere and start uploading! Every Friday, we’ll choose one to spotlight.

Low on travel money? How to virtually road trip for free

by Anna Brones on

This year the popular summer travel season doesn’t seem quite so enticing. Gas is over $4 a gallon, the dollar is so low that in Europe they’re getting used for scrap paper and airlines now have you paying to check baggage. What is a travel hungry person to do?

Fortunately there’s Streetviewr, a site that compiles just what the website’s name indicates: street views (thanks to the technology over at Google). With streets from over 40 American cities, a little time spent browsing the site is almost like a good road trip… but for free.

Ok ok, obviously sitting in front of the computer is not as good as actually traveling, but we’ll take what we can get. Here’s to cheap summer internet travels!

The Olympic torch: A continuing saga

by Jamie Rhein on

For the next three days, the Olympic torch is going no where. Starting today, it’s journey to Beijing was put on hiatus while China is having three-days of mourning to commemorate the losses caused by last week’s earthquake. After the torch’s trip up Mt. Everest–and its altered jaunt through San Francisco after being hustled into a van in Europe when protesters put it out a few times, the torch certainly seems to be capturing the highs and lows of the human struggle to survive and excel.

According to the news, just like the path the torch has taken, the Olympics might not look like what the Chinese originally planned. There may be a version with less hoopla.

As China struggles to deal with the catastrophe dealt by the earth’s movement, some shoddy building construction and bad luck, the torch’s symbolism seems all that more poignant. It might seem like who should care about a flame in the throes of such a disaster, but in a way, if the torch does make it to Beijing to signal the start off the summer games, it could be seen as representing more than its original intention.

When the torch changed hands in Australia on that sunny day the end of April, there wasn’t any inkling that the news in China would be so devastating three weeks later. When the torch appears in Beijing to light the big Olympic flame, perhaps it might have switched from a symbol of China’s might to one that highlights the perserverance of humanity despite the forces that might put us out.

Photo of the Day (5/4/08)

by Jeremy Kressmann on


No matter how many times I visit San Francisco, I never get tired of looking at the Golden Gate bridge. Whether I’m downtown, across the bay in Berkeley or Oakland, or taking off at SFO, this iconic landmark perpetually anchors my view of this great city. So I was particularly amused when I saw this shot of everyone’s favorite San Francisco bridge by ohad*. Considering it’s one of the most photographed landmarks in all of the Bay Area, it’s hard to find a photo that’s a not a “cliched” image of the bridge shrouded in clouds. But this shot really caught my eye – the way it plays with perspective, the sense of movement it conveys and the unique angle all come together for a fun, eye-catching photo.

Got a great photo you’d like to share? Join the Gadling pool on Flickr to have your great shot considered for our Photo of the Day.