2005 July 19

Wow. WiFi in the air. This is how it should always be, even though I know the massive cost is what holds the airlines back. Maybe we'll have to turn to JetBlue for affordable consumer Internet airline service? I feel like a rock star – chartered jet, Eric Rice, Phil Torrone, Robert Scoble mere seats away. They're serving champagne, but I'm playing the part of a responsible passenger. In fact, I'm holding off on uploading anything massive (like photos or live video) so that others might also enjoy this experience. Doesn't seem like we've tapped Connexion's connection potential. Skype is amazing up here – unbelievable quality. Okay, I know I said I was acting responsible, but one of Skype's selling points is that it doesn't use much bandwidth to get its data packets across the infobahn. Noise canceling headphones are a necessity for flights, no doubt. Does anybody use those stupid phones in the back of the seats, anyway? Oh, and they also have live outlets underneath the seats, so there's no fear of ever running out of juice. Goodonya, Boeing.

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It's getting a little bumpy… but Connexion is still pretty sweet.

Apparently, I've arrived a little early for a “test flight” of Boeing's WiFi Service thingy (offical name not known at this time). I've parked my car and am waiting inside the guard gate. It's a sunny day here in Seattle – so the flight should be smooth (even though we are on the “test” lot). pt just drove up and asked where he should park, and the guard has been really nice. The event officially begins at 2:30, and I'm here a half-hour early. They'll likely subject every one of us to a comprehensive search before we even climb on board. The flight oughta be fun, although I'm not sure if they'll allow us to open up our electronic devices below 10,000 feet. I could do the “cool” thing and post this entry before we're shuttled to the plane, but… well, what the hell. We're flying aces today – and hopefully all receiving first class service. When you fly, who do you fly? Oh boy. Let's hope they spring for the high-class peanuts – damn the allergies. The sky's the limit. Any other wacky flight'isms I can throw around here?

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John in Key West Florida calls in looking for a way to download and listen to podcasts using his Windows Media Center Edition PC. John is currently using iTunes for all his podcast downloads, but wants to integrate podcasting into his Media Center experience. Rather than tackle this one on our own, we called in Charlie Owen from the Windows Media Center team at Microsoft. Charlie provides the solution he uses for podcasting and MCE and makes a few suggestions for some of his favorite podcasts.

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