Friday, March 12, 2010

Random Thoughts From This Week (March 6 - 12)

News

  • Toyota - Impending law suite + Mysterious acceleration problem = Daily 911 call for mysterious acceleration problem in Toyota Prius. I think some of these calls are going to turn out to be "Balloon Boy" episodes...
  • DC Public Schools - I listen to NPR in the morning, and recently I've been hearing advertisements for the DC public schools teacher association. The radio advertisements say something similar to, "Doing great things through teaching for students," or some such. Now, I know there are exceptions, but I think it's pretty well know that the DC public schools are bad. So why would the DC public schools teacher association be advertising how great they are on NPR? I wonder if it has anything to do with President Obama's support of teacher firings in Central Falls, RI, or the soon to be released list of the nations 5,000 lowest-performing schools?

Friday, March 5, 2010

Random Thoughts From This Week (Feb 27 - March 5)

World Events
What's in a name? - I find it interesting that the news outlets are referring to military casualties in Afghanistan as "NATO" casualties - even if it's an American. Usually the headlines will read something like, "Two NATO Troops Killed...", then the body of the article will breakdown the nationality of the troops.

Finance
GM's Missed Opportunity - A couple weeks back I commented on Toyota's problems, and how how they were a golden opportunity for Ford and GM. Well, it looks like Ford took advantage of that opportunity and GM completely missed it. Ford's sales increased thirty-two percent for the month of February, while GM's only increased seven percent.

Technology
Washington Post iPhone App - Finally! The Washington Post (WP) has an iPhone application. It's very similar to the applications offered by the New York Times (NYT) and Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The big difference is the WP application costs $1.99 annually, whereas the NYT and WSJ applications are free, but to get some content on WJS you have to have a subscription for online content. As I wrote earlier, the NYT will be introducing a model similar to WSJ in 2011. I'll gladly pay $1.99 annually for WP content. We'll see what my price point is as NYT evolves to a pay model.

Sports
Tiger Woods - I'm waiting for the steroid issue to pop back up. If you remember, right about the time Woods' sex scandal broke, there was reporting about a Canadian doctor, Anthony Galea, who was arrested for selling an illegal drug to athletes that helped them "heal" faster, and during the investigation Canadian police found files linking the doctor to Woods. It appeared that the good doctor saw Woods around the time he had knee surgery. That story seemed to die pretty fast. I remember watching Woods a year, or so, back on TV playing a golf tournament and thinking to myself, "For a golfer, he looked huge." My first thought was steroids, but then I said, "Nah, it's Tiger Woods." Now I'm rethinking that thought process. It appears that Major League Baseball's walking pharmacy, Alex Rodriguez, is also
connected to Galea. So, with the light back on Galea, and a potential tie to Rodriguez, it's only a matter of time before it comes back around to Woods.

Entertainment
Netflix app for the iPhone - Apparently, Netflix is exploring the idea of creating an
application for for the iPhone. The application would let you stream movies while using a Wi-Fi connection. I think this is a great idea.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Random Thoughts From This Week (20-26 Feb)

World Events

  • Detroit Relocation Plan - Being from Michigan, I'm always interested in the welfare of the state; especially Detroit, because Detroit is what people think of first when they think of Michigan - and it's usually not positive thoughts. Detroit mayor Dave Bing looks to be moving forward with an interesting idea: He is going to try to "downsize" the city by moving city residents from blighted areas to more sustainable areas. The idea is to conserve city resources and focus them on fewer areas. A recent study of the city suggests that thirty-six percent of city property is occupied by vacant homes or empty lots. I'm not exactly sure what that statistic means, but it sounds like a lot to me. Bing's idea is interesting. If nothing else, it's thinking outside the box. In other Detroit news, here's an AP article on a guy who helped further run the city into the ground.
  • Global Warming/Climate Change - Record cold weather in Europe. Record snowfall in Washington, D.C. Pummeling snow storms in the Northeast, and snow fall across the Southern United States. Large chunks of ice breaking off the polar ice caps and the shrinking of the polar ice caps. SOMEBODY GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHANGE!

Technology

  • Chatroulette - I read about Chatroulette in a venture capital blog I follow. I gave Chatroulette a whirl and was intrigued by the simplicity of the idea, and could see a bunch of potential. Thought I would pass it along to you all. One of the intriguing things about Chatroulette was nobody seemed to know who created and manged the site. Well, the New York Times figured it out. Give the article a read. It's very interesting. WARNING: Chatroulette does not have any "moral police" control measures, so there can be explicit material.

Sports

  • Nothing Significant to Report (NSTR) - I know, people will say, "What about the Olympics?" I'm just not into the Olympics. I follow the headlines, but don't feel inspired to go out of my way to watch any of the events. For me, the months after the Superbowl until the NCAA Tournament are the sports doldrums. I'm mildly interested in the NHL, but really only the playoffs and finals. I have no interest in the NBA. And I only get excited about NCAA basketball for the Tournament.

Entertainment

  • iTunes Sells 10 billionth Song - That's mind boggling to me. 10 billion songs!? iTunes, which was introduced in 2003, is the top music retailer in the U.S.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Form Follows Function: Teaching Kids to Succeed in Life, Not Pass a Test

This is a great Op-Ed from NYT's Bob Herbert on a successful charter school developer in NYC. Deborah Kenny has developed three charter schools in Harlem - two middle schools and one high school. Her formula is pretty simple: Hire passionate teachers. Give them the ability to be flexible and creative. And demand excellence from teachers and students alike. “We’ve created a culture that brings out the passion of the teachers and they bring out the passion of the kids.”

Kenny raised her kids with the below core principles, and she uses them as principles for her schools.

- Be wholesome in character

- Be compassionate and see life as a responsibility to give something to the world

- Have a sophisticated intellect

- Be avid readers, the kind of person who always has trouble putting a book down

- Be independent thinkers, to lead reflective and meaningful lives

I want my daughter to go to a school like this, and I'm not sure public schools offer this kind of option. Everyone preaches that education is the path to success in life, but we don't practice what we preach.

Kenny's principles offer every parent and teacher a recipe for success. Her five principles are the function. The form that follows is a child that grows into an adult who is a contributing member of society.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Random Thoughts From This Week (6-12 Feb)

World Events

  • Iran - What Iran is doing is seriously getting scary. Whether they have enriched uranium to weapons grade is not the point. The point is what the Israeli's think. If Israel thinks Iran is getting close to a bomb, have no doubt they will strike. Then what happens...?

Technology

  • Google Buzz - I'm not sure Buzz is going to succeed where Google wants it to: create an entry into the social media realm / challenge Facebook. Buzz's key, scalable feature is that it uses existing contacts within Gmail for your network, but I don't think enough users have Gmail accounts to make it truly a tool for the masses like Facebook. Also, I'm not sure users want their online presence to be consolidated in one place. I think people like checking email in one place and going somewhere else for their social networking experience. It's kind of like when speaker technology started to miniaturize. You could get equivalent sound from smaller speakers, but people were loathe to give up their big speakers because they just felt right.

Sports

  • Danica Patrick and NASCAR - Honestly, I don't know much about car racing, but I know Danica Patrick has won exactly one IndyCar race. So I'm not sure what all the hub-bub is regarding her joining the NASCAR circuit; other than she's hot.
  • Winter Olympics - Shamefully, I really have not taken note of the Winter Olympics until today. And the reason I did today was because a luger from Georgia was killed in a practice run. I don't think I can name a half-dozen winter Olympic athletes. Is that sad?
  • Cincinnati Bengals - Okay, we'll file this one under "some people/teams just don't learn." The Bengals are signing wide receiver Matt Jones, who has a cocaine problem AND they worked out Adam "Pacman" Jones, who can't stay out of jail, or away from strip clubs. This is the same team, who a couple years ago, couldn't keep their players out of jail. Do they really need either one of these guys.

Entertainment

  • Captain Phil - RIP Captain Phil.
  • Alec Baldwin - How many times will the fifty-one year old Alec Baldwin torment his fourteen year old daughter? I've seen this guy in interviews, and people applaud him for his political savvy and acting, but have you listened to the audio of the voicemail where he berated his daughter. And now this incident. Whew!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Random Thoughts from This Week

World Events

· Al-Qaeda attack - According to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and CIA Director Leon Panetta, al-Qaeda is planning to attack the U.S. in the next three to six months. Al-Qaeda planning to attack the U.S. is not earth shattering, but what was surprising is the definitive timeline for the attack. I've never seen that kind of prediction in an open forum. Let's see what develops in the coming months related to that prediction. If it's a CYA prediction, than we'll hear no more of it. But if it's legitimate, stuff within the government security apparatus will start to move into high gear. I suspect its CYA.

· "Don't ask, don't tell" debate - I was very surprised to hear the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (the senior military officer in the United States), Admiral Mike Mullen, support doing away with the "don't ask, don't tell policy." This debate is going to be interesting, and likely heated.

· Toyota - This is a classic example of "Bad news does not get better with time." I guess Toyota is experiencing what happens when you sell your soul the be the largest car manufacturer in the world - your core competency, which for Toyota was always its quality, suffers. This is a great opportunity for General Motors and Ford. Hopefully, they are savvy enough to take advantage of it...

Technology

· Charging for Internet content - The past couple weeks I've noticed a groundswell of reporting on companies exploring methods for monetizing content on the Internet. This has long been an issue with print media outlets, and some are beginning to take steps to monetize their content. The Wall Street Journal is leading the charge in this arena and the New York Times announced that they will introduce a new pay for content process in 2011. Additionally, the Internet based television and movie streaming web site Hulu announced Tuesday that they were looking into ways to charge viewers for some of their content. I'm on the fence with this because I enjoy the freedom of the Internet, but I do realize that companies have to figure a way to make money for producing their content. At this point, I would probably pay for New York Times content.

· iPad launch - From what I have scene and read, I'm not so sure the iPad is a "game changer." As far as I can tell, it's just a larger, more expensive version of the iPhone; but it doesn't make phone calls or take pictures.

Sports

· Superbowl - I like the Colts because they have Peyton Manning. Period.

· Michigan State Basketball - It's that time of year when Spartan Coach Tom Izzo starts steeling his team for an NCAA Tournament run. He'll start saying, "We're not playing as well as we should," "This team lacks a leader." Blah, blah, blah. The interesting thing about this year is the Spartans are playing good ball. With the exception of the beat down from Wisconsin Tuesday night.

Entertainment

· Lost - Okay, so this is the season we're supposed to get the answers to the Lost mysteries. I watched the two-hour season premier and the only thing I learned was that Locke was the smoke monster. I think the writers and producers of Lost have gotten over for the past, what, 5 years, just writing "stuff" every week. I don't think they have any idea how to tie it all together and wrap it up.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Random Great Things

A few random, great things

- Digging a hand into a jacket pocket, or the pocket of a pair of pants you haven't worn in a while, and finding money. It doesn't matter if it's only a dollar. It's the surprise of finding it there that's great.

- Perusing your music library and finding a hidden gem song you missed when you first purchased the CD, or rediscovering a great song from the past. I'll find one of these songs and wear it out for a couple months.

- Riding the train. I don't care if it's an Amtrac train or a light rail subway-type train, riding the train is great.

- People watching at the airport. Watching the mass of humanity that flows through an airport on any given day is a study in human nature, and great fun.

- Reconnecting with an old friend. A friend is a friend. When life's path takes you in different directions and you can reconnect, it's great thing.

- The tired feeling after a good day’s work, or a great workout. It's not an exhausted feeling. It's a feeling of comfortable accomplishment.

- Football Saturday in the Fall. You don't even have to go to the game; just the events of a football Saturday are great.

- Relaxing with the Sunday New York Times. It used to be the paper version, now it's a digital version on my phone. Either way, it's great exercise for the brain.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Tue Pic of the Day: Paranormal Activity?




This branch fell from a tree on a windy day and landed like this. It wasn't a hurricane, or even a heavy thunderstorm, just a normal, rainy day. Strange.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Passion and Work: Do You Love Your Job?

Are you passionate about what you do for a living, or is it something you do because you have to pay the bills? Would you call yourself a professional, or do you just have a job? Is there a difference between working in a profession and working a job?

Some would say that the true mark of being passionate about your work is that you would do it for free. I don't necessarily agree with this because I consider myself passionate about my work, and I consider myself a professional, but there are days when I wouldn't do my work for free.

I do think it's important to find work that your are passionate about. After all, you spend a good chunk of your life at work, it helps if you enjoy what your are doing.

I also think that to be a professional you have to be passionate about your work, otherwise, you are just working a job.

Finding something you are passionate about, and actually earning a living at it, is difficult. It's wonderful when you do, though, because being passionate about your work, and making that work part of your life, adds an enriching layer to who you are.

How Many Friends Can You Manage?

UPDATE 1: Similar article regarding Dunbar's Number.

11/13/2009
British anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggests that the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships is roughly one hundred fifty people. A stable social relationship is defined as one where an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person.

This got me thinking: With the rise of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, how does Dunbar's number apply to network-based social "communities"?

I have about three hundred "friends" on Facebook and roughly five hundred followers on Twitter.

Because I approve my Facebook friends, I have a working knowledge of who they are and some knowledge of how they link to my other friends.

My Twitter community is a completely different story. Other than a one hundred forty character biographic description, I know next to nothing about my Twitter followers.

Is the way we create relationships changing as a result of network-based social communities? Do we have too many "friends"? Can we effectively engage them all?

"People" by Lola Grace

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Twitter Likes and Dislikes
What Gordon Gekko Can Teach Us About Smartphones
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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Sat Pic of the Day: Taxation...


I know it's difficult to read, but the picture is meant to show you the motto on a Washington, DC license plate.

The motto reads, "Taxation Without Representation."

It always perplexes me when I read this because you would figure DC would want to place something positive on their license plate. Something for District citizens to rally around. Maybe something similar to New Hampshire's motto, which is, "Live Free or Die."

The New Hampshire motto highlights something the state takes pride in - they are a free people.

Do the citizens of DC take pride in the fact that they are taxed, but don't have a representative in the federal government? I wouldn't take pride in that.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Guest Random Thought by Scott Knapp: The Bill Acceptor

I was in a hotel last week in Louisville. I arrived late and instead of going back out to get a bite to eat, I walked down the hall to grab a Diet Coke. When I pulled out my wallet I noticed I had about four singles, none of which looked any newer than twenty years old.

I took out two of the least beat up dollars, and sure enough the machine took them both like a champ.

It used to be where you needed to iron the bills, rub them back and forth on the corner of the machine nine times, and pray. From there you would try at least ten times, only to have the bill acceptor spit the bill back out to you. Then you would walk away disgruntled with nothing but frustration.

I give kudos to the guy who came up with the technology to advance the bill acceptor to the state they are today.

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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thu Pic of the Day: A Long Walk to the Top


Use the picture as a metaphore for your life, career, or both. Niether is easy, and it is indeed a long walk to the top. Good luck.

The “Twenty-Eight Day Rule”: The Netflix and Warner Agreement

Netflix Just Gave iTunes a Big Fat Kiss

The twenty-eight day rule is an agreement between Netflix and Warner that prevents Netflix from renting any new-to-DVD movie from Warner until twenty-eight days after its release to DVD.

The movie studios are reeling financially and, like all media outlets, are looking for new ways to generate, or simply maintain, revenue. Even though last year was a record setting year for movie theater revenue, the reason for the revenue uptick was higher ticket prices; attendance in the theater actually declined.

The movie studios depend on DVD sales to help generate revenue, but the numbers show that DVD sales are declining, as well – more people are opting to rent movies digitally.

So, the twenty-eight day rule is a desperate attempt by Warner to maintain a DVD revenue stream.

In return for the twenty-eight day rule, Netflix was able to flesh out its streaming video library with more, older Warner titles.

The other thing here is that other Internet movie rental businesses (Apple, Blockbuster, etc) have not agreed to the twenty-eight day rule.

Personally, I could care less about waiting an extra month to see a movie, and I don’t collect DVDs either. So, this is not a big deal to me. Actually, having access to more Warner titles streaming via Netflix works in my favor.

What’s obvious with this scenario is that you have a company, Warner, who is trying to restrict access to content in the hopes it can hold onto a revenue generating channel that is dying. There is no creativity here. It’s a panic attempt to stay afloat.

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tue Pic of the Day: Airblade


File this under: "Things That Work"

Okay, I guess I do go around taking pictures in restrooms. This is the Dyson Airblade hand dryer, and it's awesome.

Not sure about you, but when I go into a public restroom and see a hand dryer, and no paper towel option, I get a little annoyed.

What happens is you wash your hands, stand there for a couple minutes rubbing them together under the "dryer," only to walk away with wet hands.

Forget about it if it's a busy restroom; you'll wait for days to dry your hands. Everyone stands around holding their hands up like a surgeon who just scrubbed in, dripping water all over the floor, waiting for a dryer to open up.

Not with the Airblade. This thing rocks. It actually works as advertised. Still not as fast as the good old paper towel, but a giant leap forward from the tired, old-school hand dryer, and kind of fun to use.

I'm not a Dyson vacuum cleaner owner (I have an Oreck), but I know people who swear by their design. If Dyson's vacuums work like the Airblade, then Kudos to Dyson for their design and functionality engineering.

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Monday, January 18, 2010

In Through the Out Door: There Has to Be a Better Way to Manage Airport Security Breaches

This is getting out of control. For the second time in the past few weeks, a chuckle head walking through the wrong door has cleared an airport terminal.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about security. Being in the line of work I am, I understand the difficulties of keeping America safe.

My simple point here: I think legit terrorists know that if you set off an alarm on a secured door, or walk in the wrong way at a terminal, all hell is going to break loose.

There is nothing sneaky about doing either of those things, and the chances of a successful terror attack just went out the window if you're stupid enough to do them.

There has to be a better way to mitigate "security breaches" every time an idiot wants one last kiss before his old lady flies off.

How about if TSA puts security cameras on those "no, no" access points and does a quick search of the video footage when a breach occurs? Certainly there must be a technology that can assist with this. At a minimum, put a human being at these access points to help make it more idiot proof.

I know it's not that easy, but all I'm saying is let's get creative. The alternative is to keep jerking everyone through a knothole.

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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sat Pic of the Day: Wendy


This cute little birdie's name is Wendy. Wendy occupies a nondescript perch in a corner, overwatching the room of a four year old little girl. You have to look hard to see Wendy, but when you find her you never forget she's there. In fact, I find myself looking for Wendy whenever I'm in the room.

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Friday, January 15, 2010

The Resolutioner's: Why You Are Doomed to Fail and What to do About It

Are you a "Resolutioner?" That's the name I've given to the folks who resolve to lose weight toward the end of the year, flood into the gym for the first couple months of the new year, only to fizzle out.

Fortunately, I don't fight the resolutioner crowd because I exercise in my garage, but I drive by the gym every morning and evening on may way to and from work, and this time of year there are cars parked on top of cars during the morning and evening peak exercise hours. I also listen to friends who use the gym complain about how crowded they are and how they can't get on this or that machine.

The crowded gym parking lot usually lasts until mid-February or early March. That's about when the resolutioner's run out of schlitz, but it doesn't have to be this way.

I think most of the resolutioner's are doomed to fail because the system is designed to make you fail. The system says you have to read this fitness magazine or follow this fitness plan, eat this kind of food, go to a gym, and use these kinds of machines.

The system is designed so you make a half-hearted attempt to get into shape, spend some of your hard-earned money, and give up; only to do it all over the next year. You never really get anywhere.

Why is that? The system doesn't realistically fit into your daily routine. Just the act of going to the gym is what usually dooms most of the resolutioner's. To get your exercise in you have to get up early (or go after work), pack a bag with shower supplies, towel, shower shoes, etc. After a while, this drill becomes tiresome and, suddenly, a little extra sleep in the morning, or happy hour after work are more enticing.

So what can you do? Make your exercise fit into your routine. Try the below workout, which doesn't require machines and can be done anywhere.

-5 dips
-20 crunches
-Run 100 yards

Scale as needed and do it three times. Good luck!

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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thu Pic of the Day: Passing Train


I spend a lot of time in train stations traveling here to there. I'm always mesmerized by a passing train. Not sure why because it's somewhat violent - it's loud and makes the ground shake. But there is something about a passing train that draws me in.

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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Tue Pic of the Day: Red Box



Have you ever seen these big, clunky, red boxes parked outside of retail stores? I've walked by them and wondered why anyone would want to rent a movie from them.

Well, a little birdy told me that it was an easy and practical way to rent movies, so today I rented my first movie from Red Box.

It was easy, and best of all the movie was only a dollar (as long as you return it by 9:00 pm the following night).

The way it works is you select a movie, swipe your credit card, plug in an email address (optional), and, just as if you bought a candy bar from a vending machine, out pops your movie. When you're done with the movie, you take back to ANY Red Box.

I've been a Netflix user for years, but I'm reconsidering that subscription because I have a Red Box five minutes from my house.

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UPDATE: Thoughts on Free Wi-Fi

1/12/2010

Good NYT article on what the airlines are doing with internet access on planes. I found it encouraging that most of the big carriers are moving forward with Wi-Fi installation. Also, found it interesting how Continental is approaching the topic: testing a full internet capability and an email/text messaging capability with DirecTV.

12/16/2009
UPDATE: "McDonald's Adds Free Wi-Fi to the Menu"

Well, not sure if it's a victory, but I think it might be. McDonald's, obviously, has a lot of presence in the marketplace. I might be more inclined to go into McDonald's -- hopefully, not to eat the food. The way I see it, if I am more inclined to spend more time at McDonald's, I assume more folks will, too. It will be interesting to see the McDonald's return on investment with this, and to see if others follow. I think McDonald's is going to reap benefits here, and it will be a case study for the "If you offer free Wi-Fi, they will come."

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June 2009

It's been a while since I have done any significant traveling, but recently I have been on planes and trains and staying at hotels. In the time since I last actively traveled, smartphones and netbooks have become prolific. I have one of each and with 3G connectivity I am never far from the network. But what about the free Wi-Fi revolution?

It kind of surprised me that businesses have yet to figure out the Wi-Fi mystery: if you build a FREE Wi-Fi network, people will come. The fact that businesses are still trying to charge for this service is kind of mind-boggling.

A good example is McDonald's. Walk into most McDonald's these days and right on the door is a sign advertising Wi-Fi. The catch is that they want to charge you for the service. When was the last time you saw someone pull out their laptop in McDonald's?

Another example is Starbucks. It's pretty difficult to drive more than a few miles these days and not drive by a Starbucks -- they are everywhere; the preeminent coffee shop in the world. But they still have not solved the Wi-Fi mystery. Sure, Starbucks has Wi-Fi, but it's provided by T-Mobile and AT&T and Starbucks wants to charge you for it. Now, to be sure, there are people in Starbucks coffee shops connected to Wi-Fi on laptops and smartphpones, but there probably would be more, buying more expensive drinks and snacks, if Starbucks provided Wi-Fi as a complimentary service.

How about hotels? Most budget and mid-scale hotel chains are now providing free Wi-Fi access, but the definition of access is open to wide interpretation. Some have great, four-bar access in rooms, while others advertise free Wi-Fi, but it can only be reliably accessed from the lobby. Upscale hotels are a different story with most still charging for this service. I find this silly and, all things being equal, avoid upscale hotels in search of free access to Wi-Fi when I travel.

I'm no frequent flier, but in the past few months I've been to airports in Jacksonville, NC, Charlotte, NYC, Flint, Milwaukee, and Chicago. If my brain serves me correct, all these airports offered Wi-Fi through the Boingo network, which appears to service many different airports. It's a service you must pay for. I'm on the fence here because you can't choose an airport like a restaurant, coffee shop or hotel, so from a capitalist perspective you have a captive audience and it makes sense to charge for the service. But as a consumer, I would like to see free Wi-Fi at airports.

A company named Aircell is currently fitting U.S. airplanes with Wi-Fi connectivity. By the end of this year, Aircell plans to have one thousand planes Wi-Fi enabled and is planning on having two thousand on line by the end of next year. The price to outfit each plane is roughly one hundred thousand dollars. Airlines are planning to charge for this service, with per flight rates for occasional travelers and monthly subscription rates for frequent travelers. Much like the airports, initially charging for this service makes sense. However, as more airlines come on line, this service should become a commodity. I know I would most likely choose to fly an airline that offered free Wi-Fi over one that did not. Airlines, are you listening...?

Wi-Fi on trains is spotty. Many business commuter rails are beginning to offer Wi-Fi, which is a good thing. But Amtrak provides Wi-Fi service only on some of its routes. I would think that eventually Amtrak will start outfitting more of its trains with Wi-Fi, especially since the airline industry is beginning to come on board. Time will tell.

In the short term, I can understand charging a nominal fee for Wi-Fi access in airports and on planes and trains, but as this market matures, Wi-Fi service should be expected for free. As for restaurants, coffee shops and hotels, Wi-Fi should be a "no brainer" complimentary service. If restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels are not already offering free Wi-Fi, they are probably already losing customers, and missing out on those that would come through the door for the free service.