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FCC Smooths the Path For Airlines' In-Flight Internet
The Washington Post reports on a development that may push Internet access on commercial aircraft from a pleasant luxury (but missing on most U.S. domestic flights) to commonplace. Writes the Post:
"The Federal Communications Commission on Friday approved an application process for airlines to obtain broadband Internet licenses aboard their planes. Previously, airlines were granted permission on an ad hoc basis. Airlines need the FCC’s permission to tap into satellite airwaves while in flight that enable passengers to access the Internet. They also need permission from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees the safety of inflight Internet systems." I hope that on-board Internet not only becomes the default, but that free advertising-backed access does, too; especially for short flights, the "24-hour pass" paid access I've seen on United and Delta is tempting, but too pricey.
Please, for the love of God, Xenu, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster, no, not in-flight internet that screws with the stream and inserts its own ads into it, or intercepts random http requests and redirects them to interstitial ads. Taco Bell in South Florida tried that a few months ago, and it broke SO FUCKING MANY Android apps it isn't funny (because the access point's stupid software couldn't tell the difference between a http request for a web page, and a http request made to some web service whose client app is just going to crash and burn if it gets a 302 redirect in a context where the real app would never, ever return one).
GoGo uses cellular service, not sat links. The whole thing about using your cell phone on an aircraft is utter bullshit and has been since day one.
Heres an map old map of some of their towers.
http://www.gadling.com/2009/12/07/aircell-headquarters-chicago-internet/
Analog cell phones worked just fine on aircraft. Digital doesn't have the power to do it at 35k feet, of course, you also have a battery that'll last a couple days instead of just one with digital but thats another argument and that problem can be addresses as well.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
I don't really need internet access on a flight, but when I'm on a 3 hour flight and I am running so many applications on my laptop that my battery is only good for 2 hours, I would really love to have an outlet to plug in and keep my battery charged. Unfortunately most of the planes I've been on in the past 7-10 years have been of the regional jet variety which generally don't have AC outlets for anyone.
As much as I generally am rather fond of the EmbraerJets, I am rather annoyed that they never give me anywhere to plug in my laptop, it would well offset my frustration over the inability to stand up in the aisle.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
WiFi on Southwest is only $5 per day right now, which is less than gogo charges for WiFi in the airport!
And in my experience, it's HORRIBLY slow. Last time I went to Texas, I noticed the return AUS->BNA flight had it and figured "why not?" Web pages took forever to load and would frequently time out, the onboard hosted content wasn't exactly snappy, and even AIM and IRC had trouble keeping a connection.
"So after all this, you make my case for me. To end this stalemate, you must die..."
Yes, it is slow. When I have used it, it gave me slightly better than dial-up speeds and, on occasion, I would lose connectivity for a few minutes. Basically, good enough for email and light surfing. I also downloaded a few PDFs.
On the other hand, I am sitting 7 miles in the air, moving at several hundred miles an hour and able to access the Internet! Sure, it isn't a great connection, but I'm 7 miles in the air - so I think it's pretty sweet.
Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
It is nice to have the option of checking the results of a hockey game during a long flight, but in general I agree; having to live without an internet connection for several hours is not a hardship. It is not hard to download a movie or two the day before flying, and anyone who is is critical to their company that the company cannot function if they are out of contact for a few hours needs to be replaced. Critical failure points like that are too dangerous to keep around.
Just because you are paranoid does not mean that no-one is out to get you.
Too many price-insensitive business travelers willing to pay *any* price with the corporate credit card
I'm a business traveller - Flew 65K miles on 66 segments in 2012. When I've been on flights with IF internet I've never bothered with it. I edit presentations, work on spreadsheets, reply to email ("save draft"), or watch a movie. It's my few hours when I'm *not* connected...
You get to fly first class? Lucky you. I've given up trying to use a laptop in coach - no room for a tolerable arm/hand angle for typing or reasonable head angle, and too much risk for the jackass in front of me reclining with no notice and snapping my display.