Wise advice, indeed.  I feel better already.

Bulk Cable, Network Cables, Audio Video Cables, Cat5E, HDMI Cables, Computer Cables, Networking Cables and Structured Wiring, Fiber Optic and more!.

This is the replacement for the famous Dulles “Mobile Lounge” trucks.  I was previously against this improvement, as it took away that glorious 1960′s vibe that went along with the distinctive Dulles architecture.  However, while it seems to have lengthened the security time at Dulles, the new trains retain their 1960′s vibe with the new 2001 A Space Oddessey styling queues.

Video below shows the ride.  The interiors of the tunnels could have been better done, although I’m guessing that they were thinking most people aren’t in the front of the train and wouldn’t see the tunnels.  They nailed the stations, however, including the awesome glowing light bridge.

Jumper cables from woot, July 21, 2010

Wooted today. Jumper cables. Nice, new, clean ones, one for each car. And, can’t hook them up wrong, they automatically adjust polarity using magic.

Plus, they are blue.  Blue is always good.

Really great commentary on copyright from a composer who finds his sheet music regularly traded online.  He posts an exchange with someone on the other side, but there is a tremendous, articulate writing of the creator’s view.

There is also the heated, normal full spectrum from the idiotic to the thoughtful on Slashdot.

Bazinga T-Shirt from ThinkGeek

The first T-Shirt I’ve felt like buying in 20 years!

In truth, there are a ton of great T-shirts on the ThinkGeek web site, as well as lots of other cool things.  I work at a place where some of there products are used.  Well, at least by a small handful of people looking for distractions in the day from time to time.

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Their version of Iko Iko was fun as always.

The background is that airlines are hurting for revenue, and have added fees for all kinds of things.  There are fees for checking bags (around $25 for one bag), fees for food ($5 and $8 for “airline quality” food, credit card only), fees for changing flights, fees for comfortable seats, fees for preferred seats, and in the case of United there are now fees for cashing in earned miles.  I’ll focus on the $25 checked bag fee.

We already have a mechanism for avoiding checked bags; the delays associated with waiting for your bag after the flight.  This isn’t an issue universally, some airports seem to have an ability to get the bag to baggage claim by the time you walk to it from the plane (DCA is a standout in this way).  Others seem to send the bag to baggage claim “within 30 minutes or less”, leaning toward the 30 minute edge (BWI, unfortunately, is in this category).  Now, we’ve added a $25 hit for this service, even more for more than one bag.  Since this can add $50 to the cost of a round trip ticket, more and more people are avoiding the checked bag process.

Which leads to more and more people showing up at the gate with large bags to carry on.  There are always passengers showing up with bags that are too large to fit into overhead bins.  The typical business traveler has a laptop bag attached to a roll-aboard suitcase, the latter of which has to go overhead.  This setup guarantees that by the time half the passengers have boarded all the overhead storage space is full and there is chaos in the aisle as people look for space above and plead with the cabin staff about how their bag cannot go in the cargo space below.  It’s pretty clear air travel is an essential service, as no one would put up with a process this prone to disappointment, discourtesy, and delays for the pleasure of the experience.

The solution seems impossible to implement; have the bags predictably in baggage claim areas in the time it takes passengers to walk from the gate.  Then, reduce the fees to $10 or $15 a bag, where it will seem like a reasonable fee for the service and not a penalty imposed on customers that have no alternative.

Side issue: Southwest seems to win again by advertising no bag fees.  Their ticket prices have crept up and their planes are completely full as far as I can tell.

Business Opportunity: Use FedEx or someone for a service to send you bag from home to your hotel overnight.  I’m sure they could beat the $25 price point in some ways.

Other obvious gripe: the little manual is printed in a font so small that a magnifying glass is needed to read it. I thought this document might just be the legal stuff which no one ever reads. But, it was the real instructions.