| May, 2008 |  |
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Iowa airport offers free phone calls
From USA TODAY’s Airport Check-in column: “Last fall, Iowa’s Sioux Gateway Airport gave up trying to jettison the SUX airport identifier code and embraced it. T-shirts, caps and, now, coffee mugs, luggage tags and bumper stickers sport the ‘Fly SUX’ slogan. There was even a Valentine’s Day ‘Luv SUX’ T-shirt. ‘People have been buying this stuff online, at a downtown store and at the gift shop in the airport,’ says airport director Rick McElroy, who adds that the airport allows 30 minutes of free parking to accommodate shoppers.”
“Now, the airport has removed all seven of its leased payphones and replaced them with four phones that let callers make free local and toll-free calls. ‘No one was really using the pay phones anyway,’ McElroy says. ‘These days, most people use their cellphones. But now people are using the free phones for local calls instead of burning up their cell minutes.’ ”
BWI latest to embrace artificial turf
“Baltimore/Washington is the latest airport to embrace the new landscaping trend of installing artificial turf on the tarmac. It’s ideal for unpaved areas on the tarmac because foreign debris in dirt and soil near runways can be safety hazards, says Joe Dobson of AvTurf. Airports have typically grown natural grass in these areas, but grass can be difficult and expensive to maintain and attract unwanted animals and birds. In addition, Astroturf is being used to replace the green paint or yellow X signs used to help pilots distinguish decommissioned taxiways. Painted asphalt can be hard to see at night for pilots, especially if paint fades, says Dobson. Among airports that have recently laid down artificial turf: New York’s John F. Kennedy, Atlanta, Detroit, Toronto, Chicago O’Hare, Chicago Midway and Boston.”
'First significant change to the checkpoint since the 1970s'
From USA TODAY: "The Transportation Security Administration hopes to create a kinder, gentler screening process and will test it soon at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Other U.S. airports could see it later this year. 'This is the first significant change to the checkpoint since the 1970s,' TSA chief Kip Hawley said. The checkpoint to be tested in May at one terminal in Baltimore is based on a simple premise: serenity adds security. Mauve lights glow softly, soothing music hums, and smiling employees offer quiet greetings and assistance. 'A chaotic, noisy, congested checkpoint is a security nightmare. Chaos gives camouflage,' Hawley said. 'A chaotic environment puts subtle pressure on (screeners) to rush the job.'
Bad news for fliers against allowing cellphones in flight –
at least on the other side of the Atlantic.
The Associated Press writes "the European Union on Monday opened the way for air travelers to use mobile
phones to talk, text or send e-mails on planes throughout Europe's airspace. Midair service may be available as
soon as this year on some airlines for passengers using European GSM technology. The United States and
many other countries bar mobile devices in the air because of concern they could disrupt a plane's instruments."
Still, AP notes that "a host of issues remain, from the cost of mid-flight phone service, to backlash from those who
dread the thought of being trapped for hours listening to one-sided conversations."
Belgian Satellite to Feature D-STAR Technology
Students at the Université de Liège in Belgium have built OUFTI-1, a new Amateur Radio CubeSat featuring D-STAR digital-communication protocol that is used for control and telemetry. Amateur Radio operators from all over the world are able to listen in on ON0ULG on 70 cm; 2 meters will be operational soon. The objective of this nanosatellite project is to provide hands-on experience to students in the design, construction and control of complete satellite systems, ultimately serving as the basis for a variety of space experiments. The first satellite in the series, OUFTI-1, is a CubeSat -- a 10×10×10 cm cube weighing in at no more than one kilogram. -- Information provided by the OUFTI Team
| May, 2008 | |
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