Blogging, 4 Miles Up!!!

If you look at porn while flying, are you in the Mile High Club?




I am slightly upset with Mr. Tressel. While I understand starting Pryor, I still think that it would have been better to start Todd. At least he got a standing ovation when he left the stadium for the last time!

Also, The Crew is now the MLS champions for the first time ever in our history. Congratulations to the team, and I might be joining your crazy supporters next year (when I can go pubbing).

No, I am not currently flying and blogging, but it is an interesting idea. Being able to sit back in the 'comfy' chairs, smile as you see how to buckle a seatbelt, blog about the latest in airline food, and check your ESPN fantasy league. Yep, seems like an amazing thing to do. Well, now you can, as Virgin America is now offering a wifi based flight. While it is not live yet for any planes but it's trial run for Internet junkies, it seems to be a go (hehe, pun intended).

For only 10$ for 3 hour flights, or 13$ for more than 3 hours in the air, this seems like a good investment for people to make. While the Internet is slightly slower than what you are used to, and it will cut off voice and video chatting (how long until there is a workaround?), it still seems very good. Imagine being able to fly the redeye over for you meeting in London and being able to get the most accurate figures and updates for your morning presentation. Or, being a boss, and being able to keep up with the company news while flying to New Zealand for your 'vacation'. Yep, this service seems quite usable.

Now, I think that there needs to be some fixes to the current Internet plan. I agree with the way it is designed to adapt its allowance based on current use both by you and by others. I agree that it should not be filtered (though, I am sure if you are looking at porn they might ask you to put it away). And I agree that they should block (again, how well can they do that) the voice programs. However, I disagree with the fact that it allows torrenting (I mean, come on now, violations of copyright while flying) and disagree with the security of the Internet broadcasting that they are using. Frankly, I think that you should be assigned a password and number (tied to you via your reservation) and thus they can both protect you and prosecute you, which ever is needed.

While I like the idea of this, I am still worried about the possible consequences of this. Just like cell phone on planes, I can see this as being a giant annoyance to other passengers. I can also see people with Wi-Fi cell phones trying to use that Internet, and screwing with the navigation. I can see issues with kids sitting behind you when you are looking at your porn, or other users tracking your information. Frankly, I really would just be annoyed if the person sitting next to me was using AIM (screw you iChat that everybody on the test was using) all flight. I mean, seriously, those annoying noises would probably cause me to throw their computers out of the airlock.

So, while I like the idea for businesses, the end probable use makes it not worth it in my mind. What do you guys think?

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Macs

Post 2:

So I am sitting here in English 571.02 thinking about life, the ballads along the Scottish and English border that crossed into America (what the lecture was about), and what I was going to be writing for the Wednesdays update. Then, I look around. I am sitting there with my little Acer and everybody else in class has out a Mac of some sort. That is write, an OSX running, white background, glowing apple orb Mac. I realized that Macs are something that REALLY GRINDS MY GIGANTIC NOTCHED WHEELS.

So lets start talking about Macs. I mean, what is the appeal in these systems; they are underpowered, not unupgradable, cost way more, and have the most restrictive end-user agreement of any OS (and most Mac users claim Microsoft is evil and the devil). Really, it boils down to the three following things:
1) Macs are not worth how much they cost
2) Any benefits that OSX had over Microsoft are now no longer applicable
3) There are no benefits in having a Mac over a PC

So, let us start by discussing how much Macs cost compared to a similar PC. I will be using the Macbook Pro (standard) vs a PC (comparable) that I made on Cyberpower. The stats are listed here:
Item Mac PC
Size 15.4 inches 15.4 inches
CPU 2.4GHz with 3Mb Catch 2.4GHz with 3Mb Catch
RAM 2gig 2gig
Video Card 256Mb 8600GT 256Mb 8600GT
HD 200gig 250gig (no 200)
Optical Disc 8X, DVDRW, CDRW 8X, DVDRW, CDRW
Cost $1999.00 (plus shipping and tax) $1115.00 (plus shipping and tax)

Now, it is clear that the Mac is way more expensive then an equal PC. Clearly, there is no argument that you can not get more bang for your buck with a Mac, so there must be something else at play here. So, we must examine if there are any benefits in having OSX over Vista. While one could have made the argument about XP, and especially, ME, there are no real glaring differences in Vista to OSX. In fact, Vista runs better and is very secure. There is a reason that OSX is usually the first system hacked in trials. While Windows does have more viruses written for it (due to the market share) it is more secure. Furthermore, Windows immediately attempts to fix all found flaws, while Mac takes there time. Clearly, there are no benefits on OSX there.

So, what are the benefits of OSX that make it work the 800$? Is it usability? Now with Vista, which took all of OSXs best features and added them. Is it security, well, yes, but not by much, and definitely not 800$ worth. Is it programs? Get real, what is there that is on a Mac that is not on a PC? I can name much better programs that are PC only. According to crave vista wins against OSX in a trial and error. With that knowledge, is there any reason to pony up the extra 800$? This Vista and Ubuntu user says NO.

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