I found very interesting post on Tom Barrett's "ICT in my Classroom" blog about how Twitter is used as an educational tool.

Tom's post also describes where Twitter is positioned among other communications tools. Twitter is not a synchronous or an asynchronous communication system. It is rather both at once depending how channel's followers use it.

He makes a nice metaphoric comparison between Twitter and a flowing torrent where people can just stand by it and observes the flow. Some prefers to jump into while others simply do not pay much attention to the  stream.

Personally I am amazed to see how many different ways Twitter is used today. There are, indeed, lots of individuals (you and me) but also some politicians (Clinton, Obama, UK Prime Minister), Public Services (LA fire department, AmCross), Airlines, News agencies, etc.. which are increasingly using it, but not necessarily to interact with others but to broadcast content or information.

Is any company using Twitter for internal use only ? 

Tags: 2008, air, airlines, art, ATT, blog, ces, communication, downing, ia, ict, im, iso, lan, nomadcom.net, paris, post, prime minister, public, services, twit, Twitter, uk, wp

Emirates Airlines announced yesterday that passengers will no longer have to switch off their mobile phones and will be allowed to make calls and text people during their journey on-board.

The first flight with authorized mobile phone calls was made on 20th of March between Dubai and Casablanca on-board of an Emirates Airbus A340-300 fitted with AeroMobile system, which ensures mobile telephones operate at minimum power during flights and make sure mobile phone signal does not interfere with aircraft navigation equipments.

A second aircraft equipped with the same AeroMobile system will be in service shortly.

Rates were not published, but in 2007, cost per minute was estimated between 2.50 and 3.50 USD.

Source: Arabnews via Wi-Fi Networking 

Tags: 2007, 2008, aeromobile, air, airbus, aircraft, airlines, arc, art, blog, cellphone, cellular, emirates, flight, gsm onboard, ia, im, King, lan, light, mobile, Mobile Communications, mobile phone, network, nomadcom.net, passengers, phone, phones, power, Travel, wifi, wp, www

At 15h35 local time (08h35 GMT), flight OG/OX269 crashed during landing at Phuket Airport. Apparently landing took place under heavy rain and the Boeing MD-80 went out of the runway, crashing into the jungle near by breaking in tow parts before bursting into flames.

123 passengers (70 foreigners) and 5 aircrew were on board and according last official report, 87 of them have perished. Wounded have been transfered to Bangkok's Phuket Hospital. 

Bangkok Pundit is live blogging information about this crash as they are released from thai and international media.

One Two Go airlines has released additional phone numbers for enquiries regarding this accident 

085-155-4622
085-911-5092
085-918-3422
02-535-7662
02-504-3227
02-504-3641

Tags: 2007, air, airlines, airport, art, Bangkok, blog, Boeing, crash, flight, google, ia, im, International, King, lan, landing, light, live, md 82, nomadcom.net, OG OX269, one two go, OX269, passengers, phone, phuket, post, release, space, Thailand, uk, wp, www

As frequent air traveler it is always very interesting to discover where your favorite airlines appears on the annual Skytrax World Airline Award.

The 2007 edition of the awards honors Singapore Airlines as the Airline of the Year. In few days the name of the best Airport of the year will also be published.

HEADLINE RESULTS
	AIRLINE OF THE YEAR	BEST CABIN  STAFF	BEST INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
	Singapore Airlines	Malaysia Airlines	Emirates
	BEST FIRST CLASS	BEST BUSINESS CLASS	BEST ECONOMY CLASS
	Qatar Airways	Singapore Airlines	Korean Air
	BEST LOW-COST AIRLINE	FIRST CLASS CATERING	BUSINESS CLASS CATERING
	Jetstar Airways	Gulf Air	Austrian
	FIRST CLASS LOUNGE	BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE	ECONOMY CLASS CATERING
	Thai Airways	Virgin Atlantic	Etihad Airways
	BEST AIRLINE ALLIANCE	TRANSATLANTIC AIRLINE	TRANSPACIFIC AIRLINE
	Star Alliance	British Airways	Qantas

Additional awards and detailed results on Skytrax website

Tags: 2007, air, air travel, airlines, airport, Annual, award, awards, best of, blog, emirates, flight, gap, ia, im, lan, LED, light, nomadcom.net, release, sco, singapore airlines, skytrax, space, Travel, traveler, web, website, world, world airline award, wp, www

Yesterday, an Airbus A-380 took-off for the 2000th time and this flight was also the 1st public flight. The largest passenger plane took-off with more than 200 journalists & companies executives on board for a 2 hours flight over the Pyrenees.

The megaplane can fly non-stop for 9,300 miles (15'000 kms) with up to 840 passengers. However, airlines will most likely hold an average of 525 passengers in a 3-classes configuration.

When A380 launches for Singapore Airlines later this year it could have features such as a gym, cocktail bar, nursery, and private first-class cabin suites with their own sliding doors, desk and be.

Sources : The Guardian / Airbus 

Tags: 2007, 2008, a380, air, airbus, aircraft, airlines, art, Aviation, blog, ces, configuration, event, flight, gap, ia, im, lan, launch, light, list, megaplane, nomadcom.net, Our World, passengers, public, singapore airlines, space, story, superjumbo, take off, Travel, uk, wp, www

Is this new piece of IT equipment will become a "must have" for all travelers ? At least the idea is quite ingenious. Recharging your electronic devices while flying using the headphones socket installed on your seat (if your fly with a descent airlines as some other may still have air system audio distribution). 

How it works :
From InflightPower’s website :
The Inflight Power cable uses an internal trickle charger that takes 3-5 min to fully charge, then outputs power to the attached device (phone, music player etc). It does this repeatedly, thus the cable charges the attached device every 3-5 minutes for 1 minute or less. Plug compatible with any standard USB charging cable. The Inflight USB Power unit plugs into the passenger seat audio jack and outputs regulated power to the attached USB charging cable/connector.

The Inflight USB power Unit cost about 40.- US$ and can be converted to over 700 devices with a series of tips using Gomadic's TipExchange technology. (Source: DigitalTrends)

Tags: air, airlines, art, ATT, blog, cable, ces, charger, digital, flight, Gadgets, im, install, lan, LED, light, minutes, mobile, Mobile Communications, nomadcom.net, phone, phones, power, technology, tips, Travel, traveler, trend, usb, web, website, wp, www

A real trip in the past. It started with one hour and half flight from Beijing to Pyongyang on board of an Illyushin 62 (production stopped in 94, but this one was certainly quite older) of a black listed airlines (EU): Air Koryo. 

It’s difficult to quickly describe the capital city and the state mentality, but perhaps "Socialist Kingdom" is appropriate. Metro built in 1975 seems to be at least 50 years older; Great leader & Dear Leader pictures & sculpture are everywhere; traffic lights are off (or do not work anymore) and have been replaced by young, charming, blue and "robotic" corean girls. If you’re a fun of communist catchword, colorfull posters and massive "staline type" sculpture, that’s definitelý the place to visit. Catch a glimps from a new photo album

Tags: 50 years, air, airlines, api, art, asia, capital, CTU, flight, Fun, HP, ia, ict, im, King, lan, light, list, photo, picture, post, posters, quickly, social, space, This Web Site, traffic

 

Just read an interesting article about Connexion by Boeing on the Journal du Net. Today, 11 airlines proposed inflight Internet access on some selected flights.

The connexion speed is announced to be 1 Mbps upload and 5 Mbps download. Prices start at 9.95 USD for 1 hour up to 26.95 USD for the whole flight + connecting flights during a 24 hours period. The service includes email access, web browsing as well as VPN connexions.

Connexion to user’s computer can be established using cables (only in Business class I guess) and WiFi 802.11b/g.

Connexion by Boeing bases its connexions on Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) Ku Band satellites such the newly launched AMC-23.

Since January 2006, 5 TV channels such BBC, Eurosport or MSBCN are also available on the 135 aircrafts already equipped.

Airlines proposing Inflight Internet service:
Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA), China Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, El Al Israel Airlines, Etihad Airways, Austrian Airlines, Air China

I’m impatient to board one of these flights to see how good and reliable the connexion is. Unfortunately, Connexion by Boeing does not provide electricity supply to aircraft seats, in consequence, inflight Internet access will remain limited by the battery capacity and the laptop consumption.

By the way… according Connexion by Boeing, the average user of Inflight Internet is 41 years old, flies 57% of his time on Business class and flew 27 times in the last 12 months. Etonnant non ?

The complete story in french is here

Tags: 24, 802.11, access, air, aircraft, airlines, art, asia, ATT, BBC, Boeing, cable, capacity, ces, computer, consumption, electricity, flight, gap, global, HP, ia, im, in-flight, internet, internet access, Internet News, Internet World, japan, laptop, launch, light, MIT, mobile, Mobile Communications, satellite, singapore airlines, story, supply, Travel, user, web, wifi, wp, www