How to make friends and influence air travelers

So, I'm currently sitting in the Rochester Airport waiting for a 5PM flight. Now, what do I do with my 4 hours of time before I'm ready to board. I could buy a book or a magazine. I could grab a bite to eat. I could people watch (I don't think I'll ever stop doing that in an airport. Or, I could take my laptop out and get some work done or surf around on the internet.

Here's my dilemma. Why do I need to pay $9.99 for 24 hour time slot to get on their network? I'm not paying for the internet at that point. I'm really just paying for the convenience of using their connection to the internet. As a result, I actually found a wireless network called "linksys". More than likely one of the offices or vendors in the airport have a router opened up.

Right now you're probably thinking I'm either really cheap or I'm stealing internet. Well first, I am cheap. I'm going to look for a bargain when I can. If I really wanted to get on the internet, I'd probably pay the $9.99. On the other hand, why isn't their competition? Why should 1 company have the right to charge? Secondly, I'm not stealing anything. Whoever owns the router decided it wasn't important enough to keep the public off of it.

So vendors, want to get on my "companies I like" list while I'm traveling? Open up your network so I can get on the internet. Even better, let travelers know you have free wi-fi and they just might stop in for a bite to eat. And to the airports who think it's a good idea to sign a monopoly contract with these ISP's. Don't. You'll have happier travelers and less complaints. Trust me.

Are annoyances on the internet worth it?

I wanted to see what the top stories were over at the Detroit Free Press web site, and an animated flying bee went over the page and eventually landed on a banner ad on the right of the screen. Thank you to the programmer who just pushed me to never come back again. I'll go ahead and use Google Reader from now on. Try going to weather.com without some animated pop-up on your screen or having to see some animated dancing silhouette. Thanks to Firefox, I can now block them with ease.

Do you want to know why I use Firefox and RSS Readers like Google reader and I hardly have any applications added on Facebook? Because I think the internet is really annoying sometimes. Things like unsolicited pop-up ads, invitations, and busy sites just don't appeal to me.

I guess those are the things I will have to continue to deal with on a "free" internet. It's one of the biggest reasons I won't come back to a site. Unless I really need the info, I'll look elsewhere.

I understand ads (as you can see some of the ones on my own blog), but give me a reason to come back to your site or I'll continue to use tools that make my experience with the internet better.

Thank you Seth Godin

You'll have to thank Seth Godin for this post. His blog just inspires me to write here. I know I may not know what I'm doing on this blog or have any specific vision right now, but I can't get better at blogging by doing nothing at all.

Detroit? Are you sure they said Detroit?

The Detroit Free Press pointed out a NY Times story that put together a list of 53 places to go in 2008. Why would they have any interest in pointing this out? Well, Detroit was 1 of only 6 U.S. cities to make it into the list. Yes, right now I'm listening to hear if anyone has fallen off of their rocker. They site the new hotels (the casinos of course and the Westin Book Cadillac makeover) and the newly renovated Detroit Institute of Arts as the attractions to come for.

While I think the hotels are very luxurious and the DIA is probably a site to see, Detroit just doesn't come to mind as 1 of the top places to come to for a vacation. I don't feel like people plan their time around Detroit, but rather Detroit plans it's time around people who happen to be passing through. This list of 53 has locations around the world. Do you think someone in another country plans to visit?

I hope Detroit doesn't become known for it's casinos and nice hotels. There is so much more history and charm than that. The sports, the music, the auto industry. Although, it's probably better than being known for your crime and decay. Detroit will hopefully crawl out from under the shadow of those stereotypes.

No joke...

A new book and website is out that recounts the personal stories of 7 mothers who lost children due to suicide caused by bullying. The Detroit Free Press has a story about one of the mother's in the book who is trying to raise awareness in schools about the effects of bullying.

It's a very interesting and sad story. Even though I was one of the biggest guys in school, I was still tormented during my school days. I was never down to the point of suicide, but I could definitely see how kids could be affected by these situations in their own schools. I just pray parents and teachers are aware enough to help these kids before it happens again.

Let's go Tigers!

The Detroit Free Press reports the Tigers will reach the attendance mark of 3 Million people this year. It's quite a change from just 2 years ago. So far, I've attended 3 games this year and if I'm lucky, I might make it to another one before the season is over. If we're even more lucky, maybe there will be some tickets available in October. So, in an act of redundancy, Let's Go TIGERS!!!

My computer, mags, and music, but no passport...

An interesting blog post on CNET.com News today that talks about air travel without an ID. It turns out, you are not legally obligated to show your ID during your security check at the airport. Not only can you choose to not show your ID, it usually gets you to the front of the line while they perform the more "thorough" secondary check.

While confrontation is not my cup of tea, I really would like to try this out sometime. I'm not some advocate that wants to buck the system or fight for my absolute rights, but if it gets me through the process faster, why not. On the other hand, I don't feel like telling them I don't have it when in fact it's on my person. So I have to have some expectation I will run into resistance if I try it out. Is it worth it, to be the "rebel"?