No273 13 Oct 2009 Sneeze

Originally uploaded by mcfarlandmo

In case you were not sure, yes we are a little paranoid about Swine Flu.

Oahu woman kicked off United flight after crew suspected she had the flu

A 50-year-old Oahu woman says she was booted from a flight from Tampa to Hawaii because the flight crew aboard the aircraft suspected she had the flu.

Mostoufi said she doesn’t have the flu. She said medication for restless leg syndrome made her feel nauseous, so she asked for an air sickness bag. After she made the request, a United Airlines employee told her to leave the aircraft.

Seriously, do I even have to tell you how this one turned out?

In retrospect, calling in a bomb threat probably wasn’t the best idea

Police say a woman went to great lengths to make sure her boss didn’t miss his flight Wednesday — she called in a bomb threat.

Does this ad poke fun at Tiger Woods? You bet it does.

Does Spirit Airlines’s new fare sale ad poke fun at Tiger Woods?

Spirit, already known for advertisements that skirt the line of tastefulness, is stirring up the pot again with an ad that plays off the hullabaloo surrounding the mysterious car crash of golf star Tiger Woods. In a 10-second ad that already has generated a lot of online attention, Spirit touts one-way fares of as low as $9 in its “Eye of the Tiger sale.” In the ad, a tiger wearing a black cap is shown crashing an SUV with a smashed out window into a fire hydrant.

The respected travel editor of the USA Today was laid off this week. Some of his remarks seem to indicate that he might be a little bitter.

Goodbye to USA Today…And All of That

But increasingly, things have become more interesting outside the newsroom bubble. I’d go to conferences and meet people who were making it just fine on their own. Some were creating niche businesses, busting up the paradigm. Others were parlaying old school media talents into fresh ventures, with a moxie that made me wish I had the freedom to emulate them. The air inside USAT’s towers on Jones Branch Drive always seemed a little stale after that.

These freelancers-slash-entrerpreneurs are smart. They are nimble. And now they are my role models, as I join their ranks.

So to the managers who made this decision, in less than 140 characters I tell you: Good luck steering the Titanic. And thanks for the head start. Now I’m really going to run.

It what seems to be a bit of a trend, National Geographic has moved one of its magazines to web-only.

National Geographic Adventure Magazine Folds

National Geographic announced on Thursday that it was ceasing regular publication of National Geographic Adventure, its 10-year-old magazine about travel and the outdoors published eight times a year. However, it will keep the brand alive in two annual newsstand-only publications, in books and on the Web.

I have tweeted I was at the airport before and found out that an acquaintance was at the next gate.

Twitter tool shows shows who is at the airport

Airports and Twitter have one thing in common—they both create an ever more connected global village. Be that as it may, airports themselves can still be pretty lonely places while waiting to board. A French Twitter tool aims to remedy that: bored twitterers need only tweet #boarding along with an airport code (e.g. LAX), and they’ll get a reply with a list of twitterers in that airport in the last few hours. Alternatively, Boarding.fr displays a map of all the world’s airports and the users in them. Users can choose which random stranger they’d like to tweet and maybe meet while in transit.

This couple makes an online pitch for Cunard to send them around the world. Cunard has not yet agreed:

The Greatest Social Media Adventure in the World

Other interesting news items:

• Easyjet CEO proposes tough steps to achieve greener aviation
• Real-time flight reviews via Android and iPhone
• Airbus near disaster (photo)