Thursday December 17th (2)

Readers,

My finals are done and I am on my way home for a well-deserved break. Although back to back finals at 8 in the morning was not the ideal way to end a semester, and I still don't know how to travel time after completing an entire course on the subject, what's done is done. AND, with a 79% on my Spanish final, I safely passed my Pass/No Pass class. Fortunately, I am expecting my other finals to have significantly better outcomes. But without further ado allow me to move on to the daily excitement and our Daily Topic: I'M ON A PLANE

Yes, the time has come. Currently, I am traveling at 602 miles per hour at 34,000 feet. And I'm on the internet. Thanks to Virgin America and their newly outfitted WiFi planes, my frequent cross-country trips are becoming just that much more bearable. Complete with mood lighting and a personal touch screen with endless options, Virgin is truly revolutionizing modern air travel.

Each seat is outfitted with an electrical outlet and a USB charging outlet. No more losing your computer or iPod power halfway through the flight. Additionally, each seat has a handset in the arm rest that allows you to control the console in front of you.

From the touch screen in the seat back, you can navigate through a remarkable amount of options. You can watch TV (live or ondemand), listen to satellite radio, order a variety of movies, play a few games or even order food or drinks to your seat. With three or so touches, I could order myself a ginger ale. And I just did.

Under development is a sophisticated communication system. From the console and using the handset (which includes a full QWERTY keyboard), you will soon be able to send emails or text messages from the air. I am unsure of what kinds of fees will be associated with these services but the technology itself is impressive.

One free communication that is currently available seat-to-seat chat. If you are traveling with friends in different parts of the plane (or if you want to be really creepy and try to talk to random passengers) you can initiate a chat room on the screen in front of you based on row and seat number. You may establish a screen name and chat with anyone on the plane.

And, clearly, the planes have wireless. Usually, the WiFi costs somewhere between $5 and $12 depending on the length of the flight. However, for the holiday season (until January 15th), WiFi is free on all Virgin flights. The only problem now is deciding which features you want to utilize.

Virgin's contemporary approach to air travel appears to be an ideal business model compared to its competition. Until this point in my airfaring travels, I found JetBlue and Southwest to be the best in terms of efficiency, user-friendliness, and cost. However, Virgin has established its niche as the hip (and cheap) new airline.

Between revolutionized air travel and space tourism, the question is: what is there that Virgin can't do?

Ginger ale is here.

-ROF

Daily Food: Papa Ginos

Daily Activity: Air Travel

Daily Song: Come Sail Away - Styx

Daily Attire: Christmas Sweaters

Daily News Everyone Should Care About: Boston Temps Near Zero

Daily News No One Should Care About: Dubai Records 6000 Beach Offences

Daily Life Goal: TDR from an Airplane. Check.

Daily Complaint: My Seat Doesn't Recline

Daily Drink: Ginger Ale

Daily Television: Three Sheets

Daily Movie: Up in the Air