On these Internet-equipped planes, any passenger with a Wi-Fi enabled laptop — or a cellphone with Wi-Fi — will be able to do almost everything he or she could do online at home or at the office. That includes surfing the Web, using email, having instant-messenger text chats, downloading and uploading files, and streaming video and audio.

In fact, I did all these things a few days ago on a test flight using the new system, called Gogo. During the flight from San Francisco to Denver, on a small test jet, I could operate online as if I were sitting at my desk, or in a Starbucks. I used Dell and Apple laptops, a BlackBerry, a Windows Mobile phone and an iPhone to perform all the most common online tasks, while soaring over majestic mountains and glorious national parks.

I sent and received emails on Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail, including messages with hefty attachments. I conducted IM chats on AOL Instant Messenger and Google Talk. Using all the major Web browsers, I called up dozens of Web sites, and watched video clips on Hulu and YouTube. I downloaded photos, songs, PDF files and Microsoft Office documents. I used all the Internet functions on the iPhone, and on the Wi-Fi-equipped BlackBerry and Windows Mobile phone.

One important caveat: Gogo is a data-only system. It doesn’t allow phone calls and will block all services that allow voice conversations to be made over the Internet.

Gogo will launch on three American Airlines routes, likely in July. The first planes to use it will be American’s 15 Boeing 767s flying between New York and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. Later in the year, Gogo will be available on all of Virgin America’s small number of routes, and possibly additional American routes, if the first deployment works well. It’s supplied to the airlines by a Denver-based company called Aircell, which says it is in negotiations to offer the Gogo service on several other major U.S. airlines by next year.

The Gogo service will cost a flat fee of $12.95 for flights of three hours or longer, and $9.95 for shorter trips. You log into Gogo as you would any commercial Internet service, registering on a special Web page. Aircell plans to allow advance sign-up, so you’d only have to enter an ID and password on the plane. No add-on software, hardware or cables are required.

A few Web functions will be offered free from Gogo, including access to the American Airlines Web site, to Frommer’s online travel guides and to a limited selection of articles from The Wall Street Journal.

Gogo isn’t the first in-plane Internet service. A few years ago, Lufthansa offered a satellite-based service from Boeing, mainly on over-ocean flights, but it was canceled.

The service operates at respectable, if not blazing, speeds — similar to what you’d get on a cellular broadband service or a slow home DSL line. On my test flight, download speeds varied from 266 kilobits per second to about 1.4 megabits per second, with the most typical speeds hovering between 500 and 600 kbps. Upload speeds were between 250 and 300 kbps. I found that most of the tasks I tested, except for streaming video, felt smooth and normal.

Speeds could degrade on a large plane with scores of people online simultaneously. But Aircell claims it has the technology to make my experience representative for anyone doing common tasks, such as Web surfing and email. During my test flight, eight laptops and six Wi-Fi-enabled smart phones were using the system simultaneously. All registered decent speeds, except for a couple of minutes when the plane was crossing between the zones controlled by the company’s ground-based towers.

Aircell gets Internet access to the planes through a network of 92 towers scattered across North America. These essentially are cellphone towers, carrying a high-speed cellphone data signal, except that the Aircell antennas point up, into the sky. A receiver on the underside of the aircraft picks up the signal, which is then distributed through the plane via Wi-Fi.

The companies say Gogo is safe and won’t interfere with the plane’s operation. It is government-approved, and pilots can shut the system off should they deem it necessary.

Article by: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121382851874286403.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Gogo has some limitations. The service plans to allocate its capacity so that low-bandwidth activities like Web surfing and email take priority over high-bandwidth ones like streaming video. That means you may find video to be slow and halting.

And Gogo is a North American, land-based service only. It won’t work over the oceans and, for now, it won’t work on other continents.

But for U.S. travelers who want to stay connected in the air, Gogo does the job.

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My answer is you do have a choice! Before these new technologies, TSA always had an alternative screening method available and still does.  

TSA has implemented two “Whole Body Imaging” technologies in primary and secondary screening called, the Backscatter and Millimeter Wave. Both are an effective way to detect weapons, liquid explosives and other threat items concealed under layers of clothing without physical contact in a matter of seconds. Both have privacy issues with the scanned images; however, TSA is currently working to rectify that problem. Images will be deleted immediately once viewed and will never be stored, transmitted or printed.

Currently, the Backscatter is being used in secondary screening in lieu of a pat-down and the Millimeter Wave is being used in primary screening in addition to the walk-through metal-detector. The Backscatter and Millimeter Wave are still in the pilot phase at several airports. 

There is one question you need to ask TSA at your airport.  Is the Backscatter or Millimeter Wave in the pilot phase? If it is in the pilot phase, it’s offered on a voluntary basis and it’s an alternative to the traditional pat-down. If it’s not in the pilot phase, then be warned! When you decline, you will undergo additional screening using another screening method.  One other method would be a full-body pat-down. 

According to a TSA spokesperson, ninety percent of the passengers at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport prefer the Backscatter over a pat-down. It has not been determined how passenger imaging technology will be used in the future. If you feel this type of technology is not offering total privacy, then opt for a full-body pat-down.

In addition to Whole Body Imaging machines, you also have a Trace Portal machine called, the Puffer. The Puffer is different in the sense that it blows air onto you and then analyzes it for trace amounts of explosives.

I recently went through the Puffer machine and I can confirm that your skirt or dress will not fly up. It is impossible for any dress to fly up because there are no holes at the bottom of the Puffer. The holes are located only on the sides and blow air in that direction, not upwards. No Marilyn Monroe imitations here.

The same rule applies to the Puffer when it comes to having choices. Just like the Whole Body Imaging machines, the Puffer is still in the pilot phase at most airports. TSA does not require you to go through the Puffer; it is only on a voluntary basis. 

You may always refuse to be screened by any technology. Just remember that if the technology is not in the pilot phase, then you will be screened by another screening method. Ask what your choices are first and then make your own decision. If at all possible, do not let TSA make it for you.

Happy & Safe Travels!

Go to http://www.airportbook.com/bookstore.htm for all 369 valuable tips!

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Same goes for the backscatter and millimeter wave.  Both are in the pilot phase at some airports and TSA is asking for volunteers to be screened by them.  If they are in the pilot phase, then you may politely refuse to be additionally screened.  If they are not in the pilot phase and you refuse, you will be screened by an alternative method such as the full-body pat-down.  So if your airport has the walk-through metal detector and millimeter wave and the millimeter wave is in the pilot phase, then you may opt to only walk through the metal detector and not the millimeter wave.

According to a TSA spokesperson, he says TSA is undetermined as to how passenger imaging technology will be used in the future.  Currently, the backscatter is being used in secondary screening in lieu of a pat-down and the millimeter wave is being used in primary screening in addition to walking through the walk-through metal-detector.  The backscatter and millimeter wave are still in the pilot phase at several airports and passengers are screened only on a voluntary basis.  He also stated that ninety percent of the passengers at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport prefer the backscatter over a pat-down, though, TSA’s final vote is still not calculated.

If you feel this type of technology is not offering total privacy, then opt for a pat-down. 

Go to http://www.airportbook.com/bookstore.htm for 369 tips to speed you through airport security!

For more info on Whole Body Imaging go to: http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/body_imaging.shtm

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These new machines provide multiple views of carry-on baggage and a much clearer image, allowing officers to screen carry-on bags with fewer physical searches, TSA said.

Millimeter wave whole-body imagers are being deployed in the coming weeks to airports that include Dallas-Ft. Worth, Miami, Las Vegas, Reagan Washington, Denver, Miami and Detroit. Millimeter wave enables officers to screen passengers for metallic and non-metallic items without conducting pat-down inspections, TSA said. Millimeter wave currently is deployed at airports in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Baltimore and New York Kennedy International.

http://www.aviationnews.net/?do=headline&news_ID=155427

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