Tony ([info]quikchange) wrote,
@ 2006-11-17 07:42:00
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Current mood: surprised
Current music:Vampire - Forest Fire - Arcade Fire
Entry tags:travel, vmware

UIUC info session
I was in Illinois for a couple of days this week to deliver a VMware info session at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Going into it I had no idea that UIUC was the #4 CS school in the country so I was blown away by the number of people in attendance; far greater than at Waterloo or Stanford combined! They also asked so many good questions that we nearly overran our scheduled time.

Urbana-Champaign seemed like a pretty neat city. I spent a couple of hours at the local natural history museum on Wednesday morning, where I encountered a pair of tour-guides-in-training. One of them was French and seemed quite shocked that neither the other student nor the teacher had ever heard of Asterix and Obelix. They were equally surprised that I had.

On the flight home I inadvertently discovered that:
a) wireless electronic devices do work on aeroplanes during flight, although T-Mobile doesn't have much coverage over most of middle America;
b) the flight crew have no way of telling if you leave them on.


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[info]a_chatterbox
2006-11-17 06:02 pm UTC (link)
The only reason they ask you to turn off wireless devices is because they might interfere with ground networks you're flying over. If wireless devices left on actually were a danger to the plane, they wouldn't be allowed on. Some planes are considering allowing in-flight cell phone usage, which they would charge a premium for, of course.

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[info]quikchange
2006-11-17 06:17 pm UTC (link)
How might they interfere with ground networks in any way that would be more harmful than if you were driving by them on the ground?

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[info]a_chatterbox
2006-11-17 06:32 pm UTC (link)
The articles I read didn't say.
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7884763

I have read other articles claiming there may be interference with on-board systems but I have trouble believing airlines wouldn't take greater care to make sure cell phones were turned off if they really were a safety concern.

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[info]theenforcer
2006-11-17 10:17 pm UTC (link)
Radiation in certain bands can interfere with flight systems, but most airplanes are pretty bulletproof. I saw it on MythBusters!

Through the same source, I can tell you that turning off electronic devices is an FAA regulation, probably on the offchance that a device will get through that, by some gigantic coincidence, futzes with the flight instruments. Tony, I'm fascinated. Why can't you just go by the assumption that people probably have a good reason for asking you to do something, especially when that something barely interferes with the course of your day, and especially when those people are taking you 30 000 feet in the air?

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[info]quikchange
2006-11-17 10:59 pm UTC (link)
As I said in my original post, this was an inadvertent discovery. I thought I'd turned off my crackberry but it somehow didn't actually shut off when I hit the power button and I only discovered this when I felt it vibrating as we began our descent. I did turn it off at that point.

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Regardless of your intentions,
[info]gaelotek
2006-11-17 11:46 pm UTC (link)
I am very non-impressed Tony. For all the awesomeness and mission-criticalness that you (and by you I specifically mean some mythical they) claim it to have to the point of accidentally leaving it on, does it not even have the aeronautical power of a mere Game Boy?
For shame, for shaaaaaaame :P

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[info]theenforcer
2006-11-18 01:06 am UTC (link)
Then I got no beef.

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[info]caffeinemonkey
2006-11-17 11:01 pm UTC (link)
I suspect it's also because they want more random crap to say when they go through the whole speel about seatbelts, etc. I mean c'mon, the flight attendants need to feel useful!

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[info]tangbu
2006-11-18 09:01 am UTC (link)
That must be the worst part of their job, other than dealing with drunken passengers. I mean, does anyone pay attention to those presentations?

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[info]quikchange
2006-11-18 02:34 pm UTC (link)
I think people who are new to flying do. I know I did the first couple of times I flew.

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