GeekSugar

Flying with NWA This Holiday Season? Use an E-Boarding Pass!

GeekSugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:25:49 -0800

Earlier this year, Northwest Airlines announced that they would be offering E-Boarding passes to select cities offering nonstop flights.

Wondering how it works? When you check in to your flight on nwa.com, just select the E-Boarding Pass option from the drop down on the "Completing Your Check-In" page. From this page, you will be prompted to enter your cell phone information, and your E-Boarding Pass will then be sent to your phone. Once you get to the gate, you will have to show your screen with the 2D barcode and scan it right there.

So far, people have reported that it works great - minus the TSA part since they usually check your paper boarding pass with your ID as you walk through the security X-Ray Machine - something they'll have to work on improving.

Would You Use Your Cell Phone as a Boarding Pass?

GeekSugar — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:00:49 -0800

Continental Airlines has launched a test program in Houston that allows travelers to board flights using their cell phone or personal-digital assistant instead of the usual boarding pass. If it works, the program could expand to airlines and airports nationwide. How will it work? According to USA Today, instead of a traditional pass, Continental Airlines (CAL) and the Transportation Security Administration will let passengers show a code the airline has sent to their cell phone or PDA. Here's more:

The two-dimensional bar code, a jumble of squares and rectangles, stores the passenger's name and flight information. A TSA screener will confirm the bar code's authenticity with a handheld scanner. Passengers still need to show photo identification. The electronic boarding pass also works at airport gates.

I always email myself flight information so I can open up my email on my BlackBerry when I get up to the check-in window, so I love the idea of being able to use my cell as a boarding pass. It means one less step, right?
Source

Delta Passengers: Use Your Cell As a Boarding Pass at LaGuardia Airport!

GeekSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:22:44 -0700

Ever since I first heard about a man using his BlackBerry to check into a flight - he was running late and didn't have his boarding pass - I've been wondering if this was just a one-off instance, or if it was going to become a growing trend. According to RCR News, Delta Air Lines is now allowing passengers at LaGuardia Airport in NY to use their cell phone as a boarding pass. Domestic customers can now download their boarding passes to their phones via Delta's website and go directly through security rather than visiting check in (if you don't have bags to check). OK, I seriously wish I had an excuse to fly out of NY using this new handy dandy service. Let's just hope other airlines follow suit!

Source

Daily Tech RoundUp - Cellphones Could Double As Boarding Passes in Airports

GeekSugar — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:05:27 -0800

Continental Airlines passengers in Houston can use their cellphones to board flights during a three-month test program at Bush Intercontinental Airport. - USA Today
The iPhone took the number one spot on Google's search list in 2007. - Switched
Learn how to make your own LED wreath this holiday season. - Unplggd
Amazon and Pepsi team up for a year-long free music promotion, which kicks off during the 2008 Super Bowl. - ValleyWag
Need some fun stocking stuffer ideas? Check out Crave's list for the 21+ crowd. - Crave

Source

State of Maine Gives MacBooks to Every Public School Student

GeekSugar — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:35:19 -0700

How times have changed since I was in high school, when the only thing you got for free was a dented locker: The state of Maine has agreed to provide Apple MacBooks to every public school student, grades 7 through 12.

The Maine Department of Education has already ordered over 64,000 laptops for students and staff, to make Maine the first and only US state to ensure that every public school kid in middle and high school has a laptop to work on. The students are allowed to use the computers at school and take them home, but they have to return them at the end of the school year to pass to the next classes.

Bravo to Maine for making an important - and very expensive - educational tool so widely available for its youth. I also love that there's a standard for Macs as well - guess someone on that board is a Mac.

HP Unveils the Web-Friendly Photosmart Premium Printer

GeekSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:35:29 -0700

This morning here in San Francisco, HP announced their first web-enabled printer called the TouchSmart. With a touchscreen control panel that has the look and feel of an iPhone, the TouchSmart will offer apps that make it easy for one-touch printing. HP has already teamed up with companies like Fandango (movie-ticket printing), Google (maps, calendar printing, etc.), USA Today (news article printing), and Nickelodeon (kids activities) to offer useful applications. The printer's API is completely open, so you can expect hundreds of more free apps - like RSS reader apps and airline apps - to become available by its Fall launch date.

To see what else I thought about the printer and to find out how much it will cost, read more.

The eco-friendly person that I am, at first I was perturbed by the fact that this printer will only promote more printing and unnecessary paper usage - when you can already buy your movie tickets online and pick them up at the theater without having to print them. But then there are those instances when you need your boarding pass printed up in an instant, or you don't want look at your laptop while following a recipe, so this printer is perfect for a variety of scenarios where you don't want to be computer dependent.

Seeing the printer in person, it sure isn't something you're going to be able to sit on the end of your kitchen counter (it's rather large), but it is wireless, so if you've got the room for it, even better . . . and keep in mind, it won't need to be connected to a laptop or computer. The Photosmart Premium printer will retail for $399.

What Electronics Can Be Recycled?

GeekSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 09:01:16 -0700

You can't escape the grocery, electronics or movie rental store without seeing a small cell recycling drop box, but how can you dispose of larger, more ecologically dangerous gadgets? Electronics companies have - or been forced to! - put considerable resources into making their products recyclable. A handful of states have even passed laws that require companies to take back their goods (Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Sony all do so at no charge), but you can always be green by selling or gifting the item, or giving it to a reuse effort.

To get the scoop on electronics that can be recycled, read more.

Accepted AT All Locations	Accepted AT Most Locations	Rarely Accepted
Computer Monitors CPU's (Central Processing Units) Televisions with Cathode Ray Tubes and Flat Panel Displays Printers Laptops Cables Keyboards Mouses	Answering Machines Camcorders Compact Disc Players Copiers Duplicators Electric Typewriters Fax Machines Hard Drives Mobile Phones Modems Pagers Printed Circuit Boards Radios Remote Controls Stereos Tape Players Telephones Telephone Equipment VCRs Word Processors Batteries PDAs Games (Video)	Microwaves Smoke Detectors Large Household Appliances (Refrigerators, Washing Machines, and Air Conditioners) Toasters Fans Vacuum Cleaners Lamps Specialty Cookers

This list is based on data from the EPA. Check out the EPA's guide to where you can donate or recycle your electronics.

Stephen Moyer Works His Bod With the Wii and Gold's Gym

GeekSugar — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:33:14 -0700

With HBO's True Blood coming back to our screens this Summer, it's only appropriate that Stephen Moyer would want to stay in shape. And given his affinity for all things Wii (well, on the show anyway), of course he's taking advantage of the newest cardio fitness game to hit the market.

Called Gold's Gym Cardio Workout, this game promises to give us a sweat-inducing, fat-melting workout, and Stephen was spotted getting an up-close and personal look at the game during a Wii fitness event held earlier this week in Southern California.

Although I have a soft spot in my heart for Wii Fit, I wouldn't mind giving this game a try - it boasts running, boxing, and other heart-pumping activities, tracks your calories burned and bodyweight, and it's compatible with the Wii Balance Board. Plus, included inside the game is a free seven day pass to your nearest Gold's Gym, so you can check out classes you can't take at home. Spinning anyone?

Patrick McElhenney Photography

Geeks We Love: Mike Fahey of Kotaku

GeekSugar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:05:00 -0800

A man after my own heart, Mike Fahey is a game addict. Currently helping to hold down the East Coast office of Kotaku, and ripping through game after game so you don't have to, Mike is a man of many hats. He's been everything from an arcade attendant (totally expected) to a vinyl sign cutter (huh?), but still, his love for games made him who he is today. But besides being multi-talented, Mike is one seriously good catch, and why we included him in the Geeks We Love series: he loves to game (but doesn't demand that you do), he's a good listener, and he even loves to cuddle. Score!

GS: For our readers who don't know you, tell us a little about yourself.

MF: Hello there, readers of geeksugar! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Michael Fahey, and I'm the East Coast Associate Editor for Kotaku, a website about video games and video game-related cakes. I am a six foot, six inches tall fellow who is much less intimidating once you realize that I am writing this with one of my two cats laying belly-up on my desk, desperately trying to finish typing without succumbing to the lure of tummy rubs.

In my 35 years of existence I've been a shoe salesman, an arcade attendant, a tech support specialist, a gas station manager, a web developer, a vinyl sign cutter, a dishwasher, a graphic artist, and several different flavors of customer service representative, all following a brief period following my birth during which I was too stunned to speak. Now I spend my days writing about video games in my pajamas. How the video games got into my pajamas is another story entirely.

Find out how gaming accidentally introduced Mike to Playboy, why he'd spend the rest of his days with just a Nintendo 64 and a coconut tree, and discover a softer, more tender side of Mike when you read more.

GS: Do your earliest memories involve a game controller, or did you develop a love for gaming later on in life?

MF: My entire life seems to be punctuated by video games. They're how I organize important milestones. My first kiss was given to me by a girl who was trying to tear my attention away from a Speak and Math game she had in her bedroom - the start of a long tradition of women trying to tear my attention away from whatever I was playing at the time. I first discovered sex while trying to get the Atari 5200 in my father's den working late one night and accidentally switching to the Playboy channel. My first real sexual experience took place in the hallways behind the video game arcade at the mall I used to hang out at - her name was Sula and the amount of hairspray in her bangs was the stuff of legends. I guess it isn't so much my earliest memories, but really all of my memories.

GS: What's your all-time favorite game EVER?

MF: This is a terribly unfair question. Would you ask a mother which of her children was her favorite? Would you demand that she single out one of the tiny humans that sprang from her loins into the world as the end-all, be-all? Yes, you would, and she'd look around to make sure no one else was looking and then quietly whisper Final Fantasy III (U.S. version), which is a terribly odd name for a child.

GS: Are you down with girls that don't know how to game, or is holding their own on Gears a prerequisite?

MF: I've found over the years that the perfect woman for a gamer is one who is game curious - she enjoys watching them, and every once in awhile grabs the controller from you when something strikes her fancy, but on the whole just enjoys knowing that she has a man who she can leave alone for a week knowing that when she returns he'll be in the exact same spot, in front of the television. I've been with women who are nearly as passionate about video games as I am, and it isn't really a good combination. Any relationship needs some sort of anchor to the real world. . . a person who can pull the other one away from the controller long enough to eat, bathe, clean the house, and have sex. You put together two rabid gamers and soon you are getting horror stories about folks leaving their babies out in the car after returning home late for a guild raid. I'd like to think I would remember a little person that I helped make, but man those guild raids can be intense.

GS: You're stranded on an island. It's just you, a coconut tree, and a gaming console. Which console would you want to spend your days with?

MF: At first I thought this was a trick question, so I began to research which console had the ability to draw power from a coconut tree. Then I realized the true extent of your trickery: I have no television, and no games. Just me, the console, and Dr. Treeheart (I would have named the tree after the first day). Having finally come to realize the full extent of the question, I'd have to say the Nintendo 64, because if you turn it around and look at it just right, it could pass for a face. Not a very pleasant face, but when you are stranded on a island with only Dr. Treeheart to keep you company you take what you can get.

GS: Is there a game you just can't live without?

MF:It's not that there is one game that I cannot live without - I just couldn't live without some sort of gaming. I constantly have at least two devices on me that could run a video game of some sort, and if hard-pressed I can build a chess board from sticks and rocks. . . which I've actually done. It's just comforting to me to know that I have some sort of game available to me should the need arise. Otherwise I am stuck alone with my own thoughts, and my own thoughts are kind of odd.

GS: We're so close to Valentine's Day! Tell us what your perfect date would be like.

MF: The perfect date isn't about a place or an activity. The perfect date involves getting to know someone. The best dates are the ones where you can sit an talk with the person you are with, sharing stories, telling secrets, and basically basking in this new person you've just discovered, immersing yourself in them while sharing yourself. In this day and age, where you can find pornography with a few keyboard strokes, learning about a person is so much more intimate than having sex with them. That having been said, the perfect date for me involves a great deal of talking and perhaps a bit of cuddling, an activity of which I am a huge fan.

Daily Tech: The Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Now Available In the US

GeekSugar — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:01:00 -0800

You can now pre-order the ultraportable Dell Inspiron Mini 12 which ranges in price from $549-$758 and comes in black and white. These notebooks should start shipping in early December. - Engadget
A teacher has been suspended and is facing dismissal for her Facebook comments. - Switched
Starting for the first time in history, President-elect Barack Obama will deliver his weekly address to the nation via video and radio. - Cnet
American Airlines is testing out cell phone boarding passing at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport which will allow passengers to flash a bar code from their phone's screen to board their flights. - Chicago Tribune
A new iPhone App called Last Call will calculate your blood alcohol content based on how much you drink and will even help you find a taxi for the ride home. - Wired
It's giveaway time! Be sure to log in for your chances to win a Nintendo DS Lite and fitness games! - geeksugar