links for 2010-01-26

"Let me explain: Network carriers hold onto their slots at all costs to prevent any competition, short term or long term. This not only prevents new airlines from entering (or smaller airlines growing), it also means network carriers use their slots with small planes that can fly profitably (or as close to it as possible). Think about it this way — you're American Airlines. You have 20 slots at LGA. These slots are legacy from years ago and don't reflect your current operational imperatives. As such, rationally you should drop 5 of them just like you have at most airports in the country. But if you do, Southwest might get their hands on them and start flying there more flights to Chicago, competing against your core business. So you hold onto them. But you can't afford to put 738s and 757s on them (that would require filling close to 200 seats!). Instead, you put little regional jets on them…The result is reduced competition and smaller average plane size."

just for my later reference

couldn't agree more. remember the Aeron chair?

how search engines view Twitter. i knew i was right to avoid hashtags.

it really is an excellent place to live and work. and not just because of the beer.

just what it says. very interesting.

Foursquare makes it to our little town

an interesting response to Kellan's question

"If the tablet is – as expected – based on an ARM cores, the perhaps Apple may be able to spring a surprise or two, and steal a march on the rest. Engineering researched by the APT group in Manchester usually finds its way into ARM chips within a few years. Apple – if it choose – would have the money to accelerate the process of converting academic research into commercial products. I don't know whether they have or not but speculation is fun. So, let's take a look at some interesting research projects at Manchester." – this would be interesting

"Merriam Webster's 10th edition, which has been used for the past few years in fourth and fifth grade classrooms (for children aged nine to 10) in Menifee Union school district, has been pulled from shelves over fears that the "sexually graphic" entry is "just not age appropriate", according to the area's local paper." – i was hoping this was a joke, but sadly, it's not.

maybe kids would be safer if we just rounded them up and kept them in hermetically sealed little houses, with no outside input whatsoever.