Airline Troubles Getting Worse

I’ve had my share of frustration with airlines and a number of what I thought were disasters but our friend PaperGhost(Chris Boyd) just raised the bar. On the day when the “Airline Quality Rating” report was released I heard from our buddy Chris who was stranded in Ireland after an emergency landing.

BA 287 Dumping Fuel before emergency landing

Emergency Equipment at Shannon Field, Ireland

If you click on the photos you can read Chris’s full account. The near-death emergency landing was only a fraction of his travel fiasco.

According to MSNBC, “Travelers increasingly are unhappy with airlines, ranking lost luggage among their biggest complaints”. I think if they talk to Chris they could get some more colorful complaints.

Personally, I’ve been lucky with my luggage. I do always keep a change of underwear in my carry-on, just in case. One time at a meeting my undies flew on to the table when I removed my laptop from its bag. While embarrassing it’s still not as bad as Chris’s experience or when Delta Airlines lost our grand daughter Marisa at Kennedy Airport.

How Do We Stop Spyware?

A number of folks who have been on the forefront of battling spyware and adware met last week in Washington D.C. I’ve been to a number of AntiSpyware conferences over the years and they seem to get better all the time.

CSI Spyware: Can Investigators Stay Ahead of the Bad Guys?

From left to right

• Chris Boyd aka Paperghost, Facetime Security Labs


• Lance James with Secure Science Corporations


• Alex Eckelberry, Sunbelt Software


• Cindy Southworth, National Network to End Domestic Violence


• Luke Erickson, Federal Trade Commission

Seated up front is longtime supporter of the MyWay searchbar, Kirk Lawrence, IAC Search & Media.

It’s hard quantify what kind of difference these meetings make. In a way it’s like a pep rally that gets many of us excited and motivated to continue our efforts. It’s also excellent to share stories and methodology. While many participants are essentially competitors the cooperation is unlike other industries.

Chris Boyd has posted some photos from the conference as well as some fun tourist travels on Flickr. There’s even proof that I sometimes wear a suit and tie. It’s interesting to view our country through new eyes. Click the photos below for more.

NYC as viewed by a visitor from across the pond.