Not that there was ever really much doubt that the rest of the commission would take Chairman Kevin Martin's lead, but now it's official: in-flight cellphones are a dead issue for the time being, as far as the FCC is concerned at least. The masters of the airwaves issued a statement today saying that they would not move forward with the proceedings which had been underway to revisit the current ban, citing "insufficient technical information on whether the use of cellular phones onboard aircraft may cause harmful interference to terrestrial networks." Of course the fact that thousands of people called the agency bitching and moaning about the likely cacophony of flying chatterboxes probably didn't help matters much, nor did the blasé attitude most of the major airlines seem to have about this. Hopeful sky talkers can take some solace in the commission's claim that it could reconsider its decision in the future pending "appropriate technical data," and if nothing else, AirCell's impending in-flight WiFi will likely enable VoIP sooner rather than later -- although voice services will initially be locked out. So, no gabbing on the plane quite yet, which is just fine with us, because we prefer to be knocked out cold the whole flight anyway.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Commission says major record companies are forcing Apple to curtail access to iTunes online stores across borders, leading to higher prices.

A group of eight former employees of the Santa Barbara News-Press who claim they were illegally fired for supporting efforts to unionize the newsroom have decided to keep on reporting via a website they set up for themselves. They're covering all sorts of local news, including school relocation plans and property taxes. They claim that this is only until they get their jobs back -- but if the conditions at their old newspaper job were so bad, it makes you wonder why they don't just go ahead and make this new project a full-time effort and do things right. If the Santa Barbara News-Press really is treating its employees as badly as is being made out in reports about the labor dispute, why not create some competition and bring on the best employees from the newspaper to show the management of that paper what happens when you treat employees poorly?

Blog: SAN JOSE, Calif--Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore wants a new generation of engineers to see climate crisis as an opportunity.At...

Classy action

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Hurrah!

The FCC today called time on discussions to unban the use of cell phones onboard planes, prompting mass rejoicing from America's airline passengers.

The University of Delaware's Institute of Energy Conversion has developed new technology for the manufacture of flexible solar cells, which could reduce the costs associated with the use of photovoltaic energy while at the same time expanding possible applications. The system, in which there has been commercial interest, enables the more efficient manufacture of the flexible solar cells in long sheets using roll-to-roll reactors, much like newsprint speeding through a press.

Intimidation and threats are common throughout society, whether it's in the school playground, sporting arena or boardroom. Threatening behavior is equally widespread among nonhuman animals. Individuals signal their superior strength to competitors to obtain food, resolve territorial disputes and acquire mates. Current theory insists that signals of strength should be honest. Surprisingly researchers have found that dishonest signals are used routinely during dominance disputes by male Australian crayfish.