Of course it’s football Sunday and was hoping this flight had Wi-Fi access so I could watch my Seattle Seahawks during the second leg of my trip out to Nevada.  I wasn’t sure, until I was about to board the plane and noticed a decal on the plane’s fuselage that said “Wi-Fi Onboard”.  “Fantastic,” I thought, “I can work on my website and watch the game.  Isn’t access to the Internet great.”

At this point, I have to admit I can sometimes be naïve (but I like to think of it as being optimistic), especially when it comes to big business and what should be “basic” human rights.

Upon reaching cruising altitude the Captain came on the intercom to let us know we could turn on our electronic devices, and I reached for my Macbook and hard drive, eager to work on my website (http://www.biologydesign.com) which is near completion.

My Mac instantly picked up (naturally) the Gogo Inflight wireless Internet signal and it’s unsecured!  “Sweet!! “

After a minute or so waiting for the Gogo Inflight page to load (hey I’m on plane, what do you expect)…BAM!!  I was presented with the Gogo Inflight homepage that looked more like an online dating site than a search engine or provider website, which is what I was expecting.   The home page provided an extravagant and outrageous list of various prices for different access plans.

And on a side note:  Yes ladies, I am single, if you can believe it.

This is where my naivety comes into play.  Why on Earth wouldn’t Delta charge for Internet access?!  They’ve got me by the proverbial groin.  They know it, I know it, we all know it and all too well.

They know I really want to go to Vegas (kind of) and that nothing matches the convenience of air travel.  They already charge me hundreds of dollars to be able to sit in a seemingly ever-shrinking seat and compact space during the flight, The past few years they’ve been charging me $35 for their handlers to throw, drop, stuff, cram, and generally abuse each one of my checked bags.  I’m surprised they haven’t started charging me to use the onboard lavatory.  (Note to airline CEO’s:  DO NOT even think about it, but I’m sure you already have.  Things will get really messy literally and figuratively.)

So why would I even fathom the thought that they would offer “free” Internet access?  I have no idea.  Again, I’m naïve sometimes.  They know everyone still wants to be connected during flights.  They know that guys like me travelling on Sundays want to watch their beloved football teams.  They know we want to chat with friends and loved-ones or post on our blogs.  So of course Delta and their constituents, such as Gogo Inflight want a piece of that action and stick it to us.

My point is that this goes completely against the idea of net neutrality.  Why should I have to pay Delta/Gogo Inflight $39 a month for access to information (Internet) even if I am at 30,000 feet?  I don’t have to pay the flight attendant for information, at least not yet.  They don’t charge me for the 15 cents work of soda and peanuts they give me.  Which makes absolutely no sense since those consist of atoms, which is much more expensive to produce, store, and distribute that the bits, that make up the information and data online.  (For more about this topic, see Chris Anderson’s book, “Free”).

Well, to get an answer to my question as to why I have to pay, I decided to chat with an online representative, which Gogo was nice enough offer for free.  Ironically, Dana (the online rep) didn’t have much information regarding the reason for charging Delta customers for this service besides the pre-scripted and generic corporate response.

However, I have to say that Dana was very kind and charming.  She put up with my initial sarcasm and cynicism and was nice enough to banter back and forth with me regarding net neutrality.  It turned out to be a very nice conversation and a great way to kill some time during my flight.  I thank her for that.

In fact, our conversation kind of proved my point about the importance of allowing all to have free access to the Internet and the information contained within and what that allows to society.  By allowing me to chat with Dana for FREE, she was able to give me information, albeit generic information, regarding the need to pay for the “infrastructure and some paychecks” associated with inflight Wi-Fi.  Referring to an infrastructure that was already in place and paychecks to those online chat reps working from home part-time.

In return, I was able to give her information about net neutrality and why it must be supported.  Furthermore, we got to know a little about each other as the conversation tended to go off topic (my fault right, Dana?) as we talked about her being an educator, my website, and our interests in chemistry and biology.

Basically, by charging me for Internet access, Delta and Gogoinflight are telling me that I can no longer have interactions, like the one I had with Dana for free.  And yes, I’m sure there are some of you reading this thinking, “if you want to interact, then talk to the person next to you.”  Which makes sense of course, but is not the point I’m trying to make.  Besides, you all know most stay in their little bubbles anyways and don’t want to go out of our way to talk to strangers in person.

Yet doing so online is easy, non-threatening, and I find, from experience that it can lead to incredibly strong and long-lasting relationships.  Why would Delta, Gogoinflight, or any other company for that matter want to inhibit something like that?  Especially when they’re marketing lingo undoubtedly includes some references to wanting to do just that…build a relationship with you.

Well, when you want to charge me for Internet access during your flights, Delta you’re not building a relationship with me.  You’re just trying to get into my pockets and I know it.  I’m not attracted to women who only care about money and even less attracted to corporations who do the same.

If you really care about us and want to build a relationship with us, the customer, then I suggest doing what Dana did.  Listen to us, freely share information with us, get to know us as individuals, and allow us to share information with others.

Delta, I’m sure that if able to do so for free, more of your customers would be willing to use social media to blog or share their positive experiences of having free access to information during your flights.  Heck, they might even enjoy having the ability to track their flight online.  It could be a lot of positive PR.

But for right now it’s simple, you love to charge for Wi-Fi and it shows.

What is going on with females in these days?  I just need some help understanding I guess, not that it can be completely understood.  Some things just don’t have an explanation I suppose.

So, here goes.  I was standing outside of my classroom building having a cigarette and doing some people watching which I’ve always enjoyed.  For those of you who don’t know me, I am attending graduate school at Elon University.

Now, before I go on, I want to make it perfectly clear to you that I’m not bashing, I’m just saying.

As I was watching the students shuffle by, I was paying particular attention to the females of our species (what can I say, I’m a single guy).  In the brief five minutes I was standing out there I could not help but notice about a half dozen females and their choice of apparel.

They were wearing clothing that seemed to stop at their waist.  Either they were donning skirts that were so short that if they bent over they would cause Dave Mathews to write another song, or they weren’t wearing any bottoms at all besides the painted on leggings that a many twenty-something females wear these days (tacky in my opinion, but that’s just my opinion).

This got me thinking about my ex-girlfriend.  Okay, this is still hard to think and talk about but I guess it’ll help to get it off my chest.

I never saw her wear (or not wear) things like this cause when we were hanging out she typically wore jeans.  However she did wear shirts that showed off her best assets (her opinion, not mine).

At first this didn’t bother me but as time went on I began to notice that she seemed to enjoy flaunting her expensive twins and in ways that were rather trashy, especially since she had no problem doing it in front of other men while in my presence.

After a while I started to realize she may not be the woman she led me to believe she was.  I was starting to get worried.  She was starting to remind me that she was still a 22 year old girl.

However, in my opinion I don’t think that’s a good excuse.  When I was her age, I don’t remember the women of my age dressing and acting the way she did.  Women seemed to have a lot more self respect.  Don’t get me wrong, they were sexy, but not in ways that were so sleazy and immature.

(Oh this is fitting.  Coldplay’s “Yellow” just started playing on my iPod)

I guess I have to admit that when it comes to male and female relationships and romance, I’m pretty old fashioned.  I treat women with respect and am open and honest with them.

To me, women are the cream of the crop when talking about the human species.  They are superior to men in so many ways.  For starters the female body is one of the most beautiful forms on this planet.  They bear our children, they are excellent multitaskers, and without them us men would be useless.

Why is it that I can see this but these girls no longer do.  I feel that females should maintain a little class, dignity, and self-respect.  Not dress like they are objects.  It’s as if they enjoy putting impure thoughts in men’s heads, like they get off of it.  I don’t know if they want us to think they are easy and approachable just so they can shoot us down and get some sort of power out of that or if they just don’t know any better.

I have a hard time believing the latter, cause they tried on and bought the clothes and they consciously think about what they are going to wear.  Is it a result of bad parenting or a result of society.  I just don’t know anymore.

All I know is I feel so out of place nowadays when it comes to dealing with women.  I guess I need to get on that bandwagon of acting like a douchebag and treating like women like shit to give them what they want.  But I know myself better than that and it won’t ever happen.  Even though I have the worst luck with women I will always treat them the way they should be, like “ladies” regardless if they act like it or not.

I enjoy watching and playing a wide range of sports from golf, football, hockey, baseball, volleyball, tennis, etc.  I also play guitar (which will be an important stress relief over the next 10 months) and enjoy listening to all genres of music, especially rock-and/or-roll.

I currently live in Greensboro, NC where I have been since graduating from Elon College in 1998.  I have two cats, Corbetti and Sinatra who are so cool and smart (Sinatra knows how to give high-fives and is a lady-killer) and are more like dogs than cats.

I will add to this bio as the months roll on as I am pressed for time right now to think about all of my interests and abilities, some of which I probably shouldn’t post here anyway.  HA!!!