Yes, you read it correctly. TV is very addicting, especially with all those reality shows on you can’t help but watch some morons make complete fools out of themselves. So, it should come as no surprise that researchers devoted time to research what the effects on TV were to the body. Here’s what they found:

TV can make you fat – A French study has suggested that kids with TVs in their bedrooms are more likely to be overweight by eating more. There are also several additional studies showing that kids ate less calories per day when their TV time was cut into by other activities. Hey, this should pertain to adults as well, because when I’m watching the TV I want to snack on something – sort of like the popcorn at the movies thing.

TV can make you an idiot – This study was conducted in California and involved several schools. The researchers found that 70 percent of the students scored lower (significantly) on language, math and the reading tests. Researchers noted the lower scores are probably due to TV getting in the way of a student’s homework and sleep time.

TV turns you into a smoker – A study found that around 700 students aged 12 to 14 years of age found that kids watching TV were more prone to smoking (twice as likely). Also, 42 percent of kids that smoked cigarettes had a TV.

TV screws with your sleep – I’ll vouch for this one! I always fall asleep in front of the TV. This is for all you adults out there. Watching TV late at night will interfere with your sleep patterns and is bad for you as your body doesn’t get the required rest. People living in EST time zones are most affected by this.

So let’s all try to get a good night’s sleep tonight and TIVO all those late night shows! Until next time!

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With all the media attention that Southwest is receiving lately for the lack of maintenance on their fleet, it really makes one think that Southwest and other airlines are getting away with more than just cracks in the fuselage and other maintenance issues. Oh, there are other airlines out there with the same problems as Southwest – it’s just that Southwest got caught! It’s unbelievable that it takes the FAA to expose this whole thing and make them repair their own planes. All airlines should strive for safety as the number one priority. Most airlines make statements that customer safety is their number one priority, but is it really? Are these statements just commonplace corporate babble? With the cost of fuel nowadays and increasing competition, are most airlines being forced to put safety second behind their profitability?

I fly a lot back and forth between Washington, DC and Orlando, Fl and last year made about 6 trips in total and flew Southwest Airlines. My spouse and daughter accompanied me and as a consumer I am outraged by the news that came out concerning these safety issues. Why didn’t Southwest just ground the planes and fix the safety issues that the FAA revealed in March of 2007? It’s a real shame that the FAA has to issue an Airworthiness Directive to make Southwest comply. A lot of people are upset that the FAA didn’t act sooner, but I believe that the airline that states customer safety is number one should have acted on just the smallest piece of information concerning safety. Either way, I will most likely not be flying Southwest any time soon.

Please let me know about what you think and voice your opinion right here. Thanks.

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One of the things I like about Google is their ingenuity and the fact that they are always one step ahead of the competition. If you don’t agree with me then that’s fine, but just look at their search engine as an example. Or how about their street maps? Before Google unleashed their mighty street-mapping teams we had the standard map systems, which were good and all, but now we have the satellite aerial views, which in my opinion go a step beyond the standard maps of yesterday. Have you ever used the Google maps to find directions somewhere? How about looking at those aerial images they got? You can even look at your own house from high above. It’s a very cool concept and one that I have enjoyed since Google first started it. Of course a little ingenuity and advancement is not without its problems. It would appear that the United States Military has a completely different opinion of the Google street maps than I do. The word is out that the Pentagon has banned the Google street-mapping teams from taking photographs inside of military bases after it was discovered that Google published street images on their site showing aerial views of Fort Sam Houston military base in Texas. Now Google did remove the images at the U.S. Military’s request and it was reported by the Google street-mapping teams that they were granted permission on the base as they were capturing the images around San Antonio, where the base is located. Google admits that it was clearly a misunderstanding between both parties.

This wouldn’t be the first time that the Google Street View team has found itself in a controversial situation. There have been reports of the team capturing images of people in compromising situations, to include sunbathing women, men about to enter into strip clubs and motorists being given a ticket by the “boys in blue”. However, in this case, the Dept. of Defense stated that the images compromised the base security. U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, was quoted as saying that the images of the base showed the location of guards, details about barrier operation and building portals.

Now, what I don’t understand is that if the Google Street View team was able to capture images of the inside of a military base, then I believe anybody could do the exact same thing. It is definitely possible and shows a vulnerability to our military we weren’t aware of. In fact, the military needs to thank Google for showing them their own vulnerabilities. What do you think? Please leave a comment and speak out.

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The wonders of modern aviation never cease to amaze me. Being an enthusiast of modern commercial aviation I sit patiently waiting for the next big thing to come out from the two builders of these winged marvels. So, it was to my utter amazement to hear about Airbus Industries’ new Jumbo Jet tagged the A380. The A380 is one huge plane. It is the world’s largest commercial Plane easily eclipsing the Boeing 747. To visualize just how much bigger it is to the Boeing 747, the airbus A380 is 24.1 m (79 ft) high, 73.0 m (239 ft 6 in) long and weighs in at 610,700 lbs (277,000 kg) as compared to the Boeing 747’s 19.4 m (63 ft 8 in) high, 70.7 m (231 ft 10 in) long and 393,263 lbs (178,756 kg) weight. In addition the maximum takeoff weight for the Boeing 747 is 875,000 lbs (397,000 kg) and the Airbus A380’s maximum takeoff weight is a whopping 1,234,600 lbs (560,000 kg)!

The Airbus A380 seats 555 people and is a true double-decker design. The upper deck has 96 Business Class seats and 103 Economy Class seats. On the lower deck there are 22 First Class seats and 334 Economy Class seats. Of course some airlines may decide to remove some seats and put in a shop, bar, casino, hot tubs or anything else making this a true luxury jet.

So the main question people ask me is how this huge marvel even gets off the ground. Well, it is powered by either four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 Turbofans providing 68,000 to 84,000lbs. of thrust each or four Engine Alliance (General Electric/Pratt & Whitney) GP7200 Turbofans providing 82,000lbs. of thrust each.

Either way you look at it the Airbus A380 is one huge plane and with all the development and technology that went into building this modern marvel it has separated itself from the competition by being the largest commercial plane in the skies today and one of the most expensive planes ever developed and built at an estimated cost of $15 billion.

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