PARIS: European regulators have cleared use of mobile phones and BlackBerry devices for passengers while flying, Airbus announced Tuesday. Approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency means that, from September, passengers aboard Airbus aircraft outfitted with the OnAir system will be able to send and receive phone calls, SMS messages and e-mail messages while flying at altitudes above 3,000 meters, or 9,840 feet. Cabin staff members will be able to turn off the system or restrict usage to text services like SMS, as they see fit. The first aircraft to go into operation with the system will probably be a short-haul Airbus A318 operated by Air France. The British airline BMI, the Portuguese airline TAP and the budget airline Ryanair have also signed up to offer the services, said Graham Lake, chief commercial officer of OnAir, a joint venture between Airbus and SITA, a communications services company.
PARIS: European regulators have cleared use of mobile phones and BlackBerry devices for passengers while flying, Airbus announced Tuesday.
Approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency means that, from September, passengers aboard Airbus aircraft outfitted with the OnAir system will be able to send and receive phone calls, SMS messages and e-mail messages while flying at altitudes above 3,000 meters, or 9,840 feet.
Cabin staff members will be able to turn off the system or restrict usage to text services like SMS, as they see fit.
The first aircraft to go into operation with the system will probably be a short-haul Airbus A318 operated by Air France. The British airline BMI, the Portuguese airline TAP and the budget airline Ryanair have also signed up to offer the services, said Graham Lake, chief commercial officer of OnAir, a joint venture between Airbus and SITA, a communications services company.
The Vatican has issued a set of "10 commandments" for motorists to promote safer driving. The "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road" call on drivers to respect speed limits, refrain from drinking before driving and avoid cursing. Roman Catholics are also urged to make the sign of the cross before setting off on a journey. This is said to be the first time the Vatican has specifically dealt with the growing worldwide problem of road rage.
The "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road" call on drivers to respect speed limits, refrain from drinking before driving and avoid cursing.
Roman Catholics are also urged to make the sign of the cross before setting off on a journey.
This is said to be the first time the Vatican has specifically dealt with the growing worldwide problem of road rage.
your sig....sorry! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
Heroin addicts 'a dying breed' Wednesday 20 June 2007 Heroin addicts in the Netherlands are a dying breed, according to drugs monitoring institute Trimbos in today's AD. The organisation says heroin junkies are becoming older. Of the 14,000 heroin addicts in the country just 6% are 'youngish', Henk Maurits told the AD. 'If we carry on like this, there will not be any junkies left.' The use of cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy were all stable, Maurits said, although people were asking for help more often.
Wednesday 20 June 2007
Heroin addicts in the Netherlands are a dying breed, according to drugs monitoring institute Trimbos in today's AD.
The organisation says heroin junkies are becoming older. Of the 14,000 heroin addicts in the country just 6% are 'youngish', Henk Maurits told the AD. 'If we carry on like this, there will not be any junkies left.'
The use of cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy were all stable, Maurits said, although people were asking for help more often.
I completely missed this! I knew it was in the pipeline, but this is fast!!!!
DutchNews.nl - Cabinet backs smoking ban in bars
Cabinet backs smoking ban in bars Friday 08 June 2007 Smoking is to be partially banned in Dutch cafés, bars, restaurants and discotheques from July next year, the cabinet agreed on Friday. Smoking will still be permitted in separate, closed-off rooms without waitress service, health minister Ab Klink said after Friday's cabinet meeting. The hospitality industry had called for a phased ban, which had been agreed with the previous government. It said the current government was untrustworthy for going back on old agreements. In so-called coffee shops where people can buy small quantities of cannabis, smoking will be banned in the area where soft drugs are sold.
Friday 08 June 2007
Smoking is to be partially banned in Dutch cafés, bars, restaurants and discotheques from July next year, the cabinet agreed on Friday. Smoking will still be permitted in separate, closed-off rooms without waitress service, health minister Ab Klink said after Friday's cabinet meeting.
The hospitality industry had called for a phased ban, which had been agreed with the previous government. It said the current government was untrustworthy for going back on old agreements.
In so-called coffee shops where people can buy small quantities of cannabis, smoking will be banned in the area where soft drugs are sold.
The phased ban was, as I have reported before, completely useless in achieving set goals.
