Friday, February 26th, 2010
San Francisco-based Virgin America Airlines has its own “docu-series” starting up on March 24th at 9:30 PM on the CW – it’s called Fly Girls (and it’s not to be confused with the In Living Color/Jennifer Lopez kind of Fly Girls from the 90′s).
Take a look. Meet Mandalay, a local “girl” who’s a Virgin America flight attendant based out of SFO in real life. Listen to her go on about the “romance of aviation” and the benefits of choosing Virgin America, the only California-based airline left by the way.
Barbie, Skipper, and the ”ethnic girlfriends of Barbie“ (or, more politely, a ”mini- United Nations of races and ethnicities“) are coming soon to KBCW-TV channel 44 / 45 and all the CW stations across America. Oh yes, their “real” names (or “reel” names) are Tasha, Louise, Mandy (or Mandi), Nikole and Farrah:

Doesn’t this promo shot from the CW Network of former beauty queen Nikole look just like a Virgin America ad?

This show is going to be something like eight half-hour Virgin America infomercials complete with 30-second commercials for shampoo and cosmetics. Nevertheless, it’s going to be better than NBC’s high-budget San Francisco-based Trauma serial, that’s a given from the get-go. (Wonder if cheeky Virgin Airlines founder Sir Richard Branson will make an appearance or two…)
Just discovered that my aging Trinitron (that could be older than you) actually receives channel 44 so I’ll be sure to tune in to check out the debut.
Excelsior, Ever Upward.
Now, meet the Fly Girls and get more deets after the jump.
Farrah Williams
Hometown Airport: LAX
Must Have Travel Accessories: Lip balm and a camera
Travel Tips: “Be nice to fellow travelers and flight attendants. It makes for a more pleasant experience all the way around.”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Don’t make eye contact. Strip down quick so you’re not holding up the line.”
Years with Virgin America: 2 ½
Louise Nguyen
Hometown Airport: LAX (currently SFO)
Must Have Travel Accessories: Moisturizer and lip balm
Travel Tips: “While on the plane, always wear your shoes in the restroom!”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Get in line behind someone who has already taken their shoes off, and who is not juggling a ton of things in their hands, and then do the same.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
Mandy Roberts
Hometown Airport: PHX (currently SFO)
Must Have Travel Accessory: A big, soft pashmina that can be used as a pillow or blanket.
Travel Tips: “Drink an endless amount of water.”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Wear slip-on shoes with socks, if possible. It’s yucky to wait in line with bare feet on the dirty floor.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
Nikole Rubyn
Hometown Airport: SMF (Sacramento)
Must Have Travel Accessory: Visine
Travel Tips: “Always wear or bring socks with you to walk through security!”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Don’t wear all of your jewelry to the airport, keep it in small bags and put it on after you get through security.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
Tasha Dunnigan
Hometown Airport: SMF (Sacramento)
Must Have Travel Accessory: Cell phone
Travel Tips: “Don’t forget your common sense at home.”
Security Checkpoint Tips: “Have all of your things in order and pay attention.”
Years with Virgin America: 2
“Fly Girls” is from Collins Avenue Productions, with executive producers Jeff Collins (“Bridezilla 3, 4 & 5,” “The Exterminators”) and Colin Nash (“The Hills,” “The City”) and co-executive producers Larry Bond and Porter Gale.
(more…)
Tags: "ethnic girlfriends of Barbie, 12, 2010, 24, 4.4, 45, 6005, ad, advertising, airlines, airport, Alternative Programming, Ambhar Tequila, America, Banana Republic, Barbie, based, bay area, Belvedere Vodka, c. w., cable, channel, Colin Nash, Collins Avenue, Collins Avenue Productions, doc, docu, docu-series, docudrama, documentary, doll, drama, Elevate, Farrah, Farrah Williams, film, filming, flight, flight attendants, florida, fly girls, hometown, hub, info, infomercial, Jeff Collins, Kristen Vadas, la, Lagasse's Stadium, Larry Bond, las vegas, launch party, lax, los angeles, Louise, Louise Nguyen, mandalay, Mandi, Mandy, Mandy Roberts, march, mercial, miami, network, nevada, new york, nichole, Nikole, Nikole Rubyn, Palazzo, phx, Porter, Primetime Fare Sale, Productions, reality, red, red carpet, richard branson, sacramento, San Francisco, Senior Vice President, series, SFO, show, sir, Skipper, smf, stew, stewardess, stewardesses, Tasha, Tasha Dunnigan, teammates, television, The CW, The Hills, TV, TY KU, VeeV, VeeV Acai Spirit, VeeVa La Fly Girls, virgin, virgin america, VX, wednesdays, wifi
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Oddly-named Meraki wants to WiFi up your K-12 school with a quickness, so all the kids can watch the Lady Gaga (coming December 13th, 2009!) and AutoTune the News without all those pesky wires about. See?
“Meraki, the cloud-based wireless networking company, launched its “Wireless For Schools” program today, offering K-12 schools and districts a comprehensive 802.11n wireless LANat the price of $40 per student or less. The program enables schools to deploy a high-quality wireless network quickly, easily, and at less than half the cost of other solutions in the market. To qualify, schools must contact Meraki and make their purchases by December 22, 2009.”
Now that’s $40 per, but if you get some kind of E-rate rebate aka (Universal Service Fund for Schools and Libraries (USFSL) from Uncle Sucker, the Feds will kick in for 80% of the bill. I mean, they wanted to pay for the Bridge to Nowhere and they still want to pay for the bulk of the Chinatown subway – the Feds have all kinds of moola. So it’s time to get your fair share. You know…. for kids.
Meraki founders Hans Robertson and Sanjit Biswas want to Free the Net, or something:

“On Sanjit: Marc by Marc Jacobs army mélange jacket with zip-out vest ($528)[!] at Marc by Marc Jacobs. Cotton t-shirt and glasses, model’s own[!].” Photo by Bryan Davis.
All right, get cracking. One Call Does it All: (415) 632-5800
“Meraki Offers Wireless Networks to K-12 Schools for $40 Per Student or Less
Meraki’s “Wireless For Schools” makes it easy for schools to deploy a high-quality 802.11n wireless network across the campus
Meraki, the cloud-based wireless networking company, launched its “Wireless For Schools” program today, offering K-12 schools and districts a comprehensive 802.11n wireless LAN at the price of $40 per student or less. The program enables schools to deploy a high-quality wireless network quickly, easily, and at less than half the cost of other solutions in the market. To qualify, schools must contact Meraki and make their purchases by December 22, 2009.
The Hard Sell, after the jump.
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Tags: 20, 2009, 802, 802.11, 802.11n, army, Bridge to Nowhere, Chinatown subway, cloud, cloud-based, December 22, elementary, feds, google, Hans Robertson, High, internet, jacket, Jacobs, John Bicket, Jr, junior, k-12, kindergarden, LAN, m.i.t., Marc, mélange, Meraki, MIT, october, phd, principal, San Francisco, Sanjit Biswas, school, schools, Stanfoo, stanford, student, teacher's, Uncle Sucker, unified, Universal Service Fund for Schools and Libraries, university, USFSL, wifi, wireless, Wireless For Schools
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Monday, July 13th, 2009
This was the scene last week up at the Legion of Honor Museum in the Lincoln Park area of the Outer Richmond District. It’s The Connected Bus.
This thing made a big splash last year. But then, nothing. Was NextBus integration an issue?
And weren’t we supposed to get 799 more WiFi-enabled buses? Think so.
Click to expand:

What gives?
“SFMTA/Muni announces the completion of its service schedule for the Connected Bus pilot project. Service ended May 15, 2009.
The Connected Bus improves the customer experience by providing wireless Internet access and interactive displaysof real-time information along the route, including the status of connecting routes at key transfer points. In addition, it provides Muni operations with a running “health” check on the bus of the mileage, fuel use, internal bus systems, passenger loading, and maintenance schedules to improve efficiency and reliability of the fleet. Instant “emergency” links from the touchscreen monitors to the bus operator and the police may one day provide added security features.”
So now it’s just a regular old disconnected bus?
Tags: 49819, 800, bus, ca, ca 49819, ca49819, cisco, connected, connected bus, green, hybrid, legion of honor, metropolitan transportation agency, mta, Muni, municipal railway, nat ford, nextbus, one world, pilot, project, San Francisco, SFMTA, SFMTA/Muni, wifi
Posted in transit | 4 Comments »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
In a move redolent of Michael Schumacher’s opening lap at the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix, this Bauer’s Worldwide Intelligent Transportation Executive Shuttle managed to cross three lanes of traffic on the 101 to cut off this poor San Francisco taxi driver.
Perhaps Bauers’ drivers get paid by the mile?
Click to expand:

And are these slogans really their intellektual propertah?
“Saving the Earth 1 mile at a time”
“Be Clean, Go Green”
Oh dear. Be sure to check out their cheesy website, complete with polar bears, Emperor penguins, and, of course, Hummer H2 stretch limos.
And Bauer, try to use your signals when you’re changing three lanes at a time, when you’re speeding. You don’t want to give the NIMBYs any more ammo, right?
Tags: 101 freeway, 877-486-6688, BAUER'S WORLDWIDE TRANSPORTATION, bauers, Be Clean, bus, ca, county, cut off, Embarcadero, Go Green, how am i driving, intelligent transportation, it, ITransportation, lanes, limo, limosuine, nimby, nimbys, noe, Pier 27, San Francisco, San Mateo, Saving the Earth 1 mile at a time, shuttle, tax, The Embarcadero, Valley, wifi, WORLDWIDE TRANSPORTATION
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