Jaunted

Airport WiFi / Airports / Free WiFi / Phoenix Sky Harbor / → All Tags

WiFi Wednesday: Phoenix Sky Harbor Edition

Though some folks are a bit peeved about getting nickel-and-dimed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, at least it's not for Internet access.

The airport is giving people what they want: a free wireless signal throughout the three terminals of the airport--even before security. That could be a true blessing, as some airports and terminals only offer the `net in secure areas. (We're thinking of JetBlue's Terminal 6 at JFK.)

The airport network is just one chunk of the greater Phoenix area that's getting WiFi. A number of community centers--including the Phoenix Convention Center--are getting wired, or should we say un-wired. Hey, San Francisco, how's your city-wide system coming along?

Related Stories:
· Hotels in Phoenix [HotelChatter]
· Phoenix Travel [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Daquella manera]

Airports / Music / YouTube / Airport Security / Phoenix Sky Harbor / → All Tags

Goodbye Sky Harbor, Hello Faux-Nudity!

After a brief delay, the nudie machines are ready to debut this weekend at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. As you may remember, the new body-scanning devices, known as backscatters, were supposed to be introduced to security lines there in late 2006.

In honor of the blessed occasion, we bring you a live video of Jimmy Eat World performing "Goodbye Sky Harbor." Yes, as in the airport. This is not an official endorsement of the band itself, but we just find songs about airports kind of romantic. Romantic like a lonely TSA agent scrutinizing your blurred-out naughty bits.

Related Stories:
· New X-ray is ready; fliers riled, reassured [AZ Republic]
· Get Oggled in Phoenix [Jaunted]

Airports / TSA / Airport Security / → All Tags

Get Oggled in Phoenix

News broke over the weekend that new x-ray machines will debut at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix for the final holiday travel rush of the year. These are the superscreeners--now nicknamed "backscatters"--that you've been hearing about for a while now, the ones that nearly show your naughty bits. Sky Harbor, the country's eighth-busiest airport, was chosen by the TSA to be the first to test the new technology.

Randomly selected passengers, as well as those who don't pass the standard screening process, will be asked to submit to the nudie machine, but they can opt for a pat-down instead. While some might take the second option because they're concerned about being exposed, the x-ray images really don't show anything more controversial than a Ken or Barbie doll-like silhouette. Also, those images will be viewed "in a private room 50 to 100 feet away," according to the East Valley Tribune. Other passengers are concerned about the exposure to radiation.

Though no one's mentioned it, the sketchiest part of the process seems to be that viewing room. Something about a lonely TSA agent surrounded by faux-nakedness in complete privacy...

[Photo: Klaas De Buysser]

Related Stories:
· X-ray tech debuts at Sky Harbor [East Valley Trib]
· Sky Harbor set for new X-ray scans [Arizona Star]