Alaska
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Apple opening store in Anchorage, Alaska
Apple will open its most northerly store in Anchorage, Alaska, later this year according to ifoAppleStore. It will be nearly 300 miles north of the current most northerly store in Aberdeen, Scotland, and within driving distance of the Arctic Circle. Apple is currently advertising for retail staff to work in the space that it's taking over from the Eddie Bauer chain (don't worry, Eddie Bauer is only moving downstairs) in the city's Fifth Avenue Mall. At 61 degrees north, Anchorage is about 600 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The new Apple Store seems likely to remain its most northerly outpost for a while unless the citizens of Murmansk get up a petition to be granted their own Genius Bar.
Alaska Airlines fires up in-flight WiFi between Anchorage and Fairbanks, promises more in 2011
It's hard to say if Alaska Airlines' relationship with Row44 has fizzled, but unlike that WiFi'd route between San Jose and Seattle, the aforesaid airline is relying on Aircell to provide in-flight WiFi on flights between Anchorage and Fairbanks. Reportedly, Gogo service is live today for customers flying between those two locales, with it being completely gratis until the remainder of Aircell's network in the state of Alaska goes live over the next few months. Best of all, Aircell has promised to "expand its network to include Southeast Alaska by the end of the year," ensuring that it's not The Last Frontier in absolutely every possible way.
Dave Perry details Gaikai's server plan, teases E3 announcement
Dave Perry is dreaming big with his Gaikai streaming service. He went into a little more detail on just how it will at work at today's LA Games Conference. The company is still planning to kick off its service with 300 data centers, and while he admits it will have "much more traffic than the servers can handle," Gaikai will limit early users to those closest to the centers. If you're close enough to the server to have only about 5-10 milliseconds of lag, you'll get in. If not, Perry told Joystiq, then you won't even see the embedded window -- but your request will be logged anyway. That way, he said, Gaikai will be able to track not just where people are using the service, but where they want to use it. If a bunch of users in Alaska try to play, but can't connect because they're too far away, then "we know we're losing money in Alaska," he says, and Gaikai will set up more datacenters there. Perry says Gaikai will help with security as well -- he suggested that companies might even be able to release their E3 demos to the world just during the week of the event, allowing press or the public to play them online for a limited time, with the code securely held on Gaikai's servers. It's all speculation at this point, though -- a service like that won't be ready to go by this year's E3 in June. But stay tuned anyway: Perry also promised us an announcement about Gaikai at E3. "We got some cool stuff to show off," he confirmed with a knowing nod.
HD channel expansion roundup
Once upon a time, a smattering of new HD channels in one major metropolitan area was a huge deal. Nowadays, it's almost expected that one area or another will experience some HD expansion each week. In order to keep things nice and tidy around here, we deliver high-def expansions, market expansions and anything else dealing with HD channel growth right here. If we missed an area that you're familiar with, drop us a line in comments so everyone can catch up. The more the merrier, we say!Read - DISH Network(R) Adds 30 HD Channels in HawaiiRead - DISH Network(R) Adds 30 HD Channels in AlaskaRead - DIRECTV to Deliver Local HD Programming to Customers in Lafayette, Ind.Read - Comcast digital switch update: Bellevue's next, Seattle in fallRead - FashionTV(R) Introduces New 24/7 FTV(R) HD Channel in the U.S. on DISH Network(R)Read - National Geographic Channels International Co-Produces Alaskan Killer Shark With Off The Fence ProductionsRead - Cox Launches WRIC in HD to Customers in King and Queen County, New Kent, and West PointFox News Chicago switched to HD (Thanks, Garst)Read - Time Warner Cable North East Ohio new HD Channels (Thanks, Justin)Read - Special Preview: ABC Family HD, Disney HD, HBO2 HD and BET HD (Thanks, Gary)Read - KMSP Fox 9 news in Minneapolis now in HD (Thanks, Nathan)
Broken Xbox 360? Be happy you don't live in Nome, Alaska
We almost all have Red Ring of Death stories at this point, but few compare to that of Kim Galleher in Nome, Alaska. The Seattle Times reports on the mother's month-long quest to get her 13-year-old son's Xbox 360's RRoD warranty honored by Microsoft. Turns out the main situation revolves around MS not sending a coffin because Galleher's address wasn't recognized -- it's speculated in the piece this is because the United States Postal Service delivers mail in the region to post-office boxes. Meanwhile, other attempts to circumvent the address glitch with Microsoft also failed. Although Galleher's circumstances are slightly out of standard parameters, the whole piece reads like one giant failure in customer service.One of the better parts in the story is Galleher wrote a letter to Xbox honcho Robbie Bach, stating that Microsoft ought to be "ashamed that a group of women at Victoria Secret can figure out how to send a bra to [her] via UPS and yet Microsoft can't figure out how to send an empty box."For fairness, we contacted the Nome, Alaska visitor's bureau to get a little more background about the mail situation in the town, located at the end of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The incredibly pleasant woman on the phone said she had the same problem when dealing with another computer warranty situation and the post-office box issue causes problems from time to time. As for Galleher, Microsoft contacted her directly through an advocate to inform her a "repaired console" should arrive by March 17.[Thanks, Matt S.]
Alaska Airlines offering in-flight WiFi -- but not in Alaska
It's a sad, sad state of affairs. After nearly four years worth of announcements you're still more likely to get a good night's rest on a flight than find wireless internet, leaving us to wonder whether any airline will survive long enough to roll-out the system-wide access they've almost all pledged. Another player is now crawling tardily into the ring, Alaska Airlines fulfilling its promise and partnering with Row 44 to offer satellite-based internets on a very limited basis. You should know the drill by now: access is only offered on very select routes, or route in this case, debuting on 737-300 flights running between Seattle (SEA) and San Jose (SJC). At least the service will be free for the first 90 60 days, but the airline isn't saying how much it will cost after that. We'd guess somewhere between not free and way too much, leaning toward the latter.Update: Correction, it's only 60 days not 90, and we're told by Glenn over at High-Fi News that it's not just a single route it's actually a single plane, and while it will be starting out on the SEA/SJC route, it will be making appearances elsewhere -- maybe even in the land of the midnight sun![Via Electronista]
Juneau's NBC affiliate now available in HD in Ketchikan, AK
Alaska's first city can now enjoy the spoils of 30 Rock, The Office and Sunday Night Football in high-definition, and it's all thanks to GCI Cable picking up the KATH-TV feed from Juneau. As of now, Ketchikan residents can finally pull in a high-definition version of the NBC affiliate, and this February locals will be able to see the Super Bowl in HD -- a first for Southeast Alaska. KATH-HD was launched in the state's capital city this August just in time for the Beijing Olympics, and thanks to a new fiber-optic run from there to Ketchikan, service is being expanded. Moreover, GCI Cable is hoping that this addition will be just one of many to come in the looming months, though no details about exact expansion plans were discussed.
Upper Deck offers free shipping on WoW stuff
Blizzplanet's got the news that Upper Deck is offering a break on shipping in the next 24 hours, so if you've been thinking of picking up any WoW TCG-related items for a friend, now's the time to do it.It's a pretty terrible deal though -- you've got to order $50 worth of stuff to get the free shipping, and at Upper Deck's official prices, you're probably just better running out to a hobby store and picking the things up yourself. But who knows. Maybe there's one of you in Alaska who have wanted to buy tons of stuff from UDE without paying shipping, but don't have a hobby store for miles around -- if so, you're in luck.The sale inexplicably ends on November 21st, which by my calculations is tomorrow, so get your order in fast. But seriously, someone needs to teach Upper Deck how to have a holiday sale -- who buys all their gifts by Thanksgiving? Maybe we'll see a better sale on Black Friday.
Alaska Air hoping to add in-flight WiFi in 2008
Joining Shenzhen Airlines, Qantas, and a whole host of others, Alaska Air is the newest airline to promise us in-flight WiFi when coming onboard. Reportedly, the firm "will test a system from Row 44, a provider of broadband communication for airlines, on a Boeing 737 in spring 2008," and if all goes well, it will then equip its 114-aircraft fleet with the goods. Notably, Alaska Air also stated that it had been working with Row 44 "for two years to bring in-flight broadband to market," so here's to hoping that all that hard work pays off early next year.
Alaskan luddites are 50th state to get e-prescriptions
It's good to know that wherever you may roam in this great union, your doctor can file for your OxyContin electronically. Alaska was the last state to revise regulations that were keeping doctors scribbling illegible notes that presumably denoted medicines in their twisted imaginations. Other late-comers included Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia. There'll always be a few complainers about how the new e-prescription systems hurt the mom and pop pharmacies, and tether doctors to a crash-prone computer, but the fancy new (hopefully hackable) databases that'll keep track of just how much who is taking of what really make it all worthwhile.
Alaska Department of Revenue vaporizes $38 billion account
The Last Frontier is no stranger to computer failure on a noteworthy scale, but the latest mishap far exceeds the severity of yet another e-voting failure. A quick-fingered technician at the Alaska Department of Revenue reformatted a hard drive while handling "routine maintenance work" that contained an account worth $38 billion -- yeah, with a B. To make matters exponentially worse, he / she also deleted the backup drive for reasons unbeknownst to mere men, and we can probably assume that at least a few individuals in the department suffered a near-heart attack when they found the backup tapes completely unreadable. The only remaining proof of the oil-funded account was in 300 boxes of paperwork, which had to be digitized yet again by staff members working incredibly long hours completing work that had just been done a few months earlier. Incredibly, no one was reportedly punished for the incident, and while the recovery efforts were actually finished in just six painstaking weeks, the damage inflicted by a few careless keystrokes totaled $220,700 in excess labor costs. Ouch.[Via Fark]
Gamer busted for "borrowing" library WiFi after hours
We're well aware of WiFi bogarting from unsuspecting neighbors or coffee shops, but who knew there'd be a crackdown at the local house o' books? Cops couldn't leave well enough alone when they rolled up on 21 year-old Brian Tanner jammin' on some WoW-type action in a library parking lot. Tanner's lappy was confiscated and he now faces possible criminal charges for illegally accessing WiFi at the Palmer, Alaska library after hours. While the library could thwart such wardrivers by simply disabling the dang signal at closing, they continue to enforce some usage rules that Mr. Tanner may or may not have been aware of -- the authorities claim this greedy gamer's notorious for WiFi piggybacking and has been "chased out of a number of locations" in the area. [Via Fark]
Diebold machines fail in Alaska primary
When you hear the words "electronic voting machines" and "problems" in the same sentence, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to infer that our old friend Diebold is somehow involved. The latest chapter in the company's woeful history of security lapses and tampering accusations comes courtesy of Tuesday's primary election in the great state of Alaska, where several of Diebold's "high-tech" touchscreen units were unable to use their dial-up modems to upload voting results to the Division of Elections' central servers due to an inability to pick up dial-tones and "other problems." Apparently thirteen total precincts experienced the issues, forcing election workers to toil into the wee morning hours manually uploading their data and getting it to sync with the overall numbers. The Director of Elections, Whitney Brewster, attempted to reassure voters that the integrity of the process had not been compromised by pointing out that "just because they're not being uploaded doesn't mean they're not being recorded accurately." That's probably true, but with all the scrutiny and negative publicity surrounding the company, it's going to be hard to convince some folks that any election involving Diebolds's products is ever on the level.[Via Slashdot]
$30 EV-DO... in Alaska, that is
We're aware Alaska's known for breathtaking wilderness, twenty hours of sunlight, and the Permanent Dividend Fund. But 3G? Cheap 3G, no less? Apparently, our friends way up there north of the 54th parallel have been rockin' EV-DO since the early days back in 2004. Alaska Communications Systems is now offering their DSL customers mobile broadband for $30/month, plus a free AirCard to boot; granted, coverage is limited to cities (and we might even have to use the term "city" loosely here) and coverage degrades to 1xRTT when roaming in the lower 48, but hey, the price is right. Now if we can do something about those nine months of winter, Engadget HQ might just be looking at a relocation.
