If you've been feeling like you didn't already have enough zany and / or pointless Department of Transportation rules to abide by, you're in luck! Starting January 1st, 2008, you can no longer pack "loose lithium batteries" into your checked luggage on flights. If your battery is attached to a device -- or is packed into a plastic bag -- you're okay. According to the report, "Common consumer electronics such as travel cameras, cell phones, and most laptop computers are still allowed in carry-on and checked luggage," though, "The rule limits individuals to bringing only two extended-life spare rechargeable lithium batteries, such as laptop and professional audio/video/camera equipment lithium batteries in carry-on baggage." The new ban is related to lithium batteries' propensity to explode, and not due to any terrorism concerns. We're not sure what they're getting at with that plastic bag rule, but this should make everyone's already complicated travel plans just slightly more annoying.

[Via Gadling, image by rbrwr]

Just as soon as we finished cheering for the Texas Legislature's stance on those pesky speed cameras, the state's Department of Transportation is apparently trying to override their good will. According to a June 10th filing, the Texas DOT is looking to install "turnkey automated speed notification services" on Highway 10 in Hudspeth County and Highway 6 near College Station (watch those lead feet, Aggies). Reportedly, this project is simply to "assess and evaluate all elements" of such a system, but it doesn't take a genius to guess that money's on the brain. Notably, the "quality assurance" section of the plan points out that these suckers will be accurate to within two miles-per-hour in either direction, so your wiggle room is sliced dramatically. Of course, we can all hope that Texas' iteration of the SPECS-style camera is as easy to circumvent as those in Britain.

[Via FARK]

We'd heard rumblings that Virgin America was indeed lobbying for the US Department of Transportation's blessing to take off from American soil, and after getting a hands-on experience that was second to none, we couldn't help but hope for things to work out. Sure enough, VA has now been given the almighty thumbs-up to operate in the United States. Interestingly, the final approval was only granted after "several additional conditions" were finally agreed to, one of which will leave the current CEO sans a job. Unfortunately for Mr. Fred Reid, "US law restricts foreign ownership in airlines to 25-percent of voting stock," and apparently, the DOT didn't take too kindly to Reid's "longstanding association with foreign investors," most notably Virgin Group's Richard Branson. Nevertheless, the current head man will stay on board for another six months, and while a replacement has yet to be named, the airline hopes to get its birds in the air sometime this summer. Initially, flights will travel from its home base (SFO) to New York (JFK), and while there's no definite timetable as to when routes will be expanded to hit other US cities, feel free to click through for the full lineup of locales that VA hopes to be servicing sooner rather than later.

Read - Virgin America cleared for take-off
Read - Fred Reid forced to resign as VA takes flight

Entire cities getting free WiFi used to be quite the sensation, but now the real hotness is in connecting up an entire nation. According to IndiaTimes, the government is proposing that all citizens of India receive complimentary 2Mbps internet by 2009, and the service would be provided by the state-owned BSNL and MTNL. Officials backing the plan are hoping that giving all residents access to high-speed internet would "boost economic activity" as the citywide free WiFi implementations apparently have in America. The nation's department of telecom will purportedly be laying "an extensive optic cable network across the country, permitting the resale of bandwidth, setting up web hosting facilities within the country, and asking all internet service providers to connect to the National Internet Exchange of India." Unsurprisingly, this issue has created very polarized camps, as consumers cheer on the idea, current telecom providers are shaking at the mere thought of all future telephone calls being converted into free VoIP dialogue.

[Via Slashdot]

If you've never heard of Richard Branson before today, you just might become one of his best friends after checking his aircraft. The billionaire in charge of Virgin Atlantic wants to bring the company's "passion for innovation and technology" to America, and while we've seen glimmers of hope for air travel within the States, it seems that VA's alternatives demolish the current US-based offerings (although there's word that the Panasonic eFx system will be hitting US flights in the future). Utilizing a somewhat cheesy lobbyist website, the airline is attempting to garner public support to allow them to reverse the US DOTs decision to disallow VA from taking flight on American soil. But regardless of politics, the real news here is the plane's interior; first class riders get a plush, leather seating area with a flipout LCD, while "normal" passengers still get a fairly comfy looking chair and a seat-mounted 9-inch touchscreen LCD. Moreover, each passenger gets their own 110-volt power outlet (adapters, be gone!), USB port, and Ethernet jack. The VA-engineered RED in-flight entertainment system only rivals SIA's KrisWorld system, and delivers music, gaming, movies, and even food choices right to your screen. While some may find this tough to believe, you'll even encounter a full QWERTY keyboard, live TV via Dish Network, on-board email / IM / chat, the ability to create playlists and transfer them to connecting flights, and pretty much anything else you'd need to not want to ever reach your destination. So if you're interested in helping Mr. Branson make a few more billion, and would like to fly the friendly skies in complete and total geek heaven, be sure to hit the read link to vouch your opinion, and click on through for a YouTube demonstration of all the aforementioned niceties.

[Via NewTeeVee]