Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Several airlines are experiencing higher than normal winds on routes between the United States and Europe, forcing pilots to stop for gas on what would normally be a non-stop route. Unplanned pitstops are nothing new. But with airlines looking to save costs wherever possible, several are relying narrow body aircraft flying close to the limit of their range to serve city pairs that would not fill up a larger, and longer range airplane.

In December United reported 43 stops for extra fuel out of some 1,100 transatlantic flights using the company’s Boeing 757s according to the Wall Street Journal. The Boeing 757 has long been favored by many airlines for longer routes with lower passenger demand. Though out of production for several years, the 757 offers carriers a range of more than 4,500 miles in a small enough package to keep operating costs low enough to justify routes that could not fill the larger 767 or Airbus A330. American and US Airways also use the 757 on transatlantic routes and have reported more than normal fuel stops. Delta has the largest 757 fleet in the world, but says it has yet to need a fuel stop for its transatlantic flights this winter according to the Journal article.

Weather forecasts usually provide accurate enough wind predictions for pilots to adjust fuel loads on an airplane to ensure a non-stop flight. And airplanes often fly with less than full tanks since the engines end up burning more fuel in order to carry the weight of the extra gallons. But with the higher winds, even full tanks may not be enough. Airlines are having to stop at airports along the great circle route between Europe and the United States including in Ireland, Iceland, Canada and even as close as Maine and New York before continuing on to their final destinations.

Airlines are required to carry enough fuel to complete the flight to the destination based on the weather forecast, fly on to a nearby alternate airport if weather or some other issue prevented a landing at the planned destination and still have enough fuel for 45 minutes of flying. The idea is to have enough reserve fuel for unanticipated problems beyond bad weather in the forecast.

It’s possible that some of these flights would have made it to their destinations without refueling, but the pilots are opting to stop for gas in order to prevent using up their reserve fuel.

United says it is compensating passengers for missed flights, hotels and other hassles encountered when the flight includes a visit to somewhere like Gander in eastern Canada. Before modern long range airliners were able to make non-stop transatlantic flights, airports like the ones in Canada, Iceland and Ireland were commonly used as refueling stops for flights between the North America and Europe. The Boeing 707 made a fuel stop in Gander on its way to Paris during its much heralded first flight from New York with Pan Am in 1958.

Today many major cities on both continents are linked by non-stop flights. The longest non-stop flight currently being flown by an airline links Newark, New Jersey to Singapore aboard a Singapore Airlines flight that stretches the range to just under 10,000 miles. The flight lasts more than 18 hours.

Photo: Flickr/curimedia

Part 13 in a series introducing my new book, The End of Business as Usual…this series serves as the book’s prequel.

When you think about social media, what do you envision? Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Foursquare? If you’re like me, blogs would have made the top of the list. But how can blogs survive in a time when the attention of connected consumers is not only precious, it’s elusive. After all, people can read no more than 140 characters at a time right? With the surplus of networks and a river of social activity that washes away personal information levees, how can we be anything but distracted?

I believe that we are indeed overwhelmed, but we are not distracted. We are in fact focused. Let me restate that last sentence. We are focused, against a different standard than that of five years ago, on what is important to us. If long-form content is shared within our interest graph and possesses relevant information that is true to our interests, it will be consumed. If it content, no matter how great its length, is true to who I am, I will share it. Not just because I want others to share in its relevance, but because doing so is a form of self-expression and the words of others can lend to a piece of the puzzle that completes me online and offline.

Over the years, blogs have formed the foundation of social media, democratizing the ability to publish thoughtful commentary, build a noteworthy community and equalize influence along the way.

Blogs are underrated and largely underestimated. Not only are they platforms for self-expression, shared experiences and observations, they are becoming a live index of history in the making as told by people for the people. Each year, I take to my blog to share the state of the blogosphere based on the annual report published by Technorati. Going back to 2004, Technorati has documented how blogs have changed the landscape for information commerce to not only provide insight into the world of blogs and the bloggers whose voices we are growing to trust across a variety of topics, but also into the numbers behind their ascendance.

The Age of Influence

Bloggers span from hobbyists to professionals, both part-time and full-time, corporate and also entrepreneurs. The vast majority of bloggers polled by Technorati fall into either the Gen Y or Gen X category.  It’s important to note that this isn’t reflective of the age demographics of who’s reading blogs, simply which age groups are actively publishing blogs.

Where in the World is my Blog?

The study was distributed only in English, yet bloggers from all over the world participated. While the majority of respondents blog from the United States, Europe, Latin America, and South Asia made notable appearances.

This reminds me of a trip during the winter of 2010 to Gdańsk, Poland where I had the opportunity to present at the annual Blog Forum event. To this day, it’s still memorable for many reasons. First, it was held in the original shipyards noted for its role in the Solidarity (Solidarność) movement recognized as one of the first steps in leading the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe. Second, the enthusiasm around blogging was euphoric, reminding me of the early days of social media in San Francisco circa 2005/2006. I presented the 2010 State of the Blogosphere at this event and here we are, one year later, and the passion only continues to intensify among creators who channel relevance through words and media.

The Blogger Experience

Bloggers are a diverse bunch. The majority of casual and professional bloggers have posted their views and experiences over the last two years. However, the concentration of bloggers closely follows with many blogging 4-6 and also greater than 6 years.

At the same time, bloggers aren’t focused on any one property. Professionals will blog at as many as four properties. This is up from an average of two blogs noted in the 2010 report.

It’s Time to Blog

In aggregate, most bloggers will spend anywhere between one-to-three hours blogging per week followed by three-to-five and five-to-10 weekly hours. 25% of professional bloggers are dedicating upwards of 40 hours or more per week. I’m not a professional blogger in that I do not derive revenues from my posts. But, I do invest over 10 hours on a weekly basis on researching and writing blog posts.

In terms of frequency, bloggers across the board will publish two-to-three posts per week. However, a notable percentage of professional, corporate, and entrepreneurial bloggers post once or twice per day.

Of those bloggers who are investing greater volumes of time and energy in blogs, it’s for good reason. It’s not just about pontification or sharing experiences in long-form. Bloggers can point to the ROI specifically…and it’s encouraging many to invest more in their blogging routines.

Most note that blogging has proven to be valuable for promoting their business or to one’s profession. Additionally, professional, casual, and corporate bloggers city audience engagement as motivation to create.

And, bloggers find that their work is getting taken more seriously as sources of trusted information and news.

From Traditional to New Media

As many as 40% of today’s professional and 35% of corporate bloggers once worked as a writer, reporter, producer, etc. in traditional media. The skillset is certainly optimized in terms of content creation. Learning social skills becomes critical for their continued success. On the corporate or entrepreneur fronts, the move to brand publishing or brand journalism as it’s often referenced, appears to be gaining momentum…thankfully. I’m relieved to hear that businesses are taking a more useful and informative approached to leading customers toward insight and resolution. My patience for marketing speak eroded long ago.

What is Your Source of Inspiration?

I found this slide interesting and also not surprising at the same time. Among the top influences for bloggers to find material to blog about is…well…other blogs. That also says everything at the same time. Blogs are often viewed as the people’s press and there can be an element of implied trust that yields the type of power that traditional media possessed in its golden years.

Nobodies are the New Somebodies

Brands look to influencers to help communicate the value or mission of the business to hopefully drive favorable actions. Bloggers continue to prove instrumental in brand marketing, advertising, and engagement. Let’s set aside the SEO and SMO advantages of blog influence for a moment. Let’s talk about everyday consumer influence. In the social web, people make decisions based on the information that’s presented to them in either the results of their search or the words of their friends and peers. Influence is the ability to cause effect or change behavior. Technorati found that between 40-50% of all bloggers, whether personal or professional blog about brands. The advantage of blogs for brands comes down to resonance. Blogs will live longer than Tweets or any status update for that matter.

Upwards of 70% of bloggers are already following their favorite brands in social media.

And knowing this importance on the relationships between bloggers and their communities, only 40% in aggregate have ever been approached by brands. Remember, it’s not just about the A-list, it’s about the magic middle!

With the love affair content creators, creators and consumers experience with the micromedia in social networks, blog posts contribute to the library of knowledge around any subject. They offer the ability to express perspective and offer context in  statusphere and they influence decisions, actions, and behavior. Whether it’s to demonstrate thought leadership, earn authority, generate leads, change perception or sentiment, blogs continue to lead the way while disrupting traditional media along the way. For businesses, the time is now to embrace your influencers and their networks, of all shapes and sizes, while blogging to become influential in the process.

Live to blog.

Blog to influence.

Image Credit: Shutterstock (Edited)

Yahoo has released its annual “Year in Review” report, a dive into the top searches and search trends on the world’s second largest search engine.

The report, released every year by the Internet giant, determines what queries topped user interest based on search volume and search growth to figure out what was hot in 2010.

Last year, Michael Jackson and Twilight topped Yahoo’s search rankings, while Megan Fox was the queen of Yahoo mobile searches in 2009. This year though, Michael Jackson and Megan Fox didn’t even make their respective lists. Replacing them instead were searches for the BP oil spill and, on mobile, the NFL.

The top ten searches on Yahoo in 2010 include six celebrities (Miley Cyrus clocks in at #3), one gadget (the iPhone at #6), one TV show (American Idol at #9, one sporting event (the World Cup at #2) and one manmade disaster (the BP oil spill at #1).

Mobile searches shared five of the same top ten, but also included the NFL (#1), Rihanna (#3), Sanda Bullock (#4), the NBA (#5) and the Winter Olympics (#9).

There were a lot of other interesting tidbits of information that we gleamed from Yahoo’s massive array of top searches. For example, “how to tie a tie” tops the list of most searched questions on Yahoo (beating “how to kiss” at #3 and “what’s the world’s only immortal animal” at #5). Oh, and Yahoo users are searching for the lyrics to Justin Bieber’s “Baby” more than any other song in the world.

In fact, there’s so much search data in this year’s list that the company commissioned JESS3 to create a nice infographic to summarize the company’s findings. In case that doesn’t satisfy you though, we’ve also included the full list of top searches in an embedded document below. Let us know if any piece of Yahoo’s report surprises you in the comments below.

(by the way, if you were wondering about the answer to “what’s the world’s only immortal animal, it’s the turritopsis nutricula.)

Infographic

Yahoo’s Year in Review 2010

Charitable giving has changed a lot in the past few years and the social web has been a big factor in that change. Where we once put coins in a collection box, there are now a plethora of ways you can help make a difference online.

One area of real growth is transaction-based giving, such as the “one for one” model, in which a consumer buys a product and someone less fortunate receives the same product for free. It’s been pioneered successfully by companies like TOMS Shoes and the OLPC organization, and has inspired many similar projects.

We’ve highlighted 10 great online “buy one give one” projects, but there are plenty more out there. Let us know about any we might have missed in the comments below and the next time you need a new pair of shoes, a flashlight or even a pair of glasses, why not consider buying one and giving one to someone less fortunate than yourself.

1. BoGoLight

The BoGoLight project distributes rugged solar lights to communities in need all over the world, giving a clean, safe, renewable light source to families that would ordinarily rely on kerosene and candles.

You can buy one of the flashlights and another will be donated on your behalf to someone in need. You can choose where your donated light goes from a variety of charities and causes, including projects promoting literacy, schools, women’s empowerment and safety, emergency relief, and more.

2. One World Futbol Project

The One World Futbol is an ultra-durable, all-terrain soccer ball that will never go flat, even if it gets punctured. If you buy one ball, the project will give a ball to a community in need in a refugee camp, war zone, or poverty-stricken community.

The idea for the ball was thought up by Tim Jahnigen, an inventor and music producer, after he saw footage of Darfur refugees playing soccer with a homemade “ball.” The development was funded by Sting.

Balls have so far been distributed in Rwanda, South Africa and Iraq while the Sager Family Foundation purchased 10,000 balls to be sent to Haiti.

3. Baby Teresa

Named after Mother Teresa, the Baby Teresa project is run by Sammie Appleyard and Kirsty Dunphey, both Tasmanian entrepreneurs who are helping to clothe babies in need all over the world.

Baby Teresa sells onesies on a buy one donate one basis, the project will ensure the second one gets to a baby in need.

Donations have so far gone out to Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Australia, Tasmania, the Philippines and Jordan. The founders’ hope to clothe a baby in every country in the world.

4. Blanket America

Blanket America sells blankets, comforters, sheets, pillows and throws. It’s no ordinary retailer though; the project wants to encourage consumers to demand more and to help their neighbors in meaningful ways whenever they shop.

For every product sold, the same or similar product is donated to individuals and organizations in need. As the name might suggest, the giving is primarily domestic, helping to bring comfort to those in poverty in the U.S. The project has also, however, carried out blanket distributions in Haiti.

5. Warby Parker

Warby Parker’s “buy a pair, give a pair” philosophy aims to help some of the 500 million people in the world that don’t have access to proper vision care.

For every pair of $95 prescription glasses a consumer buys online, the company gives a pair to someone in need, giving that individual the opportunity to read, to work and live a fuller life.

Along with charity partner RestoringVision.org, Warby Parker’s “give a pair” glasses have so far been distributed across 24 countries in Latin America, Africa, South Asia and the U.S.

6. Happy Blankie

The family-run Happy Blankie project, the brainchild of then-7 year-old David Holdridge, offers animal-themed baby blankets on a “one to love, one to give” basis, whereby you get a blanket and one goes to a child in need in a hospital or orphanage.

After purchase, you can choose where you’d like the other blanket to go. Destinations can be as far afield as Uganda or Thailand, or closer to home in an American city.

7. Whitten Grey

The “Little Grey Dress” project from Whitten Grey gives away a dress for every garment purchased with the aim of letting little girls experience the joy of giving.

With a Whitten Grey purchase you’ll receive a code which you can enter on the site, decide which color dress you’d like to send, which country it should go to and even write a note to the girl that gets the dress.

8. One Million Lights

The One Million Lights project distributes solar LED lights to replace kerosene lamps in areas around the world where there is no electricity. The lights help children study, help adults generate more income, and improve health and the environment.

You can simply donate a light, but there’s also a buy one donate one option where you can purchase one of the durable lights for yourself and one will be given to a child or family in need.

The project is geographically far-reaching and has distributed lights in Haiti, Peru, Nicaragua, India, Ethiopia, and Kenya, among other countries.

9. FIGS

FIGS (“innovative ties and bow ties for the modern man”) runs on a “threads for threads” basis, under a school uniform donated to a child for every tie purchased.

In many parts of Africa, children cannot go to school if they don’t have a proper uniform, so by buying a FIGS tie, you can give a child a chance to get an education. The uniforms are distributed in Eastern Africa, across over 100 schools within Kenya and Tanzania.

10. Roma Boots

Roma’s mission is to keep feet warm and dry by providing a comfortable, durable and practical pair of Roma Boots to every poor child living in cold and wet climates.

The company’s “one for one” concept sends a pair of rubber boots to a child living in poverty for every pair bought. The goal is to reach 5,000 street children and orphans this winter and 100,000 children by 2012; initial efforts target Eastern Europe.

BONUS: B1G1

B1G1 (buy one give one) is an online hub for transaction-based giving that empowers companies to offer buy one give one programs. Businesses can choose what kind of cause they’d like to support from a vast range of charitable options. Every time a transaction takes place, companies and the consumer can give back and make a difference.

Before winter, farmers must plow their fields under. They must can the vegetables they can’t eat. They must do their trading to have the right kind of stock in the cupboards for the cold times to come.

We’ve lost this quite a bit, haven’t we? Few of us know any farmers. Few of us have to make any particular plans for the winter, except for our sport of choice, or maybe if we live in an old drafty house. Beyond that, the seasons are just another window we click off at some point.

But there are benefits to thinking about seasons, even if you don’t match them to the real weather outside your door. What does autumn mean to a blog? What does the harvest of all your efforts mean for you? And how do you prepare for the hardness of a long, cold winter?

Before the Winter

• Write a few letters to people before the mail can’t be delivered.
• Thank those who helped you take in the harvest, and who helped you just by giving you a kind word.
• Make sure you have enough seed (ideas, prospects, potential new customers or products) to last the winter.
• If you don’t, trade or buy what you’re missing.
• Cut down any excess that won’t be eaten, after you find out whether anyone else can use it.
• Make notes to reduce excess for the next year.

Interesting how this advice would work for bloggers and other new media makers, eh?

Eurocopter is officially entering the race to develop a high-speed helicopter with its new X3 technology demonstrator. The prototype helicopter is designed to offer “the speed of a turboprop-powered aircraft and the full hover-flight capabilities of a helicopter,” according to Eurocopter.

The  announcement from Europe comes just days after Sikorsky’s high speed helicopter flew at its goal speed of 250 knots. The Sikorsky X2 has been in flight testing for two years and the 250 knot flight is the fastest ever for a helicopter flying without external boost.

The two prototypes use very different approaches to high speed helicopter flight. The Sikorsky approach uses a pair of counter rotating main rotating main rotors and a pusher prop on the tail. Eurocopter’s X3 hybrid design uses a pair of turbine engines to power the main rotor as well as a pair of forward facing propellers mounted on small wings.

The push for high speed helicopters is being driven by military demands, though both companies cite civilian applications including search and rescue and medical evacuation flights.

The X3 – and yes, apparently Eurocopter subscribes to the Nigel Tufnel school of thought of using a number that is just one more must be better – made its first flight on September 6, but it was only unveiled to the public this week. Eurocopter says testing will continue through the end of the year and the plan is to gradually work their way to 180 knots by December.

Eurocopter’s X3 without the main rotor

After a three month upgrade over the winter, the X3 will resume testing in March 2011 and the company says it expects the helicopter to reach cruise speeds of 220 knots.

Unlike the slim, two seat Sikorsky X2 that resembles an attack helicopter, the X3 does have a much larger cabin with room for cargo or several passengers. Both companies say the technology can be used on different size airframes for a variety of military and civilian applications.

Sikorsky X2 during its record setting 250 knot flight

With more than two years of flight testing already complete, Sikorsky appears to have a head start in the race to develop a new class of fast helicopters. But with dramatically different approaches on how to design a speedy helo, it looks like the race to the finish line is far from over.

Photos: Eurocopter, Sikorsky