Gadling

A year ago, Justin revealed his fear of heights and told us about Kent Couch who has a thing for tying helium balloons to a lawn chair so he can float across the sky. Last year, he made it 193 miles before landing in sagebrush in eastern Oregon.

Couch will be at it again tomorrow. This time he wants to fly from Oregon to Boise, Idaho. That's 300 miles. To do this feat, he's attaching 150 latex party balloons to his new lawn chair. This feat is not easy on lawn chairs, so both times Couch has done this, he's had to start fresh.

One thing that's clear about Couch's endeavor is that he must know what he's doing since he hasn't gotten hurt yet. The three times is a charm adage must work. This time he has sponsorship and no one seems to think he's a nut case like the first time he sat in his chair in 2006 and floated up and away.

Still, I don't think this is something most folks should try. He doesn't even wear a seat belt. I think I'm with Justin on this one. [via AP]

Thanks to Shward for this photo posted on Flickr of Kent Couch in a lawn chair in a parade in Eugene, Oregon. It is true that there are many ways to become a celebrity.

When Alaska Airlines begins to accept only credit and debit cards for in-flight purchases early next month, it will become the latest U.S. carrier to go cash-free.

Midwest, JetBlue, Virgin American, AirTran and Frontier have all stopped accepting cash for things like headphones, food and drinks. Instead, they require you to swipe plastic if you want something on board.

The reason? Airline officials say it makes service more efficient, since flight attendants now won't have to carry money on them and be burdened with having to make change. And let's face it: Since airlines are charging for everything these days, this kind of makes sense. Why make flight attendants fly with cash registers when they can make do with small electronic card machines?

But I have a question about this, which you may anticipate: If airlines are so cash strapped, as they claim, why not do the reverse and ban credit card purchases? Merchants pay a percentage of every credit card transaction (it's usually small, like 1-3 percent). So by outlawing cash, airlines will be bumping up there own exposure to credit card fees. A few percents on every purchase might not seem like much, but it'll add up (remember, this is an industry that concluded eliminating free salted peanuts would be a huge money-saver).

I'm guessing airlines will work the credit card fees they pay right into the price of their products. Don't be shocked to see that lunch box climb up $.10-$.25 or so.

But some industry watchers say that going cashless won't really do much to airlines' bottom lines since in-flight purchases are not big profit sources for airlines anyway. If anything, they say airlines might see a slight uptick as people often spend more when using plastic.

Not all planes have gone cashless. Northwest still accepts cash on its domestic routes, and American and Delta accept both cash and plastic.

Today is my 15th anniversary, but we had the fireworks last night. Wow! A bit racy.

Actually, Columbus's big fireworks display "Red, White and Boom" is on July 3, although there are other fireworks happenings tonight in other locations.

Last night we went down to Goodale Park where we would be able to see the display, but not be overwhelmed by the huge crowds, although Goodale was plenty hopping.

My husband does joke that the reason we got married on the 4th of July was because he wants fireworks on our anniversary. I try to oblige by figuring out where we should go. Here are six highlights for where we've seen fireworks that have made sweet memories.

• Standing on 1st Avenue in Manhattan looking down towards Washington Square Park. The fireworks were framed beautifully by the buildings. I loved the communal feel and hearing the voices of people watching from the roofs of apartment buildings.
• Sitting on the roof of a friend of ours apartment building in West Hollywood, California looking out over the city with our bird's eye view.
• Driving up to the cemetery Philipsburg, Montana to watch people set off their own fireworks. The cemetery is at one of the highest points above town. My son, who was three said, "This is like a fireworks festival."
• Twice we've gone to Crew Stadium in Columbus to watch on the enormous screen while the show is broadcast. You can also see the fireworks in the distance. Crew Stadium is where the professional soccer team plays. We've always had a gang of friends along.
• While visiting my in-laws we've gone to the middle school field in Berea, Ohio to see fireworks there. This year, the fireworks are part of The Grindstone Festival that is happening this weekend.
• The backyard of friends of my best friend from college who lives in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The one I called from my traffic hell and who I talked into the Superman Ride of Steel roller coaster at Six Flags New England last summer. Her friends set off fireworks and we all had sparklers.

Where have you seen your best fireworks? Keep it clean. I mean the fireworks display kind.

Looks like the "Pope-mobile" is changing from a Mercedes Benz to an Indian rickshaw!

An auto-rickshaw, a black and yellow 3-wheeler that can seat no more than 3 people, is India's most used form of private transport. The Pope has just received a personalized, completely white one with special insignia, that he will be using for public appearances as he commutes around the Vatican.

The Times Of India has hyped this piece of news as a symbolic step in marking India's connection with the spiritual leader.

Definitely unique news and a novel marketing gimmick by Piaggio Ape Calessino, the rickshaw manufacturing company, but not worthy of front page status.

In my opinion, the Pope making use this mode of transport from a developing country is a feather in the cap for India's awesome transportation system, but other than that, no big deal.

For those in search of that little extra umph when they travel--the something more that connects them to self or something bigger than they are, sacred place travel can offer a sense of purpose. Traveling with a contemplative eye can move one deeper into an experience.

Here is a book that offers up sacred places to visit with a twist. In Sacred Places of Goddess, 108 Destinations, author Karen Tate, presents the history of goddess worship, the role of the Divine Feminine around the world, the significance of each particular goddess, and how do you get to the places where you can experience their influence. This is part travel guide, part history lesson, part cultural analysis, --and more. Much more.

Whether it's a sacred, spiritual boost you're after, or just an unusual way to look at the places you are wandering though, here's a book to consider.

Tate's book caught my eye when I was wandering around the West Hollywood Book Festival last September. With spiritual travel showing up on the radar lately, I wanted to point this one out as a fascinating read that presents sites and information you may not come across otherwise.

Divided into sections by continents and countries, the book delves into the archaeological, sociological and historical significance of particular places and their goddess connection. Sites include: grottoes, churches, temples, ruins, particular statues or artwork of note.

A study sponsored by Dell found that over 12,000 laptops are lost or stolen in U.S. airports each week. The airports with the highest frequency? In order: LAX, then Miami, then JFK, then O'Hare, then Newark. Two-thirds of those are never recovered.

What to do? Well, Dell has come out with a suite of security services that might help: Dell ProSupport Mobility Services. The software allows for several nifty solutions for a missing laptop. There's remote tracking and recovery, also called "Lojack" (the opposite of "hijack", from a system developed for stolen cars). This "Lojack for Laptops" system has been around a while, introduced by a company called Absolute Software, but now Dell is putting muscle behind it by allowing you to get it preinstalled. Lose your laptop, call the service, and they'll track down the address where the laptop is sitting (they use the laptop's IP address and then get the physical address from the Internet service provider).

Perhaps even cooler, there's a remote data delete service. Report the laptop missing, and they can wipe your drive clean, so sensitive data is protected.

Of course, there is a hitch. A big one. In order for the search or destroy commands to reach the laptop, the thief has to connect to the Internet. Finding a laptop connected via Wifi can be tough, but, worse, try recovering your laptop from Ulan Bator.

Flickr contributor Sgorainick submitted this photo for Gadling's photo of the day. "Volcanos in the Mist" was taken in Indonesia. You can still see some of the sulfur belching from Mount Bromo in the distance. I'm sure it didn't smell good, but who wouldn't put up with a little sulfur smell to get a shot like this?

Way to go Sgorainick!

Think you can top Sgorainick? Contribute some of your best pictures to our Gadling group on Flickr and find out!

Got any travel plans for the Fourth of July weekend? Most people do. Want some free wireless internet? Most people would like that too.

Well, you're in luck. Boingo, one of the nations largest pay-for-wireless providers, is running a promotion this weekend where you can get a free day pass on their ubiquitous network.

All that you have to do is sign up for their GoBoingo software that alerts you any time you're within a Boingo signal and you'll get a free day pass. Not a bad deal if you just want to check your email or Skype someone on the road and I suppose you can always get rid of the software once you're finished with it.

Don't get roped into one of the subscription plans if you don't want to -- Boingo has a habit of sucking you in. If you decide to go down that path through, it's not a bad service. I hear that out resident pilot Kent Wein uses it all over the world successfully.

Check out the Boingo promo website for more details.

[Via Jen, at the LA Times Travel Blog. Have a good weekend!]

"Diet Coke," says the passenger after I ask him what he'd like to drink. While I'm filling a plastic glass full of ice, he asks the question I hoped he wouldn't ask, "Can I get a sandwich?"

"Oh...ummm...I'm sorry." I make a face, the I'm-sorry face, because I am sorry. Really, I am. I'm sorry I have to say I'm sorry all day long. "We ran out," I continue, and before I can tell him that we actually ran out of anything and everything edible on the airplane, he asks "What else do you have?"

I take a deep breath, because I really don't want to tell this guy we have nothing, not one thing, so I make the face again, the I'm-sorry face, and decide to make light of the situation. "Diet Coke. Sprite. Diet Sprite. Pepsi. Diet Pepsi. Orange juice. Apple Juice." He's looking at me like I'm crazy, so I make the face again, oh you know the one, and say, "I'm sorry, but we ran out of everything. There's no more food."

"What do you mean there's no more food!"

"We ran out of food," I say again, as I oh so gently place a can of Diet Coke and a glass of ice on his tray table. What I don't say is that we ran out of food hours ago, due to the fact the passengers were starving because of the hour and a half weather delay we took on the ground. What this passenger and I do not know, and will not know for another hour, is we're going to have another hour and a half delay in flight because the airport in New York is closed due to more bad weather . "Sorry," I say again, and I am, sorry I'm forced to say sorry all day long.

"This is ridiculous!"