August 19, 2008: Delta Airlines [NYSE:DAL] is the latest US carrier to announce WiFi on US flights.  American Airlines [NYSE:AMR] announced the service on its transcontinental service between LAX and JFK, stating that its entire fleet of fifteen B762 aircraft would be fitted with the new service.  WiFi was scheduled to begin in early July 2008, but has yet to appear.  AMR is partnering with Aircell.  American is still testing the service.

In September, at a special meeting for its top level frequent flyers, Continental Airlines [NYSE:CAL] announced its intent to roll out WiFi system wide. An official announcement was made on January 29.  Continental is partnering with LiveTV LLC.  Continental predicts that the service will be available on around 200 of its 350 aircraft by year's end.  The service will not be available on any of its transatlantic equipment (B752s, B762s, B764s, B772s and the soon to be delivered B787s).  During the meeting with frequent flyers in Houston in September 2007, Continental CEO Larry Kellner assured attendees that measured would be taken to ensure that passengers could not use the service to make phone calls.

Delta is also partnering with Aircell to install the service on 330 aircraft.  A flat fee ranging from about $10 to $15 will be charged depending on the lenght of the flight.  The service could provide an extra revenue stream to the financially beleaguered US carriers.

In a somewhat surprising announcement, the NASA team monitoring the Mars Phoenix Lander has announced the identification of perchlorate in Martian soil.  The compound, which contains oxygen and chlorine, is found in soil on Earth; the best known location is in the high Chilean Atacama desert.  Despite its inhospitable climate, scientists have found bacterial life in this Chilean outpost.

The most obvious candidate for the source of the perchlorate compound is the Lander itself.  Perchlorates, which can be explosive under certain circumstances, are found in some rocket fuels.  Contamination from the Lander itself is considered unlikely by the Mars team, which means that perchlorate is indigenous to the Red Planet.  Perchlorates tend to be stable under most conditions in soil.  Of course, the big question is how did perchlorate compounds originate on Mars.  This topic should create some interesting and even heated discussions among scientists.

August 19, 2008:  Things are getting boring; nothing has changed!  China still leads in the number of Gold Medals--a commanding lead.  The US is number one in the overall medal tally.  Great Britain has added another four Gold Medals to its total placing in number three in top medal count and fifth overall.  A total of 74 nations have been awarded medals; Ireland has yet to earn any medal in the Beijing Olympics.

The medal tally table follows.

Banks such as Citigroup [NYSE:C], Bank of America [NYSE:BAC] and JPMorgan Chase [NYSE:JPM] are facing refinancing challenges as some bonds reach maturity.  In the current market, refinancing those bonds may prove challenging further adding to the challenges facing these banking behemoths.  Interest rates have crept up slightly; investors may require a premium from banks, given potential exposure to the mortgage mess.  Currently there are close to $200 billion in bonds coming due; the bulk of the refinancing will likely occur in December.   The increased cost of borrowing will further depress bank earnings over the next few quarters.