Apparently an anonymous source told Reuters that

The TSA will now let pilots decide whether to allow passengers to keep items in their laps or require them to remain seated during portions of the flight [and that the TSA] will let pilots and airlines determine whether in-flight entertainment systems that show a plane's location should be turned off to avoid a security risk.

The NY Times has confirmed this claim with Gale D. Rossides, the acting director of the Transportation Security Administration, who says that "her agency had given airline captains discretion in determining when passengers could move about the cabin during a flight and whether they could have blankets or pillows on their laps."

Rossides also remarked that more "changes in security measures will take place in coming days," so who knows who'll be calling the shots about pillows and blankets a few days down the line.

What we know for now is that JetBlue already appears to be turning their in-flight entertainment systems back on and letting pilots make some decisions, so let's enjoy that news for now while we sort out whether it's still time to fire the TSA. [Reuters via Business Insider via CrunchGear]

This software will look for nervous face touching, profuse sweating and various other ticks that passengers do all the time. A guy from UCSD built a similar system, but says it only identifies people correctly 70% of the time and only under optimal conditions, which don't exist in airplanes. Sounds foolproof! [Newscientist via Boing Boing]

Virgin America has been retrofitting their entire fleet with the necessary hardware whereas American Airlines is only running a trial on 15 planes. The service will bring a 2Mbps EVDO Rev. A connection and will actually be upgradeable to Rev. B or faster hardware in the future. So what's the fee for this magical in-flight service? Cross-country flights will cost $12.95 and shorter flights of 3 hours or less will be $9.95.

As for what limitations the airlines will set is still not clear, but with a spring launch, 2Mbs connection, and near $10 fee we can't help but be all hyped-up, so much so it's making us scream, "Let's gogo go!"[gogo via gigaom]

Plus, your unmentionables will be protected from perverts and prying eyes thanks to a shade that blocks the view but not the drying power of Mother Earth. I don't know how popular this sort of thing would be in the States, but if it ever sees the light of day as an actual product, it could definitely find a home wherever cramped living conditions force city dwellers to look for smaller, cheaper home appliances. [Design Awards via ecofriend via Wired]

There are six crew on the plane, which is missing a wing and a chunk of the tail. Gupta plays the role of captain, while his wife serves drinks and trays of airline food to the passengers alongside the other stewardesses.

As the passengers listen to Gupta's announcements regarding turbulence and the descent into Delhi, the fact that the bathrooms are out of order, the air conditioning is powered by generator and they are still seeing the same view out of the window does not faze the passengers one bit.

Just one percent of Indians have experienced plane travel for real, but Gupta's virtual flight—which includes a safety demonstration—wows his employees (who hope that their work as static air hostesses will lead to the real thing one day) as well as the customers. One of Gupta's Saturday passengers, a young teacher, described the experience as "more beautiful than [she] ever imagined." [Times Online]

Skybus is far from a fully functioning airline. Currently, all flights must run through Columbus, meaning you can't fly direct from Los Angeles to San Francisco using Skybus. A $10 dollar one-way ticket is more of an exception than the norm. Only flights to and from nearby cities such as Cincinatti offer prices that low, and only if you book your flight months in advance. A cheap flight from the west coast will cost somewhere around $175. Still pretty cheap, but hardly a steal.

In order to profit from this service, Skybus has to plaster the cabin with ads, turn flight attendants into gift shop sales people and charge for everything above and beyond your ticket. Including checked baggage. It'd be great to see Skybus grow to a point where flights between nearby cities across the nation are all $10, but we'll watch with a skeptical eye for now. [Popular Science]

Virgin, for the unfamiliar, has state-of-the-art planes that play Doom and have loads of music and video streaming appliances in every seat. It's essentially the ultimate airline for nerds who have to travel (us).

Their PR folks say they have a few more stages to get through, but if everything goes correctly they should be up in the air by summer. – Jason Chen

Virgin America Gets Permission To Fly [Jaunted]