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  • Netflix Heads to the Sky with New Virgin Partnership

    Netflix Heads to the Sky with New Virgin Partnership

    Netflix and Virgin America have just announced a partnership that will offer passengers on some of its new aircraft free Netflix streaming until March 2nd, 2016.

    Starting today, if you’re flying on Virgin America’s new ViaSat WiFi-equipped aircraft, you’ll be given free Wi-Fi to use for the purposes of Netflix. You’ll be able to stream to your existing devices – phones, tablets, and laptops.

    It’s a limited time offer, but one that’s incredibly beneficial to both companies.

    For Netflix, it’s about branding and new subscriptions. Virgin is branding its Netflix-equipped planes with Netflix and House of Cards logos, and anyone not already a Netflix member will be prompted to sign up for a 30-day free trial in order to stream Netflix on the flights.

    For Virgin, the promotion is a way to publicize its new ViaSat Wi-Fi initiative, which the company says will offer “the highest capacity Ka-band satellite in the world offering 140 gigabits-per-second, to deliver the fastest WiFi connectivity service for high-quality video streaming.”

    Netflix is looking to get into more places – not just your home but in your homes away from home. Earlier this year, Netflix partnered with Marriott to put Netflix in hotel rooms.

    “As WiFi becomes more ubiquitous, it’s going to be increasingly possible for members to enjoy Netflix wherever they want,” said Bill Holmes, Netflix’s global head of business development. “We’re delighted to partner with Virgin America to extend the joy of Netflix to our members at 35,000 feet.”

  • Virgin Birth Claims Examined in New Study

    Virgin Birth Claims Examined in New Study

    The Christian story of the birth of Jesus may be the most well-known virgin birth claim in history, but it turns out that such claims are not as rare as we might think.

    A new study published in this year’s Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal has examined modern virgin birth claims, finding some interesting trends in those women who claim to have gotten pregnant while still virgins.

    Researchers at the University of North Carolina looked at 7,870 women over a 14-year period who were part of the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Of those women, 0.5% (45 of them) “consistently affirmed” that they did not become pregnant the old-fashioned way.

    The women were also polled about their circumstances, home life, and sexual histories. Data about their religiosity, knowledge of birth control, and their level of sex education was collected and parsed.

    The study’s authors found that the women who reported virgin births were more than twice as likely to have signed chastity pledges as those women who did not claim to have had a virgin birth. The virgin mothers were also significantly more likely to have signed chastity pledges than even other virgins who had not given birth.

    Virgin mothers were, on average, younger than sexually active mothers at the time of the birth. The parents of self-professed virgin mothers were also more likely to have talked less with their child about sex and birth control.

    Though these finding seem to indicate that virgin mothers on average come from sexually conservative backgrounds, the study’s authors are not jumping to the conclusion that women who claim virgin births are liars. Instead, the study is intended to give an overview of the type of women who are likely to report virgin births.

  • Virgin Galactic Accepting Bitcoin for Ticket to Space

    Virgin Galactic Accepting Bitcoin for Ticket to Space

    CNBC reported on Friday that Sir Richard Branson has permitted his space startup, Virgin Galactic, to accept Bitcoin as fare for a flight to space.

    Branson made the announcement in a blog post at Virgin. “The virtual currency has really captured the imagination recently as one of the world’s most innovative businesses looking to the future. So we think it is about time Virgin Galactic customers can choose to pay with Bitcoins.”

    “I have invested in some Bitcoins myself, and find it fascinating how a whole new global currency has been created,” Branson added.

    As popular as Bitcoins are now, Branson observed that their evolution followed a similar path as his company. “A few years ago many people had doubts about whether Virgin Galactic would ever get off the ground. Now we have gone supersonic,” he said. “The days of carrying cash and coins could soon be over.”

    The first Bitcoin purchase of space tickets was by a flight attendant in Hawaii. As a Bitcoin enthusiast, Branson noted the woman is a successful investor in the Bitcoin market. “[She made] quite a lot of money getting into Bitcoin early on,” he said.

    As a forward-looking company, Virgin seeks to embrace Bitcoin as a new form of payment and perhaps as the future of currency exchange. “Sometime in the future, innovative payment models such as Square, Clinkle and Bitcoin will become serious challengers to traditional banks, which will spur more competition and give customers even more options,” Branson wrote. “We would be delighted to welcome more of the Bitcoin community as future astronauts.”

    Branson sent a tweet out before he joined CNBC anchors to discuss the change:

    In the interview, Branson said, “Virgin Galactic is a bold entrepreneurial technology. It’s driving a revolution. And Bitcoin is doing just the same when it comes to inventing a new currency.”

    [Image via YouTube]

  • Justin Bieber Wants To Shoot Video In Outer Space

    Justin Bieber has just booked a $250,000 flight to space aboard Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, and he says he wants to take it a step further.

    Of course, it’s not going to happen anytime soon, and the flight isn’t even scheduled yet, as the plane is still in testing mode. However, flights are expected to launch at the end of this year. Over 600 people have put down a deposit for a seat into suborbital space, where they’ll experience weightlessness and will be treated to a view only astronauts have seen thus far.

    Sir Richard Branson tweeted a shoutout to Bieber this week about the booking:

    To which Bieber responded:

    “@richardbranson @scooterbraun @virgingalactic let’s shoot a music video in SPACE!! #nextLEVEL”.

    Bieber joins celebrities Ashton Kutcher, Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise in his quest for space travel.

  • Best, Worst Airlines of 2013 Ranked by Consumer Reports

    Flying can be one of the most unpleasant experiences in life. Even if passengers’ eardrums aren’t bombarded by crying babies or some woman singing Whitney Houston songs, the prices, accommodations, and service can often leave a lot to be desired.

    This week, Consumer Reports has shed some light on the variations of the flying experience that can be found on different airlines. The publication has ranked U.S. airlines from best to worst in its latest issue of Consumer Reports magazine. The rankings are based on a survey of 16,000 people conducted in February. The survey included questions about comfort, baggage handling, check-in service, fees, and in-flight entertainment.

    The top-ranked airlines will come as no surprise for frequent flyers. Virgin America topped the list due to its leather seat cushions and free bag checking. Jet Blue and SouthWest also placed highly for their baggage handling and service, though Jet Blue scored higher than SouthWest for cleanliness and comfort.

    On the other side of the list, Spirit Airlines scored what Consumer Reports says is one of the lowest overall scores it has ever given. Though Spirit charges much lower airfare than almost any other airline, the company makes up for its low ticket prices by charging flyers for nearly everything they can. This includes fees for flight booking, carry-on bags, checked bags, in-flight snacks, and having a ticket agent print a boarding pass,

  • Google Maps Being Featured On Virgin Flights

    The Red Touch-Screen Entertainment Platform Upgrades Include an Open Tab Service, Next Gen Google Maps and the First-Ever Digital In-Flight Shopping Platform. With this latest upgrade, travelers access to a host of new amenities, including next generation, enhanced terrain view Google Maps, an open tab service for the airline’s one-of-a-kind on-demand menu and the first ever seatback in-flight digital shopping platform.

    Travelers on Virgin America flights this month will also see a host of new amenities and added features including these Google Maps upgrades: Virgin America’s previous Google Maps platform led the industry with interactive maps with multiple levels of zoom.  The enhanced system will feature terrain view maps with fresher images and eight levels of zoom functionality, so travelers can see the actual topography over which they are flying.

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