Aerosmith Mentioned On Msnbc
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ITRADE
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You're welcome. Also, there is IIRC a check-box for daylight savings. Be sure to check the appropriate box so that you don't go nuts thinking that you're an hour off six months out of the year.
Just Plane Crazy
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- Feb 24, 2004
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Just found this in the LA Times! 
THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Unlikely Website Scoops World on Kerry's Choice Worker who spotted 'Edwards' on campaign jet posted the news on USAviation.com.
By Susannah Rosenblatt, Times Staff Writer
Bryan Smith is not a journalist.
But the 39-year-old airplane mechanic from Moon Township, Pa., was behind the biggest political scoop of the week.
The first word that Sen. John F. Kerry had tapped Sen. John Edwards as his running mate trickled out not from a newspaper or cable TV news network but on an aviation website in a far-flung corner of the Internet.
A popular niche site, USAviation.com, beat all the major news outlets with a message board posting at 11:44 p.m. EST Monday by Smith, who had spied "Kerry-Edwards" emblazoned across the campaign's 757 parked in a Pittsburgh airport hangar.
"I thought it would be something interesting to put on there," Smith said of the website posting.
He passed the plane, covered with paper and masking tape, during work and later peeked in the hangar window to see what was going on.
The rest of the world heard about the Kerry-Edwards ticket — kept secret by the presumed Democratic presidential nominee until early Tuesday — nearly eight hours later from the first reports by NBC at 7:30 a.m. EST.
"It was such a well-kept secret, I guess people couldn't believe that it would leak out on a little website like this," said Kevin Laufer, a 28-year-old commercial pilot from Moorestown, N.J., who co-founded the site.
Even though his site broke the story, Laufer was oblivious to Democrats' machinations and the buzz surrounding them. He was too busy caring for his son, 5-day-old Michael Joseph.
A stuffed e-mail inbox and 13 phone messages greeting him Tuesday morning were his first indication that something unusual was happening.
Smith conducted a handful of interviews Wednesday, including one with National Public Radio. He's enjoying his 15 minutes of fame.
"I get a kick out of it," he said. "I didn't really think it was that big of a deal."
Smith said he supported Kerry's selection of Edwards; Laufer is a Republican who says "it really doesn't matter."
Traffic to USAviation.com increased to 10 times its normal activity Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people jammed onto the site to check the Kerry posting.
Smith is skeptical whether he will be behind any more breaking news.
"That'll probably be it unless I'm in the right place at the right time again," he said, laughing. "It took me 39 years to get this one."
Laufer has no plans to give up flying for a career in Internet journalism, although his wife gave him a brief reprieve from baby duty to bask in the national attention.
"She's letting me take care of this and get some good exposure for the site while she's changing some poopy diapers," Laufer said.
THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Unlikely Website Scoops World on Kerry's Choice Worker who spotted 'Edwards' on campaign jet posted the news on USAviation.com.
By Susannah Rosenblatt, Times Staff Writer
Bryan Smith is not a journalist.
But the 39-year-old airplane mechanic from Moon Township, Pa., was behind the biggest political scoop of the week.
The first word that Sen. John F. Kerry had tapped Sen. John Edwards as his running mate trickled out not from a newspaper or cable TV news network but on an aviation website in a far-flung corner of the Internet.
A popular niche site, USAviation.com, beat all the major news outlets with a message board posting at 11:44 p.m. EST Monday by Smith, who had spied "Kerry-Edwards" emblazoned across the campaign's 757 parked in a Pittsburgh airport hangar.
"I thought it would be something interesting to put on there," Smith said of the website posting.
He passed the plane, covered with paper and masking tape, during work and later peeked in the hangar window to see what was going on.
The rest of the world heard about the Kerry-Edwards ticket — kept secret by the presumed Democratic presidential nominee until early Tuesday — nearly eight hours later from the first reports by NBC at 7:30 a.m. EST.
"It was such a well-kept secret, I guess people couldn't believe that it would leak out on a little website like this," said Kevin Laufer, a 28-year-old commercial pilot from Moorestown, N.J., who co-founded the site.
Even though his site broke the story, Laufer was oblivious to Democrats' machinations and the buzz surrounding them. He was too busy caring for his son, 5-day-old Michael Joseph.
A stuffed e-mail inbox and 13 phone messages greeting him Tuesday morning were his first indication that something unusual was happening.
Smith conducted a handful of interviews Wednesday, including one with National Public Radio. He's enjoying his 15 minutes of fame.
"I get a kick out of it," he said. "I didn't really think it was that big of a deal."
Smith said he supported Kerry's selection of Edwards; Laufer is a Republican who says "it really doesn't matter."
Traffic to USAviation.com increased to 10 times its normal activity Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people jammed onto the site to check the Kerry posting.
Smith is skeptical whether he will be behind any more breaking news.
"That'll probably be it unless I'm in the right place at the right time again," he said, laughing. "It took me 39 years to get this one."
Laufer has no plans to give up flying for a career in Internet journalism, although his wife gave him a brief reprieve from baby duty to bask in the national attention.
"She's letting me take care of this and get some good exposure for the site while she's changing some poopy diapers," Laufer said.
I just talked to Aerosmith on the phone and it seems he will be on the Pittsburgh TV stations today. He told me as he strapped his little girls into their safety seats to take them to the sitter so he could go to work with a hint of being slightly overwhelmed that, “this is out of control, reporters from all over the country are calling and my house was full of reporters".
The wow factor is at work.
The wow factor is at work.
ringmaruf
Veteran
Alright, Ms. Rosenblatt! Finally, somebody's not calling us "obscure"!
Also a mention in Slate's Today's Papers
Notice that Slate got the time wrong, since the board doesn't make it clear that the default time zone is GMT.
Slate said:
Notice that Slate got the time wrong, since the board doesn't make it clear that the default time zone is GMT.
It figures the major media would poo-poo usaviation.com - breaking news is THEIR job, dammit!
The 'Net may save democracy yet, as we don't have to rely on transnational,in-house PR types for news.
Aerosmith, you are da man!
And, RWerkman, this deal got me off the hook with the bride, too!
The 'Net may save democracy yet, as we don't have to rely on transnational,in-house PR types for news.
Aerosmith, you are da man!
And, RWerkman, this deal got me off the hook with the bride, too!
The story has gone international. News.com.au calls it the "Scoop of the Century."
