iCurrent, and News Headings that Annoy

Haven’t yet found a great news aggregate. For now Google News, iCurrent – and popurls on the odd occasion – suffice. iCurrent is my favourite, great for personalizing news stories of interest. Nothing fancy, but as you use it it and give feedback on links, it evolves more and more to taste. You can fit a lot of one-liner text-only headings on one page, which is how I prefer the news displayed. More bang for your buck.

Problem is that (especially recently) these headings are often misleading. Not sensationalized, but distracted completely from the real topic. Only realize after you’ve clicked through that you realize the article is of no interest to you whatsoever. Boo on that. This double-meaning works beautifully in print, a butter churn of wit and creativity. But online, when you want specific information, it just seems crass. Tabloid-y and cheap, and not what you want from ‘serious’ media.

I do see the other side of it too though. Having four or five measly words to capture a reader’s fleeting glance. A competition of type.

Still… annoying! 😛

Aloft on IATA’s Aviation Studies

A jolt, a revelation, a possible ephiphany!

I looked and I found: IATA (International Air Transport Association). Mission statment: to represent, lead and serve the airline industry. 230 airlines. Thrills and tingles.. overexcited, omg. Aviation Studies, available as self-study. It seems perfect for me.. I’m terrified of finding a snag, a catch I can’t throw, but.. wow. I wonder why I didn’t find this until now (think I’ve been on the pages for GCAA, the FAA etc)..? How speccy that it’s offered through distance education, I thought for something as niche industry as aviation that wasn’t even possible! No more unhappy deliberating over property or building or town planning study that is never quite right…

IATA provides a diploma in aviation studies, and can be completed with a self-study method. You complete four courses (Airline Customer Service; Ground Operations Management; Introduction to Airline Industry; Airport Operations; Introduction to Air Transport, Airline Marketing.. I would do all of these!) within a 3-year period, send the certificates to their Singapore centre, and they issue you with the diploma.. It’s one exam per course just like OUA.. I would take planned leave or days off and fly to one of their centres, the closest ones to me are in Singapore, Delhi, and Beijing. And we fly to all of those!

Also, there’s regional training centres in Cairo and Amman (both even closer) but I’m not sure what the difference is exactly? And if Nourhan can get emergency leave for her exams in English lit or whatever it is, I ought to be able to get in when my study relates directly to my job industry! I can easily afford the fees, and it doesn’tlook at though there’s any prerequisites. In fact – these courses are designed for entry-level people in the industry (hellooo, that’s me)! My head is filled with possibilities – I could do this diploma while working and then maybe somehow take time off to specialize in something further with some money I’d saved. IATA also has training centres in Montreal, Geneva and Miami.

I’m always looking, little life blocks, slots of days, of ‘going through the motions’ followed by a block of manic frustration trying to figure out the next move. It’s unbearable to not have dreams, to not having an ideas to follow! I need something to work towards, please. I’m a tracker but not a compulsive planner- I’m the last person you’d find with one of those five-year, ten-year plans. Life in the now, the present, is so important and still, the road’s gotta lead to somewhere, something. Progression is a big deal and the thought of having achieving little is my dogma. So, I look. Look really hard for this somewhere or something. Travelling,work, is the most important thing I’m doing and it helps, although I still have to learn how to extract better from trips and take everything as an opportunity.. and it’s wonderful because every few days I get that start-over. Throwing past failures out the window. Screw it – all there is to do is rewrite it as ‘experience’ and either try it again or begin something else.

I want to enrol right now! Pay is in in a few days, which is good – it will give me a little time to ascertain which course I should start with. I won’t mention it to my PM until I have the exams coming up on the first one. Better that way.

I desperately want this to be what I’ve been looking for.