This morning, an Air France Concorde departed from Kennedy Airport in New York for the last time.

As the first supersonic commerical aircraft, the Concorde has been a symbol of status and technological advancement for over a quarter century. But the high cost associated with maintainting the aging fleet and the reduced demand for seats -- costing up to $7000 each way -- seem to have signaled the end for 3 1/2 hour intercontinental flights. As the economic downturn continues, companies have increasingly decided to cut their losses on ego boosting but money losing operations (see also: media companies dumping sports franchises).

British Air plans to retire their Concordes later this year, as well. Both airlines have mentioned donating their planes to museums. However, Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Air, would like to purchase ther planes and keep them flying.

I imagine Air France and British Air viewing an upstart airline flying the majestic Concorde as an incredible hit to their corporate egos, but I hope that Branson can keep the Concorde alive.

A historic milestone was passed this week, when my Amazon.com stock, bought in August 2000 for 33.62/sh., actually climed back into the black! That's right, I'm actually making money on an internet stock bought 3 years ago!

Now where's my Webvan stock trading at these days? Oh.

Reebok, spurned by LeBron James, has signed up 3 1/2 year old basketball "prodigy" Mark Walker. According to the USA Today article, "Reebok is paying the family with a college trust fund for Mark, which might threaten his amateur standing to be a high school or college hoops star down the road."

I'm not sure who's more to blame -- the parents who sent the tape of their son to Reebok or Reebok itself for stooping to this -- but it's sick the way this child is being exploited when he has no idea of the possible ramifications down the road. For some fame and cash, his family sold out his possible high school and college career! How's the kid going to feel when he can't play on the junior high and high school teams with his friends? How is he supposed to develop his skills and become the NBA "gravy train" they hope he is when he is probably already locked out of competitive basketball?

So what's next in the world of sports endorsements? Could Stefi Graf and Andre Agassi line up a pre-natal shoe deal for their future arrival?

I'm not sure whether it's a spinoff of the reality TV fad or not, but it seems than any slightly out of the ordinary story suddenly leads to talks of book deals for those involved.

Jason Blair, the now infamous New York Times journalist caught plagiarizing and fabricating facts for stories has hired a literary agent to help sort through book and movie deals.

And those Northbrook, IL teens involved in the Powder Puff hazing incident have been offered a reinstatement deal, provided that they "don't cut a book or movie deal." Does that mean that some of them were already shopping their story?

This closely follows Montgomery County, MD police chief Charles Moose's filing suit to win the right to tell his story in a book. You may remember his as the face of the DC area sniper investigation.

And Stephen Glass, perhaps Blair's role model, recently received press coverage for the release of his novel, based on his own fabrication scandle that rocked the New Republic and other magazines for which he wrote five years ago.

With the exception of Chief Moose, these individuals brought unto themselves the scandal that lead to the media attention and possible book deals. It's almost like a new form of lottery ticket, but with higher odds of payout. Commit a crime, tell your story, cash in.

While Blair may not be able to work as a journalist again, he'll probably earn more with one book deal than he would in 20 years as a reporter.

A book deal would also help cushion the blow financially should any of those expelled from Glenbrook North have their collge acceptances recinded. So what if they end up at Wisconsin - LaCross instead of Illinois, when they've got their book deal.

So is that the trick? Do something so horrible you can literally write your own ticket to fame and wealth? Do they figure the infamy will blow over before the cash runs out? Do they hope that the book or movie will propel them to their own reality show, like Monica Lewinsky?

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?

The U.S. Treasury unveiled the redesigned $20 bill today, which incorporates more color among the added security features.

Rather then the ususal green and black bills of the present, the new bills are... green. Well the background is now green, too, as well as peach. And there's some blue and yellow, too.

I still think the new bills are too conservative in their approach to make them more user friendly and more difficult to counterfeit.

Take a look at the new Euro bills. Bold colors to immediately differentiate the bills. The colors on the new U.S. bills are so subtle that those who are color blind may not even notice.

The European bills also incorporate special features for the visually impaired. As our population ages, this becomes increasingly more important.

While I commend the U.S. Treasury's efforts, I think that they are too tied to the look of the past, which has existed since at least the mid 1800's. In fact the bills had hardly changed between 1914 and 1996, when they implemented the larger portraits. I think our paper currency still has a long way to go in terms of maximizing usabilty.

Gapers Block, a Chicago-focused site similar to NYC-focused Gawker and The Morning News, recently launched. I'm intrigued by the site so far and love the idea of sites dedicated to promoting what a great city Chicago is. I've had a somewhat similar idea in the back of my mind, so maybe I'll have to start pulling it together now...