More bad news for Japanese companies today, as Yokohama based Koito Industries admitted to falsifying test results from its line of airplane seats.

According to the Japanese transportation ministry, the entire testing department at Koito was involved in the scandal, and it may have been going on since the mid 90's.

During the investigation, officials discovered that Koito skipped entire tests, and used data from past tests instead. In addition to this, they manipulated computer screens so they would show false figures during tests observed by the government.

The false information can have potentially catastrophic results - results of fire resistance and strength were falsified on as many as 150,000 seats installed on planes from 32 airlines.

According to the Koito site, they sold seats to airlines like Continental, JAL, ANA, KLM, Singapore, Virgin Atlantic and SAS. Whether those airlines actually received seats involved in this recall is unknown.

Of course, the timing of this recall is terrible for the Japanese - as they are in the middle of their embarrassing admission of how Toyota handled their safety issues. Make no mistake - 150,000 airline seats in need of potential improvements could turn into a major problem for those airlines involved, especially if the recall means seats need to be replaced.

As of right now, there is apparently "no cause for concern" - the Japanese transportation ministry has approved the continued use of the seats after consulting the Federal Aviation Administration.

Update: Initially, this article had listed Air Canada as a current user of Koito seats (based off information from the Koito site). The airline contacted us to let us know that they removed all Koito seats in 2008. None of the seats in the Air Canada fleet are currently from the troubled Japanese company. Thanks to Air Canada for that correction.

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Tuesday February 9th 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is for a pair of highly rated noise canceling headphones from Audio Technica. Their ATH-ANC7B on-ear headphones come with a sturdy carrying case and at $129.99, are currently almost $100 cheaper than their regular retail price. Click here for this deal.

Next up is the kind of gadget only a real geek can appreciate. For $15.97, Yugster.com will send you two keychain weather station devices. These small gadgets feature a clock, max/min temperature reading, humidity sensor, compass, flashlight and an alarm clock with snooze. Click here for this deal.

Today's third deal is for a gadget I'm reviewing right now - the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach. If you have trouble sleeping when you travel, you'll love using the Zeo. The kit includes a wireless headband to monitor your sleep, and a bedside alarm clock that receives information from the headband. The Zeo normally retails for $249.99, but is currently on sale for $199.99. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, head on over to Monoprice.com for a great deal on a 2200mAh backup battery for your iPod or iPhone. At just $11.44, it is one of the cheapest options out there for a battery with this kind of capacity. Click here for this deal.

Well, I hate to say that it is now "official", but American Airlines really has entered into the territory of the low cost carrier - by charging for their blankets.

The new charge goes into effect on May 1st, and is just another fee facing passengers.

According to the airline, they are introducing the fee based on "customer surveys". Unless that survey asked passengers for ways they'd like to receive less service for the same amount of money, I'm not sure where they got the kind of input that would force them to remove free blankets.

Of course, removing free blankets wouldn't be so bad, if the airlines managed to keep the temperature on their planes at a comfortable level - alas - even though you are sitting inside a computer operated fly-by-wire jet plane, technology still has not evolved enough to keep the cabin comfy.

The new charge will apply to flights two hours and longer from the US to Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Central America. Shorter flights don't get blankets, and long haul flights are apparently safe (for the time being). I guess the time has come for us all to bring our own Snuggie?

As always, we love to hear from our readers, so what do you think?

A Ramada hotel might not be your first thought for a romantic hotel, but what if I told you that you can reserve a room with a sweet 50% discount? I'm guessing that suddenly makes it more interesting!

The Ramada Hotels reservation site has a promotion offering 50% off their lowest rates - and this isn't the kind of promo that makes you hunt for hours to find the "hot deal".

I spent a couple of minutes on their site, and found plenty of properties participating, with some offering nights as low as $28 for a night. There are even hotels with availability during Valentine's day (hint hint).

The fine print of the promotion isn't too bad either - book between February 8th and February 12th for stays to be completed by March 31st. There is no limit to the number of stays you can book, and the rooms are available in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Click here for the promotion, and please remember that we have zero control over promotions like this, so if a particular hotel is already sold out of the promotion nights, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Did you find yourself a great deal? Share it in the comment section!

Rarely do you hear the words "At that point, I just put him into a choke hold" coming from a flight attendant.

But this is exactly what happened on US Airways flight 1447 last week when passenger Kinman Chan allegedly started freaking out after he doubled up on his dose of medicinal marijuana.

According to reports, halfway into the flight, Mr. Chan started losing his mind - screaming, banging on the bathroom doors and opening compartments in the rear of the plane.

He then went into a bathroom and came out with his pants down. It was at this point that flight attendant Lorin Gorman told him to sit down. When he refused, he also made a threatening motion to her - so she put him in an arm lock, jumped on him, and put him in a choke hold.

The plane was diverted to Pittsburgh where Chan was arrested and charged with disrupting a flight attendant. He now faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Poor Mr. Chan obviously had not expected to run into a fourth-degree Tae Kwon Do expert on his flight. She credits her post-9/11 special training for her skills and ability to deal with small spaces.

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Monday February 8th 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is for the Garmin 285WT GPS receiver. This unit is pretty much the top of the line when it comes to features - text to speech, Bluetooth hands-free, integrated traffic/weather/news and a photo browser. Currently on sale for just $99.99 with 9 months free MSN Direct traffic (the MSN service will shut down in 2012). Click here for this deal.

Next up is a neat 4-in-1 car power inverter. This $10 device turns the DC power in your car into 115W of AC power, along with a second DC jack and two USB ports. Total price with shipping is just $14.98. Click here for this deal.

Today's third deal is for a Wenger Laptop bag from Best Buy. You'll need to be a Reward Zone member to buy this $14.99 bag, but signing up is free. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, the popular Asus EEE pc "1005HA" Seashell netbook is on clearance for just $299. This machine runs Windows 7 starter, and comes with a 250GB harddrive, 1GB of memory and 8.5 hours of battery life. Click here for this deal.

Regular readers will know that I'm a huge fan of portable chargers that can keep my gadgets running way past their normal battery life. In this review, I'll show you a neat little iPhone/iPod Touch charger that doubles as a viewing base.

The "Kensington Travel Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod touch" features a Lithium-Ion battery pack, flip stand and integrated USB connector for recharging the pack itself. Inside the pack is an 1100mAh battery - enough to double the battery capacity of most iPhone and iPod models.

To balance out some of the negative TSA checkpoint stories, I'm always happy when we stumble across some positive stories from the airport. In this story, TSA agents at Nashville airport noticed something strange in the luggage of a passenger, and got the local airport police involved.

Inside the suitcase was a stash of 518 Wal-mart gift cards. When police arrived at the checkpoint, six people were apprehended, but one of the gang members managed to escape and leave the airport. According to Nashville police, the gang used the Wal-Mart gift cards to act as "carriers" for stolen credit card information, and used the cards to purchase other gift cards. The total value of the stolen gift cards purchased could be well over $10,000.

The suspects have been charged with "conspiracy to commit fraudulent use of a credit card and conspiracy to commit identity theft". Because of the extent of their crime, Nashville police are working with the United States Secret Service on the investigation.

It just goes to show how stupid some criminals are - despite managing to find stolen credit cards, and being "smart" enough to fly all over the country to commit their crime, they didn't realize that the airport checkpoint agents may find their collection of gift cards a tad suspicious.

Every couple of years, someone makes the news with their announcement of a concept airship design that will "revolutionize the way we travel". This time, the design comes from London based design firm Seymourpowell.

Their concept for airship travel is huge - 870 feet tall. capable of lifting 396 tons and offering penthouse apartments, bars and huge glass floors.

The ship has been named "Aircruise", and (on paper) it should be able to carry 100 people from London to New York in 37 hours. The idea is that "slow is the new fast", which is just a cool marketing trick to make you ignore the fact that the trip will take 27 hours more than by plane.

Even though the design is still in its very early stages, Samsung has shown interest in the design, and is working with Seymourpowell on computer aided simulations. My only concern (besides the fear that this thing will never actually be built) is the choice of gas for the lifting bags on the Aircruise - Hydrogen (the same gas that kept the Hindenburg in the air).

Update: Dan Grossman from Airships.net has published a comprehensive article about how the entire "Aircruise" concept is nothing but nonsense. Thanks to Dan for his side of the story and insight into the reality of the airship world.

Gallery: Aircruise airship

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Sunday February 7th 2010. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is great if you travel with the Amazon Kindle 2 or Kindle DX. The iGo Kindle charging bundle comes with an AC adapter, retracting cable and a car charger all for just $13.29. Click here for this deal.

For a well equipped budget MP3 player, head on over to Woot.com where you'll find the Sansa Clip 8GB. The player is refurbished, but at just $32.99 a fantastic bargain. It features an FM radio, voice recorder and MicroSD card expansion slot. Click here for this deal.

Today's third deal is for the Dell Wasabi Ultramobile photo printer. This tiny battery powered photo printer produces prints on special Zink paper (ten sheets are included). The printer normally retails for $99, but is currently on sale for just $28. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, if you travel with a lot of stuff, but still want some versatile luggage, then check out the High Sierra 36 inch rolling duffel. This bag can be worn as a backpack, duffel or pulled through the airport on its inline wheels. Compression straps let you pack it as full as you can without the risk of it bursting open. On sale for $59.99 (pick the dark denim/steel version). Click here for this deal.