Columbus, Ohio residents are going places on the cheap thanks to Skybus, a new discount airline with fares as low as $10.

Our fares are so much lower than other airlines because we keep our costs lower. For example, we book our flights only through the Internet, so there’s no expensive call center or 800 number to operate. We fly new, fuel-efficient jets so our fuel costs are lower. And we fly into smaller, regional airports where it’s less expensive (and more convenient) to land. We also allow each passenger to pick and choose the options he or she wants, making fares lower for those who don’t need the “extras”. These and other factors make it possible for us to give you great service at a price you’re sure to appreciate.

by David Rae Morris for USA Today

USA Today leads today’s Life section with an article on New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The 37th annual affair, an American cultural institution known to many simply as “Jazz Fest,” kicks off today at the Fair Grounds Race Course.

With 12 stages of soul-stirring music—jazz, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, blues, R&B, rock, funk, African, Latin, Caribbean, folk, and much more—the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is a singular celebration. The event has showcased most of the great artists of New Orleans and Louisiana of the last half century: Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Wynton Marsalis, Dr. John, Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., Ellis Marsalis, The Radiators, Irma Thomas, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Toussaint, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Better Than Ezra, Ernie K-Doe, Vernel Bagneris, The Zion Harmonizers, Beausoleil and many others.

In addition to the daily lineups at the Fairgrounds, hundreds of bands play in theatres, clubs and bars throughout the city until sunup and beyond. In fact, there are so many shows to choose from, Festers have to consult a database-driven website, Jazz Fest Grids to develop show-going strategies. However, it should be noted that the best strategy in the Big Easy is to roll with it.

Whether you’re in NOLA or not, WWOZ kicks out the jams and keeps you up on the haps. Community radio rules.

According to The Globe and Mail, Ford Motor Co. hired filmmaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet to direct its new Edge commericals.

The idea of calling in Mamet, known for writing sparse, choppy dialogue, came from Ford’s advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson Co., said Barry Engle, general manager of Ford Division marketing.

The spots feature two men sitting in Edges, talking out the window about how their vehicles compare with the BMW and Lexus. The dialouge (written by JWT copywriters, not Mamet) mimics Mamet’s terse, masculine style.

In a move that is sending shockwaves down Hollywood Blvd., funny woman Rosie O’Donnell is leaving “The View” after a tumultuous year that brought feuds with Donald Trump and tension with creator Barbara Walters, but delivered the show its best ratings in years, according to Variety.

Said O’Donnell about the non-deal, “My needs for the future just didn’t dovetail with what ABC was able to offer me.”

Sources indicate O’Donnell is in talks with Warner Bros. to return to daytime syndication with her own show, potentially a much more lucrative opportunity.

Woodford Reserve, the “Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby,” will once again conduct a charity cocktail event at Churchill Downs this year. Proceeds from the $1000 Mint Julep program will benefit the Thoroughbred Charities of America. Woodford Reserve is made at the historic Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Kentucky – the heart of thoroughbred country.

The “Ultimate Mint Julep” is made with some of the world’s finest ingredients; lush mint from Ireland, ultra-fine sugar from Australia, glacial ice from the Bavarian Alps and the Master Distiller’s selection of Woodford Reserve bourbon, all served in a one-of-a-kind 24-kt gold-plated cup.

In a new twist this year Christie’s, the world’s leading art business, will partner with Woodford Reserve to conduct an on-line auction for a total of 132 gold-plated cups. The buyer (or a designate) must be in attendance at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, May 5th, 2007 to receive the cup.

Last year, celebrity chef Bobby Flay bought two of the luxury cocktails, according to Adweek. Chances are, he’ll be back for more.

[DISCLOSURE STATEMENT] BFG works for Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker, and a company with several Scotch and Canadian whiskey brands. Woodford Reserve is part of the Brown-Forman portfolio. See the Adweek article mentioned above for more on the steady growth of the whiskey category.

News Corporation’s Fox Interactive today launched MySpace News, hoping to capitalize on the popularity of sites like Digg, del.icio.us, Reddit, Netscape and others.

MySpace News brings in content from a variety of news outlets. The site also has a Digg-like feature that lets MySpace users rate stories they see on the site, and share stories with other site users.

MySpace hopes to derive more advertising revenue by placing ads on the site’s main home page as well as the home pages of its various news category sites, a company spokeswoman told PC World today.

According to Globe and Mail’s Geekwatch, News Corp. says it will not favour its own services and newspapers. Also, news services will be able to opt out and not have their articles displayed.

In related news, Techcrunch reports that StumbleUpon is being acquired by eBay for between $40 - $75 million.

Rolling Stone magazine will be offering every back issue of the 40-year-old publication on DVD starting this fall. Users will be able to search for every article and photo that has appeared in the more than 1,000 issues of the magazine.

The DVD, “Rolling Stone Cover-to-Cover: The First 40 Years,” will cost about $120, according to Reuters.

This is just one of several moves the magazine is taking in the tech realm. Rolling Stone is also expected to make a social networking move. Keith Blanchard, Wenner Media’s executive director for online media, recently told a group at NYU that the magazine would create a social network where music fans could interact through user-generated profiles and “Best Of” lists.

According to USA Today, Google is adding another tool in its battle with Microsoft: A free version of presentation software.

The yet-to-be-named software will be included in Google Apps, an online suite that includes free word processing, spreadsheet and calendar programs. Users will work with the program online but will be able to save files and view them offline. It’s expected to be available this summer.

Microsoft’s PowerPoint, part of the Office suite, is one of the most-used applications for office meetings. Companies pay upwards of $300 yearly for Office licenses, making it one of Microsoft’s most lucrative franchises.

Brooklyn indie band Les Savy Fav is inviting fans to sing along on their next record. “Say what we say and don’t get paid” is what they’re calling the opportunity to take over vocal duties from the band’s singer, Tim Harrington.

Les Savy Fav asks fans to call in and sing along with one of three new songs: “Nine Teen Ninety Nine,” “The World” or “Resent The Rent.” In case you want to practice singing before you dial, the songs can be listened to on the band’s website.

Los Angeles Times looks at one cable network’s programming upheavals meant to attract the diminishing attention of today’s multitasking teenagers.

In an attempt to reconnect with young audiences that have drifted from the channel recently, MTV will begin to roll out series that showcase the best of the Web, require heavy viewer participation and feature the lives of real teens. While YouTube and MySpace made noise first by trafficking in do-it-yourself media, MTV will now put viewers in the driver’s seat by serving teens the entertainment they crave most: the kind they create.

Internet pages about themselves. Video shorts they direct. Sliced and diced bits of movies and TV shows, re-cut into something new.

“We can either stay in the mass business,” Brian Graden, MTV Networks’ music group entertainment president said, “or we can be in the hyper-specialty business where the shows may not have broad appeal but in the Digital Age would better engage our viewers.”