EU - List of restricted handluggage items

The EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) issued a list of restricted handluggage items (Directive 68/2004) on February 1, 2004. The list contains a considerable number of items which obviously make little sense in an airplane, such as explosives, guns, etc.

However, there are also some items that confused me. Why should a golf club be harmful? Have you ever tried to swing a golf club in an airplane? think it might be difficult to use it as an effective weapon.

The list also contains martial arts equipment and list some examples, such as shuriken and nunchakus, and kubatons. However, it also contains an item called "kubasaunt" and honestly, spoken, I have no idea what this might be. I am tempted to believe that the EASA doesn't know either and the term just ended up there as the result of a mistake. Consequently, I sent the following note to the EASA, asking for a clarification:

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

in Ihrer Verordnung EG 68/2004 vom 01.02.2004 werden Gegenstände aufgelistet, deren Verbringung in ein Flugzeug aus Gründen der Flugsicherheit nicht zulässig ist.

Unter Abschnitt 1 - Punkt 3 (Stumpfe Gegenstände) werden auch Kampfsportausrüstungsgegenstände aufgeführt, darunter „Kubasaunts“.

Dieser Gegenstand ist mir, im Gegensatz zum ebenfalls genannten Kubaton, unbekannt. Bitte teilen Sie mir mit, was ein Kubasaunt ist, damit ich nicht unversehens in die Situation komme, ein solches eventuell bei einer Reise mit mir zu führen.

Mit freundlichen Grüssen,

Kai Simon

If you also are curious what kubasaunts are, check back later. I'll post the answer from EASA here.

DSL upgrade - Disappointed by Telekom

At home, I have a DSL connection provided by Telekom since 2001. Until February this year, I had a 6 mbit connection with DSL and phone flatrate and I virtually never had any problem with regard to availability. The cost was maybe somewhat higher than with some competitors, but the service lovel made me stay.

Then I was called by a customer representative and offered an upgrade from 6 -> 16 mbit, in combination with a hotspot flatrate. The flipside was a 2 year contractual obligation, but I considered this as acceptable.

A few days later I received the order conformation and another couple of days later the DSL connection was dead. When calling the service center I had to learn that my DSL modem was not capable of a 16 mbit connection and that I would need a new one at the cost of 49 €. I was also told that the cost could be offset against my monthly fee, since I had not been informed about the additional cost.

A few days later, I received the new modem that nowadays is combined with a wireless access point, installed it and functionality was thus restored. I then sent a mail to Telekom customer service, told them about the issue and asked how to handle the refund/offset. I also told them that I would not pay the invoice for the port, until the issue was settled.

Today, I received a call where I was told that a refund or offset is out of question and that I should pay the invoice. The reason given was that 49 € is the price and since they could not confirm that I had not been informed about the fact that I would need a new port, there was no reason to waive the invoice.

I then tried to revoke the upgrade. No, this wasn't possible either since the cancellation period is two weeks. This despite the fact that I had contacted them regarding the issue within this period and the handling time caused the delay.

Well, what I am supposed to do now? Probably send a harsh letter to Telekom manangement, try to enforce the revocation of the contract and then change the provider. So far, my impression of Telekom's service offering has been positive, but this has really disappointed me.