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Ah, the lure of the one-hour flight. When you're facing the prospect of summer traffic and high gasoline prices, air travel starts to look pretty good. Then you study the details. Add in the travel time to sometimes congested and distant airports, and that extra hour or two for security and check-in on each end. Plus, even the cheapest airfares start to add up when the whole family is traveling together, and there's the fact you may need some wheels when you get to your destination anyway. It's no wonder so many people choose to drive, despite record gas prices.

The airlines tell you to arrive early, the government tells you to weigh your toothpaste, and the flight attendants tell you to be thankful for your pretzels and stay out of the aisle. But the nation's skyway warriors are the ones who know the real tricks for beating the system and turning stressful travel into a tolerable, even pleasant, experience.

U.S. News computed the Airport Misery Index by starting with a list of the 100 busiest U.S. airports. We divided those into two groups: large hub and nonhub airports, like Atlanta, Denver, and Orlando, and smaller regional airports like Austin and Buffalo. For each airport, we compiled data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics regarding on-time performance and load factor, which is the percentage of seats filled with passengers. We ranked the airports according to each of those variables, then added the two rankings together, weighting them equally.

An airline is a peculiar business, because the fortunes of the company often run in inverse proportion to the well-being of the customers. Travelers love to pay fire-sale prices to fly on big planes with lots of empty seats. But that usually happens only when airlines have too many flights and are spiraling into financial turmoil. When the airlines are healthy, it's usually because their planes are flying nearly full, and they can command stiff prices for every cramped seat–which makes travelers grumpy.

Nike is to crack down on the amount of overtime done at its factories worldwide to try to improve working conditions.

Just a week ahead of the Group of Eight summit to be held in Germany next week, President Bush Thursday outlined his own proposal to combat global warming. A group of 15 or so nations will be invited to a meeting in the United States this fall as part of a plan to agree upon a global target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2008. The nations included will be those that are responsible for the most emissions, he said, including China and India.

Starbucks is to switch to using low-fat milk in all its North American stores and could soon do the same elsewhere.

It was a love fest Wednesday night at the D: All Things Digital Conference as technology industry captains Bill Gates and Steve Jobs shared the stage for the first time in 20 years. Both men reminisced about starting their respective companies and lauded each other for their technological contributions. In the wide-ranging, 90-minute interview session, the pair discussed Microsoft's and Apple's humble beginnings; the ups, downs and challenges they have faced; competition between the two companies; and what technological innovations they foresee in the computer industry.

eBay has bought community-based Web search tool StumbleUpon for $75 million. The auction giant is once again reaching outside its core business for a strategic acquisition -- one that straddles search and social networking. Along with StumbleUpon's technology, eBay said the purchase provides an established user base of 2.3 million people who turn to the site to discover new Web-based content based on personal preferences and recommendations from others.

Melting ice is making Greenland, the world's largest island, the with-it new stop for those who want to highlight the risks of global climate change. The latest such visitor is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led a congressional delegation that stopped off in Greenlandlast weekend. Afterward, she said that she saw "firsthand evidence that climate change is a reality."