For the last few months I have been spending my time in multiple countries, which in Europe means that the almost universal 3G high speed access I enjoyed in the UK is no longer available to me. What I hear you say? well the issue is not one of service but one of cost. 3G data roaming is pitifully expensive in the region of £1.50 per MB – yes per MB. There are a variety of options for reducing the cost slightly but they still price my usual traffic levels in the £150+ range, if not higher.
I could get a contract service in some of the countries but that is darned fiddly and also I have challenges about payment as I would not have a local address/bank and they get a little awkward with that. I could also get a PAYG SIM for the country I am in but it seems that this provision is low speed (less than 384kbps at best) and still remarkably expensive – nothing as enlightened as the PAYG tariffs that are appearing in the UK.
So I have been relying on Wifi – not exactly a perfect solution as I have found. In many hotels, the WiFi service is a charged for service which makes some of the Roaming or PAYG options look cheap. Really, is €25 for 2 hours a cost plus percentage service or a big fat fee with a tiny cost attached? However with judicious use of the options on sites such as Booking.com, you can find hotels with free WiFi – an absolute godsend when away from home and for working in the better comfort of the hotel room rather than the client site.
However, not all free WiFi is created equal. I have come across hotels that have WiFi only if you cross yourself and place the laptop in precarious positions… in the hotel lobby… only on particular floors or in specific rooms, and (my personal favourite) with WiFi so maxed out that you have trouble actually sending and receiving email never mind running a Skype call. All in all, this is something a little trial and error needed in your selection of hotels.
The last week has introduced a new one on me, which is the WiFi Access Point and laptop incompatibility. An incredibly frustrating situation that left me out in the cold for a few days until I figured out the setting in my driver to force it to be compatible (oh and the installation of a slightly older version of the driver that worked/works perfectly fine at home and in the office).
So watch out… particularly if you have Realtek Wifi built in or if you happen to use a hotel with Apple WiFi kit. I am thinking one thing I could do next time is to have a USB WiFi adapter to deal with the incompatibilities…at least reducing the possibility that I have a complete no-go situation. Or reconsider my 3G possibilities.
Posted in Laptop Computing, Mobile Communications.
Tagged with 3G, International Data, Travel, WiFi.
These are great tips for when you do not travel…
As a freelancer and as a web-worker, one of the biggest challenges that I face nearly every day is that of working with people who I’ve never met face to face. Although a few clients contact me by telephone, most prefer to deal with me through e-mail (which is actually my preference too).
How To Successfully Work With People Long Distance | Freelance Folder
Posted in General.
Tagged with Communication, Long Distance, Tips.
Picked this up from Laptop Magazine,
‘But a story from CNN today focuses not on why people should avoid travel, but how to do it safely. Just over a month ago, weeks before H1N1 exploded, I did a similar story that asked whether flying really increases your chances of getting sick. As it turns out, CNN’s expert, Mark Gendreau, M.D., agrees with mine: you’re not necessarily at greater risk while on an airplane.
Can Flying Really Increase Your Chances of Catching the Swine Flu?.’
I have been flying every week now for almost two months, during this period and I have had a greater awareness of people who are sick around me and…. I do believe it has nothing to do with flying as this article promotes.
In the end this is all about normal precautions that should be the same regardless of the current flap - maintain good hygiene. It also probably helps to keep your laptop and phone clean with a nice wipe on a regular basis. It is also a good idea to make sure your toilet bag is nicely stocked with your preferred painkillers, temperature reducers, compact tissues, Lemsip (I know very English) and make sure you have the correct travel/health insurance just in case.
Posted in General.
Tagged with Swine Flu, Traveller Health.
Amazon has unveiled a new version of its Kindle e-reader, aimed at reading newspapers, magazines and documents.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Amazon announces Kindle DX
So the original Kindle was interesting if a little badly designed and ugly. The second generation kindle was ugly but without some of the more awful design flaws. Now we have the DX, which looks to be starting to become the sort of eBook reader that the roaming professional needs. However there is a lack of information right now primarily about when it will come out of the US, be implemented in Europe, allow full download in whatever European country you are in, and also to what level the PDF support is functional because by far the most popular format for technical reference eBooks is that format. The other thing that is not clear is the price…
Posted in Office Computing.
Tagged with eBooks, Reference.
A new report by the Ponemon Institute in conjunction with Intel claims that the average cost to the enterprise of a stolen or lost laptop is $49,246, once you factor in not just replacement but intellectual property loss, lost productivity, forensics, and other downsides.
Report: average stolen laptop cost is $50K; Intel: buy vPro - Ars Technica.
This is an interesting report, but it is interesting to think about the impact of full disk encryption and full data synchronisation back to base on a continuous basis on the cost. The headings that they used are:
- Laptop replacement cost: $1,582
- Detection & escalation cost: $262
- Forensics & investigation cost: $814
- Data breach cost: $39,297
- Intellectual property loss: $5,871
- Lost productivity cost: $283
- Other legal and regulatory costs: $1,117
Now with the disk encryption and data synchronisation, you can see a different picture:
- Laptop replacement cost: $1,582 (or less than $500 for a netbook!)
- Detection & escalation cost: $262 - probably the same
- Forensics & investigation cost: $0, what forensics or investigation do you need when the machine is a dead weight without a valid logon
- Data breach cost: $0 as there would be no data breach
- Intellectual property loss: $0 as there is little or nothing lost through the data sync to base
- Lost productivity cost: $283 (probably the same)
- Other legal and regulatory costs: $0 as there is no loss, so no legal or regulatory costs
Now this is a simplistic view, but you can see that with using low cost laptops/netbooks, good full disk encryption and well implemented file sync, you can reduce the ‘cost’ of a laptop loss from $49,226 to $1,045. Even allowing for some error, the cost benefits are good in a loss situation.
Posted in Laptop Computing, Security.
Tagged with Cost, Laptop, Loss, netbook, notebook.
Will netbooks die off as the economy recovers?
Liliputing has a great post here which is based on an Information Week article.
My own view is that Netbooks are helped by their low cost, but that is not their point. Their success is more about their form factor and utility in a low cost package. There will not be a recovery and increase in cost as the market recovers, primarily because netbook or laptop - the price of a computer in the UK is now fixing itself between £250 ($380) and £400 ($600) - $1000 computers are in the past in the same way that $2000 computers are.
Computers are getting into their sweet spot for price and the profit is being impacted by the OS cost. Microsoft is one who must adapt - their OS is now the most expensive single component in the package. I think Microsoft needs to think about its Microsoft tax and less about the Apple tax.
Posted in Laptop Computing, Software/Apps.
Tagged with Add new tag, netbook, notebook.
Whether you use a netbook or an ultramobile notebook (same difference!), the one of the most important requirements in my view, particularly for the very mobile worker, is that it has a significant battery life - whole day preferably.
Down with 3-Cell Batteries: Netbooks Should Have 5+ Hours of Battery Life
The only problem with many 6 cell batteries is the sometimes awkward shape and the additional weight that it generally gives the notebook. In fact when I come to replace my existing machine, I will be looking at those machines that give at least 5 hours of battery life. How about you? Do you believe battery life is so important?
Posted in Laptop Computing, Mobile Communications.
Tagged with battery, Battery Life, netbook, notebook.
Try thinking of your notebook or mini-note not as a computer but as a pile of cash. Would you leave $800 lying around on a library table or the front seat of your car? How about $300? Chances are you wouldn’t, and that’s because we instinctively realize that’s tantamount to inviting unscrupulous types to help themselves.
Mobile PC Security Tips: Part I
This article offers some straightforward security tips, but the best one is unsaid.
Make it so you do not care whether your laptop is stolen. Take the normal physical security precautions, but make best use of the Cloud to ensure that if the laptop is lost or destroyed, that you do not lose any data. This is done via file sync systems such as Mesh, Live Sync or others, or by using Gladinet to give folder level access to online storage mechanisms like Google Docs, Amazon S3, or Skydrive. What about security of the data - well make sure you use full disk encyption for the laptop so nothing on the disk is recoverable without the password.
And then we come to the cost… well use low cost laptops or netbooks at less than €400/£400 or much less, so the biggest cost is actually the installation of a new machine.
These are what I can recommend, think about it.
Posted in Laptop Computing, Mobile Communications, Security.
Tagged with Cloud, Disk Encryption, Laptop, Live Sync, Mesh, netbook, Security.
Sometimes when browsing the Internet, you come across some things that are old but still quite good. This article puts across the need to engage people who telecommute or work in a geographically distributed environment, to spend some facetime with each other.
In the traditional office, workers are much like the individual members in a symphony orchestra. They rely on a broad range of verbal and non-verbal interactions to coordinate their efforts. Much as string players watch each other to synchronize bow strokes, workers adjust their pace so that it is compatible with fellow workers. Meanwhile, the boss acts something like the conductor, keeping the entire office together and prompting workers when needed.
The luck and loneliness of the long-distance worker.
Posted in Continuing Professional Development, Office Computing.
Tagged with Teamwork.
Asus have finally gotten around to releasing their Skype videophone that I talked about last November.
“Asus has just released the first certified standalone Skype videophone which will make it easier for novice users to speak and see each other.
The device, called the EEE AiGuru SV-1 Videophone, is the first non PC product of Asus’s popular EEE family. The 1.6Kg videoconferencing tool comes with a 7-inch 800×480 LCD screen, an integrated VGA low-light webcam, a speaker and a microphone.
Asus Debuts Skype EEE Videophone at £220 - ITProPortal.com.”
My view has not really changed, particularly now we have the price confirmed. You can now buy Asus EeePC 701G devices for £159, a full £60 cheaper and yet the functionality is pretty much the same, with the advantage that the EeePC can be used for full Internet browsing and gives you 2 hours of use. In fact, you could also look at one of the Acer One netbooks or Asus 900 units for pretty much the same price. I know exactly what I would go for, but then I am not the novice.
Posted in Laptop Computing, Mobile Communications.
Tagged with EeePC, Skype, Video Conference, Videophone.
