JDPFu.com 2025

Technology and Travel – what is the minimal ultralight, ultraportable computing solution? There are many ways to accomplish a lightweight technology pack, this is simply mine. It has been tested in travels to Hong Kong, Costa Rica (city and cloud forest), Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls, Argentina, then for a road trip in the eastern USA. We aren’t talking overnight trips, these where 2 week trips each, so this setup is proven.

In General, you want these items

1. Cell phone – GSM with a replaceable SIM card, data plan
2. Portable camera – be certain the memory is compatible with other devices and have a charged, extra, battery
3. Portable computer – I use a Nokia N800
   1. encrypted personal files; encryption software with plausible deniability
   2. Skype
   3. email
   4. web browser
   5. any specialized software you need
4. Portable keyboard – if not built in
5. MP3/Video player
6. GPS or other Mapping device + a simple compass
7. Method to connect the computer, camera, keyboard, MP3 player and to the Internet
   • Bluetooth
   • Cables
   • WiFi Travel Router
8. Chargers – use USB when possible and have the widest voltage, current, wattage support. 100V-240V and 50Hz-60Hz; basically, it is just a plug compatibility issue and no transformer is needed
9. Power plug converters for the locale
10. Sound isolation headphones
11. USB thumb drive with encrypted files
    1. Passport images
    2. Personal contact list(s) Family, Work, Friends (also carry a paper version)

My specifics

1. Cheapo Motorola V195 w/ Bluetooth and data. If I lose this, it doesn’t really matter.
2. SONY DSC-55W camera w/ USB connector cable and USB—>miniUSB converter (my next camera will use SDHC memory)
3. Nokia N800 Internet Tablet (PDA sized Linux computer)
4. iGo Bluetooth Keyboard (N800 doesn’t include a usable keyboard)
5. Zen Vision:M MP3/MP4 player (not needed since the N800 can do this easily)
6. Mapping software is built into the N800 (Maemo Mapper)
7. Bluetooth GPS Reciever (tether to N800 or just get the N810)
8. Compass is on my whistle/flashlight/mirror/magnifying glass device
9. SONY has a proprietary charger for their camera battery, but the camera takes 300+ photos between charges. That’s usually a few days for most people. For me, that’s 1 day at most. Charged, extra battery. 2×4GB memory cards. 4GB is a 2 week trip of photos for me. Throw in the other 4GB for 30 second videos.
10. USB charger – Cellphone, MP3 player share.
11. Nokia N800 has a proprietary charger, but has long battery life with nominal use – 2+ days.
12. US$6 power plug kit (cheapo)
13. D-Link Travel WiFi Router
14. Sure e2c headphones

Test it all BEFORE you leave AND make a written packing checklist

Go to a friends home with this stuff and take a photo, transfer it to the computer, upload it to your server back home. Next, write a blog entry. Did it all work?

There’s nothing worse than getting to a location and finding out that you can’t transfer videos because you don’t have a cable or connector or way to connect to the internet. The N800 only supports WiFi or Bluetooth network connections, not an RJ45 cable. Some hotels don’t have wifi yet, but do have wired Internet connections. I’d be SOL in that case.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Maemo-Mapper, we’d all be better served by an Asus Eee overall. But when you take the mobile part of this solution into account, it is hard to beat it. Yes, the Sony camera complicates things more than necessary, but that camera has HUGE battery life that is doubtful to be matched by other portable cameras.

I’ve found this pack of technology to be the best trade off in weight, functionality, access, and convenience. Today, I might change out the N800 for an N810 that includes a built-in keyboard and a GPS device, but it also removes the external SD memory card slot that will be critical for my next camera.

What does your travel technology pack look like?

Want to know more? Here’s a better description of what is possible with the N800. You don’t need the N95 at all. Simply pair your N800 with any bluetooth phone with a data plan.

As many of you know, I’m losing a little weight while retired. The plan started in mid-November 2007.
Goals

1. Lose weight – about 100 lbs.
2. Increase cardio health, strength, & stamina
3. Consider getting ripped for the last 20 lbs.
4. Don’t gain any weight over Thanksgiving or Xmas holidays
5. Get my resting heart rate below 50 again, like it was in my 20s.

Strategy:

• Diet, exercise, weigh in daily, tracking, & graphing (XLS)
• Eat about 1700 calories a day – yes, that means I need to approximate calorie for foods I like
• Ski machine, free weights, outdoor activities
• No caffeine, no soda, avoid processed foods. Portion control.
• Eat breakfast (400+ cal) and lunch (~700 cal) for most of my daily calories – healthy snacks (~100 cal ea) too
• Fill in remaining daily calories for dinner – usually ~200 cal, so veggies and fruit or oatmeal work
• Nuts – there’s something about them and milk that helps me lose weight and feel full.

Log
What has happened so far? Basically, I’ve lost 3 lbs/week since starting. If this continues, by June 2008, I should be nearing my goal.

The No S Diet

- all data in this section is total loss, not weekly.

I had planned to watch this launch, but all the viewing Cape Canaveral tickets were sold out. After working as a contractor for 8 years in Houston – Shuttle On-board Flight Software and on Mission Control EDP software, I never got to watch a launch in Florida. I did watch a few from the JSC Mission Control Center and, early on, was forced to sit in the server data center next to the EDP project servers in case there was any problem that required physical correction. Not much fun since there was no headset link or TV or radio in the server rooms.

Anyways, the launch was on a Saturday after a holiday long weekend, so I didn’t want to brave the tourist and traffic to go.
Here’s the launch … youtube embedded video.

Enjoy.

Oh, and watch the landing – I re-wrote the nosewheel steering software and the aileron/elevon control software that makes all the landings since 1992 or so, perfect.

The Landing … on 6/14/2008. Notice how smooooooth it is. Thank you, thank you very much.

As this new blog was being setup, the need for a reverse proxy to support failover, SSL, compression, re-write, clustering, fast static serving and finally, load balancing. Pound and Nginx appear to be the easiest of these that aren’t apache. Apache is now the kitchen sink.

Pound is used by Slashdot and others, so it scales. Pound is perl and I’ve been using it for years on this site.

Nginx is used by youtube and others, so it scales. It is Russian and I’ve never used it before. The configuration seems simple – it supports virtual hosts, which is nice.

These are the main links I send friends:

• slickdeals
• bensbargains
• woot
• Slashdot
• Freshmeat
• Lifehacker
• Linux.com
• VoipGo
• Hotwire
• WUnderground-Marietta
• BigAl EV
• SecurityNow from GRC.com
• SwansonRules
• ManifestInvesting | NAIC-based Investing Site | M* Dashboard:TinCup | M* Dashboard: Solomon’s Select | M* Dashboard: NAIC Growth | NAIC Discussions on CompuServ
• StockCentral
• Earnings – quarterly company conference calls.
• PortableApps
• PortableFreeware
• PDALinks
• PDA-JDPFU
• DR-JDPFU – Disaster Recovery Lists for Home Evacuation
• ZK – ZK – Simple AJAX/Scripting WOW!
• Give
• CharityNavigator
• RetailMeNot
• BugMeNot

Welcome to my new Blog. The solowiki-based old one was getting toooo large and becoming too slow. This Typo-based blogger seems better. A few hours of database conversion and it seems to be up.

http://www.google.com/sky/\nAstronomy without leaving your house.

Pine Mtn Recreation Area
This is my 2nd trip to this trail – nothing important is new. See the other report for directions, parking, etc…

However, this time I did both the east and west trail loops. I’m in much better shape now. ;)

The trail map is accurate, for the most part, except where it is completely inaccurate. A few of the mileage markers on map simply don’t exist. Also, the number of switchbacks shown on the smaller trail is wholey inaccurate – there are approx. double the number shown. Why do I care? BECAUSE I WAS CLIMBING THE DAMN HILL THERE.

As always, it is good to be hiking on a Tuesday afternoon when everyone else is at work.

Pine Log Creek Trail
Overview
Trail is 4.5 mile compacted soil path crossing seven rustic footbridges over Pine Log Creek.

This trail system includes two loops – east and west. I hiked most of the western loop first, taking the most western trail at the split. Then took the link over a creek to the eastern loop. I took the southern trail at the loop split. There’s a small beaver dam.

Mileage Summary

Directions I-75 Exit 293, US 411 north approximately 7.7 miles. Turn right onto GA 140 east toward Waleska. Continue approximately 3.3 miles to Pine Log Creek Trail System parking area on left. I had to turn around and go back after passing the entrance.

Ok, here’s the instructions for getting connected to the VPN. Save this email.

Software Needed

1. Hamachi – VPN software
2. DC++ – File transfer/browser software (or any Direct:Connect C/S solution)
   Use google to find these and load them. Ok, now that you have them loaded, you need to configure them.

Network Specific Items – not provided here __ (separate email or out of band provided) __

1. Hamachi network name – NETNAME
2. Hamachi network name password – NETPASS
3. DC Server IP – SRVIP

The network you need to join for Hamachi – __ the private, encrypted network __ – has a name provided outside these instructions. Without the name and the network password, you and all transfers can’t be intercepted by anyone – except the NSA or other large government organizations. This is known as a Dark Network and ours is by personal invitation only. Please, please do not share the network with just anyone. Before sharing, discuss the new person with another member.

Hamachi – Once configured, you should see a list of computers on the 5.×.×.x network. I see 4 active and 2 inactive as I’m writing this.

DC++ – Use the Quick Connect and the Hub IP address to connect into the network. The first thing DC++ does is to download a current list of available files. Be aware that file transfers are peer to peer and will take some time. Don’t expect to get anything without at least a few hours of download time. Also, some network members may choose to limit bandwidth or enable the network only overnight for their local time zones. Have fun grabbing some files.