Portable Computing, For The Rest of Us...

I can't believe the plethora of laptops that get advertized in magazines and malls today. Most everyone wants one, myself included. Who hasn't dreamed of lugging around a laptop so you can use a computer anywhere you wish? With the advent of WiFi-enabled coffee places and wifi hotspots, you can even go online anywhere. Here's a sample list right here: http://www.wifinder.com

But reality does bite. Laptops are expensive. They get outdated quicker too, because they have a limited upgrade path attributed to their compact frames. Very impractical, indeed. You could probably get a PDA/Phone device instead but cellular phone companies charge high rates metered by the kilobyte. PDA-Phones aren't cheap either. A Palm Treo 650 will set you back Php 37,000.00 .

Then there's what Scott Dunn calls internet-on-a-stick, the solution for the rest of us. Take you browser, email and data with you anywhere you go. The main idea is to use these portable gems saved on USB thumb drive or stick that you can bring anywhere. You do have to find a way to get to the net though. That won't be hard. Internet cafes can be found all over.

There are a number of portable applications you can store and run from your USB thumb drive. You can use Portable Firefox for web browsing, Portable Thunderbird for your email, Sunbird for your schedules and to-do lists and the Portable OpenOffice suite for your word processing, spreadsheet and presentation needs. There's even a portable version of multi-platform GAIM messenger. GAIM, being multi-platform,
lets you sign on into your AIM/ICQ, IRC, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo messaging accounts.

I've already tried Portable Firefox and Portable OpenOffice. I would like to have them permanently on my USB stick but it only has 118MB of space in it. Its a 128MB stick, but the formatting takes away some of that. Plus, I need to leave space in there for other files I need. I use my USB stick as a portable rescue kit of sorts. If I had a 512MB stick, I could probably download the whole set of Portable Apps. A 1GB stick would be phenomenal though. That would leave enough space to use encryption. That way, I can use my own browser (and favorites), use my own email program (and save my mail), and store my files securely (with encryption) wherever I may roam.

By the way, all of these portable solutions are from opensource projects. The original non-portable versions are also opensource. Because of the community involvement that the opensource movement advocates, solutions do come from many sources. It just goes to prove that however idealistic altruism is, it solves many dilemnas if the solution is commonly pursued by many. If only everyone in the world would give something back, then we'd have a better world.

Kainis ang SMART WIFI!!!

It's been a month now. I can't believe its been this long. I had Smart Wifi installed last September 29. Three days later the connection died. I got it fixed three days later after calling to have their field technicians go over the connection again. All was well until October 13. Connection died -- again. I called several times before they managed to send their field people (finally) on October 27. The technician did not even give me a chance. One look at my Linux system and he immediately concluded that the problem was PC-related. He said he wouldn't be able to troubleshoot unless I had a Windows system. He even had the gall to tell me to reformat my hard drive to "get rid" of the problem. 20 minutes. I waited two weeks for a 20-minute visit by a neanderthal that had the gall to insult me in my own home because he did not know how to use an operating system (re: Linux) that Smart WiFi supposedly supported! I'm not a geek but hey, I know my way around Linux to at least configure an ethernet connection. I was trying hard to help out the guy. No go! He was polite in his tone, but his message was insultingly clear -- no Windows, no go. Arrrrrrrggggghhhhhhh!

Two mad-weeks-of-calls-to-tech-support-for-a-reschedule later, I am still to be paid another visit by a field tech. I still have no access to my supposedly 2X-faster-than-dial-up connection. Being in customer service myself, I'm very well aware of this dirty old trick. Blame the PC when you can't resolve the issue. What a waste of human DNA these people are! Give 'em a chair and your keyboard and they're all set to ruin your day. If there were ever an insult that would fit SMART Wifi's field tech support people perfectly, it would have to be PEBKAC.

Please excuse me while I bang my head repeatedly on the keyboard while I reflect upon the ironies of life...