Slashdot Mirror
Weblogging from Various Ends of the Earth?
J. Lawless asks: "My friend and I will both be travelling to remote portions of the globe next fall -- he in a pan-Australasian motorcycle trip and I on a trip into Italy. We both have the same problem: how to get content (text and photos) onto the Internet given that our only lifeline to it will be through random Internet Cafes? It would seem that some sort of PDA to be able to do text entry and image integration would be best, but then what? Most, if not all, cybercafes take a dim view of dropping software on their box for access. For added difficulty points, Dave will be spending much of his trip without reliable electricity hookup, so how to keep the mess running?"
Who can live without reading your blog while you are on vacation?!!
Your ego and blogshare can barely stand it!
Why don't you spend your time there learning, enjoying, experiencing. Leave the updates until you get home. I mean really, are people voting on what you do next during your trip?!
Laptop with a GPRS card. Or a Bluetooth GSM phone with a Bluetooth equipped PDA. I used the former as a solution when I went to NC and it was very helpful. Total access to whatever you want all the time.
A lot of blog software will let you post via email. Get a palm with a modem and email in your updates.
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
gprs camera phone?
the quality in the camera sucks(and in some it's not even fit for a small pic on a blog), but it's ok for blogs(in 3650 at least, and in 6600, 7650 distorts quite a bit) and travel pics. plus you can't beat having the ability to take the pics on the phone and then ftp them where you like(or use some blogging software to automate even that part). this is one thing that they(smartphones) really are actually pretty good at doing, staying connected to the 'internet world' while having some adventure or another.
heck.. i wouldn't think for a second what was the only device i would take(if i could take only one, or wanted to save some serious space, like on a motorbike). i'd just take my 3650(triband, 'works everywhere'), go out and buy a 256mb mmc card(load it up with books, some few c64 games). then i'd make sure my provider works all the way and go have a nice day out for having being so active and having it all sorted out.
oh yeah.. some charger would be nice too.
of course if you got space and big bucks just buy the laptop, sufficiently good camera, and some bluetooth phone to boot.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
You might consider a multifaceted bag of tricks for getting data from your camera and computer to the cafe's computer or network.
1. Wifi on the PDA/laptop
2. USB thumbdrive to transfer from a PDA/laptop
3. PCMCIA card adapter and compact flash or SD memory
4. Camera with USB cord and the same memory format as the PDA (cafe's might not object to connecting to your camera and you could put PDA data on the memory card in the camera.
Enjoy your trip!
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Despite the seeming lack of showers in Italy, as judged from the odors on the streets, I wouldn't exactly call Italy remote.
This is what I do when I travel abroad: First of all, buy a lot of cards that work with your camera, because you can never seem to have enough. Since my camera uses CF, I pack a USB CF reader that works with XP without having to install anything, and requires a simple install on 98/2K. When you get to a decent sized city I look at the option of net cafes -- a lot of them now have machines with CF readers already setup, call around first.
If that doesn't produce any results, the odds are pretty good that at least one of the places will be insecure enough to allow you to install the USB software. I suggest avoiding the high-end places because they tend to lock their machines down pretty good, and the low-rent places because they are often just kiosks with no USB ports at all.
Failing that, if you get stuck you can always go to a photography shop and get them to extract the files off of your card and onto a CD. It's a bit pricy (~$30 USD last time I checked in Nice France) but at the very least you have a CD that can be read by most net cafes -- if it doesn't work in the city you are in it will probably be okay in the next city.
Some people will feed you hype like WiFi, which works great in some places but not others. I had great luck with Starbucks/WiFi thing in the US last time I traveled there, but that won't help you as soon as you leave a major metro area -- even if you plan to go that route make sure you have a backup plan because otherwise you will risk running out of card space.
501 Not Implemented
I use the IPass network via IAcclaim so that I can work from anywhere in the world - something like 10000 cities if I remember correctly.
I pay about $7/month plus a reasonable per minute fee to be online. Looks like they have software for PDAs now too.
Problem is jacking into phone systems around the world. I have had success in India, Germany, Slovenia, the UK, and the US, but in Austrian and Switzerland I found myself having to twist wires together because they had an odd wall plug.
That said - take the advice already given - unplug if you can, talk to the people around you instead, you and your trip will be better for it.
You could try, you know, not using the internet for the time that you're on vacation.
Write it down, in ink. Take pictures with a camera. When you get home, if it's still that interesting, write it up and post a summary.
I recently found an old journal I wrote during a trip I took about 20 years ago. I didn't have to find the right kind of drive to read it or the right kind of markup parser or editor to read it. And... I didn't have to wish Google hadn't cached the embarrasing parts.
nobody was asking you coward
Of course, for every American venturing outside God's own country, everything is an adventure. Italians, do they have computers or even refrigerators? Australasia only uses flint and bongos for communication, right?
Best to take a shitload of bogrolls and Dr. Pepper cans with me, because over there they probably only have these aboriginal drinks, like larvae juice.
My advice: leave your electronics at home and discover the world through your eyes and ears, not a lens and a keyboard. Speak to people. Find out why they hate USians.
If you really can't help it, take an old, used Ibook and a compatible digital camera. Store Pics/Sounds/Files on an USB Keychain Ram-Plugin and use that to swap files between your Ibook and internetcafe's computers. You will see that extraUSians have computers too.
Sheesh..
What utter stupidity (and smugness--funny how the two go so well together).
People blog for all kinds of reasons and just because you may not find every single one you come across to be a gripping read, doesn't mean that they should all disappear for your benefit.
Are you going to blog about it? I bet if I read the blogs one hour from now, I'd see my comment linked from blog to blog, each blogger writing some heartfelt treatise on What It Means to Be a Blogger and By Gum I'll Hang in There, and other bloggers leaving gushy comments of support against this vicious attack on blog-kind.
See, you already started inflating the comment beyond what it actually said, in the traditional blog-style of having nothing to write about and therefore making stuff up. I didn't at all say they should disappear for my benefit, though if that were the case, the benefit would not be solely mine.
...
Don't worry about real time updates. Really, it's just not that important. If your family wants to hear from you to know that you're alive, get a cheap calling card and give'm a ring.
;-)
For the purpose of keeping a journal (which is a very respectable thing to do on a trip like that), take your laptop and your digital camera and use it for dumping pictures and taking notes. No internet access. No email. No games. Do nothing on your laptop that you can do at home.
I recently took a trip through California. The laptop rules were simple: dump pictures onto it and jot down notes. That's all. And you know what -- I loved it. My wrists felt better, my head was less congested, and I spent enough time checking out things that I normally don't get to see. You know... a vacation...
Thanks for all who answered the question asked. The information is useful. Dave and I have generally ruled out laptops on a portability basis, but good ideas there as well.
As to the haters -- what question did I ask? What question did you answer? I generally detest the Internet and blogging for the same reasons you do. What can I do about it? Whine?
No. Make it better. I write, its what I do. Relax. Go find something you do well and do that, 'cause clearly lifestyle advice ain't your bag.
For the record, yes -- I do know how to enjoy myself quite well offline and have taken enough photos and jotted notes to suffer the inadequacy of those later: "WHERE is this now?" For my previous trips, I've enjoyed a leather journalette, but where's the challenge in that? Nowhere.
Vis noodlenose's suggestions that "COMPUTERS ARE EVERYWHERE" -- clearly you ain't been where I been, brother, and I'm glad I won't find you there next time I go.
For travel blogging, i assume you need to upload few interesting pics took on your way.
My suggestion is to buy one of Sony Cybershot models(Eg: Sony DSC-P92).
The advantage with this model, drivers are very small and easy to install.
And after installation it creates a USB harddisk(which has all your pics(.jpg format) in it), just Preview with IE and upload to your blog.(special photo extraction software is not required)
Install the drivers over internet and connect your camera to the usb port.
(Keep the drivers in your personal webspace or just search for sony cam drivers link)
Infact you can use this Camera for storing, other types(.txt/.mpg) of files in the storage medium.
Mostly useless stuffs for travellers:
PDA - Installing PDA Sync software on the Internet Cafe's machines might not be possible.(eg:WinCE/Palm Sync software are very big to download on low speed net connection.)
Notebook - Its good to carry if you are tourist, wont workout for a traveller. If you have enough cash, buying one of Sony Vaio slim models.
Enjoy your trip!!
Prabhakar
Hmmm, I think you'll find internet cafe's are not as common in outback australia as you think.
I'm assuming you don't want to use a regular weblog, and want to keep your regular website updated. In which case read on. Most towns in Australia have internet cafes / services, even in the outback (sometimes in the local library), and most allow command line ftp, which I found was the quickest way of maintaining my web site on the road without uploading special software. So far as uploading photos is concerned, I used a digital camera that gave me two options (i) hope that the internet cafe has a computer running windows XP, which can usually handle a direct upload from the digital camera without additional software, or (ii) cut the photos to a CD in a photo shop (this service is available in even small towns) and get the photos from the CD before uploading them via command line FTP. If you're not using a digital camera, you can use the same photo labs to copy your photos to CD as well as film when you get them exposed. The power problem is a different matter altogether. My digital camera (Canon Ixus II) has a great battery which lasted for 2-3 days depending on usage (usually pretty heavy usage), and I was staying in hostels and campsites, both of which had power points I could use to recharge. So it really wasn't a problem as I'd bought the charger with me. Enjoy Australia - great country!!
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
And use a damn pencil, paper, and an old fashion camera!
I'm all for using technology to make our lives easier, but you start going out of your way in order to incorporate technology into something, it gets a bit rediculas.
Ask yourself if it is really that important that people have a report of your trip as you do it, live on the internet?
Take a look at the advantages:
You get the picture. Speaking of which, most places in the world have photo-processing labs that will allow you to have your old-fashion film-based camera photos developed. Try finding Techtronix Phaser 3000 printer to get those photo-realistic shots printed.
As for communicating to the rest of the world. Either post your journal (complete with photos) back to someone, or scan 'em at a cyber cafe and email them back. No, really.
10 to 1 says you'll be scrawling your journal on a piece of paper 2 weeks into the trip anyway. Those PDAs are nice and all, but you can't really keep a journal in them.
I use to have a funny sig, but slash cut it off, and I forgot what the punchline was.
Nice conclusion. The poster you're responding to is a condescending jackass. Someone asks for help and he turns it into an opportunity to insult Americans. "USians"? What an idiot.
Keeping a travel journal is a long tradition among travelers from many cultures. Some of the greatest travelers of the 19th century mailed copies of journal entries back to correspondents at home. Making that journal available to ones family and friends in real time is something they would have appreciated. I can tell you from personal experience that parents definitely appreciate it.
I've used a mailing list instead of a website to keep family and friends up to date as I traveled. Even in places like Tibet, you'll occasionally come across machines with a Net connection and a browser that you can use to reach a web-based mail system. And, as someone else pointed out, these days you could post to a blog via email instead of using a mailing list. Getting your photos up there might need to wait until you get home, though. Lower tech is more reliable when traveling, even domestically.
"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
Being a long way from the good'ol US of A does not make Italy a remote part of the globe...
Now to answer your question: get a camera which exposes it's file system as a mountable USB drive; pretty much any internet cafe will allow you to mount it seamlessly. Alternatively, get a camera which uses a compact flash drive - most internet cafes have at least one CF reader available. You could also travel with your own USB CF reader as a back up.
P.Others have suggested using GPRS enabled camera phones. They don't work for me as an only camera - they're fine for cheap and cheerful snaps, but not as a record for posterity, and bugger all use if you want any artistic control over the content. Camera phones with built in flash are also incredibly rare, so you won't be able to take anything approaching a decent picture in low light conditions, and the running costs of roaming on GPRS are astronomic. In fact, they're astronomic full stop.
If you do want to go photo wireless, then get a digital camera with a CF card, a bluetooth handset such as the T68i and a bluetooth iPaq. They'll all play together nicely, with the bonus of allowing you to do basic edits/write ups on the iPaq (perhaps with an external roll up keyboard). But remember that iPaqs must be charged regularly, unless you want them to forget everything...
Enjoy your trip - immerse yourself in the culture (the Italians are a fantastic, friendly and open bunch of people), and take care to keep your valuables out of sight; pickpockets are common in the major tourist areas.
It may be apparently 'antiquated' or whatever, but it's probably best to find a trustworthy friend/person who you can post written blog entries down, and get them to update it for you... as far as photos go, be a good, disciplined person and restrict photos as if it were film, buy 2 or 3 cards, send the memory card back to your mate every month or so, and get them to send you the other card back...... it's a method i was considering when I was looking at going travelling.
It's the best low-tech way and really stops you from sitting on messengers/slashdot for ages in net cafes when you could be trekking through hills.
A previous coworker of mine and a few of his friends recently completed a trip from the US thru Russia and then into Europe on a motorcycle. They posted stories and such along the way. Might email them or post on their message board.
http://shaun.munro.com/
For your trip into Italy you could get a "flat-rate" (always-on) wireless Internet connection through GSM/GPRS for only 19 Euro per month.
PROs
You don't need a landline
Coverage is all over Italy
An handset with builtin GPRS modem will cost you as low as 100 Euro including USB-to-phone cable.
ADDED BONUS
Calling home will cost you much less than using public phones or, worse yet, hotel room phones
CONs
Speed is nothing to shout about (about 43Kbps downlink)
Write to me if you want more details:
seba AT libero DOT it
If you read further along in the journal, or if you caught the article, you can see that I faced similar problems with portable computing equipment. I got some of the same, unhelpfull, responses to my query as you see here.
I am currently working on a partial solution to the equipment problem. While my target is long battery life, the same solution would work for off-the-grid computing: the total power consumption of my device is low enough that a couple of solar panels could easily power it.
I bought a Fujitsu P1120 and put Linux on it. It weighs 2.5 pounds with the extended battery installed (~4.5 to 7 hours depending on backlight) and has built in wireless. And 256MB mem, 30G drive, and a touch screen so you can navigate the web by plonking on the screen with your fingers when you're bored with the clitermouse. With the built in wireless, you can use any open wireless net you come accross... I download my photos, compile my journal, handle all my email, etc.. locally, and then have scripts that synchronize stuff whenever I'm online. I'm replying to you from Linkoping, Sweden at the moment, by the way. Click on my URL for my journal link, and look down a few entries for my notes on Linux on the P1120 if you want more details. Enjoy your travels, -Simon
check out this site http://www.roundtheworldbybike.com/ this guy is biking around the world and keeping a blog of the entire trip. Ging from my personal experiance of travelling all over the developing world , is keep it simple as possible , the nicer gear you have the more likley you will be robbed dust is your enemy, especially for electronic equipment, bubble wrap and plastic bags to seal your gear will make a huge differeance you will be suprised how much internet access you will be able to find , get a handheld with a foldable qwerty keyboard , you can do your log every day and upload it once every week or to , it will be rare , unless by choice that you will not have an access to internet for more than a week. remote shitty little places have old kit old usb standards 1.1 win 98 and below ( shudder ) ect , think about that when you arrange your kit ,so it works with the lowest common denominator
travel as lite as possible , nothing amuses travelers more than seeing some poor bastard fresh of the plane hauling a 40kg+ pack , pack your bag before you leave , put it on your shoulders , is it so heavy that it is going to wind you up, is it going to make you a target for theives , heavily loaded backpacker , very easy target , can you walk aound easy , remeber you are on hols you dont want to snap your spine in the process
have a great time ,