Tech Tip for Travelers

Make Your Movies More Portable

Tis the season for traveling to be with friends and family, and you (may) want to bring some entertainment with you (namely, movies) to help reduce the aggravation of the actual traveling. If you are going to be a “holiday traveler” this year, today’s quick tip is for you.

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Tip of the day: The energy required to spin the disc, and power the laser beam inside your DVD (or Blu Ray) drive is hard on your laptop’s battery, and can drain the charge rather quickly… maybe before the movie you are watching ends.

The solution is to “rip” (geek-speak for “copy”) your movie DVD to a file, and keep that file on your hard drive, or on a thumb drive. Then later, when you are traveling, playing the file (watching the movie) this way is less work for your computer and your battery will last longer. Kind of a “must” for those long flights (and.. delays) when access to a power outlet is not convenient.

Today’s free download(s):
For simple, one-click “rips” of your DVD movies, bitRipper is hard to beat. It was a for-pay utility, and now is available for free.

And for those of you who want to watch your movies on an iDevice, HandBrake is a highly recommended Open Source tool to consider. It’s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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A Great Resource For The Traveler

I mentioned yesterday the happy fact that I was going into “vacation mode” (yay!). I think we can all of us agree that vacations are “good”, and that we like them. I know I sure do.

I think we can also agree that certain aspects of vacations are not so wonderful. What do I mean by that? Well, I don’t think any sane person would say “Montezuma’s revenge” and cross-country bus rides are ‘more fun than a barrel of monkeys!‘.. And then there’s airports. Love those airports.

I’m going to go a step further and posit that the person who said “getting there is half the fun” either 1) was insane, or 2) lived a century or more ago, because the actual traveling part of a vacation, the getting to your get-away destination, just bites.

I don’t think I need to list for you, and itemize, all the various ways that your “travel day” can frustrate, torment, and aggravate.

• Missed connections & delays.
• Your travelmates (I refer, specifically, to seatback-kickers, and shrieking babies bent on setting the world’s record for Duration Of Fit and Decibel Level Achieved).
• Lost/Misrouted luggage.

But before you get to enjoy all that, you have to pack your bags, and that in itself is an adventure in sheer and unmitigated joy. (Not to crow too loudly, but I do pretty good — I typical only forget one vital item per trip.)

Tip of the day: Vacationers, particularly fliers, can vastly improve their travel day experience by outsmarting all the traveler’s gotcha’s and traveling with only one bag — an easily carry-able bag.
(Old Tech Paul has sworn off of air travel, but I have heard that the airlines are charging you extra for each item of luggage now..)

The expert one-bag traveler will have learned a great deal about:

1. What To Pack, avoiding the temptation of lugging around too much stuff;
2. What To Pack It In, understanding what to look for in efficient & effective luggage; and
3. How To Pack It, particularly the management of clothing so that it doesn’t get wrinkled.

This being the Age of the Internet, I figured that there must be some website with traveler’s tips for managing your luggage, and getting it down to ‘carry-on’ levels. Well I figured right: there’s only about 32 million of them. But fear not. Old Tech Paul has found for you the number one top banana El Supremo Grandé. (IMHO, of course.)

Today’s free link: Learn how to lighten your load at OneBag.com.
There’s no question: overpacking tops the list of biggest travel mistakes. Thus this Web site, offering exhaustive (some might say exhausting!) detail on the art and science of travelling light, going pretty much anywhere, for an indefinite length of time, with nothing more than a single (carry-on-sized) bag.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Quick Tip: Movies on the plane

Make Your Movies Truly Laptop Friendly

If you know you are going to be traveling, and you want to bring some entertainment with you (namely, movies), such as the best film ever made — The Dukes of Hazzard, today’s quick tip is for you.

Tip of the day: The energy required to spin the disc, and power the laser beam inside your DVD (or Blu Ray) drive is hard on your laptop’s battery, and can drain the charge rather quickly… maybe before the movie ends.

The trick is to “rip” (geekspeak for “copy”) the DVD to a file, and keep the file on your hard drive, or a thumb drive. Playing the file (watching the movie) this way is less work for your computer and your battery will last longer. Kind of a “must” for those long flights!

Today’s free download(s):
For simple, one-click “rips” of your DVD movies, bitRipper is hard to beat. It was a for-pay utility, and now is available for free.

And for those of you who want to watch your movies on an iDevice, HandBrake is a highly recommended Open Source tool to consider. It’s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Digital cameras and you

Not too long ago, I mentioned my friend who was preparing to travel; and told you that for the first time he was going to leave behind his 35mm (film) camera gear, and take only a digital camera (see Mondays: love ’em or leave ’em). For the first time, he was going to leave at home his lenses, flash unit, filters, different speed/type film rolls, etc., and carry a single unit.. with a couple of spare memory chips.

I also mentioned that he is the type of fella who does extensive research before making a purchase, like a camera, and I can tell you he bought a pretty fancy digital camera for his trip.. and we’re not talking about a “pocket camera”. But, we’re not talking about an SLR (single-lens reflex) and a whole bunch of accessories, either. I won’t name a specific camera here, but I will say that his choice had 12x zoom, electronic image stabilization, and a nice, large, LCD viewer. When I held it in my hand, I was pleasantly surprised by its comfort and light weight.

No sooner had my friend returned from his travels abroad, then he was at my door with his memory chips containing his pictures, in hand. He knows about my previous life as a professional retouch artist, and he wanted my help with culling, cropping, and color-balancing (etc.), and burning the ‘good ones’ to a slide show on  a CD.

And so I got a very good look at his “product”, and vicariously traveled abroad with him as he narrated the history of each and every shot.. much like a new father describes the wondrous attributes of his first-born. There were several things that impressed us:

I, being an old hand at professional photography, was impressed by the image quality this digital camera produced. No. The pictures weren’t Hasseleblad-quality, but the resolution, color depth and saturation, and depth of field were all remarkably good.. even when enlarged to fill my 20″ monitor. All of my color “balancing” tweaks were quite optional, and I only did two at that.

He, being new to digital imaging, was blown away by how easily and quickly he could edit the shots, put them into the order he wanted, and create a portable slide show he could carry on a thumb drive (I haven’t yet told him about online “albums”.. he was too busy trying to absorb the wonders of Photoshop) or CD.
He had a finished, quality slide show to present to his friends and family in a matter of a few hours — he was used to it taking weeks to assemble, and for him to have to carry around a projector and carousel trays.

Yes.. technology is changing everything. I can no longer be a film-camera snob, and badmouth digital cameras as being inherently inferior. My friend did not break the bank buying his camera, and his choice was roughly in the low end of the middle-grade of digital cameras, if you include SLR’s, and on the higher end of the scale if you limit your choices to point-and-shoot’s. (He spent under $500, including several extra high-capacity Flash Memory chips.)

And, as this tale illustrates, there’s no comparison in the speed and convenience of digital imaging.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Sometimes, it’s hard to be me.

Here it is, Monday again, and yes, Dear Reader, it’s true– sometimes it is a little bit tough being me. Maybe you have felt that way yourself a time or two. (If so, feel free to use my title line… properly attributed, of course.)

Being an Internationally Renown Tech Blogger isn’t all a bed of roses and glamour. No! It is a lot of work; and requires a 24/7  by 365 dedication. And sometimes, Dear Reader, (hold on to your hat) I don’t feel like writing.. about tech or about anything else. Hurrumph.
Perhaps, sometime in your distant past, you have felt a similar feeling.

A really smart fella I happen to know, tells me there’s all kinds of reasons  (and I mean, medical, and other scientific-al-type reasons) why a person might experience such a sensation. And the best part is he has a “cure”.. which, because he and I are such great pals, he gladly shared with me. Because you and I, Dear Reader, are such great pals, I’m going to share it with you.

Vacation.

And he has a certain point: the way the dollar is shrinking? Might as well get away to somewhere while it’ll still buy you a ticket. Six months from now might be too late.

It has been a very long time since I went on a real vacation.. and perhaps some of you can say the same thing. It just hasn’t seemed to work out that the extra money and the extra time have been as plentiful as the bills and the Things That Need Doing Today (list).
Oh well. I ain’t complaining, nor sniveling.

Tip of the day: If you’re like me, and it’s been a little too long since you gave yourself a real vacation, go online and find yourself a real deal. Do a little searching, and I bet that you’ll find an offer too good to pass up. Then.. actually book your reservation.
That way, you won’t be sitting there feeling like I feel right now.. and, you’ll have something to look forward to (before the trip), and then something new to talk about (afterwards).

There are, literally, hundreds of traveler’s websites. I suggest you “play around with” more than just one (planning is, after all, half the fun).
And I suggest to you that you “explore” the possibility of a Destination other than Disney World or Honolulu. Do something really.. extraordinary this time. (Like what, you ask? Well.. hmmm.. how about  Vienna? Or, Moscow? Or,.. Kuala Lumpur. Or include some semi-dangerous activity.. like, para-gliding in Rio? Or, white-water rafting in Australia?) That will give you great conversation pieces when you get home again!

Today’s free link(s): Great trips come from great research and planning.. and feeling good about them comes from getting good prices. Start out with some of the better-known travel websites, such as Travelocity, Priceline, and SmartTraveler.com. Be sure to click on any User Reviews-type links you find, and take a look at the hotel’s reviews, too.
Once you’ve spent a little time there, then hop over to Wikitravel. Click on a continent, or type in a keyword, and start getting excited.. because this year, baby, you’re going to do it! (I hope.)

* If you know of a must-look-at travel Website, please let us know by leaving a Comment.
[update: I have already received e-mails recommending Orbitz. Please, folks, leave your suggestions as Comments so we all can see them.]

Copyright 2007-8 Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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