Scopetech

Earlier this month we ran an article about the preparation required to stay connected abroad and it just so happened that I was taking off after the article was released. I decided to take Nick’s advice in to account and compile a list of methods that I found worked best to stay connected.

1. WiFi - Usually when you’re on the road these days, a wireless connection is never far away and in this case, Google Maps is your friend. With Google Maps you can find a hotspot in your area with the click of a button and it’s all displayed on a colourful little map. Great! If Google don’t have your area covered then you should probably do some research on the area you’ll be staying in and around. Most shopping centres usually offer a stable WiFi connection for free so don’t hesitate to whip out your laptop and search for a connection. (of course, you can always use one of these)

2. 3G Data Cards - 3G coverage still isn’t as wide as it could be in some places, yet it’s still a great solution when there’s no WiFi in the area. You can pick up a data card from a 3G service provider for a pretty reasonable price. Although be warned, sometimes data plans can be expensive so shop around a bit for one that suits you best. The cards themselves work well with laptops that have a slot specifically for them and some mac users may be feeling left out, but don’t worry, check out our next solution.

3. GPRS - Before you excuse this as a painfully slow method, it’s actually quite efficient. Now, you may be thinking ‘there’s no way I’m going to check my email on my cell phone’ but this isn’t really what I was going to recommend. It’s pretty easy to connect your phone to your computer over a USB cable or use a bluetooth connection to use the phone as a GPRS modem and you can even use this method with EDGE or 3G. Here are some links for you to check out in order to get it set up.
Ross Barkman’s Home Page
Apple Docs.
GSM Tethering with Windows XP

4. Internet Cafes - Even if you don’t mind leaving your laptop behind in exchange for one of the computers at the local internet cafe, you should still find a decent connection to get the job done (assuming you’re just going to check some emails or something.) Be wary though, you don’t want to enter too much personal information (passwords etc.) on these computers as the information is easily retrieved and accessible by anyone else using the computer after you.

5. Your Mobile Phone - Whilst it’s a costly and overtly slow method, if you really do need to check for that one email you’re eagerly anticipating, you can get some great applications for your phone that handle the job well. Of course, due to the cost and speed, this isn’t really a method I’d recommend for a late night browsing session.

If you have any more connection methods or links, feel free to leave them in the comments.

I’ve recently seen Transformers for the second time now, and every time I see a movie about evil (or even well-intentioned) robots trying to enslave the human race, I can’t help but think that my work in AI falls into a morally gray area.

My thoughts fall once again to the dangers of creating an intelligence that rivals (and would inevitably surpass) our own. Imagine the seemingly innocuous process of automobile design and manufacturing. Being a software engineer, I see large, complex processes as units or agents that can be moved or reused easily, so I might say something like, “just slap a steel mill on the front of it” (edit: I’ve ended up saying exactly that). The point is, I’m not used to the limits of the physical world; my tools are abstract and usually homemade.

Automotive construction has become almost entirely automated. Engineers and designers are now also experimenting with computer aided design, the least of which uses computers as platforms for collaboration. Engineers are using complex drafting tools to design cars for minimal drag and fuel usage, while also maximizing interior space. Though I’m not sure if there is any research going on in the field currently, I could certainly imagine analyzing body styles of popular vehicles and using them to create entirely new designs, either by melding the designs or by actively avoiding things that have already been designed.

Now, machines are building designing the cars, and machines are building them, but there’s still one gap: whose building these machines? That task still lies, at least partly, in the hands of human ingenuity. Factories still need to be retooled to build new vehicles, so there will never be a design that accidentally gets built into a fleet of vehicles by marking the wrong check-box on buildthiscar.ford.com .

But now imagine taking current-day rapid prototyping technologies and building a general purpose factory, that can build a car from an adequately detailed power point presentation, but could also build the 8^th generation iPhone, and also switch between the two with little to no human interaction (or interference, some might say). Now, slap a steel mill on the front of it, and you’ve got a machine, or more accurately, set of machines, that can design and create anything from scratch.

For the most part this is still just a tool, but that’s how all these stories start. If you were to give the design system a parameter to optimize passenger safety, it may (and this is far fetched) conclude that the best way to ensure the safety of your passengers is to equip vehicles with cannons to blast obstructions off the road. A silent feature at first, the system monitors passenger safety statistics, realizes that the feature isn’t being used, and automates it. All of a sudden, we have an epic battle between Ford and GM over the carpool lane.

The moral of the story? People need management, so anything created in humanity’s image will need management too. We should never intend to create things and allow them free reign over their domain. This becomes more evident with stores like the one above, where reign over the machine domain bled into reign over the world as we know it. Responsibility is key, with todays track-record of owning up to ones mistakes, the outlook is bleak.

Being away from home for an extended period of time can be a stressful event. Although for years, travelers have been wondering who will feed the dog or get the mail, there is now a new question lingering when one embarks on vacation: how the hell am I going to get on the internet?

Wonder no longer, loyal readers. By following the three P’s of wifi, you will never again have to worry about getting behind on your Facebook friend requests.

Preparation
The first and easiest way to stay connected when you’re not home is to plan ahead. Various hotel chains offer free wireless either in-room or in the lobby. When making reservations, either choose one of the hotels from this list offered by WiFiFreeSpot or make sure to ask over the phone. There’s nothing like free wifi and a minibar to start a vacation right.

Hotels aren’t always the residence of choice during vacations. With free lodging and food, staying at a relative’s place is a hard option to turn down. If you’re staying at Aunt Mabel’s and her 56k connection just isn’t what you were hoping for, AnchorFree might be able to help you. Before you head out on your trip, try their free WiFi search engine to find hotspots close to you via Google Maps. Although there are many sites that offer a similar service, AnchorFree seems to be the most functional design. For the person always on the go, AnchorFree also offers a database of hotspots called WiPod that can be uploaded onto your iPod for access at any time.

Pirating
Let’s say you read this article and decide to totally ignore my first suggestion of planning ahead but still want to find some hotspots. The second P is for you. Finding a connection on your own is a little time consuming, but with the right methods it can work. First thing’s first: you need some kind of network detection utility. Personally I like NetStumbler for Windows and iStumbler for OS X. Once you have a network detection tool, simply hop in your car and find a connection.

Start your search at hotels. Going into various hotel lobbies until you hit a hotspot seems to be the most successful method because once you’re in, you’ve got a comfy couch and possibly even some hot coffee to enjoy while you browse. If you aren’t near hotels, the technique necessary is a little bit shadier. My favorite process is looking for the neighborhood with the nicest houses and driving through them slowly. I guarantee you will find at least one unprotected network with a name like “dlink” or “linksys”. This is generally only good for short email checks because it might generate some unwanted attention. Random vehicles driving slowly through rich neighborhoods aren’t quite kosher with the police. Before you decide to use this method, read this WikiPedia article pertaining to the legalities of using other people’s connections without their knowledge. It is a little sketchy and could possibly get you in trouble.

Paying
If acquiring your connection somewhat illegally is something you don’t really want to get into, paying is always a viable but expensive option. Every wireless carrier offers some kind of plan to keep you connected to the internet anywhere your cell phone gets signal. These plans usually run about $50 a month for unlimited internet on top of the price of a wireless card. If you don’t want to go through your wireless carrier, companies like WayPort offer subscription services that give you access to exclusive hotspots in places like McDonald’s, IHOP, Hertz, and many other franchises. WayPort subscriptions run about $30/month with a one year contract, or $50/month with no contract which isn’t that appealing of a price point considering you still have to find one of their hotspots. Although, what town doesn’t have a McDonald’s?

So there you have it. 3 different methods to help you stay connected even when you’re out on vacation. Preparation, Pirating, or Paying. But please, try to remember one thing while you are using these tips. YOU’RE ON VACATION. Use the internet to help find places to visit and new things to try, not to hole up in your room all day. You left your house for a reason, enjoy it!