Dan Florio's Blog

Posted by Dan Florio

For the holidays the wife and I are getting ourselves a GPS unit. A nice splurge and a way to forestall lots of arguments on the road. You know, the ones that go..."No, I have no idea what exit is coming up. Why are those signs so small? Oh, shit...that's it, get over now!"

So to fulfill this productive goal of merrier marital harmony we need a GPS.

We have the price range nailed down ($300-500, so we can get a good one). We even have a long trip coming up to really test the new device's paces.

The problem is there are too many choices and all the features I want don't exist on the same unit.

• I want Exit POIs and AAA Roadside Assistance (Magellan).
• I want a feature that sends sound through my FW radio and has an incredibly easy user interface (Garmin).
• And I want Advance Trip Planning and Darth Vader to tell me where to go (Tom Tom).

So the consumer, me and you, have to chart out the pros and the cons and the deal breakers. In an effort to wade through the choss I published a few articles on the subject: Buying the Best GPS and Top Portable GPS Models.

But they won't really help. This stuff is just too complicated. Can't I customize my GPS? Like buying a Dell computer? Now that would be a great start-up idea for someone.

I'll be your first customer.

Posted by Dan Florio

When I first moved to Seattle, I worked at Microsoft and lived in my car. I liked to joke that I was Bill Gate's only homeless employee.

I did this for almost four months - in the dead of winter - before my wife joined me in the Pacific Northwest and we needed to rent an actual apartment. It was surprisingly simple to live out of my Nissan Pathfinder. I had:

• a comfortable bed in the back,
• my clothes in a duffel bag
• and my laptop in my backpack.

I slept in the parking lot of a Seattle area library, using their restrooms. The library was heated, had comfortable chairs, lots of electrical outlets and free WIFI.

It was the free WIFI that made the lifestyle possible. I had no friends in Seattle, being an area newbie, and my Internet connection was my lifeline. Still is, actually. I was more than happy to hang around in the library in the mornings, evenings and on weekends, programming in Flash and developing pet projects. And other pet projects. (Am I shameless?)

The only rub was Sunday nights, when the library would close at 6pm. Who wants to sit in their car (in the cold and dark) for four hours before heading to sleep? So on Sundays I'd just head to Tully's Coffee for my WIFI fix.

If you find yourself in need of free wireless Internet services in the Seattle area, be sure to try the libraries first - this is one of the few good uses of all those tax dollars your business pays, right? Or read my extensive list and further info on Seattle's best bets for free WIFI.

Posted by Dan Florio

Finding a post office while traveling is a hassle. So is waiting in line to send a package. It's so much easier to just text a message, shoot an email, or send a fax from your hotel concierge. Even Federal Express is more user-friendly to the business traveler. Who needs regular old snail mail mail these days?

This are probably among the reasons the United States Postal Service (USPS) started waving their banner about their newer, faster and - best of all - mostly free online services. According to a recently mailed USPS postcard you can now: "ship a package from your kitchen...put a hold on your mail from the airport, (and) change your address while sitting in a coffee shop."

And you can buy stamps from your hotel room, personalized with your pet poodle's face...not a free service, but definitely a fun one when you're feeling homesick.

Go to the the USPS website and poke around before your travels - register away and learn the rules at leisure in your home office. Then get ready to use what your tax dollars are paying for. Want a quick primer on easy (and mostly free) USPS options you can use from your laptop? Check out Postal Service Tips for Travelers.

Posted by Dan Florio

On recent ferry trips between Seattle and Bainbridge, Seattle and Bremerton, and Kingston to Everett, I noticed Wi-Fi icons around the ships. Checking into the matter, there are brochures describing the Washington State Ferry high-speed Internet access system. Apparently all state ferries carry Wi-Fi service hot spots.

On-Board and On-Line

The ferry Wi-Fi isn't free, but a reasonable fee schedule is available by the quarter hour ($2.15), and also by day or month at a subscription rate.

For business travelers who frequently commute in the Puget Sound region this is a great opportunity to sit back and get get some work done while cruising the Seattle waters.

I have not used the ferry Internet connection at this time but will report on speed and useability on my next sojourn across the Sound. I am not sure how useful this is for the occasional commuter - ie, ferry rides tend to be shorter than an hour. I'd rather have Internet access in the car parking lots when waiting for the next ferry.

Posted by Dan Florio

One of my close friends waited in line for the darn iPhone. He even missed opening night of Live Free and Die Hard, while waiting in line at the Apple store. I call that a damn shame. I mean, DIE HARD! Bruce Willis! And the Mac Guy! Opening night! I had his ticket and his railing row center seat saved, right beside me. Isn't that better than a new phone?

While I don't like Apple and I hate AT&T, I am open to the idea of the iPhone in general. My wife likes both iTunes and the iPod. They are reasonably decent products for the business traveler. So I am not saying all Apple products are bad.

But this particular phone I am not interested in. For one thing, new Apple products tend to be buggy. Expensive and buggy and maddeningly isolated with proprietary software.

And for another, I want my MP3 player/web surfer/phone to also have a GPS unit and a better camera. Since I still need multiple devices I will keep waiting for the perfect product to come along. A firesale even - everything must go [in the device, that is]. Just ask the technogeek Mac Guy in the Die Hard movie. Yippee-ki-yay.

Posted by Dan Florio

We in the northern countries of North America got waaaay too used to our free Skype laptop calls to any phone in the US and Canada.

Last year we had it good. Free is certainly better than cheap. Now the Skype program seems at least inexpensive, but I am not sure I need it. I can simply upgrade my phone minutes. Or use IM more frequently - still free from computer to computer. Pretty darned convenient enough.

Damn Skype anyway. I am not sure if I want to add another "communications utility" fee to my monthly payouts. Cable, Internet, DVR/Tivo, X-Box Live, iTunes, Netflix, cell phone and web hosting fees do add up. Nickle and dime-ing my life away.

Grump.

Posted by Dan Florio

I bought a rude luggage tag. Couldn't resist. Made by Inventive Travelware, it's bright enough to be seen on the luggage carousels from a distance. It's also really bright pink and says:

"OOPS: expression of surprise (as in: oops this is not your bag)"

Anyway since it's pink I gave it to my wife, who loves it and has shown it to everyone we know (she's also from New York and not especially afraid to be rude). It's a cheap gift (I paid under $4.00 at a travel shop in a tourist town). Cheap chic? The "eye-d" part of the tag has room to fill out name, address, phone, email, etc.

Posted by Dan Florio

Ah, this killed me. I love cool, crazy things, especially stuff that's originally quite mundane. Like, say, luggage tags.

These colorful tags by Inventive Travelware are just fun. I am partial to the rude ones, like the tags that say MINE, or Not Your Bag! Or even Got Luggage? Go find it, this is mine. There are some Diva type-tags for the chicks. They have bright handle wraps, too. WOOT!

There are also polite and proper tags at Magellan's website if that's what you like.

Now go read about how to pack your luggage for easy-peasy flight check-ins and hassle-free baggage claiming.

Posted by Dan Florio

I've been a regular Skype user - free phone calls from a computer - well, that's my thing. But if you use Skype's chat function, you may be opening your laptop to some virulent computer worms.

According to Websense (see link above for full article), "the worm sends messages via Skype Chat, an instant-messenging tool. The messages ask recipients to download and run a file called sp.exe."

I have not used Skype chat myself. I've only used their phone call function. So I don't feel really scared about the worm - consider this a public service announcement in case you do.

In fact, I haven't even used Skype at all in this brave new year of 2007, since I suspect there is now a fee involved. I really should go check this out. At least I have my sucky cellphone for communication while traveling.