Rob Cairns

I am one of those people who is out on the go a lot. A lot of people ask me how I manage to stay connected and productive when I am on the go. I thought I would do a post on the hardware I use to keep me productive while on the move.

Hardware I Use:

1. Apple I Phone 3 G

The Apple Iphone 3G is the staple in my on the move strategy. The Iphone allows me to keep in touch with the world. I have my email client on the Iphone as well as several Twitter clients. My entire contact list as well as calendar are also stored on my Iphone. Not only can I use it to communicate, I have the current audio books and podcasts I am listening to on the Iphone.

I also have many other applications which include everything from ones to read newspapers, sports scores and even games to unwind. Not to mention the 2 Mega pixel camera the Iphone has. It is not as powerful as my digital camera but it is really handy in a hurry.

2.0 Accessories for My IPhone

I carry multiple accessories for my I phone. These included a spare charger and a car charger for emergencies or when the battery just runs out.

3.0 Acer Aspire One Netbook

I have an Aspire One Netbook with 1 Gig of Ram, 160 GB Hard Drive, built in SD Card Reader running Windows XP Home. My Netbook has a built in camera as well. I use my laptop on trips, on the go and even commuting to work. The size and weight make it really easy to carry around. My netbook is much lighter than the laptop I previously had.

4.0 Accessories For My Netbook

I always carry a Logitec cordless laptop mouse. I prefer using a mouse when I am on a desk instead of the touch pad.

I would recommend also carrying a good Headset with a Mic. I have chosen a basic Logitech one. This enables me to listen to music/podcasts in private or even make a Skype call. Well worth packing in your bag.

I find when I travel, Hotel’s either do not have enough power plugs to charge everything I carry with me or they are located in the wrong place. As a result of this issue, I carry a good portable surge suppressor with me. This protects me from power surges as well as giving me the extra outlets which I need.

For insurance purposes I carry an N router in my bag, a cross over cable and a 25 foot Ethernet patch cable. These tools can be handy in making all kinds of network connections in different situations. Well worth carrying if you have the room.

I carry a couple of USB Thumb drives as well as a Western Digital 160 GB pocket hard drive. I use these to make copies of data files and pictures on the go so I always have a backup until I get home or to my office.

Always care a screw driver in your mobile kit. You never know when you might need it.

5.0 My Roger’s Rocket Stick

In my laptop bag I always carry my Roger’s Rocket Stick. The Rocket Stick allows me to have internet service over the cellular network. Often when I travel I use my commuting time to either browse the web on my Netbook or do some other work. The Rocket Stick provides connectivity no matter where I go providing I can get a cellular signal.

6.0 Targus Laptop Bag

I carry all my portable equipment in a good Targus Laptop bag. My bag has lot’s of pockets to help keep things organized well and protected.

I hope this explains some of the hardware I carry on the go. Later this week I will talk about software to use to stay connected on the go.

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Leaf’s Hockey Nov 10, 2009 showing a bit of the warm up and part of the Remberance Day Ceremony.

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he Google/Microsoft Rivalry has started another round with Google release of Google Chrome O/S. It is another page the historic battle between these two companies. The Google Chrome O/S has been release to take aim at the ever expanding Netbook market. Will Google make major in rounds time will tell. Let’s take a look back at the historical battle between these two companies and my take on them.

1. Google Vs Bing

On the Internet search is king. This makes Google king on the Internet since they dominate search. Google has the majority of the search business. Microsoft’s bing is picking up shares in search but slowly. It will take them time. But for now this battle is to Google.

2. Windows Live Offerings vs Google Online Offerings.

Personally I believe Google wins this battle at this point. Google Docs, Gmail, Picasa Web Albums are all easier to use then their Microsoft counterparts. These services integrate well with each other as well. Microsoft has been a good attempt with Live Mesh, Movie Maker, Live Mail and Windows Photo Gallery but in my opinion it is a little too late. Ironic when you think Bill Gate’s vision was for the Internet to be an extension of the desktop. This battle goes to Google.

3. Android vs Windows Mobile

Anything is better than Window’s Mobile. I had a Windows Mobile Device for over a year and hated it. Android device’s have many applications available for it and the phone’s are much more reliable. Windows Mobile is hard to use – no cut and paste and really slow. – This one to Google.

4. Google Chrome vs Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome is a much faster and easier browser to use than Internet Explorer. Since Chrome does not use Active X it is prone to the same security exploits as Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer has most of the market but that is because it is bundled with Windows. If it were not bundled with Windows, it would never do as well as it has.

Winner: Tie

5. Office vs Google Docs

Microsoft Office is a far more powerful desktop suite then the cloud based Google Docs. Microsoft Office, despite it’s hefty price tag is still king in the business environment for now. The product is far superior and more robust to Google Docs. If I was looking for an alternative based on price alone I would look at Open Office before I looked at Google Docs. Google Docs needs major work on all front’s if it is going to content especially with Microsoft Office moving to the cloud in 2010.

The winner here is Microsoft.

6. Google Chrome OS Vs Windows.

Last week Google released it’s Chrome O/S. My first looks clearly show that this operating system is not ready for prime time. The operating system comes with all kinds of promises claiming it is the Windows killer. If I was looking for a Linix based Operating system (I do run one), I would turn to the stable Ubuntu. Chrome is really a badly repacked Linux distribution for now. It remains to be seen if the developer’s will latch on the Chrome – Time will tell.

Windows 7 is the best operating system which Microsoft has ever put out. It is stable, mature and complete. The public will soon forget about Windows Vista and realize how good Windows 7 really is.

The Winner here is Microsoft.

Conclusions

If you look at the above 6 categories, their is a trend between these two heavyweights in the industry. Google dominates the cloud based services, Microsoft dominates the PC and Desktop. Microsoft needs to shift it’s strategy toward’s more cloud based application and I believe has started to do this with the release of Office 2010 next year.

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Every time I read an article about Cloud Based security, the article always mentions that the security for Cloud applications is not ready for prime time. What these articles forget to mention is the weakest link and that is the end user. Why is the end user the weakest link you might ask? One of the reason’s is that end users do not use strong passwords. End user’s tend to use password’s they can easily remember but forget this compromises their security.

I thought I would share my thoughts about password’s, share some suggestions on how to protect yourself and then give you some tools to help manage those passwords. This will be one more article you can save in your tool kit to help protect yourself.

1.0 What is a Strong Password

A strong password is a password which is more secure, is harder to hack and can not be related back to the end user directly. One of the key’s in creating passwords is not to use any passwords that are easily identified with yourself. That means do not use your dog’s name, wife’s name , favorite hockey team or kids names for example.

The best way to create a strong password is to use a combination like the following:

1. At least 8 characters.

2. A combination of numbers, letters, upper/lower case and special symbols.

3. Do not use a word in the dictionary.

4. Change your password on a regular basis.

4. Never use the word password.

Microsoft has a really good article on creating Strong Passwords. It gives some great examples and makes some good suggestions.

This link is a list of the worst 500 passwords of all-time. Never use any of these passwords because they are so common.

2.0 Tools to Manage Strong Passwords

Most people write their passwords down on a piece of paper leaving them around for prying eyes to see. This is not a good idea at all. Storing them in an Excel spreadsheet is better but still not good since normally people do not encrypt spreadsheet files. So what is the best way to store your passwords. Personally I have 2 tools which I like to use. They are Roboform and KeyPass.

Roboform is a well known password management system. It is cross platform supporting Mac, PC, Linux as well as most smart phones. I have used the product for over a year and it works really well. One of the real good things with Robofrom is it will generate a random password for you on request. The cost of the applications is $30.00 onetime fee for the first license. Well worth the money.

Key Pass is an open source alternative to Roboform. Key Pass is cross platform as well. Since it is free this might be a good alternative for some people.

I have given you some ideas on how to create strong passwords and some tools on how to manage them. If you follow these processes your on line experience will be much safer.

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Pictures from the Shearton Falls View(My Hotel Room) and outside looking down on Niagara Falls the first weekend in November.

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In early October, I did a post on respect. If you have not read it, I would suggest you do. it explains how to show your respect on the Internet and how to get respect back. One of the things I touched on was Auto DM’s in Twitter. I explained why I disliked them. The auto Dm’s seem to be such a problem I thought I would do a post which just focuses on them.

Some people would say oh no big deal, auto Dm’s are just another Tweert, Ignore them! I would gladly ignore them except I am getting tons of them every day. This is what the people who send these Dm’s want me to say but guess what? I do not remember the content of any of them. So the feeble marketing attempt on me has failed.

The following are a list of reason’s why I disliked auto Dm’s, my feelings on them and how I handle them:

1. They are spam. I receive enough spam in my email.

2. I tune them out. I do not remember ads on TV why would I remember auto Dm’s.

3. I will Un-follow you instantly.

4. I will never recommend your product. I will do the opposite – tell people to stay away.

5. If you can make money from your system why not just go and make the money? You obviously do not need me so I will ignore you.

6. If you send me an Auto DM you are not interested in building a partnership/relationship.

7. Continuous auto DM’s will cause me to block you and report you to Twitter.

8. Who cares if you have a system for adding 100 Twitter followers a day. 99 of these are probably spam bots. I ignore these as well.

The key on Twitter or any other social network is not to spam people. It is to show respect and build relationships. This way you will keep meeting great people. Their are many great people to meet and engage with. Why waste your time on people who do not want to engage? The choice is yours….

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IRL is a term that has been a long on the Internet as long as people have been chatting. It is a term that I detest and strongly disagree with. IRL means In Real Life. This term implies that what happens on the Internet is not real. This is so far from the case.

One of my friends had someone tell her on the IRC chat network is everyone on IRC and the Internet not single and looking for someone. The answer to that is no. Looking for someone is considered cheating if it was on the Internet or off the Internet. I should tell you my friend’s answer was that she was single and she did not have to misrepresent herself on the Internet.

Why do people use the Term IRL? It is very simple, it is easy to hide behind a made up character on the Internet. Most of us do text chat online. How hard is it to create a character, develop something that is entirely not you and get online and be that person. Where you get caught is when the chat goes from text chat to voice chat. Then it is really hard to hide.

About 10 years ago I remember a channel manager on IRC faking his own car accident. It was finally proven that he made it all up for the attention.

As far as I am concerned the Internet is just an extension of real life. The people who will play games on the Internet will play games in their lives offline. Those who are running around the Internet claiming they are single yet the are married who have a partner would cheat offline. I love how they say but I was not cheating – have the ever heard of emotional cheating.

People need to remember the Internet is just a vehicle. The people who cause problems online would cause problems offline. The cheaters would cheat anyay. The point I am making is the Internet is just an extension of society.

I am really lucky. I have met many great people online and many off them have been long lasting friendships. I even socialize with a lot of them offline in the Toronto area. Lately I have had a lot of family issues and my online friends have be en more than supportive:) That is what true friend’s are.

Remember IRL is a really bad term. Keep treating people off line and online the way you want to be treated and your life will be so much better. If more people did this, the world would be a better place.

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I have spent the last 22 years working professionally in the Technology field. I started off originally programming in the insurance business and then moved into the network support side working in Health Care. It has been a lifetime and ups and downs and mostly full filling. I thought I would talk about today how I was inspired as a youngster, what motivates me and how I made the move into the world of technology.

My Dad actually inspired me with an Apple II +. He was a corporate treasurer and the company he worked for bought an Apple II + which he carried to and from the office in a large briefcase. The screen was only a small 7 inch green screen. My Dad used the computer for doing work on Visicalc which was the pioneer spreadsheet program. Before long I was using the computer more than my Dad to the point we had to compete for time.

I developed my love for adventure games on the Apple II +. I played the early Ultimate Adventure games on this machine. At one time I spent 8 months trying to solve one of these classics. I actually had 3 2″ binders full of notes and maps when I was done. Hard to believe now that I was that hooked. Needless to say I do not play adventure games anymore – I wonder why?

The Apple II + was where I first wrote my first major program. I was taking a computer class in High School and I wrote a basic program which was a strategic baseball game. The minimum requirement was 100 lines of code as my final project and I had over 3000 lines without an error in the code. Not bad for a 15 year old. Little did I know this was the start of a lifetime of being in the computer business.

The Apple II + was where I first got online as well. I can remember saving $250.00 from paper routes to purchase a 300 Baud modem so I could connect to BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) systems. This was long before the World Wide Web was developed. I bought my first modem when I was 16 years old and 26 years later I am still online – this time on the Internet.

Since the Apple II + days I have owned a Radio Shack Color Computer ( called the Coco) and many versions of IBM clone pcs running everything from MS Dos 3.3 to Windows 7. Incredible when you think about it.

On the mainframe/Mini side I have programed on everything from an IBM 1130 (using punch cards) to an IBM 3090E. I do not program professionally anymore. I realized I am more a people person and as a result I have moved into the support side of things. I find this very rewarding and satisfying.

This explains my love for computers which was my start into technology. From computers it just grew on me in a big way. I sometimes think I should have become a technology writer instead of working in support. This way I would be able to play with all the cool toys.

I used to be an early adopter in technology. When the Sony Diskman came out I had to be one of the first people to have one. I can remember paying $350.00 dollars for one and that did not even include the headphones. Wow by today’s standards.

When I was first in my professional career I was at one of the big professional trade shows; Comdex; and I won a Palm III. Since that day I have never carried a date book. Now I have progressed to the Iphone:) Why carry separate devices when it can do more than one thing.

I love technology but I am no longer an earlier adopter. The cost of being one is just way out of my budget. I have an Iphone 3G but I got it a year after it was out. I have many other comforts like a PVR, DVR and surround sound. Surprisingly I still do not have and LCD but that will be coming.

I love technology it has been such a big part of my life and I am thankful for that:)

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I walked into the office today and was talking to one of my colleagues and he asked me a question this morning. His question is why do you spend time on Social Media?

This question left me pondering for a bit. Her are some of the reason’s why social media has become a big part of my life:

1. Meeting People

I communicate with friends from all over the word. I have had the pleasure to text chat, email, share blog and even video chat with many of my friends:) The friendships I have made are incredible and these people are very important in my life. It is a pleasure to spend time with my friends. Their is an entire group of people I know from the BC area and as a result I want to head back their to see an area of the country which I love and meet some great people. I have many friends in the US, Australia and England.

2. Learning

I am always learning. I sometimes think my brain never shuts down. Social Media gives me the chance to share idea and learn from others. I can often be found sharing ideas about Technology, The Environment or Sports. I have learned so much from other on social media. The key is to have an open mind and respect other people’s opinions.

3. Keeping in Touch

Social Media has allowed me to keep in touch with people easier and share important moment’s in their lives. I can see my friends picture or find out what they are doing on their blogs or even Facebook. It has allowed me to connect with people I have not talked to in a long time most notably an old friend who is now married and in Atlanta Georgia. We had lost touch for 10 years but Facebook brought us back together.

I keep more in touch with my family on Facebook. My brothers and cousins are all on Facebook. It is great because we share more and stay in touch more. In our case it has

4. Helping People

One of the things I really like to do is help people.  I love to assist people with a problem and being able to help them solve their problem. I also like to share my knowledge and information with other people. Social Media gives me one more avenue on being able to share and help some one else learn. I have been lucky over the years to learn from other and I like to share my knowledge and pass it a long.

5. Monetize Some of It

I have picked up a few contracts because of my involvement on social media.  I have had people come to my blog and then to my professional services page once they get to know me.  They value the information I share, my opinion, my professionalism and are willing to pay for it. Originally I never planned to get into social media to make a profit from it. As social media has developed so has monetizing it for me.

6. Share Information With My Family and Friends

When we have a family event I am normally one of the people who have a camera in their hand. In the old days I used to make pictures for everyone who wanted them. This was a timely process and sometimes could be costly. Now I post the pictures on a photo site and link to them from my blog. This enable all the people who attended the event to view and download the pictures if they want.

When Kelli and I go on a trip, I normally blog every day we are away. I often post pictures and videos of our travels as well.  This enable me to share with others my travels.

Conclusion

As you can see I use social media in many different ways. The most important reason is to share time with the friends I have on social media. The key is for you to choose how social media fits in to your lifestyle and how you can use it to suit your needs. The key is to show respect when using social media.

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Tonight Owen Greaves (@OwenGreaves) and I were invited by Brian Adrian(@BrianAdrian) to appear on his radio show to talk tech. It was a lot of fun and the show can be listened to by clicking on the player below:

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