How To Protect Your Laptop From The Effects Of Traveling

After a few days or weeks of traveling it can be relaxing to take a day off and pop open your laptop lid – except when you find it’s sluggish, screaming incomprehensible warnings, and in a general state of crankiness. Traveling can be rough on a laptop, especially since we tend to neglect their needs until our bouncing backpacks finally come to a halt.

You can avoid a bad case of travel laptop by getting your computing companion prepared for the road and giving it a bit of tender care along the way.

Update Before You Leave Home

Most people, whether traveling or not, tend to put off software updates as long as they can; a big cause of computer sluggishness. You can get away with it for a while, that is, until all of your programs are begging for their latest versions in unison, leaving you with a frustratingly slow machine.

• Focus On The Operating System – Make sure to install the most critical updates at a minimum. Both Windows and Mac OS X are good about differentiating between important and optional updates.
• Update Domino – Often when there is an update to an operating system like Windows, other software developers issue updates to keep up. (You may have noticed with updates, when it rains it pours.) It’s best to keep everything on the same page for optimal performance.
• A Few Days Before Departure – There is a perception that updates are more trouble than their worth, which isn’t true most of the time. Just to be on the safe side however, install your operating system updates (here’s how on Windows and Mac) a few days before leaving home.

The first thing you should do with your laptop when returning from a trip is to run major software updates. I know you’re excited to email, Twitter, and Facebook your friends about your trip to Germany but the longer you hold off on software updates, the further they’ll accumulate to make your laptop feel like its from 1998.

Get A Second Laptop Case

Even a good padded day-pack isn’t sufficient insulation for your laptop. Between the bouncing around in your backpack and the touch of the floor each time you set it down, a traveling hard drive takes a soft but sustained beating. A laptop case that fits around your portable device inside of your backpack will prolong its life and the little bits of data in the hard drive as well.

• Look For Specifics – Cases built for a particular laptop model tend to be more snug making them easier to pull out and put back into your travel bag.

Also, don’t forget that you’re carrying around a sensitive, albeit portable, piece of technology. Be gentle when stuffing your laptop back in your bag after a long security line, and when running through the airport to catch a flight.

Be Weary Of The Weather

Extreme heat can not only shorten battery life, it can also reduce your laptop’s longevity by causing internal parts to expand, potentially damaging them.

• Don’t Keep Your Laptop On Your Lap – Ironic I know, but your thighs don’t allow for the best airflow and transfer heat.
• Monitor The Temperature – Try iStat for Mac or Real Temp for Windows; both free downloads.
• Cold Can Actually Be Worse – Low temperatures make moving parts (like those inside your hard drive) much more rigid and breakable.
• Stay Within The Recommended Range – Temperatures between 10-35 Celsius (50-95 Fahrenheit) are acceptable for most laptops.
• Dust, Sand, And Smoke – The tiny particles of these elements can easily make it into the crevices of your laptop, accumulating over time. Dirt tends to get stuck around the vents (reducing airflow) and optical drives causing them to die well before their time. Avoid using your laptop outside in dusty environments, on beaches, or in smoky rooms.

Ideally you want to wait to use your laptop until you’re somewhere near room temperature and you’ve given it a chance to adjust before turning it on. Don’t use your laptop in extreme temperature conditions or when the relative humidity is above 75%.

Shutting Down And Other Travel Protections

Most newer laptops have sleep modes that let you power up your laptop quickly after opening the lid. They work by keeping memory (RAM) chips running at low power which increases heat and may require your hard drive to be accessed from time to time.

Your data is most vulnerable when your hard drive is spinning so when transporting it, shut it down or use hibernate mode (built into Windows and can be enabled on Mac).

• Never Carry Your Laptop When It’s On – Before jumping around to a better table in a coffee shop, close your laptop lid and make sure it’s either shut down, in sleep mode, or hibernating. Remember, your data is most vulnerable to knocks and bumps when in use.
• Turn Off Offline When Online – Google Gears lets you use Web tools services like Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs when you don’t have an Internet connection. It’s a great tool, except when you’re back online – Google Gears often gets confused and sync-crazy – to calm it down turn offline mode off, then back on.
• When In Doubt Reboot – A clean slate clears up many wonky-laptop issues, even on Mac.

Perhaps the best precaution is having a good backup of your data offline somewhere physically separate from yourself. One of two free online backup options is Crashplan, a personal favorite. (Here’s how to create a free offline backup system with Crashplan.) Those of you who might need to recover quickly from a dead laptop or are working from the road should consider cloning your system. Finally, take special care to protect you digital photos and physically lock down your laptop to keep it secure while traveling.

[photos by: ismh_ (smashed laptop), lunchtimemama (Windows update), welshkaren (man holding laptop case), SashaW (woman enduring heat), notemily (cat sleeping on laptop)]

How To Get Around Flaky Internet Connections While Traveling

Internet connections can be unreliable when traveling and while it can be an inconvenience, more and more lack of a good wireless connection means missing out on work, contact with family, and figuring out just what to do on your short trip to Istanbul. In most cases however you can plan to stay connected to those barely-there signals and find out where Internet might be hiding right under your nose.

Research Before Your Trip

You’ll need help yourself out here, so first thing’s first. Check to make sure your hotel or hostel has a wi-fi connection, preferably free. Most hotels will say they offer Internet, which usually means a “business center” or pay-by-the-hour wireless. Also, many hostels tend to say “wi-fi” but be sure to see if it’s only in the lounge area or in each room as well. Typical wireless routers give you a range of roughly 46 meters (~150 feet) indoors and any physical barriers (like walls) will reduce that even further.

• Ask – Don’t be hesitant to email the hostel, hotels with wifi Internet, or your Couchsurfing host to find out exactly what the digital environment is like. The review section of most booking sites will also have good information.
• Scope For Connections – Use WiFinder or WeFi to find out if there are any buildings nearby the place you’re staying that might have free wi-fi.
• Increase Your Range – Extend your wireless radius with long-range USB antenna, a tool that has saved me on many occasions. (They can also be used to crack encrypted wireless networks as well.)
• Find – Hidden wireless networks using NetStumbler.

Finally, if you do get stuck at a hotel that charges for wireless Internet access you can try looking around the walls for an Ethernet jack (you’d be surprised). These connections are expensive to restrict, so if you’ve got an Ethernet cable (an inexpensive yet essential travel gadget) you’ll be good to go and can even set up wireless connections for your travel mates.

Make The Most Of What You’ve Got

So you’ve got that tiny wireless signal, taunting you with an Internet connection every few seconds. You’re close but just not enough to get online for any meaningful amount of time so try these minor changes be just efficient enough.

• Prioritize Your Connection – When you do connect to a wi-fi signal, all of your open applications are going to try and get a piece. Instead, make the most of what you’ve got by shutting down bandwidth hogs (i.e. Skype) and using only one Internet-needy application at a time.
• Find The Wireless Router – If the wireless router – they look like this – is positioned in the left side of your hotel hallway (look along the edges of the ceiling), you’ll want to sit on the side of your hotel room that’s closest.
• Move Other Nearby Wireless Devices – Your iPhone, wireless mouse, and other radio-enabled devices should be moved away from your laptop. Turn off the iPhone, use your laptop’s trackpack, and don’t use any wireless devices right next to your computer.
• Use Google Gears – Many of you using Gmail, Google Calendar, or Google Reader can use all of these services offline. (Go to Settings > Offline > Enable Offline Mail For This Computer.) You can read and respond to emails (which will be sent when there’s a connection), check your RSS reader, and review your schedule all without the benefit of a good Internet connection.
• Try To Get Something For Nothing – Let’s just say you wanted to play around with getting hotel wireless without paying for it, but just sayin’.

You should also try and avoid mirrors – it’s a long shot but these metallic surfaces can reflect wi-fi signals so try adjusting to various angles to see if you can get a stronger signal (tin foil hat optional).

Take Initiative And Become Proactive

Often part of a flaky connection means you can see a wi-fi network, have a strong signal, and yet nothing happens. You can become your own traveling tech support by doing what the hostel or hotel may not be able or willing to do.

• Reset The Router – Many hostel routers don’t have passwords, or use the default. You can reset most routers very easily from your own laptop with this technique.
• Skype Credit To Access Hotspots – Many wireless hotspots now accept Skype credit if you have any. Launch Skype to find out, it will automatically tell you if it’s possible with any nearby hotspots.
• Tether Your Mobile Phone – Your “jailbroken” iPhone or Android phone can be used as Internet connections for your laptop. If you’re using this method outside of your home country, get a local SIM card otherwise you might pay massive data roaming charges.
• Renew Your IP Address – Here’s how on Windows and Mac.

Try as you may, despite your best efforts you might not be able to get online or connect to that flaky Internet connection. Rather than make it a complete bummer, turn off your wireless card to extend your laptop battery and try to connect again late at night or early in the morning when less people are likely to be online. There just might be enough bandwidth for you then to send out those remaining emails and let mom know you arrived at your destination.

[photos by: Mr Munnings on Tour (laptop in coffee shop), CB Photography (on the lookout), eloquentlight (man sticking tongue out), John Flinchbaugh (typing fast)]

The Traveler’s Guide To Choosing The Right Laptop

Choosing the right travel laptop is a process of knowing your options, narrowing down what you’re really looking for, and understanding what features are costing you money. A traveler’s laptop is an important companion – it can be your phone, travel planner, and office all in one – so no wonder it’s one gadget you can’t travel without.

There is no perfect or best laptop – they vary based on your needs and how you travel. It’s like trying to narrow down the “best car” or “best backpack”. Selecting a laptop is a personal decision that’s made much easier when you know have a formula to follow, and hopefully after reading this guide you’ll have one.

Ultra-Light Netbooks

Netbooks are all the rage, especially among travelers. A netbook is a class of laptops that are ultra-small (screens roughly 25cm/10 inches or less) and weigh around 1kg (~2-3lbs). On top of that they also tend to be much less expensive than classic laptops usually running around $250-400. You can see why netbooks are popular with travelers – they also run specially designed processors that run cooler and give longer battery life as a result.

So What’s The Catch?

Netbooks do have some drawbacks however, despite their obvious advantages. For starters they’ve got smaller screens and keyboards so if you’re a bit fat fingered or will be working long hours on extended trips they might not be ideal. Also netbooks don’t usually come with optical (CD or DVD) drives and get sluggish when running processor-intensive applications like Photoshop.

• Processors are a bit slower and hard drives are limited to 160-250GB.
• Upgrading the processor or memory (RAM) in a netbook can cost 15-20% more than conventional laptops parts.
• Netbooks already average 3-5 hours on a single charge but here are 8 more ways to extend battery even more.

The most popular operating system running on netbooks is Windows (XP and 7) followed by several distributions of Linux. While Apple doesn’t have a netbook in their lineup, you can still run Mac OS X on the Dell Mini series netbooks (here’s how).

Windows Vs. Mac…and Linux?

What’s better, what’s the difference, and what the heck is Linux are the most common questions when it comes to these 3 operating systems (OS). Basically (in grandiose oversimplification) – Mac OS X is specifically designed to work on Apple hardware whereas Windows 7 isn’t as picky. You have to pay for both and, well, Linux is free and runs on just about anything.

When searching for the right travel operating system for your laptop you need to know what to focus on; here are the basics:

• Windows (specifically Windows 7) - Since everyone except Apple sells laptops bundled with Windows (which isn’t picky about hardware), Windows-based laptops are usually much cheaper than equivalent Macs. Windows 7, the latest version, is pretty smooth resolving the disaster that was Vista.
• Mac OS X - Being made to run on specific hardware resolves a lot of the issues and crashing Windows machines are known for. On the down side Macs are also more expensive (anywhere from 30% on up). On the plus side you can run Windows part-time on any Mac using virtual machines.
• You can save money on Macbooks by buying refurbished from Apple’s website and save even more by using free alternative software for digital nomads.
• Some software runs only on Windows or only on Mac. Typically if it works on Mac it works on Linux. Many of your existing Windows programs from CD or DVD won’t install on Mac but you can try using WineBottler to run downloaded .exe files.

Most people also think that Macs don’t get viruses which isn’t quite true. Attacks are on the rise as Apple increases it’s market share (about 10-15% right now) and while there aren’t any attacks on the OS itself, there are plenty of vulnerable applications. That said, currently threats are far and few between.

Wait, What Is Linux Again?

Linux is the name of a group of operating systems better known as distributions or “distros”. Almost all of them are open source and free and will run on just about any laptop you can think of. Dell even now lets you order laptops running the Ubuntu distribution of Linux so you don’t have to pay for Windows, saving you $50-100.

• Linux does take some getting used to but you can get your feet wet by playing with portable Linux on a USB stick or using the ever handy virtual machine on your existing Windows or Mac computer.
• Learn how to pick the Linux distro for you.

Most of the software you’re likely to use on the road like Skype, Firefox, Tweetdeck, and Microsoft Office will work on all 3 operating systems. For casual computing budget travelers, it really boils down to price. Linux is free but not as intuitive, Windows is familiar but can be wonky at times, and Macs are efficient but come with a hefty price tag.

Hardware – What’s Important And How Much Does It Cost?

Aside from the things you can see (screen, keyboard, pretty exterior color), there are 4 major components of any new laptop traveler’s need to understand and evaluate.

1. Processor - This is the main computing chip and is measured in Gigahertz (Ghz). The faster the processor the faster applications run. Still, if you’re just browsing the web and typing a document every now and they you aren’t likely to notice the difference between a 1.8Ghz and 2.1Ghz machine. Unless you’re doing a lot of graphic design, photo editing, or gaming, save your money and get the default option.
2. Memory (RAM) - The more memory you have the more programs you can run at once. Don’t skimp or go overboard either – 2 or 4GB of RAM is enough for most people and RAM is a relatively inexpensive upgrade.
3. Hard Drive - It’s where all of your data is stored. Space is cheap and useful for travelers who take a lot of digital photos. Hard drive space is inexpensive and yon can squeeze out more space by compressing files and using services like PicasaWeb (thanks Akila!) Much like picking the right backpack, you’ll fill up a hard drive no matter how big or little – shoot for the middle ground (currently 160-250GB).
4. Battery Life - When picking out a laptop battery (if you have the option) make sure you also evaluate the weight too. Longer battery life can correspond to heavier so be careful. Netbooks (~4 hours) and the latest Macbooks Pros (~7 hours) are a good blend of the two.

Going Location Independent?

When your laptop doubles as your office it’s a good idea to consider, budget, and make space in your bags for a backup laptop in case of a hard drive crash or one becomes disabled. Netbooks make great backup devices both in terms of size and cost but the hardware is only the beginning.

• Save your data off-site by using these free online backup tools and clone your system to get up and running again quickly.
• Don’t bother with extended warranties – most of which you can’t use when traveling long-term anyway. A manufacturer’s warranty of a year or so is usually enough to cover defects. (If you purchase an Apple, any of their stores worldwide will honor the warranty, just call your local Apple customer service first.)
• Get advanced waring of impending hard drive failures using free software.
• Protect client data with Truecrypt hidden folders.
• Perform your own basic computer repairs with a Victorinox Cybertool, one of 9 expensive travel gadgets worth buying.

It’s a bit more cumbersome to find parts for Macs in some parts of the world and opening up Macbook Pros is a little more work than many Dell, HP, or ASUS notebooks – another good reason to have a backup if it takes some time to have parts shipped out to you.

Ready To Make The Leap?

By now you’ve hopefully gotten a better idea of your options, the costs, and all of the ways you can get what you want in a single laptop. Once you do decide on “the one” be sure to get down with locking down your laptop (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), adding these 8 un-sexy accessories, and learn how to become a traveling digital ninja.

[photos by: Michal Osmenda (top picture), zieak (netbook), kwerfeldein (Mac user), Wolfie Fox (computer chips), Giorgio Montersino (laptop by water)]

Simple Hacker Tricks You Can Use To Become A Traveling Digital Ninja

Don’t be intimidated by your computer or technology or become frustrated when things don’t seem digitally possible. Instead add these hacker tricks to your digital tool belt to do all sorts of things from extending your wireless range to keeping your online accounts safe at Internet cafes.

Get More Wireless

First off, start by finding out where there might be free wi-fi along your travel route by checking out WiFinder or using WeFi. When that doesn’t work, extend your wireless range by using a long range USB antenna. Aside from extending your wireless range 3-5 times to connect to networks you wouldn’t be able to otherwise, you can use them to crack encrypted wireless networks.

• Share With Friends - Sometimes you have to give in and pay for wi-fi. You can however split the costs with your travel buddies by getting 2 connections for the price of 1.

You can also take things a step further and follow a traveler’s guide to hacking wireless networks or try accessing hotel wireless without paying for it.

Watch Your Shows

Traveling is exciting and inspiring but sometimes you just can’t wait to catch that next episode of Lost. Unfortunately most websites that broadcast TV series like Hulu and others implement regional blocks. Luckily, you can easily get around them using any of these methods.

• Hotspot Shield – The ads are annoying but it’s an easy way to get access to US-based websites. If the ads really bother you here are some Hotspot Shield alternatives.
• FoxyProxy – This free Firefox plugin lets you set up a proxy to get around regional blocks on a website-by-website basis (here’s how).

If possible though, you’ll want to spare your bandwidth for more important things like Twitter, so consider downloading *completely free and legal* versions of your favorite movies using BitTorrent. Here’s a beginner’s guide to using BitTorrent.

Stay Connected, Save Money, And Be Safe

Keep in touch anywhere around the world, and for less, by removing the restrictions placed on your iPhone and connecting to your online accounts without fear of viruses.

• Jailbreak Your iPhone – In most cases it’s pretty easy to jailbreak (aka. unlock) your iPhone so you can use it with any carrier.
• Portable Linux – You can install an entire operating system on a USB drive and protect yourself at Internet cafes, airport kiosks, and unfamiliar laptops.

More Options Than Restrictions

You can do most anything you can think of with technology despite regional restrictions, flaky Internet connections, and expensive hotel wi-fi costs. Most of these useful hacks are easy enough to implement within a few minutes and once you master them will make your digital life that much easier.

[photos by: johnathanb1989 (lego ninja), virtualmusictv (Hulu)]

How To Create Your Own Personal Travel Security Plan

When traveling you are susceptible to theft but you can mitigate many of the risks by implementing a personal travel security strategy. Security isn’t about preventing every possible risk, but rather, reducing the impact of any single incident. You can insulate your money, information, and person by diversifying and thinking more like a robber and less like a victim.

Protect Your Money With Dirty Socks

Never keep all of your money in a single place. Spreading out your money in various places isn’t difficult, even if you travel with alone or stick with a single carry on. Split up your money as best you can in routine places wallets and your backpack, but also smellier places that aren’t so inviting or typically associated with money.

• On Your Person - Spread out cash over yourself in places like deep within your socks, on the side of your underwear, or a bit in your bra.
• Dirty Socks - Your stinky hiking socks aren’t likely to be touched, even if you leave the socks under your hostel bed (and separate from your backpack). The same goes for your underwear – if it’s gross for you it will be for most crooks too and not many people would expect to find money there.
• Toys - Those of you traveling with pets or kids can use their toys as hiding spots for additional cash.
• Wallet - Have some cash in your wallet and don’t keep your important IDs or credit cards in it. Your wallet is the primary target pickpockets are after so make it a satisfying decoy by carrying unactivated credit cards along with a photo ID with no personal information on it (e.g. old student ID).

Another way you can be shadier than a thief is to leave just one credit card or free checking account card in your decoy wallet. If it is stolen, report the card as such immediately. Most companies keep close tabs on when and where stolen cards are used and you might get lucky if the thief happens to try and withdraw money under the watchful eye of store security cameras. Just make sure to find a bank that won’t charge time-based fees, here’s how to choose the right bank before going overseas.

Keep Your Gadgets, Laptop, and Data Safe

Next to money, your portable electronic devices are most attractive to thieves. Protect them physically and digitally by encrypting your data and having good backups just in case.

• Lock Down Your Laptop - Follow A Traveler’s Guide To Locking Down Your Laptop Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
• Make Your Stuff Ugly – You can find out how to uglify your digital camera and use the same premise for your other gadgets. Stickers, duct tape, and tacky carrying bags can make electronics less attractive to potential crooks than if they’re strutting around in their shiny best.
• Security At Internet Cafes – Keep your online accounts safe at Internet cafes by loading up a USB drive with these 12 applications or installing portable Linux. Also, don’t use Internet kiosks at airports.
• Zippers Down When Sleeping In Airports – Tie your bags together with a simple laptop lock and have your bags facing zipper down to make it slightly harder for someone to take advantage while you’re dozing.
• Carry Padlocks – Most hostels offer lockers but charge for locks so bring 2 of your own to save the money and get the security.
• Leave The iPhone Behind – There are some advantages to traveling without an iPhone but if you bring one be aware the encryption on the device is useless against even amateur hackers. Don’t leave credit card numbers or other sensitive data there.
• Backup Your Laptop, Backup Your Laptop, Backup Your Laptop – There are 2 good free online solutions which will help you recover from a stolen or dead hard drive quickly.

Perhaps the most important rule to keeping your tech gadgets safe on the road is not flashing them when you don’t have to. Be aware of your surroundings and read up on the common crimes or ask the hostel or hotel clerk what’s risky and not. Don’t assume a busy or touristic area is a safe place; take Drifting Focus’s word for it and follow her advice.

Think Chameleon To Blend In

Tourists are easy targets because they can be easily distinguished from locals and most travelers are carrying money and electronics. Begin your security strategy by blending in (here’s how Americans can blend in abroad).

• Ditch The Jeans - In most places around the world, blue jeans aren’t the default pants worn.
• Know The Faux Pas – Here’s a complete list of international faux pas.
• Look Confident, Even If You’re Not – Pretend you are acting in a movie, who’s the most confident character you know? Channel them to give the impression of confidence and don’t be afraid to be firm when needed.
• Watch The Pace – Look around you and see how people move when you arrive to a new destination. What is the local pace, are you running around while the locals are one step behind?
• Move With A Purpose – It’s not always easy (especially in the first few days) but even when you are wandering, don’t make it seem so.
• Bargain Like A Pro – Or better yet, bargain like a Ferengi, even when you don’t know the local language.

Don’t be under the impression that, despite your best efforts, the locals won’t be able to pick you out. You’ll just be a less likely target for pickpockets and scam artists since they tend to go for what they consider the easiest prey. A confident traveler who knows the local culture isn’t a good choice for most crooks.

Prepare Early, Prevent What You Can, And Be Ready For What You Can’t

As I mentioned earlier, you can’t keep all of your money safe all of the time, blend in everywhere as best you’d like, or ever be completely safe online. The point is that you don’t have to. Simply reduce the impact of any one potential security breach like a stolen wallet so you can move on from it without completely derailing your travels or sanity. Get creative and put yourself in the shoes of a pickpocket or hostel opportunist – figure out what they’d do and be ready with surprises.

[photos by: Hollywood Poodle (security dog), Roo Reynolds (stickers on laptop), ucumari (chameleon)]

3 Free Language Social Networks Travelers Can Use To Learn And Converse With Others

There are a number of free online resources for learning new languages, which are great ways to learn the foundations of a given language, but most of them lack the ability to put your skills to use with other people. These 3 language social networks are ways to meet other travelers who are native speakers or at the same level as you are in that second, third, fourth, etc. language. It’s an excellent way to practice and put your skills to the test to improve upon what you’ve learned.

LingoMatch

Last week I took a look at the language exchange network LingoMatch. A fairly straightforward interface, you can post ads to teach, learn, or exchange language skills with others across the LingoMatch network. There are no set rules to engagements which can be face-to-face or over Skype.

Busuu

Busuu is primarily focused on the Romance languages, English, and German. Busuu not only lets you connect with other travelers but has free online courses and integrated video chat as well.

SharedTalk

A language exchange community run by Rosetta Stone, the most useful aspect of SharedTalk is its forums and text chat. SharedTalk would be so much more useful if it could integrate with existing social networking platforms like Skype but is a good place to find the answer to that obscure Spanish grammar question.

More Free Language Resources

Since I last wrote about these free online language resources, I’ve come across a few others. None are particularly social but teach each language with different methods, some of which may work better for you than others. Also, they’re all free as well.

• Lifehacker reports that the US Foreign Service Institute’s language courses (given to US diplomats and other employees) and are now available online.
• David lead me to Survival Phrases, a series of podcasts in 19 languages that cover basic words, greetings, and questions.
• Newelty grades a few of the most popular online courses including the Flash Card Exchange where members create online flash cards for other users.
• My Several Worlds has several lessons in Chinese from Peggy Teaches Chinese, whom you can also find on YouTube.
• Speaking of Chinese, you can learn one free character a day on the aptly named website, Learn Chinese Everyday.
• Shiela let me know that you can find free language courses on About.com – although it takes a bit of digging to find the language you’re looking for.
• Find out how hard it is to learn a new language and now long it will take (for English speakers).
• Save time by looking up words right in your browser using the Firefox Tooltip plugin.

Use The Variety

These online language social networks all give you different levels of sociability, whether you want to meet people in person or just practice your skills via chat. It’s important to converse with native speakers as well as other students to feel comfortable speaking when you’re actually traveling and pick up on cultural context and slang. As travelers you shouldn’t neglect the strong connection between language and culture, and despite the fact that English is the universal language it’s not used everywhere. Besides, it will make it that much easier to order danishes in Denmark.

Playing With The Language Exchange Network LingoMatch

You can connect with others in your local area to exchange language skills, have conversations, and practice that next language you’re learning using LingoMatch. The free social network lets you create and search through ads for local meet-ups with native speakers. In exchange that person can practice with you adding another dimension to the process of learning a new language. It’s another free online tool to learn new languages and I recently gave it a test spin.

How It Works

Signing up for LingoMatch only requires an email address and password – it’s your fairly standard double-opt in that doesn’t require a lot of information.

• If you don’t want any marketing emails make sure to un-check the box during sign-up or send them an email through their contact form.

Once you’re signed up you can browse through various ads to exchange language skills. LingoMatch seems to have most of its users in the UK, Europe, US and South Africa but you can search for others. I should clarify that although they’re called “ads” there isn’t any selling or buying going on. The exchanges are for the mutual benefit of both parties – sort of a CouchSurfing for languages.

Language Exchange Ads

The ads last 180 days and include profile pictures, but tend to be very short with just general location information along with what languages the person knows and what languages they want to learn. The ads don’t say much and it’s up to you to message the person and arrange the meeting. There also isn’t any standard for the meet up, it’s really designed as a way to set up conversations really. More detailed ads (or requiring users create them) would make the site easier to navigate and encourage more meetings I suspect.

Social Network For Language Learning

I didn’t actually meet up with anyone using LingoMatch but think it’s an interesting way of leveraging a social network for learning. It’s a good concept that needs some work with better ads and perhaps integration with existing networks like Facebook or Twitter to harness the power of tweetups. (I’d also prefer a more straightforward approach to opting out of marketing emails and a clearer privacy policy.)

Since most of you take the time to learn a few words of the local language before a trip LingoMatch could add a helpful hand before, during, or after. In a few days I’ll take a look at some other ways to get social while learning languages but if you’re on limited time, these are 4 word combinations you shouldn’t neglect to look up.

The Traveler’s Guide To Locking Down Your Laptop: Part 3 – Online And Everything Else

This is the third part of the series The Traveler’s Guide To Locking Down Your Laptop. Begin your laptop lock down by reading Part 1 on Physical Security and Part 2 on Protecting Your Data before finishing with this, Part 3 of the series.

The online world is a vast one. When you’re connected to any network your laptop is communicating all sorts of data about itself. You also use the Internet to store your personal emails, calendars, websites, pictures, and almost anything you can. Computer security goes beyond your laptop these days but there are a few ways you can protect your information on the web.

Mix Up Your Passwords

This is basic but like I mentioned yesterday, a good password goes a long way. Use KeePassX or Password Safe (mentioned before) to create and manage a separate password for you email, Twitter, Facebook, iTunes, etc. accounts. Even the silly old accounts your create to take a personality quiz or send an online greeting card.

• That’s the best way, but if you know you’re realistically not going to do it, create 3 or 4 password categories and use them. One category for accounts you don’t care about right up to very sensitive accounts like email.

If you happen to be on a public computer, try using SafeKeys to protect the passwords you type or portable Linux on a USB drive (here’s how).

Protect Your Money When Booking Online

There are 3 simple ways to protect your credit card when booking travel arrangements online. Some of that basic advice works well for other accounts as well:

• Don’t follow links in emails to sensitive accounts even if you trust the person. Accounts, links, and email addresses can all be spoofed (made to look like something they’re not). Go to the link directly by typing it in.
• This is one way Twitter accounts are hacked. Typically people click a malicious link they’re sent to get hacked. Oh, and since you use the same password for everything, there go your other accounts too.

Set Up A Firewill and Anti-Virus Software

A firewall is basically a filter on what goes out and more importantly, what comes in to your computer. You should have one running and most operating systems now come with them built-in. You can check easily by doing the following:

• Windows 7, Vista, XP: Start Menu > Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall (or some close variation). Make sure the firewall is marked “On”.
• Mac: Chances are your firewall isn’t on. You can get it running by System Preferences > Security > Firewall > Start. The Mac OS X firewall isn’t as automated as the Windows versions so brush up on this Mac firewall for dummies for help.
• Test your online defenses using Norton’s free online tool or Shield’s Up.

Anti-virus software is as important as a firewall, especially for you Windows users. Try the free AVG or Avast! with some SuperAntiSpyware in for good measure. Mac users there are no viruses in the wild (aka. actually feasible attacks) for now. If you’re interested though Norton makes one for Mac for $50.

Hide Your Tracks

You may be traveling to places where the regime or government isn’t too happy about you visiting certain sites or reading about things like democracy. You can hide your tracks and visit the sites you want by using Tor to browse anonymously.

• Get around US-only and other regional blocks. To visit US-only websites (like Hulu or Netflix), try HotSpot Shield or if that’s not working these HotSpot Shield alternatives.
• Beef up Firefox with private browsing and installing the plugins WOT (warns you about shady sites) and Dr.Web which checks links for viruses before you download.
• Don’t ever use computer-to-computer wireless networks.
• Have A WordPress travel blog? Don’t forget to keep your blog safe.

Keep in mind that Tor, Hotspot Shield, and these other programs don’t encrypt or secure your passwords. They just act as a go-between so if possible don’t access sensitive accounts when using them.

Do Some Of Your Own Hacking

Knowing your way a bit more around computer security you can now get a little creative and start thinking like a hacker on the road.

• Find Wi-Fi – Using a traveler’s guide to hacking wireless networks.
• Share A Paid Internet Connection – So you’ve paid that awful rate for an hour of airport wireless, why not share with your friends?
• Really Delete Your Stuff – Download Eraser for Windows; Mac users can open up Trash then select Finder > Secure Empty Trash

You can also download these 12 applications you can run from a USB drive to protect the data on your portable drives and play it safe in Internet cafes.

Divide And Don’t Be Conquered

You can’t protect or secure all of your online accounts or laptop from a determined attacker with wire cutters. Your best bet is to follow these precautions, discourage potential thieves, and minimize the damage a hack would cause. Separate passwords, encrypting your hard drive, and locking up your laptop will help keep your most precious possession in good hands – yours.

[photos by: Stian Eikeland (man in mask), a r t e m i s r u s s e l l (chain wallet), fofurasfelinas (cat), JanOSpixeles (hacking dog)]

The Traveler’s Guide To Locking Down Your Laptop: Part 2 – Protecting Your Data

In Part 1 we started with the basics of protecting your laptop – physical security. Now that your laptop is safety locked up and under your watchful eyes it’s time to protect the data inside of your digital best friend. The information on your laptop says a lot about you and the data on your hard drive is worth much more than the physical machine.

Luckily these days encryption is very strong, in some cases stealthy, and potentially very effective. The problem is that hardly anyone does it.

Encrypting Your Data- The Basics

Even if you’ve locked your computer with a password, the data on your hard drive is not coded or protected in any way. That means if someone steals your laptop and pops the hard drive out, they can see all of your files and use them. It’s easy to encrypt (code) your data to make it unreadable to most attackers.

• FileVault (Mac): You can automatically encrypt your home folder using FileVault (System > Security > FileVault), which is built right into the operating system.
• TrueCrypt (Windows, Mac, Linux): Free software that can encrypt your entire hard drive or create an encrypted section of your disk for your important files and folders.

For those of you using Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate editions you can use BitLocker, which is built right into the operating system. Of all these methods though, TrueCrypt is my favorite free software alternative since it’s the easiest to set up and places the fewest limitations on your system (FileVault and print sharing don’t play well for example). To effectively use these encryption schemes you’ll need to pick a good password – a really good one. More on that below.

Hiding From The Cops and Customs Agents

Encryption is great and all but when traveling your laptop is under scrutiny and laws that change across borders. Even in the US, customs agents can (legally) demand your laptop password to inspect your hard drive.

• There’s a way to encrypt your data and hide it so it won’t be noticed using TrueCrypt. Read my tutorial on how to protect your laptop from thieves and customs agents.

Inspection of laptops is more common than you may realize in many parts of the world by law enforcement. It’s a good idea to create a hidden folder (described in the tutorial above) to hide those sensitive files and pictures in case the law decides to get download happy.

Keep Good Passwords

One of the weakest points of security on the road is that people pick terrible passwords. Make your passwords and your life easier by using a program to help you create strong passwords. What is a strong password? Anything that’s randomly generated and 8-20 characters will cut it for most cases.

• KeePassX (Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile devices) – KeePassX is a free program that will store all of your account names and passwords. You just need to remember a single password to unlock KeePassX which also can generate random passwords up to as many characters as you’d like. Pick random passwords that are at least 8 characters.
  • KeePassX also integrates with Firefox and Internet Explorer if you use these 8 KeePassX plugins.
    
• Password Safe (Windows, Mac, Linux) – An alternative to KeePassX, also generates passwords.

Now that you know how to create good, random passwords go ahead and create a separate one for each of your accounts. That includes Twitter, your email account, Facebook – all of them. Someone looking to steal your data, money, or identity typically just looks for one password since most people use the same one for all of their accounts.

Sharing Your Laptop

Being the good hostel-mate that you are chances are you’ll be letting someone ‘borrow’ your laptop for a quick email. Here’s how you can make sure that they don’t inadvertently read your email or change your browser settings.

• Start Private Browsing in Firefox (Tools > Private Browsing) – This will sign you out of any sessions (open accounts) you happen to be in and also make things a bit more private for your friend too since Private Browsing mode won’t leave a trace of passwords or other history information.
  • Internet Explorer users can do the same by opening a new tab and selecting “Browse with InPrivate”.
• Temporarily Turn Off Auto-Complete - “Autocompletion” is when you start typing the first few letters of an account name in a window and the browser finishes the rest for you. You can temporarily turn the feature off in Firefox with the AutoComplete plugin and in Internet Explorer Tools > Internet Options > Content > Autocomplete
• You can also try downloading a separate browser just for other people to use. Firefox and Opera are free to download.

The private browsing modes of the browsers are also a good idea if you’re at an Internet cafe or are the person borrowing the laptop. If you’re especially paranoid about someone else seeing those “sites” you’ve been to, you can also turn off URL suggestions in Firefox.

Your Laptop Is Set…Well, Not Quite

Your laptop security extends way beyond the hard drive sitting in front of you. Much of your data is strewn across the web whether you like it or not but you can take a few steps to securing it as well. In Part 3 tomorrow I’ll go into securing your online presence and accounts; but before you move on, take a second look at the section on passwords. A good password goes a long way.

[photos by: FHKE (lego man), My Melting Brain (matrix code), Gwen's River City Images (police kid and dog), deepwarren (hand to camera)]

The Traveler’s Guide To Locking Down Your Laptop: Part 1 – Physical Security

Your laptop is the most valuable thing outside of food and water you can carry with you on the road. Sure you camera lens may be worth more money but it doesn’t contain your personal data, scanned travel documents, those cute photos of your dog, or act as your personal TV, telephone, and connection with the outside world all in one.

Most people now travel with their laptops and it’s the one gadgets we can’t seem to travel without. Laptops are valuable yet very vulnerable but in this 3-part series you’ll learn how to protect your ever-handy notebook from the most common types of attacks.

Locking Down Your Laptop…Literally

You can have the best encryption in the world to protect your laptop from the world’s best hackers but if you don’t physically secure your machine any amateur thief can walk right off with it. To secure your laptop you need to physically protect all 2.5 kilos of it.

• Start With A Basic Laptop Lock – Almost all laptops have a small slot for a lock (like the picture to the left). You can find out where yours is with a simple Google search or by reading the manual (most manufacturers post those online for free now).
• Bring A Padlock – Many hostels have lockers but don’t provide locks and often laptops don’t fit in hotel safes. In both cases a padlock will come in handy.
• Invest In A Pacsafe – This mesh-wire fits around your backpack and locks to something protecting your laptop inside.

A basic laptop lock will run you between $15-30 and most, like this Kensington ComboSaver and MicroSaver, conform to a PC and Mac standard. This simple lock will give you piece of mind when sitting in a cafe or emailing from your hostel room.

Lock Your Screen Every Time You Get Up

Leaving your laptop unattended is bad but leaving it without locking the screen is worse. On most laptops you can configure your screen to automatically lock (that is, require a password to use it) when you close the lid. Physical access to your laptop is one of the easiest ways for someone to steal data off of it or do a search for ‘password’ in your Gmail account.

It’s one of the most common ways information is stolen so get in the habit of locking your screen every time you’re not sitting right in front of your machine. Here’s how:

• Windows Users: CTRL+ALT+DEL, then select “Lock Computer” or “Switch User”. An easier way is to hit the Windows logo key (lower left) + the “L” key.
• Mac Users: Apple didn’t add this nifty feature into Leopard or Snow Leopard but you can add it by downloading the free program LockTight. It lets you configure any set of hot keys you want to lock your screen.

This is the one piece of advice most people say “duh” to before getting up for a cold beer and forgetting to lock their screen. Get in the habit, lock your screen!

Set Up Remote Backup, Trap, And Alarm

In case your laptop does get stolen you want to make sure your data is saved in a physically separate location. While an external hard drive is good, it doesn’t help if your entire backpack gets stolen. Choose an online backup source so your data gets sent somewhere else where you can retrieve it later in case you need to replace your machine.

• There are two good ways to get free online backup – Personally I prefer CrashPlan which lets you backup to other computers you may own or your friend’s machines.

The Trap

Now you’re backed up in case of total failure so it’s time to set up your electronic mouse (aka. thief) trap.

• Adeona (Works on Windows, Mac, and Linux) – An open-source (free) program that lets you track your stolen laptop if the crook gets online and the Mac version will even snap a picture of person with your iSight camera and send it to you. There is also LojackForLaptops; that costs $40 per year.
• You can also use LogMeIn to watch the screen as the thief uses your computer and potentially grab useful information to identify them.

The Alarm

For some fun you can try out iAlertU (sorry, Mac only). It’s a car alarm for your laptop that has limited applications and likely won’t provide too much security outside a select few circumstances. You can see how it works in the video below:

Secured From The Outside

A good lock is typically enough to discourage most opportunistic thieves and will go a long way to protecting your laptop from the outside. A tiny percentage of lost laptops are ever recovered so prevention is key. Tomorrow in Part 2 I’ll teach you how to protect the goodies inside of your laptop from crooks, customs agents, and everyone else who wants access to the goods – your data.

[photos by: Jeremy Brooks (lock photo), christianyves (laptop), elkit (cat on laptop), billaday (mouse trap)]

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