Voyage Of The Odd Essay » Work

Testing Flock 1.1 – With One Eye On The Road

Paul Freeman — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:49:34 +0000

It’s been some time since I’ve really played with any new software, and as this week I’ve been trying to streamline some of my usage of the Internet, when I remembered I was going to look at the latest version of Flock it seemed like it could be the answer to many of my current work flow problems.

I have looked at flock in the past, but it was very early versions and while I liked the idea, it just didn’t deliver anywhere near what I was hoping for. But from the moment I’ve installed the latest version (Flock 1.1) it instantly impressed me how it now comes across as a rich and professional piece of software.

For me, one of the main attractions is the ability to write blog posts off line; Something which will make life much simpler and cheaper when I travel around South East Asia from the end of the year, I’m still researching getting a connection via mobile, and the news the Thailand is rolling out HSDPA makes me feel warm and fuzzy, but that’s all extra expense that I don’t really need. (But I would like it all the same)

The various social networking feeds look like they could be very useful when on the road as I start to cull my list of blogs and try to streamline the way I look at online information. As much as when I travel I will keep connected, I still want to ensure I’m not wasting time poking around sites to find information, and Flock looks like it could be a very useful tool for bringing that information to me.

Since this is the first time I’ve posted with Flock, this post might come out a little funky.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: Blog, Software, Technology, Travel, Flock

Getting Online Anywhere In The World With Satellites

Paul Freeman — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:52:40 +0000

I really got hooked on the idea of been able to get online and work from anywhere I wanted which lead down the route of doing some research on satellite phone technology, and using it for data access.

It’s very easy to turn up some results that tell you that indeed you can get internet access via a satellite link, but getting some firm prices is a little more tricky. Still, in the end I found one site that offered some all inclusive prices with it’s products.

The technology to get online is called Broadband Global Area Network (Or BGAN for short) which offers a very fast access service, compared to I guess using a voice call and modem type setup. (Which I didn’t look at too closely, since BGAN looks to be exactly the technology I want to be using) and it comes it speeds at upto around 400kbs.

Looking at the costs, a satellite terminal costs around £1500 to £3000 depending on the model, and data costs are about £4.76 per Megabyte, which you buy as a prepaid £900 for 189MB. Voice costs are about 75pence per minute, which is actually half the price of my mobile providers roaming tariff for more remote locations. So while the whole solution certainly isn’t cheap, it’s not outlandish either, and I’m sure with time I can find some better prices, and of course in a years time the prices might drop down somewhat. Not cheap enough to allow full internet usage, but for email and blogging, there is real potential.

What About Work?

Paul Freeman — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:18:10 +0000

I think the first thing people will think when I say I’m going to travel around the world (Aside from I’m crazy) is that I’ll quit my job when I set off. However, for me I don’t really see that I need to. I work as a programmer so my job basically involves sitting at a computer all day. It’s a perfect job for remote working, and while most people remote work from home, I see no reason why it can’t be done from anywhere in the world.

All I’d need is a laptop, and an internet connection. My first thought was to just use internet cafés and wifi hot-spots but that has it’s limitations, and means I’d be bound to certain locations, and not quiet as free to get online as often as I might like.

But in this day and age, getting on-line from literally anywhere in the world is not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, satellite phones can provide data connections easily as long as you have power, there will be a cost attached, which I need to fully research before I make any firm commitment to the idea however it looks very promising so far.

I’m sure there are some people who will frown upon the idea of driving around the world still in some way tethered to some of the trappings of life most people run away from when traveling, but from my point of view by keeping some income feeding in means that I can keep going for much longer if I want to, I’m not escaping for a year long holiday, I’m changing my whole lifestyle. At least that’s the theory.