You need to have security programs (Antivirus and Anti-Spyware) for your computer if you access the Internet.

Security suites are notorious for hogging system resources and requiring frequent updates.

The most popular programs tout many extra features, leading to what is referred to as “bloat”.

These programs will protect you, but in doing so, they will also slow your computer down.  Sometimes drastically.  They also cost $$.

On their websites, Trend Micro lists 13 major features and subsystems in its security suite, McAfee lists 14, and Symantec lists 33!

Do you need all these features?  Probably not.  Many of these features duplicate abilities built into Internet Explorer, Firefox and most other popular browsers.  They all offer link-checkers, pop-up-blockers, parental controls, and more. Windows (especially Win7) has a very good firewall.

If you are running a business with multiple computers, you may want the support offered with these security suite programs.  However, most users can get along with the free versions offered by many Antivirus vendors.

My favorite for many years has been AVG Free.  I still like it, but it has fallen prey to feature bloat, too.

Microsoft recognizes the problem and has a free program called Security Essentials.  Along with Windows built-in firewall and up to date browsers, you get all the protection and none of the bloat.

Microsoft Security Essentials is what I recommend for most Windows users.  It works with XP, Vista, and Win7.

Mac users now have a built in Anti-malware program.  They don’t advertise it, because they don’t like to admit that Macs can get infected.

Bottom line: Be smart and stay up to date.

Related posts:

1. Free Computer Anti-Virus Programs
2. Is your computer Safe?
3. Free Anti-Virus Programs

Let’s say that you work freelance for 3 companies A, B, and C.  A and B are magazines, and C is a retail store.  You want to keep all your correspondence with these companies, so you want a folder for Company A, another for B and a third for C.  But, what if you also want to be able to see your emails grouped by Magazines or Retail?  You can’t do that with folders, but you can with labels.

How to Apply Labels

With a message open (or any number of messages checked) you click on the menu option for Labels and select the Label you want to apply to that message or those messages.  Notice that there are checkboxes next to the Labels so you can apply as many as you want. When you’ve checked all the Labels for the selected message(s) then click Apply. You can also ‘Create New’ to have more Labels available.

How Do you See what Messages have been Labeled?

When you’re looking at the messages in your inbox, you will see the applied labels

The Labels show up on the left sidebar and act like folders.  In the image below, the ‘Magazine Stuff’ label is selected, so all the messages which have that label applied are showing up on the right.

How to remove them from the Inbox

The key is to get them out of the inbox without deleting them. 

Archive. 

Archive is the key.  When you archive, the messages leave the Inbox.  Where are they?  Every message is in a storage area called ‘All Mail.’  Actually, ‘Inbox’ is just another Label.  Archiving removes the Inbox label.  Messages are in All Mail and can be found by searching for them, or you can view them by Label.  

A little more about Archiving

Emails arrive in your inbox, these should be new emails. Once I read or answer an email, I want it out of my inbox. In most email programs, the only way to keep an email but remove it from your inbox is by moving it to a Folder.  What if you don’t have a specific category for it, you just don’t want to delete it?  In Gmail, you have another choice. You can ‘Archive’ it. That means, ‘Remove it from my Inbox, but keep it in that giant storage bin called ‘All Mail.’ Imagine that your Inbox has 2 trap doors, one for delete and one for keep. Archiving means to drop it thru the trapdoor for keep. It goes to a much bigger box where it can stay indefinitely. You can always find it by using Search.
So now, using Gmail, I read an email message, reply if necessary, and then I just click the Archive button. The message is removed from my Inbox but it is still stored in ‘All Mail’ where I can search for it by any words it contains at any time in the future that I may want to see it again.

Gmail is a little different, but if you take the time to understand it, you’ll find that it is very useful.

Related posts:

1. Using Gmail for All your Mail
2. Why we like Gmail for Travelers
3. Import AOL Contacts to Gmail

RV Centennial Stories at RV.net

Did you know that this year marks the 100 year anniversary of RVing?  That’s the theme at The Rally, and there are some vintage RVs here to honor it, the earliest being from 1936!  We’ll take some pictures today and add them here.  And, yes, I had to submit my story as well … actually it’s my parents’ story, since I was only 10 at the time of our first RV trip.

I know I’ve posted this video in the blog before, but I think it bears repeating!  Here’s the video I did about my family’s early RVing days:

And, as long as I’m at it, here’s a little video of our current RV home and how we modified it with our offices: And, here’s a brief overview of where we’ve been in this RV so far: In case you’re wondering, all three of the videos above were created using Photo Story 3 – a free program from Microsoft. We’re teaching a seminar on how to do it (it is SOO easy!) on Sunday here at The Rally.

No related posts.

Email from Ron, “Hi, We are new-bees and are gearing up to doing fulltiming RVing. We need a wireless service that will do our banking, and pay our bills, we also would like to have the the ability to watch netflix, we need to keep the monthly cost as low as possible but still get all of the above. I was hoping if you can recommend a service with in the $80.00 range  Thanks     Ron

Congratulations on becoming fulltimers!

We got a kick out of the wording of your question.  We too would like a service that would pay our bills and do our banking.

Seriously, all wireless technologies have limits.  We have used all three.  Cellular, Satellite, and WiFi.
Banking and other legitimate money or credit transaction websites have built-in security, so you are safe as long as your computer is clean, up to date, and you are on secure websites.  Look in the address bar for HTTPS:// and the lock icon.

Cellular Connections

A wireless cellular data connection will cost about $60/month.  If you go with a 2 year contract, the cost of the adapter is often free.  We generally recommend Verizon because they have the best overall coverage in the US.  Your choice of carrier may be influenced by where you like to travel.  Most plans will limit you to 5 Gigabytes per month.  A single full length feature film from Netflix is 2 to 3 GB.  If you go over the limit, you will be charged per Megabyte.  That can add up fast.

Satellite Connections

Satellite Internet will cost about $80/month and the initial investment in equipment is pretty steep.  A new automatic system will cost over five thousand dollars, installed.  A new portable or manual tripod system will be over a thousand dollars and cost $60/month.  Service is limited to less than 400 Megabytes of data in a rolling 24 hour period.  Go over that, and your speed will be throttled back drastically.  That is called FAP, or Fair Access Policy.  There is a FAP-free time overnight to allow for large downloads.

Wi-Fi Connections

Wi-Fi is available in many locations and is often free.  No contracts or (usually) download limits.  Speed and reliability are the main issues here.  Your proximity and orientation to the Access Point is very important.  Wi-Fi was never designed to go very far.  External adapters can be purchased for better connectivity.  If the Wi-Fi hotspot is connected to the Internet with a fast connection, you will have good speeds.

Each hotspot is unique with some requiring passwords.  Because it is a shared connection, the number of users on at any one time will affect your Internet experience.  Likewise, the types of activity will affect you.  Most hotspots are fine for casual browsing and email.  High bandwidth activities like streaming movies or VOIP phone calls will slow everyone down.

Safe Travels.
Jim

Related posts:

1. Connecting to the Internet on the Road: 3 ways
2. Internet by Data Card for Travelers
3. Tethered Cell Phones for Internet

We heeded his warning, but also have our own reluctance to travel on two lane roads with a lot of stop and go.  So, we decided to check the map on our Droid app phone.  It has a layer you can turn on for Traffic information.  Here’s what we saw:

You can click on the picture for a larger image.  The fat green line going vertical is I-95.  If traffic was moving slowly it would be colored yellow or even red.  This is real time traffic data.

We decided to take I-95 after all.  Yes, there was definitely construction going on, but it did not slow down traffic

The Droid continues to delight and amaze us.  If you have a Motorola Droid from Verizon, you can see this traffic feature by touching the ‘Map’ app icon (it comes with your phone, it’s Google Maps – all free.)  Once the map is displayed, then touch the menu button on the Droid -  

and you’ll see an option for ‘Layers.’  Traffic is one of the layers you can turn on.  Touch it, and you’ll see the green checkmark – and you’ll be back at the map with the traffic data showing up.

If you don’t have the Droid, do you use any other traffic data tool?

Related posts:

1. Internet by Droid
2. Geocaching by Droid
3. GPS Navigation with Netbooks and Droid

Wi-Fi can be the best way to connect on the road:

1. All current laptop computers have the capability to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots
2. Wi-Fi hotspots are easy to find.  Lots of RV parks, cafes, truck stops, and libraries have Wi-Fi hotspots.
3. There’s no contract, it’s pay-as-you-go.  Many hotspots are even free.
4. Some Wi-Fi hotspots are extremely fast.

BUT …

“You never know what you’re gonna get.”

You may get a Great Wi-Fi Hotspot

One RV park may have multiple Access Points (the antennas/routers you connect to) and have a full T1 connection to the Internet (a high-capacity, high-speed, direct line thru the phone company.)  In this park, you could be just about anywhere and get a good connection.  When you do, it will be a nice fast web-browsing experience because of the T1.

You may get a Poor Wi-Fi Hotspot

Your next RV park may be using a residential size satellite dish for their Internet connection and only have one Access Point/Router.  A residential size satellite dish may be a good way for one person to connect to the Internet – but not for dozens of people to share.  And the one Access Point means you need to be close to it – it may only work in the clubhouse.

You may even get a Great Hotspot that Turns Bad

Lots of things can change or go wrong.

1. You may have a great connection – and then some large RV pulls in next to you and blocks your signal so you can’t connect to the hotspot.
2. Radio Frequency (RF) interference may unpredictably limit your connection to the hotspot.
3. The hotspot may get its Internet connection from a local cable company, and the cable company has an outage. This happened to us once when a construction crew mistakenly cut the cable.  In this case you’re still connected to the hotspot, but the ‘backhaul’ connection to the Internet is non-existent so you can’t browse.
4. You might even be at an RV park hotspot where your Internet usage is monitored and you exceed your limit so get cut off.

#4 is fairly rare, but it has happened to us.  We’d had a series of RV parks with poor or non-existent Wi-Fi.  We had to rely on our Verizon tethered phone connection and were approaching our monthly limit,  then we pulled into a park where the Internet was screaming fast.  We were so excited!  We downloaded all our updates, watched our favorite TV episodes and TED videos, and caught up on lots of work.

Then it died.

We were getting no better than dial-up speed.  Only then did we notice the fine print on the login screen, “This service is designed for email usage and web browsing; Downloading large files or excessive use of bandwidth will result in automatic limitation of Access”

Although it was aggravating to be on the receiving end – a hotspot that monitors bandwidth usage is actually a good thing.  We used to support Wi-Fi hotspots and know how one or two users can ruin it for everyone else.

If you really need the Internet …

The main lesson to be learned is that, if you really need the Internet, you need more than one way to connect as you travel.  Wi-Fi can be great, but when it’s not, you need cellular or satellite.  If you do use cellular or satellite, remember that Wi-Fi can be a good alternative when you’re in a bad cell area, or when there are too many trees for your satellite dish.

Lots more Information

There are many more articles here about this topic, just use the list of tags above and click on Wi-Fi.

Related posts:

1. There’s no Server in WiFi
2. Internet, Satellite Dishes, and Trees
3. Can I use the WiFi from a Nearby RV’s Satellite Dish?

I have had my new Verizon phone for a few weeks now, and I like it.  You don’t need to be a Geek to want one.  If you are one of the many folks who want a phone just to make calls, the Droid is way overkill.  For a phone, it is expensive at $200 with a 2 year contract.  It’s cheap for a computer, though.

Droid showing Sliding keyboard. Optional desk dock.

The Droid is essentially a computer that can also make phone calls.  It is connected to the Internet through the Verizon cellular data network or a local WiFi network.  You can browse the Internet, send and receive emails, stream or download videos/music and so much more.  Texting or entering data is easy using one of the three keyboards.  Some people I know could use the Droid and never need a conventional laptop or desktop computer.

The Verizon data plan for the Droid is unlimited.  There is no 5GB limit as with cellular data cards or tethering my old phone using VZaccess Manager.  How about using the Droid’s Internet connection to connect my computer like I used to do?  Well, I can.  I just need PdaNet software for the Droid from June Fabrics.

Tethering is the term we use to describe the hardware and software needed to connect a computer  to the Internet using the cellular data connection from a smart phone.  It is usually a USB connection, but could be wireless using Bluetooth DUN (dial-up network) or WiFi.  A wired connection to the computer is simplest and most reliable.

There are two parts of the system.  A program that runs on your computer and stays in the system tray and an app on the Droid.  Installation is easy.  Follow the easy instructions.  Download the installation program from the website and run it on your computer.    Plug the Droid into an available USB port.  Let the program talk to the phone for a moment to establish communication, and you are ready.

First, start the PdaNet app on the Droid phone and Enable USB Tether.  Then, on your computer, click the PdaNet icon in the system tray and connect.

This is a broadband connection and speed is determined by the cellular network.  In a good Verizon area, the speeds are excellent.  You can easily stream video and not worry about going over your monthly data limit.

The Droid is not the only smart phone that allows tethering.  PdaNet has been available for PalmOS phones, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile phones for a while.

If you want to use PdaNet for the iPhone, you need to “jailbreak” it, voiding the warranty.

The price of a single license is $23.95. It is a one time purchase for the Android version. One license covers one phone (you can reuse the license if you switch to a new Android phone). There is no limit on the computer side and your license gives you unlimited free upgrades.

So far, there is no support for connecting to our Cradlepoint router, but I expect that fairly soon.

We’ll show you how to network the connection in a future post.

Related posts:

1. Internet by Data Card for Travelers
2. Windows 7 = Wi-Fi Hotspot
3. Tethered Cell Phones for Internet

“…any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clarke

Connecting a Single Computer

For the RV traveler, Internet connectivity is a lifeline.  Connecting even a single computer to the Internet can be a daunting experience.  Everything needs to be configured properly for it to work.

There are three ways for RV travelers to connect to Broadband Internet.  Satellite, Wi-Fi and Cellular (see Internet on the Road video for an overview.)  Each has its own good and bad points.  Nothing is perfect. 

Connecting your computer is getting easier with cellular data cards and tethering cell phones.  Plug it in and be browsing and emailing in no time.  Last week we wrote about using a Motorola Droid Cellphone from Verizon to tether your computer to the Internet.

Connecting Multiple Computers with a Hardware Router

How about if you want to connect two or more computers to the Internet?   You could buy a router and configure it to make your own hotspot.  This is the way many cellular and satellite users do it.  A router will not work to share public Wi-Fi hotspots.  The Droid is not yet supported on the popular cellular router – Cradlepoint.  But, there is a way if you have Windows 7.

Connecting Multiple Computers with a Software Router

Since the Droid could not connect to a router, I started researching other options and found Connectify.  Now you can turn a Windows 7 laptop into a Wi-Fi hotspot for other laptops and mobile devices to share. 

Connectify is a free and easy to use software router for Windows 7 computers. With Connectify, you can wirelessly share any Internet connection: a satellite modem, a cellular card or tethered cell phone, even another Wi-Fi network. Other Wi-Fi enabled devices including laptops, smart phones, music players, and gaming systems can see and join your Connectify hotspot just like any other Wi-Fi access point and are kept safe and secure by password-protected WPA2 Encryption. 

Because Connectify is free to download and use, you can save money on multiple Wi-Fi connections while on the road and still get all your devices online.  You can join a Wi-Fi network and run the Connectify hotspot on the same Wi-Fi card.  Now you can easily get that wireless printer working!  You don’t need Windows 7 on your other laptops, just the one running Connectify.

Installation is quick and easy, and once complete, you can access Connectify from the icon in the Taskbar.

Connectify works with all Wi-Fi cards under Windows 7. Any card can do “Ad Hoc” mode, and Windows 7 certified cards can also do “Access Point” mode.

The main difference between the two modes is that Access Point mode allows you to share a Wi-Fi connection from the same Wi-Fi card that you are using to access the Wi-Fi network. Ad Hoc mode needs the Internet connection to come from another card (Ethernet, cellular or a second Wi-Fi card in your computer).

Connectify only works with Windows 7 Home and above, Starter Edition is not supported.

Some cellular wireless broadband providers’ hardware disallows the use of their device.

You can download the installation package here.  It is less than 1 Meg.

Find all the supported devices here.

www.GeeksOnTour.com

Computer Education for Travelers

Related posts:

1. Your side of a Wi-Fi hotspot
2. Internet by Data Card for Travelers
3. Internet by Droid

With this Gmail feature, it’s easy to get your contacts. First you need a Gmail account. It’s free, just go to www.gmail.com and sign up. Once you have an account, you can click on Settings, and then Accounts and Import.

If you are leaving AOL, you probably want to import everything. But, you don’t have to. This is a great tool just for getting a backup copy of your contact list. After you click on ‘Import mail and Contacts’ – you will fill in the email address and password for your other account (AOL) – then you have some choices. You could just check ‘Import Contacts.’

If you have a lot of contacts, or you choose to import everything, this can take a while. The Gmail Help on Import indicates it may take up to 48 hours! When it is complete, you will see a status message in Settings, Accounts and Import.

Related posts:

1. Using Gmail for All your Mail
2. Why we like Gmail for Travelers
3. Why can’t I send my Email?

If you doubt that cell tower overload is a factor, check out this article on AT&Ts troubles due to all the iPhone users out there. Actually, this article has me a little worried about Verizon as well, once the Droid (Verizon’s answer to the iPhone) catches on.  You see, once you have Internet browsing capabilities on your cell phone, you use it a lot more.  When I use my phone to make a voice call, I’m on for 5 – 20 minutes.  When Jim uses his new Droid to browse the web, he’s on for hours.  Both usages connect to the Cellular Tower, but the data usage represents a quantum leap in loading the Tower’s connections.

Related posts:

1. Tethered Cell Phones for Internet
2. Internet by Droid
3. Windows 7 = Wi-Fi Hotspot