Extreme IT: Accessing technology in unique circumstances

We're all accustomed to daily Internet use, but what happens if you find yourself in extreme circumstances? Here are a few situations worth considering ...

1. You're sailing the high seas and want to email your mother.

If you're on a cruise, Princess, Carnival and most other cruise services offer high speed Internet. If you're sailing your own boat, you can call Mom from the open seas by using satellite phones or short wave modems. Prepaid dial-up time can cost $1/minute. This gets into serious money since data transfer speeds are only a few thousand kilabits per second. Solution: send brief, occasional text messages.

Better yet, pull into a marina. Most marinas now furnish DSL access for WIFI Internet within a 25-mile range. Marina WIFI requires a clear line of sight, as sailboats and other objects passing through the line of sight will disrupt signaling. So will the unsteadiness of floating on the water, and the radio-wave resistance of metal hulls. "Staying in a good range for connections with marina DSL modems is a challenge," said John Navas, a San Francisco technologist and long-time boater. "You can easily double signal range by disabling your normal wireless access card, and purchasing an antenna and adaptor."

2. You're on a flight to Japan, and need to email your monthly status report.

You will find in-flight Internet access on Japan Airlines. Airlines presently testing Internet access service offerings for passengers are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Virgin America Airlines and Jetblue.

The historical price has been a little steep at around $30 per flight-and travelers say that connections are slow-but airline Internet is a way to check email, surf the Internet and file that status report while you're enroute.

3. You're on an expedition in the Amazon and need to email for supplies.

You can't get much deeper into the heart of the Amazon than Manaus. Before you leave on your expedition, check for cybercafes at Websites such as cybercaptive.com. If you key in "Manaus," you will see that there are two Internet cafes there.

However, let's say that you can't get to Manaus. What then? New technology can solar-power your Internet connection. Of course, you might have to pack a solar panel and a generator.…and find a sunny spot in the jungle!

4. You're a major league baseball scout in Lower Slobovia, you can't type and you need to email a scouting report.

If you work for the Boston Red Sox, you check into a hotel with WIFI, unpack your laptop, talk the report into the laptop and email it to headquarters.
"We have managers, scouts and trainers who are on the road nearly 90% of the time," said Steve Finley, Red Sox IT Director. "We equipped our scouts with IP SoftPhones on their laptops. The scouts use headsets and record their reports onto their laptops. If they want to make a change, they just record over the original report. The final reports are emailed into headquarters."

5. You're a NASCAR driver and you need to e-notify the pit crew on how the car is performing while you are in the middle of a race.

The car will do it for you -- even if you are racing at 200+ miles an hour. The Eddie Cheever racing team, with wins at the Indianapolis 500 and many other tracks, uses IP-based edge devices that can withstand the incredible speeds and heat of the track. Real-time data collected from the car during the race is transmitted to pit crew and engineers stationed along the track and around the world.

"The car router size was compacted and weight was limited, so as not to affect the car's performance," said Cisco's Greg Akers. "Power needed to be robust in order to enable the continuous communications between the car, the pit, and the other engineering stations."

6. You're traveling abroad and need to stay in touch.

This may not be extreme or unusual, but it will come in handy. You can obtain a "traveling" U.S. phone number from one of several VoIP providers. Friends and family can call this number and be automatically routed to your cell phone in over 50 foreign countries. Your callers may think they are calling Dubuque, but they will get you in New Zealand!

7. You're outside of your corporate VPN while closing a deal and need to email sensitive documents.

Some businesses are equipping road warriors with security-enabled thumb drives. The thumb drives use technology that binds your laptop to your corporate computer network or VPN. Thumb drives use two-factor user authentication, AES-level encryption-and can even store all of your company's security policies. When you insert the thumb drive into your laptop's USB port, you'll have all of your security in place, and all you need to do is to sign on with your password.
Don't have a company-issued thumb drive yet? Check with the hotel you are staying at. Some now offer a premium security service that uses thumb drives with built-in two-factor authentication, secure VPN network access, data encryption and virus detection and elimination.

8. You need to send an email from your car.

You can Internet-equip your own vehicle for under $500 with a "vehicle-ready" PC that delivers information and entertainment while you drive. These "hardened" devices are made rugged for travel like the PCs used in law enforcement, which has used in-car PC Internet access while on patrol for years. Once you install your in-car Internet system, the monthly subscription fee is around $50.

You can keep Internet in your vehicle even when you don't have your car! If you're renting, check with the rental agency to see if it offers a car with built-in WI-FI hot spot capability. For an extra fee, you can also secure wireless broadband for your email needs.

You may never be without Internet access -- but it's nice to know it's "out there" when you need it. That's what makes the Internet truly ubiquitous.

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