Use the Internet to Save Your Trip

You’re on vacation and you just lost your driver’s license and/or other important papers.  You no longer have the federal or state issued photo ID to expedite getting through security. What do you do? 

In today’s world you can save copies of important documents on the internet. Whether it be from your smartphone, iPad or another computer, you have the ability to get copies of important papers should a travel emergency occur. Note that should a situation arise at home as well, having this information on the internet can make life easier for you as well.

Evernote is one good place to put this information. You can store pictures as well as writing notes about important information. Need to keep a copy of your driver’s license and passport?  Evernote is a good option.        

Before I got my smartphone I found it to be a good idea to scan all except the credit cards and then save it to a Microsoft Word (MS Word) file.  As for credit cards, I make a list of that using MS Excel. I have the name of the card in one column, the card number in another column and a contact number in a third column. You can also do a list in MS Word.  Using MS Excel is a personal preference as I find it easier to work with this information using MS Excel. Today I would take a picture with my smartphone and upload it before saving it as an MS Word file.

When saving these files I make sure to password protect them. I then email the file to myself. What I am doing here is adding an extra layer of security to information that if it fell into the wrong hands would make me more susceptible to identity theft. One would need to know both my email password as well as the password I am using to protect the respective files that contain this sensitive data. I would suggest making the passwords for your email and files different.

One does not have to limit this to just credit cards, passport and drivers license. Scanning current drug prescriptions you are using and saving them to MS Word is another good idea where you have a copy of the prescription. If you were to lose the prescription drugs you had packed, you should have an easier time refilling it. You can also put the numbers of your travelers checks in a file as well. My contacts list in my email account is my phone book. Should I need a number I can get it wherever I have an internet connection which includes my smartphone. While we are on the subject of prescription drugs, it is a good idea to have a picture of the case, box, etc with the drug information on your phone. If you are seeing a doctor who is not familiar with you and asks for a list of the drugs you take, this will come in handy.

Doing all of these is not a magic bullet should you have a loss. It will however make it easier to travel and in the case of a passport get a replacement more easily. I would also suggest that you avoid using an unsecured public wireless network to obtain any of this.

Hopefully you will never need to access these files in an emergency.  However, having them should the need arise will make your life easier.

There is no one correct way to be proactive here.  I have just given 2 ways.  Please feel free to mention how you store this information online and if you would put any additional information out there.

If you have additional questions about storing information on the internet, I can be reached at (917) 572-3468 or email me at mike@computerconciergeny.com 

My Facebook page provides information on the current goings on in the technology field. There are tips to better use your technology. For timely information, please visit and "Like" my page.

Computer training and many types of computer repairs can be done remotely. If you or someone you know needs either training to better use your computer or repairs I am now doing it on a remote basis in addition to in person locally.

http://computerconciergeny.com/3/post/2012/10/joinme-how-to-use-to-allow-someone-to-remotely-view-and-control-your-computer.html takes you to a narrative to use Join.me. It is a very user friendly site and it is easy to temporarily allow control of your computer. I also did an online video as well which is on the following link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyRSqpYNVQY



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Xmarks for Saving and Syncing Bookmarks

Due to the recent acquisition of by LastPass, Xmarks will continue on.  It is a great tool for backing up your favorites/bookmarks as well as for syncing them across browsers and other computers. You can sync your bookmarks currently among Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Safari browsers.  


You need to decide which computer and browser is where you will make initial changes to your bookmarks. Usually this will be the browser that you use most often on your main computer.  From here, you can sync across your other browsers and any other computers you have.  Xmarks allows you to merge bookmarks on Xmarks server with your browser, keep bookmarks on your browser discarding those on the server (main bookmark), keep the bookmarks on the server while discarding those on your browser.  You also can integrate passwords (not recommended), and open tabs as well as enabling automatic synchronization. This is a great timesaver that eliminates the need to do this manually. A feature of Xmarks is also that you can be away from your computers but can retrieve that necessary site that you wish to access but cannot remember the name by accessing the website and logging into it. I found the instructions easy to follow and the program is user friendly.


A paid version of Xmarks ($12 annually) allows you to sync between your smartphone and track and backup all changes to your bookmarks. My personal opinion is that this is not needed.  


While there are ways to save your bookmarks on your computer and sync using your saved bookmarks on your computer, Xmarks is a free way to do this saving time and aggravation.


I also want to extend my best wishes to those celebrating a very Merry Christmas and to all a very Happy and prosperous 2011.

The Wiki Family

The Wiki site describes Wiki as follows, "A wiki is a database of pages which visitors can edit live." While many people associate Wiki with Wikipedia, there is more to the Wiki family.  To name a few, there are Wikianswers (post a question you would like answered), Wikitravel (a travel guide), Wikihow (a how to site), and Wikibooks (textbooks).    


Wiki is open editing which means anyone can add and edit information freely. There is a staff that checks these for accuracy. Where there is no support for an entry it is noted. Nonetheless the Wiki sites are a good source of free information from the trivial to the important. For those who remember the "Dallas" television series of the 80s did you know that Patrick Duffy's nephew is former Cy Young award winner Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants? It's out there on Wikipedia along with other trivial facts.   


Wikipedia also was likely the final nail in the coffin for all those encyclopedias that took up much bookcase space.  Yes they still sell those encyclopedias just like they still sell vinyl records,cameras that use film and accounting ledger paper but they have been replaced for the most part by improvements in technology. 


In closing, a lot of good and useful information can be accessed by going to the Wiki sites.  From learning how to fit in while in London to planning your London visit a lot of good information is available just by logging in.

Use the Internet to Save Your Trip

What would happen on a trip if you were to lose your passport, credit cards, driver's license, etc?  I find it to be a good idea to scan all except the credit cards and then save it as a word file using Microsoft Word (MS Word).  As for the credit cards, I make a list of that using MS Excel. I have the name of the card in one column and the card number in another column. You can also do a list in MS Word.  Using MS Excel is a personal preference.

In saving these files I make sure to password protect them. Since the method to password protect a file differs by program used and version of that program you need to go to the help section to determine how to password protect the file. I then email the file to myself. What I am doing here is adding an extra layer of security to information that if it fell into the wrong hands would make me more susceptible to identity theft. One would need to know both my email password as well as the password I am using to protect the respective files that contain this sensitive data. I would suggest making the passwords for your email and files different.

One does not have to limit to just credit cards, passport and drivers license. Scanning current drug prescriptions you are using and saving them to a word type file is another good idea where you have a copy of the prescription. This way if you were to lose the prescription drugs you had packed, you should have an easier time refilling it. You can also put the numbers of your travelers checks in a file as well. I also keep my phonebook in my Google contacts list so should I need a number I can get it wherever I have an internet connection which would include my smartphone.

Doing all of these is not a magic bullet should you have a loss. It will however make it easier to travel and in the case of a passport get a replacement more easily in the event of losing any important documents. I would also suggest that you avoid using an unsecured public wireless network to obtain any of this. If you have a smartphone, you can likely access this information using it. That said another way to store your files is if you are using a syncing program like Dropbox or Sugarsync. You can log onto the one you are using to access the information in question. I will suggest here that you do not save this information on the hard drive of any computers you may be travelling with. Better that it is in the cloud where the data and you are not in the same place. Also should your computer get lost or stolen, you can still access it from another computer. If anyone is interested in opening a Dropbox account let me know before setting up your account. I will send you an invite to join Dropbox and both of us will get an extra 250mb of free storage. A win/win for both of us. Note: as I mentioned in my blog last week, you cannot upload or save a password protected file in Google Docs.

Hopefully you will never need to access these files in an emergency.  However, having them in an emergency can make your life easier when it occurs.

Maps Online - Part I

Some may remember the days of going to the neighborhood gas station and getting a free map to plan your trip or if it was a trip farther away, writing and getting directions from the oil companies such as Sinclair, Esso, etc.  Well those days are long gone.  They have been replaced by online maps, GPSes and even smartphones.

For online mapping there are 4 primary websites: Bing Maps, Google Maps, MapQuest and Yahoo Maps.  Bing Maps, MapQuest and Yahoo Maps will be covered in this blog.  Google Maps will be covered in a future blog.

Bing Maps is the new map on the block comparatively speaking.  The map allows you to get directions for driving, walking or public transportation.  It also is easy to send the directions to your email or cell phone.  You can get directions based upon current real time traffic conditions though this is generally limited to the major thoroughfares. Directions do note at the end of the route if you have reached a certain location that you have gone too far which is a nice touch.  The "What's Nearby" feature is also useful.  I found it easy to zoom in and out using the road view and arial view.  Where it has already been photographed, the Streetside view has clear pictures an certainly clearer than the heralded Google Maps. However when moving along the street in Streetside view there is not an indication of about where you are.  I do like the 3D views with which you can rotate/pan and zoom functions. That said, it is relatively slow to open and also to go from view to view as well as going to the location you choose.  There is certainly room for improvement here.  Also if you wish to reverse your route after you have gotten directions, you need to go back to the search page. This is not a good thing.

MapQuest has a lot of the features that the others have with 1 notable exception. You cannot use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out on the map. You can only get directions by car.  No walking, public transit, etc. directions can be obtained using MapQuest.  It has a street view known as 360 view but the areas available are relatively few and slower than expected.  I did not find 360 view to be user friendly. Like the others, there is a way to search for businesses in the area.  MapQuest has a drop down menu of choices or you type your own in the search bar under "Find a Business".  A real good feature of MapQuest when searching for directions is you can get turn by turn directions if you wish.  This and Google Maps are the only ones of the 4 maps where you can do this.  Bing Maps allow you to go to the text indicating the turns and click to go to the location on the map but MapQuest's turn by turn directions is preferred.

Yahoo Maps offers live traffic and a points of interest finder.  It also computes a route rather quickly.  Yahoo Maps is better used to computing a route by car. There is not a way to determine a route by other means.  Yahoo Maps is also the only map that I am reviewing that does not have any drop down menu for locating businesses. Google Maps does have a very limited one which is stretching it a bit and will be covered in a future blog as noted earlier. You also can use it to find a business along the map that is showing on the screen.  This is done by typing the category in the search bar under "Find a Business on a Map".  It is more of a no frills map to mainly be used for directions by auto and finding a business.  There is no street view like in Bing Maps or Google Maps.  Further you cannot get a map for turn by turn directions or click on the text directions to go to that part on the map.

One final note here.  All 4 maps allow you to click to change a route by dragging any part of the route.

Also for those subscribing by email to my blogs, please check your spam settings if you are not receiving them.  Some have noted that the email of this blog has gone to their spam folder.  It should be marked as "not Spam".

Using the Internet for More Meaningful Travel

One of the advantages of the internet is how much closer it has bought the world.  I enjoy travel and have used various internet sites to book my travel and plan an itinerary.

One benefit I can think of is how we can book our travel online without a travel agent.  This enables us to price compare for plane tickets and hotels.  We can book our own travel packages without going through a travel agent. Some good sites are Travelocity and Priceline.  I have gotten good rates booking on both.  When booking where it more advantageous not to combine airfare and hotel(s), I have used Kayak.  This is an aggregator which compares hundreds of travel sites for the best rate.  I have used this individually for airlines and hotels.  In addition you can book a car rental or a cruise on these sites as well. 

Speaking about airlines, these days you can print your tickets and boarding pass.  In addition, just about all the airlines allow you to check in online up to 24 hours before your flight is scheduled to depart by going onto their website.  This eliminates waiting in line to check in at the airport and in this day of heightened security checks is one less thing to worry about at the airport.

There also are good sites to review hotels.  My preference is Tripadvisor. The hotels are ranked by reviews and I have found the reviews to be very useful in deciding which hotel to book.

There are also some good sites to plan an itinerary while travelling of places to see and do.  As mentioned previous, I use Tripadvisor to help plan.  Another good site is Virtualtourist.  The reviews are mainstream travellers for the most part.  Real people with real experiences.  You can get everything from museums, off the beaten path places and getting around.  The sites also offer forums to post and answer questions.  Another good site is Wikitravel.  You can get some real good information about the places you are going to on this site. There are also other sites to choose from.  They include the standard Frommers, Fodors and AAA.  Lonely planet and Igougo are 2 relatively more recent ones. It is a matter of your own personal preference.  As an aside, Igougo is an aggregator similar to Kayak.

Further if you do not use a GPS while driving, you can map your trip.  Google Maps will give you door to door directions.  You do not need to be a member of AAA to get an online triptik that you can download. To do this go to the AAA website.   Select in the online section not mail order section TripTiks.  Select your starting point and destination. Then select "Get Maps & Directions" After this completes, select on the left hand side "Print TripTik". When "Print Options" is displayed select "AAA Exclusive TripTik" and then "Create Print Version".  Your triptik is now complete.  You can print and/or download.  Further whether or not you are a member of AAA you can create an online account to save your triptik. Mapping your trip even if you are using a GPS can be useful in the event your GPS fails to work. 


Last but not least, you want to have an idea of what the weather will be like on your trip.  Weather.com and Wunderground are just 2 sites to help you pack for the expected weather  on your trip.

Following these tips will help you to have an enjoyable vacation.  After you are done, you may want to give your own review and perhaps upload your own travel photos.  One of mine is the featured picture for Yahoo travel New York. 


Enjoy your trip.