• Cheju Grounded Boat
  • Cheju Blue Ocean (1997)
  • Wat Phra Kaew 1999

The Techno Traveler

The Techno Traveler

 BKK-ICN 1/12/2002

I don’t like to leave home without my toys.  Perhaps, my gadgets provide me with a sense of security, comfort and connectedness that is otherwise lacking in my character.  I have no problem admitting that my electronics are a type of personal augmentation.  While people with physical shortcomings have had an entire range of physical prostheses available for some time, it has only been for the past few years that people like me, people with a need for psychological augmentation, have had a cure.  This type of prosthesis has made the concept of cybernetics a reality.  Don’t be frightened by the terminology: the word cyber comes from the Greek for Pilot (a special sort of sailor who had the technological know-how to get the boat where it was going).  The concept of cybernetics means simply an organic being who is enhanced by technology.  There is also the added flavor of the concept of pilot blended oh-so-nicely into the term.  So now I never leave home without the gamut of cyborg-enhancements.  Here are some of my picks and must-haves:

1)  Notebook/Laptop computer:  How anyone can possibly exist using the featureless computers in the world’s internet cafes I will never understand.  While in Thailand there wasn’t a computer in any of the cafes that I frequented which had Microsoft office with FrontPage installed.  Now, is it just me, or are there others out there who would like to update their websites while on the road.  The great thing about FrontPage is that you don’t even need to worry about maintaining a local copy of your site on your notebook—you simply connect to your FrontPage Extension-enabled website and modify the documents directly on the server.  Of course you still need some method of capturing images onto your hard-drive which is another reason why Internet Cafes are an inferior alternative to the Notebook computer.  Negatives:  Necessitates that you stay in a fairly secure hotel unless you want to carry your computer everywhere you go.

 2)Palm/PDA:  I am a relatively recent convert to the world of PDA’s.  Actually I made up my mind some time ago that I wanted a PDA but I had a hell of a time deciding which unit was for me.  Originally I pined after the much touted but never delivered power of the Linux based GMate Yopy (developed by a Korean Company) but they have never delivered the product to the market place.  I finally settled on a Palm M125 w/backlit grayscale screen and 8mb on board memory and an expansion slot for additional memory etc.  Key points on my selection included: 1) affordability – I already have a notebook computer so I didn’t feel it was necessary to have a lot of the bells and whistles like 65000 color screen and speedy RISC processor.  One word—Redundancy.  2) AAA batteries --  I just don’t need another rechargeable device with an overpriced battery that slowly becomes useless.  I can buy AAA batteries anywhere and the good ones pack a heck of a bang for the buck.  3) Expandability – I can’t understand why anyone would buy a device that’s obsolete the moment you take it home.  This was one of the main reasons I avoided the first generation of Palm computers.  No expansion slot – I’m not interested!  4)  Reams of software available on the NET. Negatives: 1) I can’t play mp3s on my unit (you have to go to the next price point for that option) 2) Photos and video clips are a little limited on the grayscale screen. 

3) Digital Video Camera:  I’ve had the original James Bond style Sony DCR-PC7 for over 3 years and yeah, it cost me a small fortune when I bought it but like the old adage “It takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin”.  Key points: 1) It’s small enough to put in a big jacket pocket 2) The info lithium battery hasn’t lost any of it’s punch since I bought it with the camera 3) It has firewire attachment for easy, one-cable device control and audio/video I/O to your firewire equipped computer.  3) You can take reams of pics that are more than suitable for the web at 720X480 resolution 4) The camera is so simple to use that even though mine has Japanese controls I can still find and use most of the functions without referencing the Korean instruction book that I have for it (I was never able to find one in English—one of the hazards of buying off the black market in the far-east) 5) The video that this camera produces kicks ass over analog.

4) Nike Dual Time Zone Sports watch – For awhile I upset myself by longing for an expensive analog Tag Heur until I finally saw the light and realized that those expensive stainless steel watches are nothing more than man jewelry.  If you like to keep up on your exercise routine while on the road the Nike hrm[triax100 is the watch for you.  It has super huge digital display, a heart rate monitor, 100 lap storage capacity for recording run times/heart rate data and most importantly dual time zones and dual alarms.  I looked at a lot of Casio and Timex watches but nothing came close to the package that the Nike delivers.  Also this watch looks a hell of a lot better than anything Casio has to offer.