A busy WiFi day

RV's are pouring into Palm Creek from places like Wisconsin, Michigan and British Columbia. It's no wonder with temperatures up there all lower than 20 and temperatures here in the 70s during the day. From our point of view, it seems like all these RVers want to use the WiFi Internet connnection, and that all of them have trouble. Of course, we know that's not true. There are plenty of folks who couldn't care less about the Internet while they're here, and there are plenty of folks who turn on their computers and get it to work right away. But, since our job is to help the folks having trouble - we don't see any of those others! We had our WiFi seminar on Sunday and we had one of our biggest crowds yet - over 35 folks. I made them sing, "Happy Birthday" to Jim since this was the only day available for scheduling the seminar. They did a pretty good job! On Monday morning, we started making our 'house-calls'. We finally met back up and rolled home a little after 7 and found 18 messages on our house phone! Yikes! Luckily, they weren't all asking for visits. In fact, this one just called to inform us that he learned things in the seminar that made it work for him. Cool! That's how it's supposed to be. Education is SO key.

Playing with Picasa and Hello

I'm going to be teaching a couple seminars in the next 2 weeks on the photo management program called Picasa. It is just SO cool. Right now I'm exploring it's companion program , Hello. Hello is like instant messenger on steroids. It lets you text message, just like IM, but with photos included. It is WAY cool. It's like being able to reach through cyberspace, sit down with a friend and thumb through a photo album together. It also lets you instantly post photos on your blog. But, unless I just haven't figured it out yet, you can only add one photo per post.

WiFi Tip: Using a Wireless Ethernet Bridge

We are back at Palm Creek again helping people with their WiFi connection. When Jim visits people, he takes his laptop computer with him. That way he can try to connect with his computer before spending too much time looking at their computer. If his computer can't connect, then there's something wrong with the location. If his computer can connect fine, but their's can't, he starts checking out their adapter's power, their computer's configuration etc. etc. I've written a long list of things we check here. There are way too many people here for Jim to help them all, so I make lots of user visits as well. Problem is, I don't have a laptop to take along. The user's computer is all I have to work with. 90% of the time, the problem is that the user does not have a good enough adapter. So many computers are sold by saying they are 'Wireless Ready'. They have a WiFi adapter built-in. People think this should work in an RV park hotspot. It doesn't (unless you're really close to the source). You need something better than what is built-in to most computers. See my previous post about adapters here. Or people buy a card type adapter. Most of those aren't good enough either. I have found that taking a Wireless Ethernet Bridge along with me on my visits is almost as good as taking Jim's laptop. I simply plug the bridge into the user's ethernet port, disable their adapter, and they're on! I LOVE my Wireless Ethernet Bridge ... it just WORKS. I first learned that this was the best way to connect when we did some experimenting with an outdoor antenna - read that post here. So, what IS a wireless ethernet bridge? Let me start with a picture: This is the one I take around with me. I need to find a power outlet to plug the bridge into, then I plug the ethernet cable into the user's computer's ethernet port (95% of all computers have an ethernet port - it looks just like the phone jack but just a little bigger). There is nothing to install, nothing to configure on the user's computer. As soon as the ethernet cable is plugged in, the computer *thinks* it is connected to a wired network. The computer doesn't even know that wireless is involved at all. And that's a good thing! Wireless Internet hotspots are still very new technology - and, from our experience, very few computers are naturally good at it. The Sony Vaio (what Jim has) is one notable exception. However, cabled/ethernet networks have been around for a long time. Not only does your current computer have a natural understanding of ethernet-based networks, it's father and it's father's father knew how to work with ethernet! It's the bridge that takes care of wireless part, and it was born to work with wireless. So, why don't we recommend wireless ethernet bridges to everyone using WiFi hotspots? Because they're hard to set up. For one thing, the name (ssid) of the WiFi hotspot has to be programmed into the bridge. So, every time you travel to a different location you have to reconfigure the bridge. It's not really *that* hard, but you have to be comfortable with things like IP addresses, and ad hoc vs. infrastructure mode, and SSID's. And, sorry if I offend anyone, *but* many RVers are computer beginners, they have trouble with basic computer operations. We don't want to be responsible for their heart attack when we tell them they have to configure a piece of hardware at every new hotspot. One user, when told that a 'config' file needed modification said, "Why do I want figs with my computer?". Another reason we shy away from recommending them is that they don't show you things like signal strength and speed and available wireless networks like normal wireless adapters. Remember, the computer thinks it is connected to a wired network at 100Mbps. And, that's all it shows you. This makes it harder to troubleshoot what's wrong if you're not getting a connection. BUT, if you're willing to learn a little, and get involved with IP addresses and settings. The bridge is a great way to go. Besides the fact that it simply works good, another reason is that an ethernet cable can be as long as you want without degrading your connection. USB cables are limited to about 15 ft and antenna cable is also limited - the shorter the better. So, if you want to have your computer in the rear of the coach and the best place for the antenna is in the front, the bridge is the only way to go. Oh yeah - one more reason. It works with Macintosh! I always worry when I have to visit a Macintosh user because I know so little about them. I visited one just yesterday ... plugged the wireless ethernet bridge in - disabled his internal airport, and Voila!, he was surfing the web. Read more about wireless ethernet bridges: Motorola Linksys Hawking or just google for wireless ethernet bridge!

Motorhome Remodeling

Just because your home came off a factory assembly line doesn't mean you can't change it. We've already done a lot to ours; took out the couch and put in file cabinet/bench and computer workstation; took out one dinette bench and added an office chair then fitted the table with a computer keyboard drawer. One other thing that has been bugging us for a while is the old carpet. If you've ever taken out an old carpet you know how dirty it is regardless of how often you have it cleaned. And, in a small place like a motorhome, every square inch of carpet is in the 'traffic pattern'! Lynne and John have had two motorhomes now. The first one, they took out the carpet and put down wood. The second one they put down vinyl tile. When they offered to do the same for ours, we jumped at it. I'm not sure if it's planned or not, but Lynne seems to get the dirty work! In this case, pulling up the old rug - including all the tacking strips and rotting padding. Jim helped a little. (I just took pictures!) Then, they had to cut plywood to fit for a 'subfloor'. They must be good at measuring because it was perfect. Then John went to work - making sure everything fit and lined up perfectly! Odie likes his new floor - he can make all the mess he wants and it won't upset me cuz it's so easy to clean. Yes, there are some times on chilly mornings that I miss the rug. But, I can use throw rugs to remedy that. Having this beautiful new floor makes me feel like I have a new motorhome! And, if we ever see rain again ... the knowledge that I won't have a muddy carpet to deal with is quite thrilling. The floor is obviously a BIG thing. But, the little things make a big difference too. Take a look at this canvas pocket shoe rack on Lynne's bed: We have something similar that we bought at Camping World. The difference with Lynne's is that she picked the exact color of canvas she wanted *and* it wraps all the way around the long side of the bed as well. That's because she sewed it herself. "Sewing" to me means hemming a pair of pants. "Sewing" to Lynne means creating anything you can imagine! Here she is in her 'sewing room' - the utility trailer that they tow behind their motorhome. This is how Lynne and John make their living while living on the road. Check out their website at www.cosmicmuffin.us. And, if you happen to be in the vicinity and want something unique created - give them a shout.

New Years around Quartzsite

Quartzsite is famous for a camel driver named Hi Jolly. There is a monument near the center of town and we had yet to visit. We found ourselves in the neighborhood this week and decided it was time for a photo: It really is quite an interesting story: We also did a little more geocaching. We all so enjoy the wide open spaces of the desert out here. On New Year's Eve, Gypsy John treated us to a lunch at our favorite Quartzsite bar and eatery called the Grubstake. We got the manager to take a picture of all of us and, in return, we listened to his long repertoire of jokes! We didn't know we were going to get entertainment too! If you're not a character - you don't belong in Quartzsite! Thanx John! and, Happy New Year to everyone. We stayed up till after midnight ... eastern time! We rang in the new year (well, close enough) with lots of good food and drink and conversation around the fire thanx to Frankie and Dick and all the neighbors here in Rainbow Acres. It's 2006 now ... time to contemplate.