womantraveler

Beware of Wi-Fi Hackers

Wi-Fi's spread and convenience bring threats, so be prepared. A helpful article in today's Wall Street Journal offers these tips to minimize the dangerous machinations of hackers. It's good info for general Wi-Fi use in your hotel room, home or office, and especially for Wi-Fi hotspots. The person nearby in the hotel lobby or airport waiting area may be a hacker lurking to steal information from your laptop -- or even take it over:

• Keep all computer software and computer protection software current.
• Name your Wi-Fi network.
• Conduct all financial transactions -- such as banking, stock market trades and purchases requiring a credit card -- at home over a wired connection or wireless firewall.
• Close down your computer when you're not using the Internet.
• Use a wired connection wherever possible.

Spa Me!

After a stressful summer of all work, no travel, I am aghast at the latest news that spas -- where we go to relax and get away from it all -- are now featuring wireless ya-ya-yahs. The eucalyptus is clearing my sinuses and calming my senses in the steam room when, in all her dripping nudeness, the woman next to me Blackberries? Oh, spa me the wired spa, puh-leeze!

This is not to say I'm not connected. Quiet the contrary. My Treo is at my left hand as I type on my laptop. Occasionally during meetings, I peer surreptitiously under the table at my email. I put my cell phone on vibrate and bury it in my pocket book during movies, should the son have an emergency, and I just paired my handsfree Bluetooth cell phone with my new car's navigation system.

But there are two safe havens -- the spa and the airplane -- and they are clearly no longer out of reach of the wireless rays. The women at my health club blithely ignore the big posters that beg "no cell phone use in the locker room." Even the airplane has been invaded, and I'm not talking about the yogurt-flinging children.

The airplane, believe it or not, is one place where I can truly get away from the office phones if I wish. And the spa, well, ommmmmm.... Smokers have been relegated to zones outside airports -- so why not laptop zones in spa parking lots? We have enough tuning in -- let's preserve these few havens for "tuning out." 

Music to My Ears!

The iPod Shuffle my son gave me for Christmas has saved my sanity on airplanes ever since. I can block out those mismanaged kids whose parents seem to sleep through the chaos and the loudmouth guys who think everyone else cares about what they have to say. Now comes even better news -- an iPod powerStick recharger that can recharge iPods from three to four times. I can wrap myself in music forever! With this rechargeable trick and cell phones off the docket on airplanes for the near future, I might be able to get a little work done again while flying.

Shop 'til You Drop on Your Handheld

It's easier and easier to shop by mobile phone or PDA while you're on the road. Here's a roundup of the most popular Web shopping sites with their special slimmed-down interfaces for small screens -- and links to a few lesser-known sites as well. Save this for wirelessly happy travels.

Connecting Abroad by Cell

It's easier and simpler to take along an international cell phone on trips out of the US, especially if you want one for emergencies and minimal use. This is especially important for the womantraveler who wants or needs to stay connected to children, sitters and aging parents because, alas, alack, we feel more secure with the option of easy contact. And certainly this is essential for business womentravelers. But the choices for purchase and rental are wildly different, and you need to think ahead and have a sharp pencil to do the math for what suits you best.

Major options are (1) buying an international cell phone, (2) tenting a cell phone or satellite phone before you leave, (3) renting a cell phone once you arrive at your destination and (4) buying a phone card before you leave.

Other criteria that affect your cost:

• Per minute rates charged by your phone service
• Local charges in the countries you are visiting, or when calling from country to country
• The length of your trip and expected amount of usage
• Phone features

While renting sounds simpler, sometimes buying can be less expensive, especially for a long trip or if you are a frequent international traveler. For a 10-day vacation to Paris, my online research led me to a simple purchase option -- a $49 international cell phone with a standard rate for incoming and outgoing minutes. It beat the rental options and gives me an inexpensive international cell phone I can use on future trips to other countries. And my son can use it for no extra purchase or rental charge for his summer abroad trip this year.

Another smart option is to rent a cell phone once you arrive at your destination abroad -- if you're going to be in one country and use your cell phone frequently within that country. Those rates will be cheaper. But calling outside that country will not be, as I learned when renting a phone on a Caribbean island a couple of years ago.

Bottom line -- check out not only the rental or purchase options before you leave but also the rate plans in each country you'll visit -- and read on for more details...

High-Tech PDA Travel Guides in Asia

Asian cities are taking the lead in innovative uses of PDAs to assist foreign visitors. Offering free travel maps and brochures via PDAs versus traditional free print brochures is taking off in the part of the world that typically leads us headlong into the technology revolution. Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan are among the leaders in experimentation and implementation of digital travel guides.

Booking Travel From Your Email

Here's a great tip from the Blog for Business -- travel agents now have software they can give you to integrate your travel plans into your Outlook calendar. Direct connections and integrating travel web services into desktop applications will speed your travel planning -- and more is to come.

Lost in the Technology Tunnel

After experiencing regular error messages when I shut down my laptop, I entered the dark and lonely world of online "help desks" by Dell, McAfee, Microsoft, and Palm. Not that there weren't pleasant moments -- these services are largely customer-focused and easily accessible, in most cases 24x7, since The World Is Flat and the support desk is as likely to be located in the Phillippines or Bangladore as in Austin or Omaha. They can even remotely fiddle around with your computer and try to fix it. But the bad news is that the customer is still required to be the integrator of the information, and as a recovering technophobe, that was really unacceptable to me. My lessons learned cost me much of 5 days of work or aggravatioin and extra $$ for fee-based support.

But I have lived to tell about it, and, most importantly, the unwanted crash course in tech support forced me to become more knowledgeable as an end-user and a lot smarter as a consumer. Perhaps this advice will help you.

Yoga For WomanTraveling

As a business womantraveler, I've added yoga to my travel workout menu. While women friendly hotels are more focused on fitness options for business travelers, I find that sitting in meetings for often days at a time, schlepping through airports, sleeping in beds and on pillows that don't always fit my body style, and spending hours on airplanes add up to aches and stiffness that aren't diminished by hotel gyms. It really takes both -- dedicated use of hotel fitness centers as well as stretching -- to feel good, sleep better, and maintain high energy. I've found a reliable online resource for simple travel yoga practice. With a laptop, I can view yoga poses on the Web, as well as listen to meditation music on a CD and play exercise videos, including pilates, in my room. It's an easy and winning combination of technology and healthy living that makes mind and body feel great.

Ding! for Personalized Airfares

New "Ding!" technology used by Southwest Airlines allows travelers to take advantage of discount fare offers several times a day. Through a free download on its website, Southwest sends fare specials to subscribers' computers, so they can track the ever-changing fares in the same way that travel agents do. Such interactive customized fares, which put travelers in direct touch with airlines instead of other discount reservations systems, may be a wave of the future as other airlines are scoping out similar technology. Knowing your preferences, the airlines can target their offers to your personalized needs. However, in the same spirit, although Ding! is being used now only for discount fares it may not always be so, and just as now, travelers may continue to play on a fare-changing roulette wheel, analysts warn.