MOOAHH-hah-hah part 2:

Posted on April 13th, 2007 in Technobabble by Aaron

ENTERTAINMENT: Well, if you’re headed out to the middle of nowhere, better pack a serious radio - who knows, a well-timed weather forecast could save you’re life? Also, listening to the BBC or al-jazeera may make for some serious late night debates.

Given that - who could ask for more than the Sangean ATS-909?

The Sangean ATS-909

Widely hailed as the best in portable shortwave radios, and can be modified for additional capabilities and sensitivity.  I look forward to testing its capabilities way up north.  If the mood strikes me, I may even give a user report here.

That’s it for the Canada trip - I even thought about upgrading the sat link for internet, or a nice XBOX-360 + a widescreen LCD…but c’mon, we’re supposed to be roughing it.  Bringing that stuff would be ridiculous…

POWER!….UNLIMITED POWER!!! (MOOAHH-hah-hah)

Posted on April 12th, 2007 in Technobabble by Aaron

A few friends and I are headed up to Northwest Canada for a fishing trip. You know - beer, fishing, communing with nature, beer - that kind of thing. Its located in a pretty remote location, away from it all…one room fishing shack, no power, no cell phones…just friends and fish; the simple life.

I found that concept relaxing…until I started hyperventilating at the thought of being totally unplugged. So, once I took a few deep breaths, I found a few items that might make this sort of peaceful isolation a little more tolerable:

POWER: Always a necessity just in case a few gadgets are required for safety or creature comforts. Why not tap the unlimited power of the sun?

Solar Power SystemHere it is strapped to a backpack…

…and all zipped up

Its rated at 20W of power, and also has an 8Ah battery back - ample to power many portable devices. And at less than 4lbs, it won’t break your back either. Get yours at RadioLabs.

COMMUNICATIONS: The remoteness of where we’re going means that cell phones aren’t gonna cut it. Thank goodness for Satellite Phones. I’m renting the Globalstar GSP-1600 from satellitephonestore.com - they’ve got an affordable unlimited daily rate, which is far better than $1.59 / minute.

ENTERTAINMENT: Coming soon!

Novell and Honeywell Get Physical

Posted on April 5th, 2007 in Technobabble by Aaron

MARCH 7, 2007 | Novell and Honeywell this month will announce the first fruits of their exclusive logical/physical security partnership — a turnkey product that integrates Novell’s identity management and Honeywell’s physical access control system. No, this doesn’t signal the end of facilities management, or even a merger the physical and logical security departments in the organization. But it may be a hint of things to come, as regulatory and insider-threat pressures gradually start bringing together these traditionally separate, and very different, worlds. (See The 10 Most Overlooked Aspects of Security.) Novell and Honeywell were initially drawn together by the federal government’s HSPD-12 initiative for smart cards.