WiFi Savvy

Photo Story 3 is a free program that will make movies from your digital photos. You can download Photo Story from Microsoft’s website. That’s right, I said Free. And, I also said Microsoft. Those are two words that normally don’t go together! Take advantage of it. This is a great program. It takes your digital still photos and turns them into a movie, complete with movement, music, and narration. Here’s a sample using photos we took at the Grand Canyon. Notice how the images pan left and right or zoom in and out, it feels like you’re watching a video when it’s actually still photos. You can use music clips from your library, or you can let Photo Story 3 compose the music for you. Notice how the music even ends right on time!

This links to a .wmv file, it may take a minute to download. PCs will play it using Windows Media Player. If you’re using a Mac, you may need to download a Media Player. Another example is located on our website - this one is of one of our favorite RV parks and it includes some narration. It was uploaded to Google Video and should play on any computer.

We mostly think of Photo Story 3 for taking our travel photos and making a nice show. Adding some other graphics, and plenty of narration, you can create any kind of presentation. Here is an introduction to Geeks on Tour created completely in Photo Story 3. This one has been converted to Flash and should be viewable by any computer if you have the Flash player installed.

Of all the seminars we teach, Photo Story 3 is the easiest - you’ll find the class handout at the bottom of the Geeks on Tour Articles page. Just gather your photos together, and follow the wizard in the program. You’ll LOVE it.

Remember the old record player/radio systems we called Hi-Fi’s? It meant High Fidelity, and some people say that Wi-Fi means ‘Wireless Fidelity’. Although the term ‘Hi-Fi’ may have provided inspiration, Wi-Fi doesn’t mean anything. It is just a marketing term so people don’t have to call it ‘802.11′ — which is the technical specification. We also refer to it as ‘hotspot’ technology, because it only covers a small area, a ‘hotspot.’ You must be within range of the hotspot’s antenna, also called the ‘Access Point’, in order to use it. The range is usually a couple hundred feet. Wi-Fi is the most popular way for travelers to connect to the Internet. No contracts, no commitments, you just connect to the hotspot’s signal and start browsing! Many RV parks are Wi-Fi hotspots. Most all laptop computers sold within the last 3 years come with the necessary wireless equipment built in. You can also find hotspots in coffee shops, airports, rest areas, and libraries. To find a hotspot near you, try http://www.jiwire.com/. Just enter a city and state and you’ll see several choices. If you just want to see just RV parks, you’ll find a listing provided by RV.net users on the locations forum. Realize that all these lists are compiled by people - there is no such thing as a definitive list of all Wi-Fi hotspots. Some of these hotspots are free, some charge a few dollars a day. Or, if you’re going to be in one spot for a while, you can get a better deal by signing up for a week or a month. I know lots of people who would like to sign up once, pay a monthly fee, and be able to count on a Wi-Fi hotspot wherever they go. It just doesn’t work like that. Every hotspot makes their own arrangements. The best way to find out if a given campground has Wi-Fi is to look in a directory like Woodall’s. Each campground will have an indicator if Wi-Fi is available as well as an indicator if there is a charge, or if it is free. Of course, this information is out-of-date very quickly, so a phone call to the park is a good idea if it is important to you to have Wi-Fi. You might also want to ask if the Wi-Fi is available at your site, or only in the clubhouse. If you want to use the Wi-Fi at your site, the wireless adapter built in to your computer may not be good enough. I’ll tell you why in next week’s post. Chris Guld www.GeeksOnTour.com

Greetings from sunny and cold Arizona! I’m Chris Guld, and I blog about computer use while traveling. My husband, Jim, and I live full time in our 30 foot class C motorhome and we travel around the country giving computer seminars at rallies and RV parks. We’ve both been computer geeks for quite some time. Now we tour around the country, so we call ourselves Geeks on Tour!

My background is in computer training, database development, and website development. Jim is a hardware and network guy. Between the two of us, we can figure out just about anything when it comes to computers. And I love to write about it all.

When we first started our RV lifestyle in 2003, an informal survey of RVers showed that about half of them traveled with a computer in their RV. Today, I estimate that number at closer to 90%! And, half of those have TWO computers inside! For some of these folks, it is their first computer. They managed to retire from the workplace before computer use was required, and they only have one now because the grandkids want to send them email!

Not all RVers are computer beginners. There are a growing number, like us, who are not retired and who keep working on the road by using their computers. The people who most need this blog topic, however, are the beginners, so I plan to keep the posts at a basic level.

In our line of work, it is essential to have Internet access wherever we go. Before we ever hit the road, we equipped our motorhome with a rooftop, automatic, Internet satellite dish called the Datastorm. It set us back about $6,000 which sounds like a lot, but when you consider it a business startup investment it’s not so much! Here’s a picture of our rig.

There are now several ways to connect to the Internet on the road, and that will be a primary topic for my blog entries. For casual Internet users, you’ll find Wi-Fi hotspots all over the place. There is no contract or other commitment - you pay by the day, week or month. The fees are very reasonable and many hotspots even provide it for free.

If you’re like us, and need Internet *everywhere* then the satellite dish is the way to go.

The third option is cellular. Buying a ‘data card’ from a provider like Verizon and connecting to the Internet whenever you’re in range of a cell tower - which is most everywhere these days. This option is growing in popularity, we talk to people all the time who *love* their data cards.

I’ll be writing more on all of these options in subsequent posts. Make sure to check in here often! I also am active on the RV.net Technology Corner forum - as are lots of other ‘geeks’! Anything you want to know about using computers on the road - you can ask there.

Chris Guld
http://www.geeksontour.com/