C/C++ Users Journal May 2004
I've been traveling a lot lately for a confluence of reasons. In fact, I'm still jet lagged from a week in Japan, even as I prepare for nearly a month in Australia. I've long since solved the problem of getting work done on the roadÑa succession of laptops has served as my principal computer for lo these past 15 years. The latest one from Dell features tens of gigabytes of storage and a Cinemascope screen, yet it's also one of the lightest and fastest I've owned. Thank heavens for the steady march of technology. Now, I just wish that technology would give us all a break from the slavery of the Internet.
Time was, staying in touch was easy. I got a handful of short e-mail messages a day, which I could quickly collect and respond to with a dial-up modem. I traveled with a screwdriver, an assortment of phone cords, and a list of UUNET (now WorldCom, no, MCI) access numbers. Once I dug down to the copper, I could make my calls, swap a few kilobytes, and look for all the world as if I were working away in my office at home. But that was before the World Wide Web, megabyte e-mail attachments, and spam.
Now, my first concern when I get off a plane is much more ambitious. Where once I settled for an RJ-11 jack and an answering modem, I now crave lots of TCP/IP packets and a DHCP server to give me a transient presence on the Internet. And the more packets the merrier. My daily routine involves sifting through about a thousand garbage e-mail messages for the two dozen I care about, skimming a dozen newsgroups, and making the rounds of half a dozen web sites. My mailer just downloads the headers for the larger messages, which cuts the traffic from 80 MB down to about 2 MB, but that's still a lot of bits to suck through a low-bandwidth channel. So I've learned to proliferate options, and to become a connectivity opportunist.
Here, for example, are all the ways I got connected on my last trip:
While waiting at Logan Airport in Boston, I used my TrueMobile 5100 cell phone PC card to connect to T-Mobile at 56 KB/sec. Not very fast, but ubiquitous in the U.S. (It was a godsend on the Kona coast.)
While waiting at San Francisco International, I used my built-in 802-11x chipset to connect to the T-Mobile wireless that blankets the airport. Nice and fast. And T-Mobile charges me a flat $50 per month no matter how much Beethoven I download from iTunes through either of these two hookups.
Overnighting at Kansai Airport, outside Osaka, I had to use the hotel phone to dialup the nearest MCI number in Japan. Trivial phone charge, probably a few additional bucks from MCI. Just 40 KB/sec., but adequate.
Staying in a traditional Ryokan in Nara, I used my rented AirCard to connect through the cell phone network at 128 KB/sec. Spotty coverage throughout Japan, but very adequate speed, and a mere $50 rental for the week.
Staying in the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo, I used the high-speed RJ-45 connection in my room. Cost: 2,000 yen (about $20) per day, but it was well worth it.
Looking back, I realize that I still had another option, at least while in the U.S. My LG cell phone connects to my laptop through a USB port to serve as a low-speed modem. Not great, but essentially free and always there as a backup.
And looking forward, I'm already plotting my strategies for Australia. Mostly, I'll be hopping from wireless hotspot to hotspot. But I'm taking my TrueMobile card along. It can roam in Oz, albeit for a mildly outrageous $15 per MB, so I hope to keep that need to a minimum. And there's always good old dialup to MCI. That should cover Melbourne, Sydney, and the Blue Mountains. On Hamilton Island, my friend and host John O'Brien promises wireless while his twin-diesel gin palace is in port. With any luck, I'll be too busy relaxing to fret while knocking about the Coral Sea.
This may sound like an idyllic existence, and it does have its rewards, but I hasten to point out that I spend a nontrivial chunk of each travel day writing code, answering licensing inquiries, and responding to bug reports. And much of that occurs between midnight and dawn, when I'd really rather be resting up for the day's activities. It's kind of like the movie Lost in Translation, without the karaoke. You gotta do something to pay the bills.
P.J. Plauger
Senior Contributing Editor
pjp@plauger.com