Running Away, Part 2: Don't Forget Your Laptop!
- A Bag Full of Snakes (Cables)
- One Ringy Dingy
- Last-Minute Toss-ins
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You've almost escaped. Just a few minutes more until it's time to jet away to laze in the sun and worry about nothing more technical than the temperature of your mai tai. Then it happens—the boss sidles up, clears his throat, and "suggests" that perhaps you ought to be checking E-mail during your sojourn by the sea.
Or maybe you feel your Great American Novel struggling to emerge from your fingertips. Whatever.
Suddenly the Speedo isn't the only thing you have to pack.
Time to sit down for a moment and pull together the technological goodies that need to be tucked in next to the swimsuit of ill repute.
A Bag Full of Snakes (Cables)
The first thing, of course, is a laptop computer. No problem. But has it been backed up lately? Sand is murder on disk drives! And do you have a sturdy bag to carry it in that doesn't scream "I'm a computer. Steal me"?
How about a power adapter? Are the plugs compatible in your tropical paradise, or is it time for a quick trip to the computer store to buy an adapter kit?
You'll need dial-up access unless—oh, joy!—the hotel has high-speed Internet. Does the machine have a built-in modem? Is it compatible with the phone system on your island? Do their jacks use standard RJ-11, or do you need an adapter for the phone plug as well? Luckily some adapter kits come with both power and phone plugs.
Cables—you need cables:
Suitable cable from modem to phone jack
Ethernet cable (hey, you can dream)
Security cable, so you can lock down the expensive toy while you're out communing with the sharks on the reef, or admiring the babes (or hunks) by the pool
Does the machine have a CD writer? If so, stuff a couple of blank disks into the bag—a good backup will save your bacon if your novel-bearing laptop slips into the pool. (That soggy machine is insured, isn't it?) And if it's an external drive, don't forget its cable!
As a backup for your backup, the new USB data keys are compact, have no moving parts, and they're getting cheaper by the day. Don't leave home without one.