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Communications Connecting - internet cafes, laptops, smart phones - how to connect, use, which one, and intercom/radio systems.
Photo by Daniel Rintz, Himba children, Namibia

The only impossible journey
is the one
you never begin

Photo by Daniel Rintz,
Himba children, Namibia



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  #1  
Old 27 May 2004
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How do you all do it?

same question as in below post really, but I am curious to know how yuou all update your websites? I am going to create my pages on my laptop and then burn onto CD . . BUT, how do I update my site in an internet cafe with this CD? I assume most places will not have a handy ftp programme running?

thanks for any advice!

Huey
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  #2  
Old 27 May 2004
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Hi Huey

All recent Windows have a integrated ftp client. It's a command line tool: Go to "Run" and start "cmd.exe". This will open a command line window. There you can start a ftp session by typing "ftp servername". This is definately not the perfect solution if you're not a experienced user. Alternative: Install SmartFTP on your laptop (I asume you're using Windows). This free ftp client runs on a second machine without installation. Just copy the installation folder to your CD you have the data on an start it in the icafe from there.

All of this is of course limited to Windows PCs in the iCafes and works only on unrestricted machines. The best solution would be anyway to have a site which you can administrate with any web browser. Examples are the HU-blogs (See link [Traveler Stories] on the left) or my site (see link below). These "log books" can easyly be integrated in any static site anywhere else. This works great if you just need to write a log book and download a few pix. Everywhere! We do this even through very low bandwith radio connections on sailing boats around the world ;-)

Hope this is of any help...

Cheers, Kudi

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  #3  
Old 3 Jun 2004
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Kudi,

Many thanks for your reply. Unfortunitly the host I have does not allow updating via explorer or as you describe above.


I'll give SmartFTP a go though. . .

thanks!

Huey

[This message has been edited by Huey (edited 03 June 2004).]

[This message has been edited by Huey (edited 03 June 2004).]
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  #4  
Old 4 Jun 2004
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Huey,

What sort of host do you have? If you're paying money you should have a cgi-bin, in which case you should have no problem installing Movable Type, which is what we have set up for the blogs.

If you're using a free site, then perhaps a different one? Or use www.blogger.com or one of it's competitors.

If you're stuck doing it the old way, and have had no luck finding an ftp client, check out an OLD version of wsftp - old versions fit on a floppy and run fine from there.

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  #5  
Old 10 Jun 2004
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thanks for your advice Grant. I do pay for my space and so have a cgi bin - but would prefer to build the pages offline than install blogger or similar. . . .
I checked out some older ftp clients - as you say some are very small and fit on floppys, but they all seem to actually need installing on the local machine before using, (plus I couldn't actually get any to work!)
As a novice, I find all this stuff bewildering!

cheers

Huey
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  #6  
Old 11 Jun 2004
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Building pages from scratch off line and then uploading them takes a lot of time away from travelling. I've seen many websites die because of the effort involved.

Movable Type makes it all dead easy, and does a great job. Some effort at the beginning to get it right - a couple of hours to get a simple default installation up - and it can't be easier after, you just have to make up the words - and trust me, after a few months on the road even that can be tough!

Blogger requires NO installation - it's run off their server and redirected through your site. But I prefer MT myself for it's customisability.

Getting an FTP proggie to work when you're not an expert can be tricky.

Remember the travellers mantra - KISS - keep it super simple!


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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.

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www.HorizonsUnlimited.com
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  #7  
Old 16 Oct 2004
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My KISS solution as posted eleswhere here...

Well here's my tuppence worth. I'm a biker and a geek. Some 47 bikes and 35 years later and over 10 since I started on the net...well...my mate who has been RTWing for the last 4 1/2 years..we set him up with a Psion5 but the reality is that cafes have proved best for him.
For me, although I have a small Sony laptop I'd simply take my Smartphone with Win Mobile 2003 now. It has a 256min SD card if I need to take it out to plug it in to a machine. I can text edit a webpage and upload via FTP direct from the phone so that means wee videos and pics too via GSM or GPRS or pass thro to a USB cable to a PC. I also have a USB watch that cost 15 quid which has a CF card built in and has essential software on it.

My smartphone can take a small folding keyboard too for those days when predictive text is a pain.

For power I'd use one of these adapted

http://www.action-replay.co.uk/Compu..._adapter.shtml

The keyboard is here

http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/show/a...orange_spv/all

The phone here

http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/show/h...pv_c500/detail


A quick demo of what can be done with a tiny smartphone.
http://cool.buzznet.com/user/?id=567928

I used this guy's site to give you a demo of uploading a pic and text straight from a phone using email to FTP

http://www.coolsmartphone.com/index....=page&SubMenu=

Just an idea....All you need is a smart phone ....weighing 100g plus a charging solution from the bike. If not wanting to do via GSM or GPRS it can all wait till you get access to a PC for cheapness.

There are obviosuly variations to the theme using server side content management to make stuff look pretty on your own webserver. Personally I just want simple content i.e pics and text.

John

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