What Every Traveler and Digital Nomad Needs to Know about Passwords

password 150x150 - What Every Traveler and Digital Nomad Needs to Know about Passwords

Updated December 6, 2019

Though this blog—and thus this article—is focused on travel and location independence, the advice I will offer regarding passwords should be useful for anyone trying to protect a computer or online activity.
How Do Our Password Protections Fail?
It might seem a bit negative to start with the weaknesses of passwords, but the fact is that passwords are a security measure, … [ Read more ]

Online (Cloud) Syncing and Backup Services

cloud sync 150x150 - Online (Cloud) Syncing and Backup Services

Cloud syncing services are all the rage—and for good reason. They are especially useful for keeping important files synced across multiple computers and for securely backing up and storing your files online. Many of them also offer the ability to share files and collaborate with others. In this post I list features worth considering and present the competing offerings. Besides including what I think are … [ Read more ]

System Image or Clone Backup

hard drive 150x150 - System Image or Clone Backup

I already discussed programs meant to sync or backup specific folders and files. There are other programs, however, that will back up an entire computer, including the operating system, installed programs, and all your files. Basically, everything on the computer’s hard disk (or partition) is included. This type of backup is usually referred to as a clone or a system or disk image. … [ Read more ]

Online (Cloud) Backup

cloud 150x150 - Online (Cloud) Backup

These days, online or “cloud” services are everywhere. Most of the attention is given to the syncing services, but there are a number of backup-only solutions as well. There is nothing inherently better or worse about cloud backup compared to local backup options, though naturally, there are advantages and disadvantages.

One advantage is that a cloud service provides the geographical … [ Read more ]

Local and Network Syncing and Backup Options

portable hard drive 150x150 - Local and Network Syncing and Backup Options

Cloud syncing services like Dropbox are great, but there are some legitimate reasons to seek out alternatives for local and network backup and syncing, including:

  • To save money.
  • To sync files that you aren’t comfortable keeping in the cloud (for security or other reasons).
  • To sync files that are too large for individual upload limits or that would put you over your

[ Read more ]

Windows Live Writer: A Great Tool for Blogging

typewriter 1024x766 150x150 - Windows Live Writer: A Great Tool for Blogging


Windows Live Writer, part of the free Windows Essentials (formerly Live Essentials) suite, is a visual blog editor for Windows. It is also widely considered one of the best offline blog editors available. With Live Writer, you can create an optimized blog post offline and then upload it to your blog when finished, either publishing it directly or adding it as a draft … [ Read more ]

Protecting Files and USB Drives with VeraCrypt (formerly TrueCrypt)

VeraCrypt

UPDATE – June 06, 2015: This is an older article discussing TrueCrypt, which has unfortunately been abandoned. Fortunately, some developers have revived it, calling the new product VeraCrypt. It is essentially the same software and even keeps the same look and feel. Likewise, the operation is identical to TrueCrypt. So, download VeraCrypt but feel free to use these TrueCrypt instructions as they are … [ Read more ]

Super Useful Windows Shortcuts

windows shortcuts1 150x150 - Super Useful Windows Shortcuts

Being occasionally geeky, and always attached to a PC running some form of MS Windows, I have come to rely heavily on a handful of super useful shortcuts to make my computing easier and faster. Interestingly, I rarely encounter friends or fellow travelers who seem familiar with these. So, below I will list them for you and hopefully some of you will point out … [ Read more ]

Laptop vs. Netbook

netbook laptop1 150x150 - Laptop vs. Netbook

My current computer of choice for extended travel is an ASUS 10.2” netbook, which replaced the Acer Aspire One netbook that I used for a year traveling in Central America. In case you don’t know already, a netbook is basically a stripped down, much smaller version of a laptop (typically with an 8-10 inch screen and weighing a couple of pounds or 1 kilogram). … [ Read more ]