{"id":1086,"date":"2012-01-06T16:46:09","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T08:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2012\/01\/06\/the-mobile-geek\/"},"modified":"2012-01-06T16:46:09","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T08:46:09","slug":"the-mobile-geek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2012\/01\/06\/the-mobile-geek","title":{"rendered":"The Mobile Geek"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the drawbacks of being a &#8220;gadget freak&#8221; is you end up having more &#8220;necessities&#8221; than normal when up and about. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">1 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">And by &#8220;normal,&#8221; I mean your keys, phone, and wallet.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>I bring my iPad more often than not &#8211;  then there&#8217;s the MiFi for internet connectivity. And to prevent any of those devices dying on me in the middle of the day, I bring a portable battery pack along. <\/p>\n<p>All that &#8211; for a <em>regular<\/em> day.<\/p>\n<p>It gets even more complicated when on a trip out of town\/country. Apart form those already mentioned, one has to consider the need to use <em>other<\/em> gadgets for tasks that would normally be done at the end of the day (computer\/laptop). And let&#8217;s not forget <em>real<\/em> cameras, whenever on an interesting &#8220;trip.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I also think my being a pack-rat comes with the territory of having so much shit to bring along, so I pretty much have to accept that for the most part, I&#8217;ll <em>never<\/em> be &#8220;traveling light&#8221; in the truest sense of the phrase. What I <em>can<\/em> be though, is <em>efficient.<\/em> <\/p>\n<!--more-->\n<!-- \/\/ -->\n<p>Bringing or packing the stuff I mentioned is easy enough\u0085 but what about keeping them charged\/powered? <em>Aye, there&#8217;s the rub!<\/em> that&#8217;s where all the experimentation comes from. Packing power cords\/chargers, etc. for all that gear can be a nightmare not only because they&#8217;re all in different shapes and sizes, but also because they&#8217;re things one could easily forget during a trip. Another issue is the lack of enough wall sockets &#8211; so I have to find a way to power everything through a single socket, power a ton of shit, and have it organized enough that I don&#8217;t leave anything when I&#8217;m done.<\/p>\n<p>As such, I&#8217;ve constantly been re-evaluating what I like to call my &#8220;gadget travel pack&#8221; &#8211; and I&#8217;d like to share it with you.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Here&#8217;s an idea of what I consider to be a &#8220;full setup&#8221; &#8211; meaning during long trips out of town\/country, I tend to bring these at the most (and take away one or two depending on my needs).<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7175\/6640943281_59a59a430e_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7175\/6640943281_820fce80b9_m.jpg\" class=\"wb\"><\/a><\/div>\n<ol>\n<li>Laptop<\/li>\n<li>iPad<\/li>\n<li>Battery Pack<\/li>\n<li>iPod<\/li>\n<li>MiFi<\/li>\n<li>Portable Router<\/li>\n<li>Phone<\/li>\n<li>Camera<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Everything is self-explanatory save for #6\u0085 which is my <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/tDoEmM\">CradlePoint CTR35.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the MiFi&#8217;s is an important day-to-day device, I normally don&#8217;t bring that out of country due to the impracticality of getting a temporary data plan on a different country. A more likely scenario would be finding myself in some place with &#8220;limited&#8221; internet; like hotels with a single wired connection, and such. The CTR35 allows me to basically take any type of connection (USB 3G\/4G broadband stick, Existing WiFi network, or wired Ethernet) and share\/extend that network. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">2 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Of course if the place I&#8217;m in has ubiquitous WiFi, then I just keep it stowed away<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Having said that, to power\/charge all these <em>simultaneously,<\/em> here&#8217;s how I&#8217;ve got everything setup: <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">3 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Again, the goal is to be able to power everything through <strong>one<\/strong> wall socket<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7173\/6640943011_30547c83ff_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7173\/6640943011_ceb16483ed_m.jpg\" class=\"wb\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>From left to right<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aviiq.com\/pages\/portable-charging-station\">Aviiq Portable Charging Station<\/a><br \/>\nThis is basically an all USB power hub that&#8217;s very much organized and <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.belkin.com\/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=400738\">Belkin Mini Surge Protector<\/a><br \/>\nThe most practical &#8220;portable power splitter&#8221; I&#8217;ve seen in the market so far. Has 2 USB ports.<\/li>\n<li>Universal Travel Adaptor w\/ Dual USB<br \/>\nThis is to ensure you can plug into <em>any<\/em> type of wall receptacle. It has the added bonus of having an auxiliary power cable apart from the actual plug receptacle it has &#8211; that coupled with the dual USB ports, actually allows you to connect 2 AC devices and 2 USB devices.<\/li>\n<li>CradlePoint CTR35 wall adaptor<br \/>\nThis is the only annoying part of everything. I have the fact that the CTR runs on 12v. If they had designed it to run on standard 5v then I could use one of the USB receptacles for it and do away with this stupid cumbersome plug. But alas, I have no alternatives so I must put up with it.<\/li>\n<li>Camera charger<br \/>\nFor whatever camera I have with me, usually it&#8217;s the Lumix, but the AC plug is the same type for both that and my DSLR charger.<\/li>\n<li>Apple power brick with <a href=\"http:\/\/twelvesouth.com\/products\/plugbug\">TwelveSouth PlugBug<\/a><br \/>\nThe iPad needs 5V <strong>2A<\/strong> for proper charging speed &#8211; when typical USB ports supply 1A. While the Aviiq is capable, it&#8217;s nice to know that should I need to use all those ports for something else, that there&#8217;s still one available that can give 2A.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So here&#8217;s how it breaks down:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Universal Travel adaptor plugs into wall<\/li>\n<li>Camera charger connects to #1 via auxiliary AC connector<\/li>\n<li>Belkin connects to #1&#8217;s main socket<\/li>\n<li>Aviiq, Powerbrick and CTR35 plug connect to Belkin.<\/li>\n<li>Devices connect to any the three.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>And when I&#8217;m ready to go, they can all be packed like so: <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">4 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Included the iPhone to give a proper sense of scale<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7143\/6640943601_9a3d96438d_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7143\/6640943601_da79a51ce9_m.jpg\" class=\"wb\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>The only annoying thing here is that damned CTR35 plug. It&#8217;s physically impossible to plug all three (Aviiq, Powerbrick and CTR35 plug) to the Belkin &#8211; simply because the CTR35 is <strong>unencessarily thick!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Techincally, given that the Aviiq only provides USB output, and that we&#8217;ve already got 5 usb-ports <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_5');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_5');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">5 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_5\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Two on the Belkin, two on the Travel Adaptor, and the one (2A) on the PlugBug<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> without it &#8211; I <em>could<\/em> forego the Aviiq altogether. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_6');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1086_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_6');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_6\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">6 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_6\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">That, or I could look for an slim 12V to Type-M barrel &#8211; that or hope that the room I end up using these things on has more than one wall plug.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1086_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The reason I&#8217;m resisting that scenario however, is because the whole point of me buying the damn thing was because of its [awesome cable management:]() it keeps everything nice and tidy. But I do have some CableYoYo&#8217;s here so if worse comes to worst, only time will tell.<\/p><div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1086_1();\">Notes<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1086_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1086_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_1086_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">Notes<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1086_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">And by &#8220;normal,&#8221; I mean your keys, phone, and wallet.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1086_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Of course if the place I&#8217;m in has ubiquitous WiFi, then I just keep it stowed away<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1086_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Again, the goal is to be able to power everything through <strong>one<\/strong> wall socket<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1086_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Included the iPhone to give a proper sense of scale<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1086_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_5');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_5\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>5<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Two on the Belkin, two on the Travel Adaptor, and the one (2A) on the PlugBug<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1086_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1086_1_6');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1086_1_6\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>6<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">That, or I could look for an slim 12V to Type-M barrel &#8211; that or hope that the room I end up using these things on has more than one wall plug.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_1086_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1086_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1086_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_1086_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1086_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1086_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1086_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1086_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1086_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_1086_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_1086_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1086_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_1086_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1086_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the drawbacks of being a &#8220;gadget freak&#8221; is you end up having more &#8220;necessities&#8221; than normal when up and about. 1 And by &#8220;normal,&#8221; I mean your keys, phone, and wallet. I bring my iPad more often than not &#8211; then there&#8217;s the MiFi for internet connectivity. And to prevent any of those &hellip; <p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2012\/01\/06\/the-mobile-geek\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The Mobile Geek&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}