Working out while traveling just got a bit easier

After quite a while of being a slacker, I have decided to pay a lot more attention to my diet and exercise regimen.  A big part of that is designed to help me follow much better habits while on the road.

One part of this change is to do some sort of workout or physical exercise every day.  It's been going well, but workouts on the road can be a challenge when it's hard to create a convenient time window to get to the hotel fitness center.

Bring the gym to you

Last week, I was in Dallas and decided to try out one of the Westin Hotel chain's "WestinWorkout" rooms in which you can reserve a room with fitness equipment in it.  I really like this concept - it allows me to get a workout in when I want to, under much more relaxed circumstances.  Here is a quick tour of the room I stayed in:

In the video, I mention I was expecting a treadmill (the bike worked fine, but I still like treadmills better).  Good news:  you can now specify whether you want a cycle or a treadmill, at least in some hotels - I had that choice when I booked at the Westin in Seattle a few days ago.

I hope this trend takes off and spreads to other hotels.  I'm a "Starwood guy" so the fact that Westin is a Starwood property makes me hopeful that other Starwood brands will follow suit. 

Keeping Your Life Synced Up

Everywhere you look these days, you see someone using a tablet.  That happened fast - in fact, my daughter's school just issued tablets for every student in the school - a big change from when I was in high school.

Pew Research says that 56 percent of Americans own a smartphone, and 34 percent own a tablet. Most people have more than one mobile device. The more devices you have, the harder it is to keep them in sync. You'd like to be able to use your laptop, tablet or smartphone and have access to the same information. It's time to get your life synced up and start using the apps that help keep your life organized.

Syncing and the Cloud

Early sync technology worked by downloading the same files to your devices to make them all have the same information. Cloud technology changed that by allowing you to store your files in the cloud where all of your devices can get to that information. There are two major ways that apps keep your information synced up now: through files or through an application.

An undeniably popular cloud service has been Dropbox. This application is a preferred pick for keeping files in sync because of its reliability and ease of use. Once you create an account, which is free until you need more space, you'll download a small app onto your smartphone, tablet or laptop. This creates a Dropbox folder in which you can create other folders. Just drop files into one of the sub-folders, and it will now be accessible to any device you connect to your account.

For example, you can take photos with your smartphone and place them into a photos sub-folder in the Dropbox folder on your phone. When you get home, you can fire up your laptop and go into its Dropbox Photos folder and touch up those photos before posting them on your Facebook page. Later, when you have more time, you can bring the photos up on your tablet from its Dropbox Photos folder for review.

There are other services that offer a similar cloud service. such as Microsoft Skydrive, Box.com, and Google Drive which all do something similar and allow you to keep the files on all of your devices in sync. With the speeds available to you through broadband, high-speed cellular connectivity, and even satellite Internet now, keeping your files in sync between all of your devices is quick and easy.

Syncing With Applications

The Evernote application, one of my "go to" apps, gives you a tool on all of your mobile devices to make notes and save web pages and images, and it keeps everything in sync for you. There are no files to deal with. You can browse a website on your phone, copy it into the Evernote app, and make some notes about it. When you get home, you can bring up Evernote on your laptop, and do some further research on that website.  One of the killer features of Evernote is to do character recognition on things like whiteboards - you take a picture of them and the handwritten text becomes searchable.  Very cool.

Google Sync is a way to keep the calendar and contacts on your smartphone or tablet in sync with your Google Calendar and Contacts. This is a small app that runs in the background on your mobile device at specific intervals that you pick during its set-up.

Toodledo is an example of one of many task managers that will help you create and manage a to-do list on all of your mobile devices and keep them in sync.

For your entertainment needs, Apple's iTunes will keep music, movies, TV shows, and audiobooks on all of your mobile devices in sync. Given Apple's focus on its own ecosystem, this app is streamlined for iOS devices, and there are some restrictions for Android devices, but you can use tools like DoubleTwist to bridge the gap and make it easy to sync your iTunes content to your Android device.

Finally, some streaming services are creating apps that let you control your TV viewing from multiple devices. For example, DirecTV Mobile Apps work on smartphones and tablets. You can start a movie from your smartphone on your TV, then go into another room, bring up the app on your tablet and watch the movie from where it left off on the TV. While not truly syncing, these apps allow you to use different mobile devices to access the same information.

Stop people from spying on you using your webcam

With all the talk about unwanted surveillance these days, one of the things I've heard people worry about is the privacy of their webcams.  "Could someone spy on me via my webcam without me knowing it?"  It's unlikely, but possible. 

If you don't want to be seen without your consent, there is an easy way to handle it:  ‎Scotch® tape or its equivalent. 

I've heard of people using duct tape, electrical tape, masking tape, etc. but I prefer the clear, but opaque ‎Scotch® tape for a few reasons:

1. ‎Scotch® tape allows light through, which enables your computer's light sensor to gauge the ambient light and adjust your screen brightness accordingly.
2. This tape allows you to see the "camera active" LED next to the lens when it comes on.  This can be an indicator that someone is watching, so you'll know when it's happening.  Note that some eavesdropping toolkits are able to monitor your webcam without  turning on the light, so the light alone isn't a perfect indicator.
3. The tape is easily removable without leaving a residue.  That means you can easily use your webcam when you want to without a lot of hassle. 

How well does it work?  Take a look at these two views - one normal view, and one with tape over the lens. 

As you can see, a simple bit of inexpensive tape does the trick. 

One other thing to keep in mind:  This does nothing to keep people from listening in on your microphone... 

Make your car more "hands-free friendly"

In my state, use of mobile devices is prohibited while driving, unless you're using them in a hands-free mode.  I've been doing that since it became a law but it was a bit of a pain sometimes because there was no good place to put my phone and it would slide around while I drove.

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I looked around for a holder for mobile devices, but all the ones I found required drilling holes, sticking an adhesive disk on my dashboard, or sticking a suction cup to my window.  I didn't want to damage my car's interior, and those ones that stick to the window block my view and fall off at inconvenient times. 

Recently, I discovered a great solution for this problem: the Mountek nGroove Universal CD Slot Mount for Cell Phones and GPS Devices.

This is a well-built mount for your mobile devices, which fits in the CD slot in your car.  There is an adjustable "gripper" that you expand to grab the inside of the CD slot to hold the mount in place.  The device holder portion of the Mountek is adjustable to fit most mobile devices and hold them in place securely. 

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I've been using this mount for a couple of months and it is great.  Not only does it keep my phone from sliding around, it also allows me to put my phone in a position where I can easily see the GPS guidance using Waze, Google Navigator, or other mapping software.

I don't use my CD player much in the car, but on the couple of occasions when I needed to, I just loosened the adjustment thumbscrew on the Mountek, took it off, added a CD, and remounted the Mountek. 

I'm very happy with the Mountek nGroove Universal CD Slot Mount for Cell Phones and GPS Devices- it seems very sturdy, meets my requirements, and doesn't damage the interior of my car. 

8+ Practical Tips for Avoiding Pickpockets

A week or so back, I was in Amsterdam and my phone was stolen from my pocket on the street.  I'm usually very cautious, wary, etc. when I'm in an area known for pickpockets, but I let me guard down for a few minutes and paid the price. 

With that in mind, here are some good general tips to protect yourself from pickpockets. 

1. Be an informed visitor.  You can usually find out if the city you're going to is known for pickpockets with a quick search of the internet. Searching for "pickpockets <city name>" will usually let you know pretty quickly.  I already knew Amsterdam was known for pickpockets, since I used to live in The Netherlands.  Other cities that are infamous for this are Rome, Barcelona, Prague, Madrid, Paris, and Florence.
2. When you go out, only take what you need.  Leave your passport, spare credit cards, and other belongings in the hotel safe.  I usually only take some cash, and an "emergency" credit card with me and lock the rest away (along with my iPad, computer, camera, etc.)
3.  Put the things you do take with you in a front pocket or a hidden pocket.  It is much harder to get things out of your front pocket without you noticing.  Also, if you just have the cards and some cash in your front pocket, it is much less conspicuous.
4. Avoid walking into or through crowds.  This one can be a challenge sometimes, but avoid crowds where you can - inside a crowd, people can rub up against you easily, and you can't tell what they are doing.
5.  Try to blend in.  Pickpockets are on the lookout for people who look like they are lost, unfamiliar with the area, etc. so avoid looking at maps, wandering around in a confused or disoriented way, or other things that would indicate you are a tourist.  This includes trying to dress in a way that is consistent with the locals, if at all possible.
6. Don't talk to strangers.  If someone approaches you to engage with you, be very wary - they may be trying to distract you so that an accomplice can grab your goodies while you aren't paying attention.
7. Consider carrying a "decoy wallet."  I have a friend who carries an old wallet in his back pocket with some old hotel room keys (they look kind of like credit cards) and a few $1 bills in it.  He keeps this in his back pocket as bait for a pickpocket, and follows the guidelines above.  I don't know if it works or not, but it seems like a plausible idea.
8. Know what you have, and have a backup if you can.  Make sure you have an accurate inventory of what you've taken with you, even if you plan to lock it in your room safe.   I have scans of the front and back of my credit cards, my passport, and my drivers license in an encrypted file on cloud storage (I use 1Password for this) so I can get to it from anywhere.  This tells me what I've lost, what number to call, and provides me with a "punch list" of the things to cancel or have replaced in the event they get stolen.
   
   Along these lines, also make sure you have information on whatever electronics you're carrying - serial number, make & model, IMEI number if it's a phone, etc.  It is also a good idea to permanently mark your gadgets with your name if you're comfortable with doing that.

OK, OK...I knew all of this.  So what did I do wrong?  In hindsight, I violated rules 3, 5 and 6.  

• I violated rule 3 by letting my guard down and putting my phone in my outside jacket pocket for easier access.  
• I violated rule 5 by looking at my phone periodically to make sure I was on the right street using Google maps.  This probably made me stand out as a tourist. 
• I violated rule 6 by talking with someone who was asking me a bunch of questions, and I foolishly engaged with him (he turned out to have a couple of nearby accomplices that I didn't notice at first and who were smooth enough that I didn't think of them til later).

Rule 3 is probably what did me in, though.  Had I kept my phone in my right front pocket (as I usually do), I don't think they'd have gotten it without me noticing.  As it was, they got my phone, which I noticed about 5 minutes later but they were long gone by then.

By the way, as soon as I got to my hotel I called AT&T and reported the phone stolen and they blacklisted it on their network and disabled my account.  I'm sure glad my phone was locked with a password and had a short auto-lock timeout!

I'm also glad it wasn't my passport or anything else essential.  That reminds me - if you carry your phone with you, make sure you have copies of all your vital information from the phone, so you can re-provision it when you're done.  For iPhones, this means backing up regularly to iCloud or your computer; for Android phones, this means ensuring you're syncing with Google regularly, or using one of the many backup apps available in the Google Play store.

What about you?  Any tips to add or pickpocket stories to share?