London Ninja

If you live in the UK and use Skype as your primary means of communicating with friends & family back at home, the best way to buy Skype credit is through QuidCo, which gives you a 25% rebate. I haven’t received any of it yet, but I think I have around 7 quid in that account that I can have sent to me. In case you’re curious, 7 quid is good enough for a proper meat pie and maybe a piece of black pudding.

When you travel, it is imperative to bring a electronic device(s) that allows you to do all of those tasks you do the following activities:

Essential travel device activities:
1. Check email
2. Internet access for reviews, restaurants, etc
3. IM including Video Chat
4. Internet telephony
5. Watch movies
6. Listen to mp3s like the album from the Spice Girls

Nice to have:
6. Blog
7. Store photos from your camera

What do I use?
Currently I use an old school PocketPC, a Dell Axim X5. I’ve had this PDA since 2002. It is a beast especially with the extended battery on but it keeps on ticking, covering most of the tasks above. It works well for everything except for the buggy Skype software that prevents me from being able to call out from the road. I’m trying to figure out some way around it but other than that, it does very well on the road. I generally use it during transportation, listening to music and watching videos of Michael Jackson in the tube. When I find a unsecured wifi network I can be off and IM’ing and calling my mates “twats” in no time.

What non-phone device should I buy today?
Assuming you don’t have an old brick-like PDA sitting around next to your gold bullions, you may consider buying something. This is not a comprehensive list, but these are the devices that come to mind, ones that give you the flexibility and portability suited for travel.

Dell Axim X51v
Dell doesn’t sell these fine PDAs anymore. As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone even sells Pocket PC aka Windows Mobile devices anymore. This puppy has wifi, bluetooth, a VGA screen, and makes biscuits and tea in the afternoon. You can get them for ~100 quid on eBay. I’ve seen them used in museums in the UK for audiotours so there you go: approved by the Brits.

iPod Touch / iPhone
I don’t have one because I don’t like Apple’s closed stance on computing. But if you want something pretty that can surf the web…go for it. They are shiney and pretty and very touchable.

Eee PC

Since coming out in 2007, these ultra portable Linux laptops (Made in Taiwan like all things good in life) have revolutionised the cheap-arse computing market. Armed with 2-8gigs of memory, they boot up in no time and are pretty fast for something that can fit in small man bags. Man-purses, if you will. For roughly 100-200 quid, you can get a device capable of doing all of the essential travel tasks. AND, it looks cool because it’s tiny. I think I paid the same for my Axim back in the day…the difference is that my man-purse has grown larger since those days and it has plenty of room for a Eee PC now.

You could go old school and travel without any gear, but what’s the fun if you can’t call your mates “twats” from other parts of the world?

During the holiday season last year I created a nice list of places I wanted to go to in 2008. It was a long list and would have required 98 days of holiday (which I’m just a bit shy of…by about 75%). Now that we’re close to the half way point of the year, here’s an update of how far we have gotten and what else to expect for the rest of the year:

So far we have done ok with a couple of big trips:
Been There Done That:
St Petersburg
Helsinki
Stockholm
Tallinn
Swedish Lapland
Salzburg
York
Ireland – Newgrange, Glendalough

For the rest of 2008, here are the planned trips in some different buckets:

Mosdef = already planned
Valencia, Spain
Edinburgh (and some surrounding areas)
Italy trip (cinque terre, tuscany)

MosLikely
Norway
Munich for Oktoberfest (if there is participation from friends)
Croatia
Iceland
Switzerland
Sevilla + Morrocco

Moslikely Weekend trips: (minimal holidays off)
Paris
Amsterdam
Bruges/Brussels
Switzerland

For anyone thinking about taking a trip to the Ninja Den:
Those are your choices. I will take that trip to Munich for Oktoberfest if I get other participants that don’t mind a bit of regurgitated Bosna on their shoes. I am taking mid-December through January off. No work, all play. All regurgitation. So, if you want to visit, that is also a good period of time to meet up somewhere.

One of the annoying things about currency in the UK is that it is heavy. There is no 1 pound note. Anything less than 10 gbp is in the form of coins. There’s a 1 quid coin, a 2 quid coin, and a mess of other coins. It means you always have coins in your pockets, which for some may be not such a bad thing. For me, it seems to enhance a certain part of my body that does not require enhancement. As a matter of fact, there’s not even room for coins in that area which causes problems for me since I already get large pants for that reason. And by large, I mean XXXXL in the scrotum area.

I did ask one of my British mates on this and this was his response:

LN: the real question is why isnt there a 1gbp note?
Brit: There used to be. We moved on
LN: and what is the quid made out of?
Brit: Pure gold
LN: u mean fools gold. The dollar is made out of platinum. (FYI: Platinum is worth more than gold)

The birds, the flowers, the bees…ah yes, Spring is here. Oh, and the mass snow flurry this past weekend that covered the UK.

And no, I will not explain the birds and the bees.