With the purchase of a Sansa MP3 player, there was an invitation to join audible.com, online purveyors of audio books. Somewhat skeptical of what they might have to offer, we still joined up and selected a monthly membership which comes with a free credit each month. This credit can be used to select one title for download for free, and the membership also comes with substantial discounts for the purchase of audio books.

After selecting a title from the site, the Audible Manager software downloaded it and loaded it into my MP3 player. The handy thing with the Audible Manager software was that it not only loaded the book, but showed a nice summary of the length of the title, and where the current bookmark was set in the player. It makes it very easy to manage the space on the player and see how far through the title has been already played.

It seems that the quality of the recordings has improved from those we remember from years past on audio cassettes. The narrators are getting quite good at varying voice and tone which adds color and interest to the story.

Sometimes when traveling abroad, it can be quite difficult to obtain a new book in countries where the language is not english. The selection may be limited, or in more remote areas nonexistant. The great thing with audible is that you can select a title and download it from anywhere and get access to the latest hot titles. Of course, the selection is not the same as going to Amazon and looking for titles in print, but it seems to be getting better all the time.

If you already have a player, then you can try Audible.com for free, download their software and get started. If not, check out our previous article on the Sansa MP3 player, which is our current favorite for listening to audio books.

Click on picture to get one on sale from Buy.com

One of the really great things about the web and blogging has been the creation of audio content that is downloadable from literally millions of sources. My favorite morning radio program is downloadable from their website sans commercials for a small monthly fee. Many other programs ranging from news to New Age are available for download to your MP3 player.

We have an iPod and love it for its capacity to hold music by the bucketful and play songs by artist, album, genre, etc. It is a bit trickier to use it for the aforementioned MP3 content. For one thing, the iPod does not do a good job of managing the bookmarks in content, and it can be real bear to locate your spot in an audio novel that is 8 hours long.

 Fortunately, there are affordable options available to use as dedicated readers of this material. I got the Sansa MP3 player with 2 GB of memory and have used it constantly for nearly a year. I can download a week at time of my favorite monring drive time comedy show and listen while sitting in an airport or a country where I cannot understand the programming on the radio and long for something in English. It is easy on batteries and the headphones that come with it are usable, albeit easy to replace and never look back as well.

The controls are simple to operate and best of all, it keeps its place in every file on the device, so you can listen to a book, then go to the radio show and it knows where it left off. Some things are a little odd, I have yet to figure out how it selects the sequence to play multiple files, almost seems random, but it is easy to navigate to just the file you want.

There are other features, such as an FM radio and a recorder, but these are just “me too” features and frankly not that well implemented or useful. The real magic is in having a way to just pick it up, turn it on and start listening to an audio book right where you left it.

When traveling abroad, there are many great experiences and cultures to explore. Part of the magic of working from another country is being able to enjoy the daily lifestyle of a new place. Even the little things stand out, the faucets in Japan turn the opposite direction of those in the U.S., sandwiches in Denmark are open faced, and in Germany, most people seem to drink fruit juice or water with their lunch.

Television and entertainment in other countries can be a particular challenge unless you are fluent in the local language. It is not difficult to learn the words necessary to conduct minor business, such as shopping or going to a movie, but listening to the news requires a grasp of the local language. Many countries provide very little English language programming, even in top hotels.

Online newspapers have been slowly emerging on the web as a supplement to the daily print edition. One that we have found to be outstanding is the Washington Post online. The news coverage is thorough and you can even get your daily fix of the funny pages! The registration is free, and they will even email you the top stories of the day, which can be directed to your cell phone for extra convenience.

Let’s hope this never happens to you - first bills that you don’t recognize start showing up on your statements, then you get turned down for a car loan, or start getting threatening calls from bill collecters. Maybe you have been the victim of identity theft.

A recent General Accounting Office report estimates that as many as 750,000 Americans are victims of identity theft every year. And that number may be low, as many people choose not to report the crime or, for that matter, even know they’ve been victimized.

There are many recommendations for keeping your personal data private, such as shredding financial documents before discarding them, and keeping your social security number private. Unfortunately, as regular travelers we have significant exposure to theft of credit card information. Through the use of a skimmer (a small device that reads the data from the magnetic strip on your card), anyone that handles your card could potentially capture this information.

Other parts of the world have taken measures to minimize this activity, implementing smart cards (a credit card that contains a chip) which resist the efforts of skimmers to steal your details. You may also notice that most waiters in Europe now bring a credit card remote device to your table and process your card right there, rather than taking your card off to some remote part of the restaurant to process it.

Even with these measures, Traveling Telecommuters are still at risk for identity theft. We travel to remote parts of our own countries and the rest of the world, often patronizing unknown merchants. We strongly suggest the use of credit monitoring services to keep an eye on the level of activity on your credit files at the major bureaus. If you detect fraund, here are some handy numbers to contact these agencies and minimize the damage:

Equifax
To report fraud: 1-800-525-6285
and write: P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian
To report fraud: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742)
and write: P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion
To report fraud: 1-800-680-7289
and write: Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634
You should also ask them to lock your credit records and ask creditors to contact you prior to opening any new accounts.

Solar Style charger SC003

Baltimore, Maryland - Solar Style, Inc. released an easy-to-use, convenient, solar powered cell phone charger. The new charger is easy on the environment, eliminating the need to carry spare batteries or to use traditional, pollution-inducing, fossil-fuel-created electricity. The charger, which can use any indoor or outdoor light source, making it convenient for emergency, power shortage, rolling blackout or severe weather situations, is available only on the company’s website for $35.99. Other models range from $29.99 to $55.99.

The solar charger absorbs all light energy converting it into usable electricity. This electricity is used to charge the attached device or the internal Battery-on-Board. Once the battery is charged, electronic devices, such as cell phones, can be plugged in for use day or night. The Battery-on-Board technology provides stable power for immediate cell phone use, while the solar panel continues to collect energy for future or nighttime use, eliminating downtime. The Solar Style chargers are compatible with many digital devices, including call phones, PDAs, MP3s, gaming devices and digital cameras.

“We can tell by the volume of calls that we’re getting that the time is right for the SC003,” said Solar Style CEO Robert Grossman, one time general manager for Toshiba Canada. “People want clean, affordable, convenient power on demand without being tied down. And, in today’s world, it’s nice not to have to rely on the traditional, limited energy sources. With the SC003, you have the power whenever you want it, wherever you are, no matter who you are. We’ve heard nothing but great things from everyone from movie producers needing reliable communications on location to teenage girls who can’t plug in at school. ”

The Solar Style charger measures 3.5″ x 2.5″ x 1″ (86 x 54 x 20 mm); its output current is _0.3A; battery capacity is 750mAh, voltage is 5.5 V; battery life is _500; and it has a charglie current of 50mA. The four connector cables included fit most Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson cell phones. Additional connectors are available on the company website.

Company executives point out that with the consistently growing presence of mobile computers and other small handheld devices, the need for portable power and charging capability is soaring.As a result the manufacturer anticipates a rising global demand for powering devices. 

Solar Style, based out of Baltimore, Maryland, offers a broad range of PV solar chargers with sizes and powering capabilities for a wide range of consumer electronic products, including mobile phones, walkmans, discmans, cameras, mp3s, gaming systems, laptops and notebook computers. Solar Style has filed and applied for U.S., Canada, European and world wide patent protection for its range of solar chargers, as well as its new state-of-the-art new “Power Pack” PV solar charger. For more information on the new solar charger visit Solar Style