What Is Mobile Computing?
To us, mobile computing means the ability to carry out everyday computer functions whilst away from home. This includes working with pc programmes such as a word processor, spreadsheet, photo editing utilities, DVD making, designing and producing specialist documents such as greetings cards, calendars, business cards, notices, place mats and coasters. You can even use your computer as a CD and DVD player to listen to music, and to watch films, wherever you are.

Working away from home with this software does not require the use of the internet. This allows you to maintain continuity of pc work normally carried out at home, and also enables you to capture your thoughts and record them whilst they are still fresh – and unforgotten.

Camera pictures taken whilst away can be downloaded, edited in many ways, and entered into folders and files, forming a completed pc record. This can now be copied to CD/DVD, and prints can also be generated for friends and family. No more waiting until you arrive home to undertake this task from scratch!

Internet provision is another important element of the mobile computing equation. Email communication can be maintained both in the receiving and sending of personal and business messages. Letters and reports generated whilst away can be despatched as emails, together with attachments such as photographs. Access to internet sites for reference, instant messaging, amusement and information is also possible.

By way of example, we compile our own personal holiday and cruise diaries whilst away, and email them to our friends and family. Whilst working on cruise ships, we design and print items for passengers and fellow guest lecturers, using our mobile printers and laminators. We also submit our monthly copy to the CMM editor to meet his monthly deadline dates, from wherever we may be. Yes, we can combine work and pleasure quite nicely!

Mobile Computing Requirements
In order to gain full advantage of mobile computing, you will need to have a pc capable of being carried around quite easily. These devices come in two basic forms, firstly the conventional Laptop (now more widely knows as a Notebook), and the more recent and small versions called Netbooks.

Laptops come with a variety of screen sizes, the most popular being around 15 inches. They are powered by mains supply, or by their own rechargeable battery with a life of from 2 hours upwards. They come complete with an optical drive, which allows you to play both CDs and DVDs, and to record onto both formats too. Operating systems are either Windows, Linux, or Mac - you have a choice to make here. All Laptops will have a selection of programmes pre installed, and will include a word processor, spreadsheet maker, internet browser, email facility, address book, and many more including games to while away the time! They weigh in at between 2.5 and 4.5 kilograms, to which you must add the weight of the carrying case, mains charger, and any other items such as disks, pens, car charger etc.

The new breed of Netbooks are really quite novel. Smaller screen sizes ranging from 7 to 10 inches make for a sleek unit that can slide discreetly into a coat pocket, and weigh in at around just 1 kilogram. Again, with mains power, or their own rechargeable battery which can give between 5 and 8 hours use. Keyboards are smaller too, and with some clever use of available space, some have keys which are 95% of the size of Laptop models. Case size does not permit the inclusion of an optical drive, but a slimline external drive supplies these functions. Operating systems are either Windows or Linux, and as with Laptops, a variety of essential programmes and utilities are pre installed. With full internet capability, these are very attractively priced items!

Sources Of Internet Access Away From Home
Look for a free wi-fi connection for your own pc – obviously free
Use a mobile modem with your pc – UK Ok, can be pricey to use abroad
Use a computer at an internet café – typically around 50p per hour
Most hotels give accessibility to the internet – may or may not charge
Use your mobile phone/PDA – prices vary with operator
If on a ship, satellite access – usually £10 per hour

Our Involvement With Mobile Computing
For many years we have taken a keen interest in mobile computing for our own use and enjoyment. Sitting in our caravan in a rural field, our Laptop connected to the internet using a mobile phone as a modem, via infra red connection was an early starting point for us, in addition to being a strong topic of conversation with our fellow caravanners! Over the years came Bluetooth, followed by modems attachable by PCMCIA slot, Express Card, and USB. Time really does bring progress, and technology now allows for really fast speeds to be possible from mobile computing devices, with mainly USB connections. A smallish monthly fee allows for ample mobile computing internet access in the UK, and we often sit in hotel rooms enjoying this freedom without any addition to our bill! Overseas use attracts charges from the foreign supplier.

Mobile Computing On Cruise Ships
Here again, this means using your own Laptop/Notebook, or Netbook whilst at sea, in other words complete independence to work at any time. This allows you to maintain a computer generated cruise diary on an almost daily basis while memories and experiences are still fresh in your mind. Using your word processor again, you are also able to compose emails to friends and family at your leisure, in readiness to send them later. These emails can also have pictures as attachments!

It is usual for passengers to take many photographs whilst on a cruise. Having your own computer enables you to download your photos from your camera, allowing you to clear and use your camera card again. Once your pictures are stored in your computer, you can set to work making folders and files of places visited, your ship itself, activities onboard, fellow passengers and staff and crew members – you have a wide choice available to form your very own personal computer photograph album! This is a good time to consider tackling some simple editing of your pictures – removing red-eye, adding more light, adjusting contrast, cropping out unwanted areas, and straightening the horizon perhaps - these are simple processes to learn. You can even add copies of your pictures as illustrations in your cruise diary to add both flavour and colour. And yes, you will arrive home with all your photographs edited and filed – a boon if your cruise is a long one such as a world cruise.

Don’t forget, your computer can also be a CD and DVD player, which allows you to listen to your favourite music, and also watch films at anytime, including leisure time in your cruise cabin.

As far as the internet is concerned, normal land based signals are available whilst close to land masses, and also whilst at ports. Internet connections are available whilst at sea, but as they are beamed from satellites their use is very expensive. We choose to compromise, and prepare our emails whilst at sea, and send them once we near or reach ports. This choice includes the option of using internet cafes, or your own mobile server.

Mobile Computing Tuition – Our Way!
We chose to celebrate a special anniversary by cruising our way around the world on the MV VAN GOGH in January 2007. In preparation for this journey we made sure we had a mobile phone which would work in most countries - an unlocked quadband, a suitable digital camera with ample memory card capacity, and our Laptop computer with a PCMCIA external modem opened up for foreign use. These devices ensured that we maintained contact with friends and family for the whole of the three months we were away.

On a bright and sunny morning whilst we approached our berth at Antigua, we were sitting out on deck, receiving a good internet signal, and attending to our emails. A group of fellow passengers asked what we were doing, and once told did not realise that this was possible, without any external wires or aerials. As they expressed a wish to learn more, we contacted the Cruise Director who arranged for us to give a talk to passengers on IT matters. This talk was well attended, and was repeated three days later to a new audience. With such a high level of interest, we soon arranged a series of computer workshops, each lasting two hours on sea days, and effectively formed The Van Gogh Computer Club. Workshops catered for passengers who had brought their own Laptops, and others who worked in groups with our Laptop. We enjoyed our World Cruise, and revelled in the enthusiastic response from fellow passengers to our workshops.

Soon after the cruise finished, we were offered a contract with the cruise company, Travelscope, to rejoin the ship. Here again, we ran the Computer Club for its second and third, back to back, world cruises, during 2007 and 2008. The uptake certainly kept us busy – we ran workshops for complete Beginners, more Advanced, and workshops for the Laptopless passengers!

We Are Available!
Since the departure of the Van Gogh, and Travelscope, we have registered as Guest Lecturers with the P&R Agency, and have enjoyed providing talks and workshops on the Black Prince, and are to join the Braemar later.

Our experiences have convinced us that there is a substantial interest for passengers wishing to learn how to use, and get to know, their own Laptop computers. Many have bought new computers before the long cruises, knowing that they would receive free individual tuition on their own machines, using their own programmes, and also learning at their own comfortable pace. Some passengers even bought their first Laptops during their voyages in order to take advantage of these free workshops.

Passengers are taught how to use their computers in order to:-

Compose a cruise diary by recording their thoughts and experiences whilst they are still fresh in their minds.
Use their computers to download their photos from their digital cameras.
Create folders and files in which to store their photos.
Carry out simple photo editing to improve the quality of their pictures.
Introduce some of their pictures into their cruise diaries.
Use their pictures to design and produce personal items such as calendars, business cards, coasters and place mats etc.
Make a slide show of their pictures, with transitions, and set to music.
Gain a fuller understanding of their own computer’s operating system facilities and capabilities.
Get to know the full set of programmes pre installed in their own individual computers.
Gain advantage from the many free computer programmes available for their computers.
Use their computers on the internet.
Be aware of the numerous interesting websites they can use.
Keep their computers free from virus attacks.
Search for “lost files” on their computers.
Safely take back up copies of their computer information.

For those who intend to purchase their first computer, or a replacement of an older model, we guide them through the many alternatives currently available. In this fast moving area, new operating systems, new programmes, and improved utilities abound. For all of our workshops we give passengers a handout to remind them of their lesson, and are constantly updating our Specifications For A New Laptop!

Passengers show appreciation when they are invited to bring aboard their own personal computers, and to receive individual tuition, all included in their cruise ticket price. We are also keen to ensure that no direct passenger charges are made for our talks and workshops.

Confusion can often exist where mobile phones are concerned! Do passengers need a contract or pay-as-you-go model? Is a dual band, tri band, or quad band phone needed? Is their phone unlocked for foreign use? How can they ensure adequate credits/renewals/bill payments whilst onboard? Does their mobile phone service provider have agreements with providers in the countries visited on the cruise? We provide help in all of these areas, with our lists of individual phone types, and details of phone coverage at ports visited.

In addition to providing lecture talks and workshops on Mobile Computing matters, we can also offer illustrated talks on Classic Cars found here in the UK, and also from other countries, including Australia. Following these talks, we are happy to organise informal meetings of passengers who share this interest – we have met many on our cruise travels!

We have been on the editorial staff of Classic Motor Monthly for over 20 years. Here we enjoy writing articles on a variety of subjects, including our own classic car uses and experiences. In recent years we have compiled articles relating to the current classic car scene in some of the countries we visit. Every month we compile the CMM Classic Crossword, and as we combine our work and pleasure, many of these have been composed whilst at sea, and submitted to our editor by email from many countries.

For all of our lecture talks and workshops, we tailor each one to the particular cruise being undertaken. We are happy to create a programme suitable for a short cruise, or a longer cruise, and have taught passengers on three complete world cruises. Sometimes the cruise itinerary suggests a talk topic list, particularly when it comes to classic cars in various parts of the world. We can amend our cruise talk programme to take account of possible cruise itinerary changes, inclement weather conditions, sickness cover etc.

For all of our assignments we arrive onboard fully prepared with all equipment needed. We bring three different mobile computers, illustrating the different operating systems available for passengers. We have our own printers, laminators, scanners, CD and DVD blanks, and specialist papers for personal stationery items. We carry our own office equipment, spare mobile phones for passenger use, battery chargers, and leads of all types.

Owain holds a basic first aid certificate, which has helped him deal with passenger situations on previous cruises. We are happy to carry out courier duties on shore excursions, and both of us hold current Seamans Discharge Books.

We would be happy to discuss the provision of any of our services to passengers on English language cruise ships. We can provide samples of our programmes, together with passengers work, by email, post, or at personal interview. References can also be provided, and cruise views can be seen on the Cruise Comments page of this website. We are both retired, and are both able, and willing, to join cruises at any port, and even at short notice. Please email us at owain@owainandalvina.com as this will find us wherever we are!