traveling

Many thanks to everyone who commented and wrote in regarding Friday's "PC or Mac?" post. The response was tremendous, and for the most part quite civil--surprising given the holy-war history of the question. (They're just computers, people!)

The hard truth is that I write about Windows (and Windows-related products) for a living, so I can't fully abandon the platform. But as soon as my budget allows, I'm going to bring a Mac into the house and see what all the fuss is about. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, it's hard to pass up … Read more

Another three-day weekend is upon us--time to disconnect, get out into the wilderness, and leave all those gadgets behind. Well, except for your smartphone, of course. These days, for me at least, an Android device is more valuable than a Swiss Army knife, even in backcountry areas where there's no hope of a finding a single bar of roaming service. But you'll need to do a little bit of preparation and hit the Android Market before you go. Here's my list of key tips and apps to turn your Android device into a digital command center for all you long-weekend warriors. … Read more

My theory about GPS navigation systems goes like this: the bigger the screen, the easier it is to read, and the less time you have to spend focusing your eyes on it instead of the road. Again, it's just a theory.

Big-screen models used to cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars (and many still do), but TigerDirect has the Magellan RoadMate RM1700 7-inch GPS for $99.99, plus $3 for shipping. That's after applying coupon code EQB31039 at checkout. (Note: I first spotted this deal yesterday, so I'm not sure how long the code will be live.)… Read more

A quick housekeeping note: If you're a subscriber to the Cheapskate newsletter (scroll down a bit to find it), you probably noticed that after the holidays, the frequency dropped off to twice weekly. Well, I'm happy to report that the Cheapskate will once again be landing in your inbox daily! Estimated arrival time: 10 a.m. PT.

That said, I still urge you to visit the blog directly whenever you get to your computer in the morning. Sometimes, through no fault of my own (ahem), a deal is already sold out or expired by the time the e-mail … Read more

TVFoodMaps for Android is essentially a GPS guided tour of all the restaurants featured on your favorite Food Network and Travel Channel shows. For self-proclaimed food enthusiasts, it is a veritable treasure trove of eating advice.

Launch TVFoodMaps, enable GPS, and watch the app immediately get to work searching for notable restaurants in your vicinity. Then choose to view results in either a map view or a list view, which notes distance from your location as well as the titles of the shows that featured each restaurant. Click on an item to see additional details, including the name of the … Read more

We had only been in Buenos Aires for a few hours last month when my wife and I realized that our Spanish-English dictionary and Latin America phrasebook were still sitting on a bookshelf back at home. "Not cool," my wife said simply.

So I made a trip to El Ateneo, one of the biggest and certainly most beautiful bookstores south of the Panama Canal and picked up the only paperback dictionary in the house--a thick, clunky volume with a neon orange cover meant for speakers of Mexican Spanish, which is quite different from the Argentine dialect.

After a few times stopping in the middle of a crowd to pull out the big, glowing book, I became worried that I might inadvertently start directing traffic; I quickly retired the dead-tree translation method and started looking for a less conspicuous, digital solution. I found three top contenders, each with their own pros and cons. Here's the rundown. … Read more

While on a trip in Washington, D.C., I came across a situation where I needed Internet for several devices, but the hotel where I was staying charged a substantial fee for Internet for each device. To help alleviate the financial situation, I enabled Internet Sharing on my MacBook Pro, effectively creating a Wi-Fi network for the rest of my devices.

Here's the basics on setting up a Wi-Fi network via Internet Sharing on your Mac. There are a few things to keep in mind with the steps here. First, I am using a late 2010 MacBook Pro with … Read more

A spaceship isn't much use if it doesn't have the juice to go somewhere. And if you're an astronaut bouncing around destinations like the moon, random asteroids, Lagrange points, and Mars, you'll probably need an interstellar gas station.

NASA has launched an "In-Space Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer Demonstration Mission Concept (PDF)" study, which is essentially a call for scientific institutions around the globe to help create a space gas station. Those wishing to build a fueling stop in the sky have until May 23 to submit their proposals.

Cryogenic propellants used in rocket engines are usually made of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Both liquids reside in enormous insulated containers and are pumped through an expansion chamber, then mixed and ignited in the combustion chamber. The result is an incredible amount of power per gallon of cryogenic proellant, up to 40 percent higher than other rocket fuels.

However, there are many challenges to creating a gas station in the stars. The primary objectives of the study are to address key elements including a fail-safe way to transfer the propellants from a storage container to a ship. The difficulty is high since hydrogen tends to leak (it's the smallest element), and can eventually deteriorate the container it's stored in. … Read more

If you've got $350 in your pocket and a laptop on your mind, you can score a pretty amazing deal. For starters, that Dell Vostro V13 I wrote about last month is, against all odds, still available for $349.

But if you're more into power than portability, Best Buy has the Gateway NV53A74u 15.6-inch laptop for $349.99, plus sales tax and around $15 for shipping (a charge you can avoid by opting for in-store pickup).

The 5.7-pound NV53A74u--uh, I think I'll just call it "the Gateway" from here on--sports a 3GHz AMD … Read more