Sunday, April 13, 2003

WiFi Your Way Around the World My sister and I just installed a wireless network in her Oregon home. It being Apple, it was a simple process. Purchase the Aiport Base Station and slip an Airort card in each computer. Spend 10 minutes with installation and configuration, and start accessing the Internet and email with no wires attached. (Her husband, a Windows user, can connect to the network, too, via his WiFi card and software.) I don't have wireless in my home, but I will invest in the Base Station soon to replace my DSL. In the meantime, I can connect to anyone else's WiFi system. The Portland-area Starbucks all have them and share them with their customers, or whoever is parked outside in the spaces within reach of their network. Plus, we can share files between our computers at ancredible speed. Jason at PowerMacPac in Portland -- where Celia and I bought our hardware -- clued us into a whole world of WiFi and WiFi-jacking. Visit http://www.ezgoal.com/hotspots/wireless/ I installed MacStumbler on my computer so I can scan for available networks when driving, when sitting at a cafe...cool! I wonder how WiFi'ed Paris is? 10:59:11 AM

Friday, April 11, 2003

Professional writer? Wannabe? Then #@*%-it! Join the NWU! I subscribe to a lot of writers lists and communities and over and over (and over and over) again I hear the same questions: "I just sold my first article! But what is this 'work for hire' line in my contract? Do I really have to sign away all my rights for 20 cents a word?" There are questions about contracts (if I had a dime for every writer who writes without a contract!) and about electronic rights and even First North American Rights. Come on...if you want to be a professional writer, act like a professional writer. You have your computer, your reference books, your tape recorder, you digital camera, you've signed up for lists and conferences and workshops, but what is it about the contract that is so unappealing? Most publications have respect for a professional writer who knows what she's talking about when negotiating a contract. Even if the editor says (which happens often "I don't know, this is just what the legal department gives me," go ahead and sign it, AFTER you've redlined out the offending "all rights" and "work for hire" and "electronic rights" passages. Believe it or not, legal will understand. If your publication stiffs you, the NWU has a service that will help you collect. They have a jobs board, they have events and conferences, a community, and a large authors network. They have several different boilerplate contracts that you can download from their site, even if you're not a member. So paleeeze, if you're really serious about being a professional writer, get with the program, collect your tools about you, learn about contracts, and join the NWU. 6:09:29 PM     French Riviera at $66/night In the mid-90's I lived in Nice for 6 months in a villa on the east end of town that had been converted into apartments. It was up the hill from the beach by the Musee des Beaux Arts, quiet, and quite idyllic as the landlord and his wife were a vivacious, petanque playing, Pernod sipping, show-tune singing couple nearing 70. Every evening there was a lively petanque game going in the garden under the orange trees, and quite often a barbeque. Once I made them real American hamburgers, but they all ate them with a fork and knife. If I was going to visit Nice now I'd stay in one of the hotels downtown. Wild Writing Women Cathleen Miller just alerted me to a $66.00 rate at the Nouvel Hotel on Boulevard Victor Hugo, Nice's big shopping street, close to the beach, the old village and daily marketplace, and with easy access to the Matisse, Chagall, and other museums. (Why are we looking at the French Riviera, you might ask? Because our annual Wild Writing Women retreat is coming up, and we're spending a week there, but in Le Lavandou.) If you go to Nice or evirons, don't miss the Friday market across the border in Ventimiglia. Each Friday morning all of the Riviera gets on the train with empty bags, rides the 1/2 hour to Italy, and returns with full bags. From blue suede skirts to watches to the finest fruits and cheeses, this little excursion is one of the area's best-kept secrets, even though post-Euro, the bargains are not as outrageous. 10:26:34 AM

Wednesday, April 9, 2003

Strybing Arboretum: April-June Garden Field Trips The Strybing Arboretum Society hosts local garden tours and field trips to Marin, Berkeley, Sonoma and Mendicino throughout spring. From Keela Meadows' art and sculpture demonstration garden to a tour of rammed-earth structures to a peek inside some fabulous private gardens. Travel close to home this spring and support a San Francisco treasure. 12:54:38 PM

Saturday, April 5, 2003

Book Author Seeks Travel/Inspirational Stories by Women Aliza Sherman, author of Cybergrrl and the RVGrrl dispatches is seeking women who have taken a significant journey in her life. "I'm working on my sixth book and am seeking women who used travel as a way to transform their lives, such as taking a sabbatical and entirely shifting careers or taking a solo journey and being inspired to start a business. Travel must have been the catalyst or part of the process for change. Women must be willing to be interviewed by e-mail over the course of the next few months and able to discuss how their travels changed their lives or the way they see themselves. Travel should be a CATALYST. Include a BRIEF bio and explanation of the travel and the effect. No attachments please. Email: book@mediaegg.com 11:21:45 AM

Friday, April 4, 2003

Been to Pisa? Written About It? An Award is Awaiting Writers, if you've been to Pisa, here's your big chance. Wild Writing Women Jacqeline Harmon Butler hasn't been to Pisa, which is a good thing for you, because she keeps winning these awards. Award enough is being flown to Italy to accept! See Jacqueline's award-winning stories at http://www.wildwritingwomen.com/JHB/ Here's the official call for stories: The International Journalism Award "Rustichello da Pisa" organized by the Pisa Tourist Office. The award is named after Rustichello da Pisa, who was born in the Italian city in the XIII century, and is considered the first journalist for his important work of writing and chronicling events contemporary to his times.  The award, which was instituted in 1955 and reinstated in 1997 after a 21-year interruption, has become one of Italy's most prestigious recognitions presented to members of the Italian and foreign press.  For this occasion, the Pisa Tourist Office kindly asks for your submission of any articles written about Pisa and its province.  A jury will select the winning articles and the chosen journalists will be invited to the award ceremony to be held in Pisa at the end of this year. Articles may be submitted by fax, email or regular mail at your earliest convenience and no later than October 31, 2003. We look forward to hearing from you. Best regards, Enzo Colombo Director Western USA Italian Tourist Board 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550 Tel (310) 820-1890 Los Angeles, CA 90025 Fax (310) 820-6357 email:enitla@italiantourism.com www.italiantourism.com 12:34:34 PM

Thursday, April 3, 2003

How to choose the best seat when traveling by air Going on a loooooooong trip on an airplane? Don[base ']t want to get stuck in that seat next to the kitchen that doesn[base ']t recline? Seat Guru shows you which seats are the best (green), the worst (red), and the dubious (yellow). Find general info about your plane and mouse over the seats to see comments about individual seats and blocks of seats. For example, [base "]Seats 31 K,L are bulkhead coach seats with pretty poor legroom. More downsides, the LCD panel is mounted on the wall, making it non-adjustable. You may have to give these seats up for the elderly or disabled. You're very close to the lavatory, and the tray table is in the armrest making them immoveable and slightly reducing the seat width.[per thou] 8:15:13 PM

Monday, March 31, 2003

Ted Simon Stuck in India Ted Simon, in the middle of his second round-the-world motorcycle trip, is stuck in India having second thoughts about the statement he made in his first book (Jupiter's Travels) that wartime is the best time to travel in a country (because there aren't any other tourists there and it's nearly impossible even for war correspondents to find the front line) and risk going through Afganistan. Having some time on his hands to catch up with his followers who monitor the Yahoo! groups site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jupiter_travels/ , he's gotten some flack from a certain fan with a fictitious name who calls him an asshole for his political opinions. The flame caused supporters to rebut in a very dignified manner. Bravo, gentlemen! Visit his site for a great photo of what it's like to ride a bike packed for touring through India. 2:34:27 PM     PDA with GPS and voice-prompted driving directions Popular Science's Suzanne Kantra Kirschner tests Garmin's iQue 3600 ($589), the first PDA to fully integrate GPS into the body and the OS, allowing you to access voice-prompted driving directions from your address book. 2:24:34 PM     Luftansa FlyNet" In-Flight Internet Service Popular Science's Eric Adams tests "FlyNet, Lufthansa's branding of Connexion by Boeing, the world's first broadband inflight Internet service, which debuted in January on a single 747 that circles between Washington Dulles and Frankfurt." 2:21:00 PM

© Copyright 2003 Carla King. Last update: 4/13/03; 11:04:59 AM.