Island in the Net by Khürt Williams
Technology and Photography Musings. Established circa 2000.
It has been a millennium since Ethiopians discovered the stimulating effects of chewing the berries of native coffee trees and exported them to Yemen, where Sufi Muslims learned to roast and brew them into a tasty hot beverage. The Stimulating Story of Jews and Coffee
I'm fascinated by stories like this that illustrate some little known historical and cultural fact about coffee.
This summer, my family and I are travelling to the Outer Banks, North Carolina for some much-needed rest and recuperation. It's a long drive and music makes it easier. On long trips, I normally stream my playlist from iTunes Watch. However, we recently lowered our data plan and the NC trip is almost 10 hours. I needed another solution.
My first thought was that I could load up an old iPod nano with music for playback via my audio system Lightning connector or Bluetooth. But I soon realized that this created a new problem. I use my iPhone with mapping software that provides turn-by-turn directions when travelling. The iPhone also connects to the car via the Lightning connector or Bluetooth. Whenever I need to make a turn the mapping software interrupts the audio of my iPhone. Problem is that only one device can use the Lightning connector or Bluetooth.
I could either get driving directions and stream music via iTunes Watch and chew up my limited data plan. Or I could skip directions, save my data plan, and playback music via an iPod nano. But I wanted both.
Today, I remembered I had Western Digital Passport Wireless hard drive. The Passport can serve as a wireless access point (WAP) and media access hub and is powered via a standard USB connector. The Passport acts as a wireless access point (WAP) to which the iPhone can connect. I can dump music, photos and movies to folders on the Passport, then with the provided iOS app, wirelessly stream that content to my iPhone. My kids can connect and stream music and movies to their iPhone and iPad while we drive down the high way.
The Passport can also connect to an existing WAP and act as a gateway to the Internet for any connected device. So I configured the Passport to use the hotspot feature of my wife's iPhone. This provided the Passport with access to the Internet. Then I connected my iPhone to the Passport. Though the Passport, my iPhone can get access to the Internet for driving directions but also has access to stream all the music I stored on the hard drive in the Passport.
I will test this setup this July before our trip but I am excited that I found a way. The Passport also has an SD card reader. Insert an SD card and it will automatically copy my images to the hard drive. It's a portable backup for our family vacation photos.
We have no plans for the 4th, but we always attend the United States Independence Day Fireworks at the Montgomery High School. They are often well attended and are funded independently of the township. We've been doing it since the kids were in kindergarten (and before I knew how to use a DSLR).
Like every year in the past, there was fun for the family on the front lawn of Montgomery High School in Skillman on July 1st! Starting at 6 pm there were games and vendors including grilled foods ( I had a kielbasa on a stick), drinks (non-alcoholic), and the ever-popular kettle corn (we bought two jumbo bags). We got there early, found a great picnic spot under the stars, enjoyed the sounds of the local band, “Pi Fight”. After walking around, bumping into and chatting with other township residents, friends and family we stood for a heartfelt rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at dusk. Then it was time for a fabulous display of fireworks.
My mom was visiting from the Caribbean and enjoyed hanging out with me and my extended family.
