Due to my hectic program during most of the week, activities related to blogging (not just writing, but administration work, stats reviewing etc.) have pushed me to get an arsenal of tools and gadgets to help me do that on the go. In this post I’d like to share some all of those with you.

1. Option’s USB GlobeSurfer iCON HSUPA

This thing rocks! Together with a 3G+ Mobile Internet Connection (in my case from Orange, but many operators offer something similar) it enables me to blog, browse, administer and in one word be online as long as the batteries on my laptop hold out. Works anywhere (read: anywhere not on the peak of a mountain) and because it is quad-band I could use it in any country on Earth, given I change the SIM card with one on a subscription plan in that particular country so the roaming traffic charges don’t kill me.

If my WiFi router at home allows me to be online even on the toilet (read that somewhere, found it hilarious), this little guy allows me to be online when I’m on other people’s toilets as well…

2. My laptop

OK, don’t kill me, I write on a Dell. I didn’t get a mac because it would’ve cost me a fortune and I wouldn’t have been able to run any of the apps and connect any lab equipment I need at University. Systems Engineering is, for now at least, done on PC’s.

I’m pretty pleased with it, nice battery time and cooling system… no mechanical problems yet, since it’s only 5 months old. It’s a power horse, has 2 gigs of RAM and I can use it for a lot of stuff, from gaming to neural network simulations. Blogging is somewhere in there too

3. My Nokia E70

We Europeans are crazy when it comes to cellphones. I got this thing because of its qwerty keyboard (flip it open - wham) and WiFi capability. In theory I could blog from my phone without any problems, although I never tried it… I still prefer my WUXGA laptop screen to the 352 x 416 of my phone.

4. Odds and ends

Ok, let’s see here: memory stick, memory cards and MP3 player with voice record function for when I get what I think are ideas that’d make good posts. Co-workers can sometimes see me walking along the hallway on our office floor talking into that thing going: “Note to self: write about this or that tonight.”

Right, that’s about it. This is my mobile office that fits into a backpack and still leaves room for a sandwich or two… hope you found it interesting.