Q. I’ve searched the MoGo documentation, MoGo reviews and your blog looking for mention of whether or not it is a good idea to simply leave the MoGo mouse in the PC Card slot after it has fully charged, but when it is not being used. My concern is whether or not the mouse continues to drain power from the battery even when it is fully charged? (From Rob)

A. Rob asks a good question. To find the answer, I hunted down Jack Corrao, a VP of Newton Peripherals (maker of MoGo Mouse).

I suspected MoGo used a smart battery, and that’s exactly what Jack confirmed;

The MoGo Mouse includes an intelligent battery management systems that slowly ramps down charging requirement from PC Card slot as it gets close to full charge. Once the MoGo is fully charged, the MoGo does not drain any power from your laptop.

Q. I hadn’t considered using my Bluetooth headset with my laptop before. Can I do that, and then still use it with my phone at the same time? C. (Anon.)

A. In short? Yes.

But you need a ‘multipoint’ kind of headset that is designed specifically to do this.

Normally, however, you can synch (or ‘pair’) your Bluetooth headset to multiple devices but you can only connect it to with one thing at a time.

This is how it works. Say you’ve paired up your headset to your phone. Then a co-worker sends you a rough cut of your company’s latest ad campaign and you want to watch it on your Bluetooth-enabled laptop without broadcasting the sound, but your wired headphones are riding somewhere in the back pocket of a 747 where you accidentally left them.

No problem. Simply put your headset in pairing mode and use your laptop’s Bluetooth manager to find it. Now the sounds of the MVID will be sent to your ear but not your neighbors’.

(If your laptop has never ‘found’ your headset before, then you’ll have to initialize it the first time. If your laptop is Bluetooth-enabled [or you’ve purchased a ‘dapter], start by putting your headset into ‘pairing mode’. This is usually holding down a button until a light blinks, see your manufacturer’s instructions. Then go into the Bluetooth control panel on your laptop and have it ‘discover’ your headset. Once your laptop finds it, you’ll be be prompted for a PIN. Once you’ve done this the first time, you’re off to the races - switching is a matter of holding down the button on the headset and having the device ‘find’ it.)

Q. Does the new MoGo mouse have to be used with a laptop? I want to use it on my regular PC. (Anon.)

A. While some PC’s and most MAC’s do generally come now Bluetooth-enabled and adapters are available (or on the way) if yours isn’t, the other thing a MoGo mouse needs is a PC Card slot to charge up - something not commonly found in a desktop system.

So you can certainly pair up a MoGo mouse to work with your PC, you may need to hunt up a laptop to charge it. However, now that you’ve asked the question maybe you’ll spur some product development

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On Fridays, MoGo Mobility’s Elizabeth will seek to answer your MoGo (and non-MoGo) technical questions.

Elizabeth is a professional writer & geek with most of the last decade spent in senior management at a leading global IT provider. Thousands have attended her seminars in the US & Canada on subjects ranging from basic TCP/IP networking to high-end data storage solutions.

Got a question? Ask Elizabeth.

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Q. The #1 Matt said on his 18 June Post; “WiFi is pretty much a given these days, I want to see a website about which airports have the best power outlets.”

OK, That wasn’t really a question, but it’s reminiscent of one I’ve been asked many, many times. Because its not enough to know the airport has WiFi if your laptop battery is going to be dead an hour before you board.

A. First of all, let me just say: someone has, Matt. The Air Power Wiki is a little thin right now, but it’s growing.

My answer? Will have to incorporate more than just power outlet bounty. For me to feel good about an airport, I like a steaming side order of free WiFi and a sensibility tuned to the wired traveler - with public workstations, for example.

And the unexpected discovery here is that I rarely find that in a large airport. For example, LaGuardia, JFK, Chicago, Atlanta, heck - practically ALL Wisconsin airports, have fee-based WiFi, are riddled with non-working outlets and working havens are rarely found outside the premium lounges. Boston actually fought against freeWiFi providers in their airport.

Truly, it’s the smaller airports that seem to ‘get’ the wired traveler.

Without further ado, here are the best of those I’ve traveled:
East Coast - #1 Pittsburgh, PA (PIT): Free WiFi, strong signal, lots of outlets - even in the gate areas near the seats. #2 West Palm Beach, FL (PBI). Free WiFi (which is true in most Florida airports, bless them). I also found powered outlets in each gate area. #3 Manchester, NH (MHT) This Boston-area Southwest Airlines favorite has Free WiFi with fairly strong signal at most gates. Power outlets at most gate areas, too. Honorable Mentions; Blue Grass Airport (LEX) in Lexington, KY has free WiFi in the terminal, in the parking lots within 300 feet of the terminal and on the tarmac (if you and your plane should be parked there). No wireless card? You can borrow a patch cable from the airport information desk and use one of the wall sockets that convert wireless to a high-speed plug-in connection.

Middle US - #1 Grand Rapids, MI (GRR): Free WiFi and power outlets at most gate areas, plus two centrally-located complimentary public business centers with work surfaces, electrical outlets, and LAN connections. #2 Kansas City, MO (MCI):: Free WiFi, good coverage. A goodly number of open outlets, and the way gates are set up there is usually a fairly quiet place to type or surf. #3 Quad Cities (Moline), IL (MLI): Chicago-area’s 3rd busiest airport is the only one with free WiFi and dependable outlets, which are available in each gate area as well as in the food court. Honorable Mentions; Lubbock, TX (LBB) is one of the few Texas airports with free WiFi and available outlets. It’s about a 6-hour drive (4, if you rent something more powerful than a Geo) from Dallas. Many of the smaller resort-area Colorado airports (like Colorado Springs, COS) have free WiFi and powered workstations.

West Coast - #1 Las Vegas, NV (McCarran, LAS): The largest airport in the US to offer free, public WiFi. They are in the process of installing more power outlets and workstations - in the meantime, if you’re desperate, they usually have one in the restroom. #2 Portland, OR (PDX): Free WiFi that covers most of the airport - they even have coverage maps at customer service. Plus newer workstations with power outlets. #3 Sacramento, CA (SMF): I happily found an outlet at my gate and free WiFi, as advertised by the airport. But in the interest of disclosure, I read recently that there is a pay-for-the-day WiFi provider in some spots, and that some travelers find a lot of the outlets are dead.

A couple of wired-travel tips? Tuck a small power strip in your laptop bag because if you do find power, it’s always good to share. And if you find one that someone is already using, then you can get them to share.

Also - JetBlue gives its customers free WiFi so if you head to their area of an airport terminal, you can usually get signal. USA Today did an article with more great tips here.

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On Fridays, MoGo Mobility’s Elizabeth will seek to answer your MoGo (and non-MoGo) technical questions.

Elizabeth is a professional writer & geek with most of the last decade spent in senior management at a leading global IT provider. Thousands have attended her seminars in the US & Canada on subjects ranging from basic TCP/IP networking to high-end data storage solutions.

Got a question? Ask Elizabeth.

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Q. Seriously, is it really a risk to use the free WiFi at the coffee shop? Is anyone REALLY spying?

A. Seriously? Yes.

I was in Raleigh-Durham working on a WiFi-enabled client site a couple of years ago when the security director leaned against my desk and asked me who ‘TigerBear83′ was.

My blood ran cold - it was my GMail password.

His employees regularly run sniffer software to make sure that employees are following security protocols and clearly, I’d failed the test.

Sniffer software is easily found (freeware versions are all over the web) and there are legions of hackers who spend hours nursing lattes and data trolling at WiFi hotspots.

Bottom line, public WiFi has no built-in protection. The security of your data is a a do-it-yourself proposition. A fact too many users are blithely unaware.

Will this change? Yes. But at this moment in WiFi’s evolution, the technology is just not there yet.

The safest option you can take to send/receive sensitive information is to get thee a patch cable and plug in. A secure, hard-wired network connection is your best port in the storm.

But before you give up coffee altogether, let me say that there are some security measure you can take to minimize risk on a public WiFi. The effectiveness of these measures is equivalent to whispering your private information versus shouting it across the movie theater.

The best up-to-date instructions I found on protecting yourself were at About.com, written by Mary Landesman. I recommend her post here.

The soundest advice I can give youon the subject - assume that anything you send & receive on an open WiFi can be seen. So never type anything on an open WiFi connection that you wouldn’t tell a stranger on a bus.

Q. I took your seminar years ago and you said if I spilled something on my keyboard and disabled it, I could run it through the dishwasher. I thought you were nuts. But now the situation’s come up and I was wondering…

A. Am I nuts? Yes. But that’s besides the point.

Over 10 years ago, I spilled Diet Coke on my keyboard and killed it dead. No knowing any better (which is usually the preface to every great discovery) I borrowed my neighbor’s dishwasher and ran it through - figuring I had nothing to lose and a keyboard to gain.

It worked. And it’s worked several times since then.

A new keyboard is cheap and easy to get these days but if you want to attempt a last life-saving procedure then run it through the dishwasher on a cool, unheated, short cycle. Make sure the keys are facing DOWN and don’t use any soap or detergent.

Afterwards, let it dry on a towel or a rack for at least 48 hours - until it is truly bone dry through and through.

Unconvinced? Well, Nell Boyce at NPR did it recently heard about this and tried it out. Read about her experiment here.

Just promise me you won’t try this on your optical mouse.

————————————————————————————————

On Fridays, MoGo Mobility’s Elizabeth will seek to answer your MoGo (and non-MoGo) technical questions.

Elizabeth is a professional writer & geek with most of the last decade spent in senior management at a leading global IT provider. Thousands have attended her seminars in the US & Canada on subjects ranging from basic TCP/IP networking to high-end data storage solutions.

Got a question? Ask Elizabeth.

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