The tourist season is officially over for another year. In some ways I already miss it - the heightened activity somehow justifies our area and illustrates it as not just a great place to visit, but a great place to live.
On the other hand, it's nice to be able to again take a left turn from 211 to Long Beach Road without having to wait for two or three light cycles. On that subject, the fall elections are beginning to get into full swing; let's hope this year's elected will not forget how bad some of our traffic problems are, and their campaign promise solutions, when they take office later this year.
I am noticing a new type of product beginning to be advertised in the various PC magazines that I read - portable USB power units. To understand this topic, let's first look at the origins of USB.
The group that designed and specified USB really did an excellent job, and the total success of the technology proves that. They accomplished the primary goal of condensing all of the previous peripheral equipment attachment methods into one, but also provided for new and improved functionality. One of these areas was power. Each and every device needs power to run its internal circuitry - that applies to something as small as a PC mouse or keyboard, or as big as a printer or scanner. Before USB only the smallest devices could draw power from their interface (signal) cable; anything bigger required an A/C wall plug or transformer.
By providing power within the USB signal cable, it was able to power a much larger range of devices. That power could also be used to charge the battery in devices such as MP3 players or cell phones, and now that form of charging has almost become standard.
The question now becomes: How do you charge your devices when you are away from home or your PC? Many devices also have charging cords, but then you have to bring the cord for each device. But now there is a better answer.
You can now buy one USB power unit and use it to power any of your devices that will charge via USB. The first you should get is an A/C unit. These are simply a wall plug transformer with a USB socket on it. To charge your device, just plug the normal USB cable from the device into the transformer, just like you were plugging it into your PC. Of course, nothing else happens - you can't download music from a transformer!
But beware - these don't work under all circumstances. I recently bought a unit that said it supported all iPods, but found that the amount of current drawn by my wife's tiny iPod Shuffle-2 was so low that the power unit couldn't detect its presence! The manufacturer's help line confirmed that after they went out and bought one themselves to try it.
A second type of USB power unit is in effect a large battery. You charge the battery at home, and then you can plug your USB devices into it for a charge on the road. Obviously you will have to charge this main battery once in a while, but they are much larger than the batteries in your devices.
Another power unit that I carry is one that converts A/C to 12 volts. This allows you to power and/or charge units that you have a 12 v. cord for. A unit of this type has a standard A/C plug to a standard 12v. car "cigarette lighter" type socket.
A little preparation will make your next trip more enjoyable by letting you take and use all your portable devices, but with less cord tangle and mess.
As a footnote, there is one interesting aspect of advancing USB technology that in one way is a step back - that is wireless USB. You will soon be able to buy a USB hub for your PC that sends a wireless USB signal to specially equipped USB devices. Not having to use a USB cable can make things much more convenient, but a downside of this is that you can't send power that way. So you may be able to download music to a future wireless iPod, but can't charge the battery that way.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport - Oak Island area. You can visit his Website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.)