Monthly Archives: January 2014
Savvy Tips: Follow these 3 simple steps to safeguard your laptop data when you travel!
What kind of protection against data theft do you have when you travel with a laptop? Do you rely simply on a start-up password and a Windows (or Mac) password to guarantee the safety of your information? If so, you should know that laptop data can easily be accessed without having to power on the laptop or open the operating system.
In an earlier posting (BonVoyageurs.com), I detailed the US government’s legal right to confiscate the laptop of a traveler going through customs without the requirement for any justification other than a desire to inspect the contents of the laptop. While a backup of your data or cloud computing may resolve the issues created by the temporary loss of a laptop to customs agents, more is needed to protect against the possible theft or loss of the laptop while traveling.
For the savvy traveler, there are simple solutions to this issue, simple steps anyone can follow to gain real protection. It is just a matter of knowing what those steps are and taking the few minutes necessary to execute them before traveling. Here are the three steps I recommend to protect the information on your laptop against theft.
1. Set a password for your hard drive!
Setting a password for the hard drive of the laptop is without a doubt the most important anti-theft protection available. Thieves can easily bypass the most sophisticated start-up or Windows passwords simply by taking the laptop’s hard drive out of the laptop and connecting it to another computer! This is not to minimize the importance of strong passwords for your laptop or operating system; but the place where those impenetrable passwords are really needed is your hard drive, where your data is located.
Thus the first step to take in safeguarding your laptop data is to safeguard the hard drive of your laptop with a password, something which can be easily done thru the BIOS setup utility of your laptop. If you are not familiar with this process, there are lots of websites on the internet with detailed information for your specific laptop model.
2. Create a truly strong password
You might be surprised to learn that a typical eight digit password containing letters, numbers and capital letters, characterized as strong by so many websites, can be decoded very quickly by a potential thief. The thief I am afraid of is not the NSA, which no doubt would find the task trivial and has far bigger endeavors to concern itself with; the thief I am concerned about is one of a legion of people who have an ordinary desktop computer equipped with easily available decrypting software. That thief can decode a typical eight-digit password on a laptop in less than an hour.
How does one create a truly strong password? My advice is to think of a phrase that is easily remembered and use the first letter or number of each word to create the password. An example might be the phrase “My father George came from a family of 9 children, 5 boys and 4 girls”, which would make the password MfGcfafo9c5ba4g. The reason for choosing a phrase is that it allows for the unintelligible password to be typed in very quickly as one recites the phrase in one’s mind. It is also imperative that the phrase be easily remembered, and consequently anyone with a fallible memory should select a phrase from a book or a poem or a song which could easily be looked up in case of need.
How long does the password need to be? It depends on the components of the password as well as your level of concern. Fortunately, Intel makes available a webpage, titled How Strong is Your Password, which will tell you immediately how strong a password of your choosing really is by letting you know the amount of time it would take a desktop computer equipped with decoding software to unlock your password. When I checked the example password MfGcfafo9c5ba4g on the Intel webpage, it informed me that it would take more than 317,000 years for a computer to decode that password. That will do fine for me, as I need a bit of time to adapt and adjust to the loss of my laptop data! By way of comparison, if I were to shorten that password to the first ten digits MfGcfafo9c, the result would be that it could be decoded in two months; reducing the password to the first eight digits MfGcfafo would mean that it could be decoded in 6 hours.
So step two is to create a truly strong password and set that password up to protect the hard drive of your laptop. Take that opportunity to strengthen your administrator, start-up and Windows passwords as well.
3. Power off the laptop when not in use!
To benefit from the protection afforded by a strong hard drive password, you need to try to ensure that your computer is not powered on when you lose it! That means powering it off when you are not using it. Yes, it takes a few seconds more to turn power off than if you simply close the laptop cover, but the difference in protection as well as peace of mind is enormous.
Three simple steps to protect your laptop data, another savvy tip from BonVoyageurs!
DELECTABLE TIDBIT: Where else would you learn to dance the tango but in Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Getting immersed in the fabulously nostalgic, romantic and captivating tango music and dance only requires a plane hop south to its roots in the Europeanesque city of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
As soon as we entered our executive suite at the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires (formerly the Hyatt), we were welcomed by a large white and black chocolate statue of two tango dancers on a tray with a glass of chocolate liqueur and some cherries. When I was traveling extensively on business to South America many years ago, I thought of that hotel as the best hotel in Latin America. The hotel is located right behind the magnificent French embassy off one of the world’s widest boulevard, the Avenida del 9 de Julio. Newer and perhaps more luxurious hotels have since sprung up all over Latin America, but I knew that the incomparable service of the Four Seasons would suit us well during our stay in Buenos Aires.
Welcome chocolate tango dancers at the Four Seasons Buenos Aires
If the chocolate tango dancer welcome was not sufficient to put us in the mood for tango, a walk through the neighborhoods of the captivating city of Buenos Aires, whether the Spanish colonial barrio of San Telmo or the incredibly colorful La Boca, would have reminded us at nearly every street corner that this city is the birthplace of tango. La Boca in particular offers tango music and tango dancing by street performers everywhere you turn; several lunch restaurants of the area are targeted at visiting tourists and include a tango dancing demonstration followed by professional dancers enticing spectators to the dance floor to dance the tango with them.
Street dancers performing a tango in La Boca
After the afternoon siesta (advisable if you wish to take advantage of the late nights of Buenos Aires), take in an evening at the Esquina Carlos Guardel for a dinner and tango show which will surely exceed your expectations, as it did ours. Carlos Guardel was Buenos Aires’ most famous tango singer and composer, who remains the most prominent figure in the history of tango. The Esquina Carlos Guardel theatre is European elegance with Buenos Aires charm. It was built in the barrio where Guardel grew up and is a magnificent tribute to him and the music and dance he loved so much. To our surprise, given the size of the place, the food was quite delicious, the service impeccable, the wine flowed, and the show presented a fascinating view of the history of tango, from song through dance, in 31 different tableaux and renditions. The 6-piece orchestra was on the upper level, the dancers and singers down below on the stage, the costumes were unbelievably beautiful and revealing, and our view from the mezzanine perfect. What’s more, we felt as if the singers were singing directly to us!
A tango dance at Esquina Carlos Guardel
Armed with a basic understanding of the history of tango and still awed by the Carlos Guardel tango show, you will almost be ready to take the plunge. If you love dancing and you love coffee (and even if you don’t), head to Cafe Tortoni, the most famous coffeehouse in Buenos Aires and one of the ten most beautiful cafes in the world. Cafe Tortoni dates back to 1858 when it was launched by a Frenchman who was inspired by the then illustrious cafe of the same name on Boulevard des Italiens in Paris (now defunct!). At night, every night, a section of Cafe Tortoni is curtained off and offers a tango music and dance performance evening which you should definitely not miss while in Buenos Aires.
Tango music and dance at Cafe Tortoni in Buenos Aires
Ready to tango? It proved very easy to set up private tango lessons at the Four Seasons hotel, which made a beautiful large room with a parquet floor available to us in the mansion (an annex to the hotel where celebrities like Madonna stay, as she did when she came to Buenos Aires to film the movie Evita). The concierge already had a list of tango dancing instructors for us to interview. We recruited Natalia and Andres, two young charming portenos (which means “people from the port” and is the term used for the locals in Buenos Aires), who turned out to be very competent and patient teachers. They worked tirelessly, through several lessons, to get us to master some of the basic steps of this beautiful dance.
Natalia and Andres, our private tango instructors
It was now time to put our newly acquired skills to the test. Off we went to one of the most celebrated milongas (the name for places where tango is danced) in Buenos Aires, the Confiteria Ideal. This renowned milonga celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012 and unfortunately, it showed. The building was sorely dilapidated and we could sense a previous elegance and charm, but that was long gone. The dance floor was huge, and most of the relatively few people there were on the floor enjoying their passion for tango regardless of the bright lighting and the sad surroundings.
Milonga La Confiteria Ideal in Buenos Aires
It would seem that we had showed up at Confiteria Ideal a bit too early in the evening, because the atmosphere was totally different when we arrived at our second milonga well after midnight. Salon Canning in the Palermo neighborhood was a tad more upscale than Confiteria Ideal and also differed in that the very large dance floor was teeming with tango afficionados. We took the plunge and went around the dance floor several times with remarkable ease and increasing pleasure until at about 1:30am when we felt we had soaked in enough tango ambience for one night and way too much cigarette smoke, and decided to call it a day (night?).
While tourists watching the tango shows in Buenos Aires appeared to be of all ages, most of the portenos dancing tango at the milongas were either relatively young or relatively old. In other words, there seemed to be very few dancers from the “middle age” crowd. We were told that this reflected a revival of interest in tango following a period of decline. This is a good thing. It is far better for the young to be dancing, and dancing such a beautiful and complex dance, than drinking, bar-hopping or just partying until the wee hours of the morning. Tangoing the night away is as uplifting for the soul as it is fascinating to watch.
Happy dancing and safe travels from BonVoyageurs!
DELECTABLE TIDBIT: Where to enjoy a true Out of Africa experience - The Tarangire Safari Lodge in Tanzania
The Tarangire Safari Lodge in the Tarangire national park offers two features which you should not miss during any safari in Tanzania, two features which are unique and marvelous enough to make a huge difference to your safari experience.
Though it does not lack in comfort and amenities, the lodge is not the most luxurious accommodation in Tarangire or for that matter in Tanzania. In fact, all of the other nights during our 2012 safari were spent in more comfortable and certainly more luxurious lodges, permanent tents or mobile camps in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara parks. But the two nights we spent at the Tarangire Safari Lodge brought us our favorite and most memorable experiences, because this lodge offers two unique features: an open-air panoramic view to die for which you will remember forever, and animal encounters at close range which you cannot experience elsewhere (excluding of course viewing animals from the safety of your land rover).
A lioness in Tarangire national park in Tanzania
The Tarangire Safari Lodge consists of a number of semi-permanent tents lined up on each side of a central lodge building along the crest of a hill overlooking the Tarangire national park.
Tents at the Tarangire Safari Lodge in Tarangire national park in Tanzania
This arrangement provides each tent with a panoramic view of the park from an elevated position. Since the park in that area is sparsely wooded, the view of the animals living as nature intended in the valley below is unencumbered.
View of Tarangire national park from the Tarangire Safari Lodge
The views of the Ngorongoro crater from the hotels located on the crater’s top edge are breathtaking, but they do not begin to compare with the spectacle surrounding the Tarangire Safari Lodge. Sitting in front of your tent or the main lodge, perhaps enjoying a cocktail or simply relaxing, and admiring at leisure the elephants and other wild animals as they move around the valley is an unforgettable experience.
View from our tent at the Tarangire Safari Lodge
In addition to the incredibly awesome view, the lodge offers animal encounters which are equally awesome. During our brief stay, we were entertained by monkeys playing on the roof of our tent, greeted by friendly diks diks and gazelles coming up the hill to the front of our tent, woken up by elephants foraging right outside our tent in the middle of the night and looking straight at us from a few feet away, as well as surprised by a lion slowing walking between two tents in plain daylight, and the list goes on. I invite you to read my safari blog posting on BonVoyageurs.com for more details of our upfront and personal encounters.
A lioness and an elephant in Tarangire national park in Tanzania
If you are traveling with children, a word of caution is called for if there is any chance that you would be unable to keep them with you at all times. Because the lodge is in a location where wild and dangerous animals frequently cross, basic safety precautions are required, such as calling for a security guard to accompany you from the lodge to your tent. This is the type of precaution required not only at the Tarangire Safari Lodge but in general at safari lodgings located within the confines of the parks. An unfortunate but exceptional accident occurred at the Tarangire Safari Lodge back in 2009 which should not, however, diminish your interest in experiencing the delight of this lodge. Visitors enjoyed the regular visit of a leopard to the barbecue area of the main lodge, but it led to tragedy when a child went outside without supervision while his parents were eating dinner inside.
An African safari will leave you with vivid and extraordinary memories of the animals in their natural habitat. The delectable tidbit here is that, if you want a complete Out of Africa experience, you will consider booking a stay at the Tarangire Safari Lodge. Safe travels from BonVoyageurs!
DELECTABLE TIDBIT: How to get really close to the Giant Panda bears in Chengdu (Sichuan, China)
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on the outskirts of Chengdu in the Sichuan province of China is one of the best locations in the world to get exposed to the giant pandas (called giant only to distinguish them from the smaller red pandas).
More than one million visitors per year visit the research center, which replicates the natural mountainous habitat of the pandas on almost 100 acres and houses between 50 and 75 pandas at any one time. Most visitors simply visit the research center as they would a zoo, walking along its hilly and wooded walkways trying to catch a glimpse of both giant pandas and red pandas at viewing points located throughout the very well maintained facility.
Only a handful of visitors seem to be aware that, for a nominal fee, they could have gotten a lot closer to the pandas. The delectable tidbit of the day: by registering in advance as a “panda keeper for a day” you can spend a whole morning in extremely close contact with pandas! You can even, by “donating” a more substantial amount ( anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 yuan or approx. $160-330), get to hug and hold one of the younger pandas.
My blog posting of September 7th 2012 on BonVoyageurs.com details our adventures as “panda keeper for a day” when we visited the research center that day.
It was extremely educational to spend the morning with the real panda keeper, who was extremely pleased to share some of her extensive knowledge about the habits of these wonderful creatures. Getting to know each of the five pandas under our care on a first name basis, watching them closely, preparing their food and feeding them frequently was thrilling!
I encourage you to read the posting to find out more about our day as “Panda Keeper” and other interesting tidbits such as the role of “massage and stimulation” in the reproduction of pandas and the reason for the fences around the enclosures of the research center.
When you plan your next trip to China, please make sure to reserve in advance your spot as “panda keeper for a day”; it will be the experience of a lifetime. Safe travels from BonVoyageurs!
DELECTABLE TIDBIT : The hidden passageway atop the Ponte Vecchio in Florence
Millions of tourists flock to Florence (Firenze) every year, but only a handful get to take what may well be the best walking tour in the city. Actually, few tourists even know about the existence of the Percorso del Principe (Passageway of the Prince) tour, and even fewer visitors plan their trip sufficiently ahead to make the required prior tour reservations with the museum office!
Ponte Vecchio in Florence (Firenze)
Called the Vasari Corridor, the passageway lined with treasures from the Medici collection occupies the top floor of the structure sitting on top of Ponte Vecchio and links the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery on one side of the Arno river with the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens on the other side. The Grand Duke Cosimo de Medici ordered the construction of this elevated enclosed passageway in 1564, using a design by Giorgio Vasari, in order to have his own private and secure passageway between his residence at Palazzo Pitti and his office at Palazzo Vecchio. You can see a very detailed history and description of the corridor and of the tour on a 2010 blog posting by the Tuscan Traveler.
The Percorso del Principe walking tour starts at the Palazzo Vecchio, goes thru the Uffizi Gallery, then along the top floor of the Ponte Vecchio, finally reaching the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. Taking this tour is basically the only way for most of us to visit the Vasari Corridor, and the tour is restricted to a few times on selected weekdays (currently Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
As an aside, it is always amazing to see the long lines of visitors waiting to buy tickets to get into the Uffizi Gallery, because it is relatively well known that you can buy your ticket online before going and, by doing so, avoid all the lines when you show up at the museum. But the real delectable tidbit here is that you can take a very extraordinary tour in Florence, literally walking in the footsteps of the Medicis, if you have the time and the foresight to book your Percorso del Principe tour in advance. It is preferable to call the museum office directly (Tel: +39-055-2654321 or 055-294883) but you can also book the tickets online.
The Percorso del Principe tour is the most unique tour in Florence and consequently is usually sold out months in advance, so plan early. A Delectable Tidbit from BonVoyageurs.com!
Can you guess where this photo was taken?
Hint: A spot visited by hordes of tourists every day in one of the most important cities in Europe.
Hint: The flag on top of that building is an anomaly. Can you guess what that flag is and what it is doing there?
On June 16, 2013 we were in Berlin Germany. Like every tourist to Berlin, we visited the Brandenburg Gate, one of the most famous landmarks in Germany. When standing in Pariser Platz and looking up at the imposing Brandenburg Gate, you cannot avoid seeing within your line of sight both the Brandenburg Gate and the flag on top of the building immediately adjacent to the gate. But that flag is an anomaly, it has nothing to do with Germany. Fleurs de Lys on a flag usually means a French connection, and four fleurs de lys on a blue and white flag can only mean one thing … the flag of Quebec, initially founded as La Nouvelle France (The New France) in the “New World”. How amazing that the Quebec flag should be flying a few feet away from the Brandenburg Gate and right across the square from the US embassy in Berlin!
I have since found out that the building hosts the “Quebec Government Office” in Berlin. I can’t begin to guess how much that office is costing Quebec taxpayers, but I can assure you that it has maximum visibility.
Be forewarned: Confiscating your cellphone and your laptop at the border is perfectly legal!
International travelers, be forewarned: the US federal court decision announced on New Year’s Eve did not seem to attract a lot of attention, but its impact should be of interest to all of you. The court upheld the government’s right, at the borders, to inspect and copy the contents of travelers’ laptops and other electronic devices without the need for reasonable suspicion, even if that means confiscating the devices for the days or weeks necessary to perform such inspections.
Known as the “border search exception”, this tenet of US law allows for “routine” search and seizures at international borders and their equivalents (e.g. airports with international flights) and has been consistently upheld by the US Supreme Court.
What is relatively recent is not only the application of the law to electronic devices, but the right of the government to confiscate the laptop, cellphone or other electronic device for days or weeks (11 days in the case just decided by the federal court), as well as the government’s right to copy everything it finds on the devices. And US customs agents do not need reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing; no particular justification is needed. All the more reason to treat the border agent with attentive and obedient respect!
At the moment, the fact that these searches are rarely performed is the best protection we all have; if the seizure of travelers’ laptops or cellphones were to become more commonplace, the need for reasonable suspicion would very likely become a legal requirement.
Under current law, it is assumed that you are aware that you could be searched when crossing international borders (either at the US border or, perhaps with much more certainty, at the foreign entry/exit point). It is further assumed that, armed with this knowledge, you had the option of taking precautions to mitigate the possible eventual search or seizure of your laptop or cellphone.
The obvious conclusion: don’t carry with you on your laptop, cellphone or ipad any data you do not wish to share with anyone else, and be ready to lose the use of those devices for a couple of weeks.
Take this warning as an incentive to finally clean up your laptop or your cellphone of all that useless or compromising data you’ve been accumulating over the years. Also make sure you have a full backup of all the data you care about, or alternatively, that you are a user of cloud services and have access to all of your data from devices other than the ones you are carrying with you. On the other hand, if you are really paranoid about this, you can simply travel with a laptop free of data and use gotomypc.com or some other remote access software to connect to your computer back at the office or at home during your trip.
Safe travels with your electronic devices!
