Saturday, March 6, 2010

Cruise – the best bang for your holiday buck vacation

Ever arrive at a new vacation spot, but don’t know where to eat or what to see?  Ever visit some exotic island but don’t know what activities to do once you got there?  And with the new airport restrictions, the thought of standing in endless security lines is enough to deter the most intrepid travelers.

If you have never been on a cruise, you have been missing out on an adventure.  The cost of a cruise includes entertainment, endless food and lodging.  Several major cruise lines run itineraries throughout the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Mediterranean, Baltic and Southeast Asia.  And you don’t have to pack-unpack and go through airport security lines on a daily basis to visit different countries and ports – the ship (and your room) does all the moving around for you!!

The cost of a cruise includes most of your food (minus alcoholic beverages), lodging (prices vary for different type and size of cabins) and nightly entertainment.  Items that cost extra include alcoholic beverages, specialized dining, photographs, shore excursions and gratuities.  As long as you do not over indulge your alcoholic consumption and watch your budget on shore excursions, the overall cost of a cruise is typically lower than a land vacation.  Can’t decide between Beef Wellington and Lobster?  Order both, without having to worry about the check – for the most part, 5-star meals are included.  

Onboard entertainment is available nightly.  Due to maritime regulations, onboard casino opens all day during sea days and 30-minutes after sailing.  Revues, jazz piano, magic show, and dancing are available nightly.  Can’t decide between watching a Las Vegas type revue and enjoying a magic show?  You could attend both shows – just check the daily ship log for different show times.

Cruises make great family vacation too.  Little ones have their own program, often with dinner included.  This allows parents evenings out alone or together with family.  Children and teens have their own hangouts, pool and arcade.  The children are kept busy with age-appropriate activities, leaving both children and parents time to relax and enjoy the amenities, both together and apart.

Just about where the ocean meets land is where you’ll find cruise ports.  Want to visit the Mediterranean but can’t decide which country?  There are several itineraries that visit different portions of the Med or one that circles the entire Med.  How about visiting mysterious Asia?  From the coast of Japan down to the Great Barrier Reef, you could choose to cruise the entire route or pick and choose different segments.  How about the Caribbean?  If you can’t decide which ports to visit, cruise lines have back-to-back cruises that visit not only the Eastern Caribbean, but the Western Caribbean the following week. 

Once you have decided on a cruise, cruise lines conveniently booked with reputable local tours to provide a variety of excursions to choose from. Several weeks before cruises set sail, cruise lines send out excursion booklets for pre-booking.  Passengers also have the option of booking direct with local tours.  However, new cruisers are advised to book directly with the cruise lines since transportation is usually included in ship-sponsored excursions.

My family and I have had the pleasure of sailing several times to the Mexican Riviera, Alaska Inside Passage, Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean, Southern Caribbean and Northern Europe.  Each cruise was unique in itself, with different cruise lines, different cruise ships and sizes, different times of the year; and with different type of friends and family.  I will discuss our experience of each cruise in upcoming future blogs…

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Using Teamviewer to create a remote session

We walked through the installation of Teamviewer earlier. Here, we are going to show you how to create a remote session between two computers.

 
Suppose Peter wants to show something on his computer to Mary. Both of them had Teamviewer installed on their computers.
  1. Peter starts Teamviewer on his computer. For security reason, he creates a new password by clicking in the Password box and select Create new dynamic password.
  2. Peter calls up Mary to start Teamviewer on her computer and gives her his ID and password.
  3. Mary enters Peter's ID on the right hand side panel under Create session, see the picture below, and click Connect to partner.
  4. Mary enters Peter's password in the window pops up, as shown below, and then click Log On.
  5. A Teamviewer window pops up which displays Peter's screen on Mary's computer. In this window, both Mary and Peter can move their mouse as if they were on the same computer.
  6. To end the shared session, Mary can simply close the Teamviewer window.
This post only covered the very basic of Teamviewer. I hope hat you find the information helpful and explore it further to fit your needs.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Teamview Quick Installation Guide

On February 25, I mentioned Teamviewer in this post.  Below is a quick start guide.
  1. Open Teamviewer's web site at http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx.  You can use any web browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google chrome.
  2. Click "Start Full Version" button to download and install the full version Teamviewer. Clink Run to run the setup program now or Save for future.
  3. Click Run to run the downloaded setup program.
  4. Select Install to install Teamviewer on the computer.  Alternatively, select Run to execute Teamviewer without installation. Click Next to continue.
  5. In what environment do you plan to use Teamviewer? Choose the one best to fit you: personal, commercial, or both. The free version can only be used in a personal environment. In this example, we choose personal use and click Next to continue.
  6. You need to accept the license agreement and confirm that it is for private use. Click Next to continue.
  7. Next, you will be given two access control modes to choose: Full access or confirm all. Full access means that you are given full control on your PC to your connecting partner. Otherwise, you need to confirm all actions in a connecting session. Here we choose Full access and click Next.
  8. After a while, you will see this window below letting you know that the installation has completed.
  9. After Teamviewer finished installing, you will  be given a unique ID and a randomly generated password. We will talk about the usage here.
  10. Since it takes two computers to share a connection session, let's repeat the above steps 1-9 on another computer to install Teamviewer.

Amazing Talented Kids Playing Piano

Thanks to Bill for a youtube link to Ethan Bortnick.  What an amazing talented kid playing piano. Here are a few links:
9-year-old takes on music's best
Ethan Bortnick Piano Prodigy is only 7 years old!-Artstreet Miami
6-year-old Ethan Bortnick on Tonight Show
Beyonce and Ethan Bortnick - American Airlines Arena, Miami

Another talented girl Emily Bear playing piano:
The Next Mozart? 6-Year Old Piano Prodigy Wows All
Emily Bear on Ellen
Emily Bear playing Solfeggietto
Lunchbreak - Emily Bear - Journey To My Heart