Computer question? What is needed to

[quimmee]

access my computer while on vacation on a ship? I think my user name and password. Anything else. I was hoping to download some important documents and store in an email, so if needed I can retrieve them. What is your opinion? I guess the main thing would be someone hacking my computer and stealing the information. Any opinions? thanks again.

[kitty9]

Are you talking about networking with your home computer or are you just wanting to access information via the internet? You cannot network with your home computer with the computers on the ship, but you can access things like internet explorer and AOL. You just have to log in on the ship's computers and click on either the AOL icon or the internet explorer icon. From there you can access your email from any of your personal email accounts.

[quimmee]

Just wondering what you personally think about doing this ? Is it a good idea, just wondering ? I am asking because what if we run into trouble on an island and just happen to get left behind, or papers get stolen. I will have copies on the ship, but I am trying to think about the worst scenario. This isn't stressing me out or anything , but I guess I am trying to cover all the bases. Thanks for the reply and opinions. Really appreciate it...

[Terpnut]

Are you talking about networking with your home computer or are you just wanting to access information via the internet? You cannot network with your home computer with the computers on the ship, but you can access things like internet explorer and AOL. You just have to log in on the ship's computers and click on either the AOL icon or the internet explorer icon. From there you can access your email from any of your personal email accounts.

If you bring your own computer, have a VPN, and use the on-board wireless networks (where available), you can directly access their home or office computers and not just basic web browsing or email! For example, I access my home or office computers remotely to pay bills using Quicken, access sensitive work files, administer my servers, monitor network cameras, etc.--all securely.

 

If you don't have a VPN, then you are mostly limited to basic web functionality and to using whatever software you loaded on your own computer.

 

I agree however that the OP's question is very vague as to what he/she actually wants to do.

[Terpnut]

Just wondering what you personally think about doing this ? Is it a good idea, just wondering ? I am asking because what if we run into trouble on an island and just happen to get left behind, or papers get stolen. I will have copies on the ship, but I am trying to think about the worst scenario. This isn't stressing me out or anything , but I guess I am trying to cover all the bases. Thanks for the reply and opinions. Really appreciate it...

If your objective is to have digitized documents with you in case of loss or emergency, do the following:

 

1. Scan all important documents that exist in paper form only (passports, driver's license, marriage license, social security card, etc.). Save to a common format such as BMP or JPG.

2. Buy a cheap 128 or 256 MB USB flash drive. Less than $20 from Costco.

3. Copy above scanned files onto your flash drive.

4. Copy all other electronic files (such as personal notes, airline itineraries, cruise documents, interesting cruise critic comments) that already exist in TXT, HTML, Word DOC or Excel XLS formats, for example, onto your flash drive.

5. Carry flash drive on your body using lanyard or necklace. Now if you lose one or more of your valuable documents, you can reprint them from any available computer!

[quimmee]

Just gave me a great idea. Yes , I want to capture those documents for safe keeping. I have a mp3 player with a sd memory card in it. I can use that. I will carry it off the ship with me.. Thanks for all your help...

[jetskier]

You can also sign up for a Yahoo mail account and send yourself an email with the docs attached. You can access your Yahoo email onboard. Yahoo can also be setup with your POP3 server address so that you download emails from your home's ISP provider.

Dave

[Terpnut]

Just gave me a great idea. Yes , I want to capture those documents for safe keeping. I have a mp3 player with a sd memory card in it. I can use that. I will carry it off the ship with me.. Thanks for all your help...

Unless your MP3 player also has some sort of USB interface, please remember that SD card readers are not standard on most computers and thus less plentiful where you might eventually need it. Ask yourself: If I get into a jam where I lost, or don't have access to, an important document, will I be able to read or print the electronic file that I have stored on the media I happen to be carrying? For example, you are in Mexico, lose your passport, go to the US Embassy and want to give them a copy of your passport so they can quickly reissue it. Will they be able to read and then print your files from the SD card? IMHO, with an SD card, it is probably a 60% probability. With a USB flash drive, it is a 95% probability.