In my last post, I promised two secrets that are making my life better. Here, I deliver…

First, an engineer in for an upcoming review for InfoWorld told me a secret of the BlackJack. I can’t say it’s been my very favorite phone up until now, but he showed me how to convince it to act as a wireless modem for my laptop. Joy! Now, I can get work done anywhere I can find a high-speed data signal (which is most of the places I tend to travel). Since I have the unlimited data plan, I figure AT&T can get only so ticked off at me. After all, bits are bits.

Next came a critical revelation about an important application one of my publications uses to manage articles. Since joining the pub, I’d been told that a VPN connection was required to reach the app and, for various reasons, I had to use the pub-supplied laptop for the VPN connection. On a phone call earlier this week, a fellow editor let it slip that no VPN connection was actually required. I checked, and he’s right! Joy, again! I’ve had to do just a bit of application hacking, since the publication is still using Office 2003 and I’m using Office 2007, but I’ve managed to get everything working and I can feel my stress level dropping dramatically. To be able to get necessary work done wherever I am is a gloriously liberating feeling.

That’s it–I’m now more mobile, with my cell phone and single laptop giving me an office-in-a-messenger bag. I’m altogether too pleased with the situation, but it’s put a nice glow on the week.

Categories: Networking, Mobile