Some safety tips for travel tech!

Just like the destination itself, logging onto a foreign free wifi hotspot can be a journey into the unknown and one that could be full of unpleasant surprises. 

There's no doubt about that smartphones and tablets have revolutionized the way we live and that's why when it comes to taking a holiday with them, rather than from them, there appears to be no debate: the phone and the slate and often even a notebook are as high on the list as packing clean underwear.

And because of this, holidaymakers need to keep in mind their digital as well as their personal safety if taking a vacation this summer.

Public wifiYou may feel it's fine to use a hotspot at an airport or a renowned hotel but in general a public hotspot is just that: the opposite of private. As Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor at F-Secure Labs, says: "It may feel private because you're using your personal device, but it's not." He advises against using a public hotspot for anything personal or for anything that requires you to enter a password or user details. Stick to browsing.

Complementary computersFrom hotel lobbies to cafes and bars, a number of places offer free computer access. Unless you can 100 percent guarantee that they're not brimming with malware or keystroke-registering viruses, use them for checking the weather, following sports or reading the headlines, but nothing else.

Take email precautionsSullivan suggests setting up a special one-off email address specifically for use during a vacation so that if it's an emergency and you have to use a public wifi hotspot or communal PC to get in touch with someone, the damage is minimized. "That way if someone hacks your vacation email account, they might see emails with your mom and the cat sitter, but they won't have access to the other sensitive data that would be in your main email account," he says. Setting up a one-off account will also somewhat minimize the impact of losing or of having a phone or tablet stolen.

Banking away from homeThe simple answer is to stick to physical banks if at all possible. But if using online banking is unavoidable, bite the bullet and accept the data usage roaming fees that come with using a smartphone to access the internet in a foreign country and do it via the dedicated app. But make sure to sign out of it again when the transaction is completed.

Saving your memoriesFor most people the content on their devices is just as important as the devices themselves. So make sure they are totally backed up before the holidays start and if the smartphone is serving as a camera too consider using some form of cloud storage for preserving images -- such as Apple's iCloud if you have an iPhone -- or, for Android users, think about swapping out and storing the SD cards.

If you're using a real, high specification camera, rather than a smartphone for capturing memories, think about the professional photographer's trick of covering the device in duct tape and stickers so that the camera looks like it's falling apart rather than a state-of-the-art imaging unit and therefore avoiding unwanted attention.

Saving the deviceFor a number of years, Apple has offered a free ‘Find My Phone' service and app that enables iPhone and iPad owners to track and locate a missing device and, in the case of theft, remotely erase its contents. Make sure it is set up before you go. For Sony Xperia users, there is a similar Sony-specific service that is currently rolling out globally, while at the beginning of August, Google announced that it will be launching the same type of find-my-phone service currently available to iPhone users to the larger Android device-owning community before the end of the month. 

These are the some travel tech safety tips, we should keeps in our mind for any unconventional tour. For more useful information please visiting Singh limo blog and website that www.singhlimodc.com.

 

Riders give Metro overall favorable marks

Even with poorly lit stations, chronically broken escalators, frequently late buses and near daily train delays, a large majority of Washington DC area residents continue to have favorable views of Metro, according to a new  poll.

But riders have growing doubts about the value and reliability of the 37-year-old system, and transit advocates say such concerns could undermine Metro’s efforts to rally support for its plan to modernize the transit system.

An increasing number of people say the subway is becoming too pricey to ride. More people say they are not using Metro because trains are too crowded and more people report that rides take too long. And the system overall is viewed as less reliable than several years ago, as disruptions on Metro’s five rail lines have become routine.

“I think under the circumstances — it’s old and a lot of people use it — it is a pretty good system,” said Ruth Kling of Falls Church, who was a daily rider for 15 years on the Red Line from Union Station to Dupont Circle until she retired. “It’s pretty clean and it seems to run on time. Except for the escalators — that’s a perennial problem.”

Kling’s measured approval was typical among the roughly 1,100 people in the District and close-in suburbs who participated in the survey, which was conducted between June 19 and 23.
Roughly seven in 10 residents, or 71 percent, give Metrorail positive ratings. A 56 percent majority rate Metrorail as good, and 15 percent call it excellent. Few see the system in a negative light, with 16 percent rating the rail system as not so good or poor.

The sampling of public sentiment toward Metro comes at a critical juncture for the subway system, which records about 750,000 trips on a typical weekday. Even as they carry out a massive rehabilitation of the aging rail lines, Metro’s leaders have been rolling out ambitious proposals to expand and modernize the transit system, with plans for redesigned rail stations, simpler fare collection technology and a new tunnel under the Potomac.
But if the riders’ mounting concerns about Metro start to eat into their modest overall satisfaction with the system, it could make it even harder to line up the political and financial support Metro’s leaders will need to carry out their plans, experts say.
“The more you build support by doing a good job every day of carrying passengers, then the more you will have the political support,” said Ben Ross, a local transit advocate.
The Post survey, conducted on cellular and land-line phones, asked a range of questions about Metro and transportation. The Post did a similar survey three years ago and another in 2005.
The overall perception of Metro hasn’t dropped significantly even after several difficult years for the system, including a deadly crash four years ago that killed nine people and injured dozens on the Red Line. More than six in 10 riders continue to give Metro approving ratings in a variety of areas, including value, comfort, safety, operating hours, reliability and general convenience. Convenience to work is where Metro scores lowest, with half of workers saying the system is “excellent” or “good” on this point.
“People are generally much more critical on a day-to-day basis than if they think about their commutes over the long haul,” said Joshua Schank, president of the nonprofit Eno Center for Transportation in the District. “They recognize that most of the time they get to work on Metro on time and safely.”
But the positive marks could turn, Schank said, if Metro doesn’t tend to the concerns that are increasing among riders.

“If the system starts breaking down at a faster rate and if they waste money and don’t keep up a state of good repair, then people will turn,” Schank said. “They’ll say, ‘The system is no longer reliable and I’ll have to change my commuting patterns.’ ”
Increasingly people say they avoid Metrorail because it is too expensive. In a 2005 Washington Post survey, 75 percent of riders gave the subway positive ratings for offering a “good value,” but that has dropped to 67 percent. Metro has had three fare increases in the past five years, and the base rush-hour fare is now $2.10.
Cathy Bernard, who lives in Chevy Chase and mainly takes Metro’s Red and Green lines a few times a week to go to events at Verizon Center or Nationals Park, said she’s seen a decline in Metro as the fares have risen.
“It’s gotten kind of high,” she said of the cost, “and it’s been a steady decline. It’s not as reliable as it used to be and the cars aren’t as clean as they used to be.”
Metro’s reliability ranking has not recovered from a big decline. In the poll, 73 percent gave Metro positive ratings for reliability, similar to the 75 percent in 2010 but down from the 87 percent who expressed this view in 2005.
Kristofer Harrison, 37, who lives in Alexandria, used to ride Metrorail to go downtown a few times a week to meetings but stopped because he became so frustrated.
“It was unbelievable how unreliable Metro was,” he said. “Every time it rained there was a problem.” Now he drives to his meetings.
With more track work and station shutdowns, riders say delays are a factor in whether they use Metro. Fifty-three percent of people who don’t ride regularly say the long travel time is a reason they don’t ride. That is compared to the 46 percent who felt that way in 2010 — before Metro had started its major rebuilding effort.
Mike Miller, 26, of Fairfax said he has been a longtime Metro rider but gave up using the subway on weekends to go into the District because he had to allow up to 45 minutes extra to make sure he was on time.
“With all these delays it is more convenient to drive,” Miller said. “I think service is going down. I’ve lived here my whole life and it hasn’t improved. For a major metropolitan area the service is below average.”
At Metro, General Manager Richard Sarles repeatedly says the agency has worked more aggressively under his three-year-tenure as part of a $5 billion rebuilding effort to repair and upgrade the aging tracks and equipment that have been poorly maintained over the past few decades. But he acknowledges that more needs to be done.
“I don’t want to rest on our laurels,” Sarles said. “The last thing I want to do is say, ‘We’ve done good enough.’ We have to continue to make these improvements or we will slide back in providing reliable service. It will get worse.”


Nicole Chavez and Mark Berman contributed to this report. Clement is a survey research analyst with Capital Insight, the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Capital Insight pollsters Jon Cohen and Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report.

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