04-27-2004, 04:00 AM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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Blogging from the North Pole...with an iPAQ
"At the end of February 2004, Ben Saunders set out to ski solo more than 1,200 miles across the Arctic from Siberia to Canada via the Geographic North Pole. Traversing the Arctic alone without kites or dogs remains one of the very few genuine world firsts that have yet to be achieved - in setting out on this, Ben aims to 'reset the polar standard'."
Ben is also setting some impressive technological standards. His daily blog (complete with photo), is uploaded via a Motorola 9505 Iridium satellite phone from an iPAQ running Contact 2.0 software. He's using a Garmin GPS to keep track of where he is and where he needs to go, and he listens to music on 3 512mb MP3 players (on shuffle) as he slogs his way north. In addition to having to deal with the cold, Ben also has to drag everything he needs to survive in a single sledge, so weight is a huge factor. So much so that on March 13, "In a desperate bid to save weight, I threw away the stylus for my iPAQ. I now write these updates using a matchstick. What a plonker." 
In true geek fashion, Ben has also managed to both break and fix his iPAQ charger, as he relates in his entry from 3/18: "I am SO proud - not of my skiing, the mileage I've covered, or the fact that I've been out here two weeks, but of the repair job I've just carried out on the charger for the iPAQ I write these updates on. I use Energizer lithium batteries to power the iPAQ, my phone, camera and GPS. The charger for the iPAQ looks like the kind of thing you'd plug into a cigarette lighter and has a little red light to tell you it's working. This evening I realised it wasn't working. No red light. No power. No spare charger. No more updates. With nothing to lose, I opened it up with my Leatherman, thinking there might be a lose connection. Only there's a whole bloomin' circuit board in there. Yikes.
After a few minutes of poking, I found a soldered connection that had snapped. I knew I had to fix it, and after nearly two hours of bodging with a safety pin, a red hot knife blade, some super glue and a few other odds and ends, IT WORKS!!!! The rest of the day? Dragged a sledge for a few hours, lots of ice, stupidly cold, shivering in a sleeping bag. Same old same old." :werenotworthy: Ben is currently more than halfway to his goal, and hopes to reach the Geographic North Pole by June 4th.
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04-27-2004, 04:24 AM
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Mystic
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,911
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Wow this guy is hard core. I could never do anything like that.
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04-27-2004, 04:34 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 24
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I could if my 4350 could transform into a rocket powered sled. But alas, PPCs aren't that advanced yet...
I hope he makes it to his goal!
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04-27-2004, 04:38 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 323
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3 512 KB mp3 players on shuffle?!
Someone should've told this guy about the iPod. :frusty:
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04-27-2004, 04:49 AM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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Re: 3 512 KB mp3 players on shuffle?!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Phronetix
Someone should've told this guy about the iPod. :frusty:
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An iPod wouldn't work - the spinning platters of the hard drive wouldn't hold up in the extreme cold. Flash memory is the only option. :wink:
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04-27-2004, 06:39 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 383
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Re: Blogging from the North Pole...with an iPAQ
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Pat Logsdon
In true geek fashion..
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A guy like this can hardly be described as a geek. 8O
So, here's a hint for you if people give you a hard time about being geekish: go to the north pole!
/jizmo
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04-27-2004, 07:33 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 276
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by dean_shan
Wow this guy is hard core. I could never do anything like that.
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:idontthinkso: I would never do anything like that*. Well, not unless there was like some millions Euros waiting for me... :lol:
(* = not after experiencing -30 degrees Celcius + winds, with improper clothing in the Finnish friggin army! *arrghh -- too cold* )
Where's the freezing emoticon? I'm beginning to freeze (indoors) just thinking of what that guy is experiencing! :mrgreen:
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04-27-2004, 10:21 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 221
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I wonder if he'll be patenting his combination handwarmer/stylus device when he gets back?
:mrgreen:
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04-27-2004, 02:57 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 366
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by dean_shan
Wow this guy is hard core. I could never do anything like that.
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Which, the solo ski or the resoldering on the circuit board of the IPAQ charger?????
8)
KCT
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04-27-2004, 03:05 PM
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,998
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Kevin C. Tofel
Quote:
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Originally Posted by dean_shan
Wow this guy is hard core. I could never do anything like that.
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Which, the solo ski or the resoldering on the circuit board of the IPAQ charger?????
8)
KCT |
Well, I personally woudln't do either. 
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