Episode: 1307
Title: HPR1307: What's in my Bag
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr1307/hpr1307.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-17 23:17:21

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My Handle is Excipiter. This show is about what's in my bag. This is my second effort
at a show. I urge others to give you the try. It's not all that hard and the people at
HPR really help out. So what's in my bag? My bag is a leather briefcase style bag with five
compartments. I always get them with five because then I can consistently organize my things whether
it's a new bag or an old bag or a transfer stuff. The bag has two compartments that are smaller,
zippered and the one at the back is where I'm going to start. I have a magnetic card in there which
is necessary for me to get in and out of the compound where I'm living right now. Because the card
is in there by itself, I can just hold the briefcase up to the card reader and move the door opens
and I'm in. This is really an advantage because it's tough to drop the card or lose it since it
never comes out of that section of the case. As well, if I have to, I can open the zipper all the way
and that compartment is big enough that I can put in a file folder vertically and carry papers
securely that way so I don't get crushed messed up. The main compartment in the middle has three
parts. The first part is a laptop section. Right now I don't have a laptop small enough to go
into that bag but I do have a tablet. That means that there's enough room that I can put in the
tablet and it's a little stand as well. An extra pair of headphones and they were occasional
loose gear on dragging around with me like a mini keyboard if I'm going to have to do a lot of
typing. It's a foldable Bluetooth keyboard and all of that stuff just slots in there.
In the middle it's much more open. I keep my wallet but I also carry a one terabyte drive and
that represents a full backup of my laptop. This is my weak version of off-site backup. It isn't
really off-site all the time but mostly it is. If it is an off-site, neither am I. So I'm there so
it isn't going to get stolen or disappear or get damaged. I'm going to be there and know about it.
The main compartment is big enough to also take a case for extra pair of glasses and a coin purse.
The coin purse though is full of USBs. I like to carry them with me. I think of them as my toolset
and I have a bunch because where I am they're quite cheap. I have a three sand disk. One is a
sand disk slide bottle and I have portable apps on there. That means if I'm using an unfamiliar
computer and the version of Windows, almost always Windows, won't run my version at a power point.
I can put in a portable app and use the office suite to carry on with my presentation. I also have
a media player on there and a web surfer. I have a few documents saved on there but mainly it's
just to have the apps. I find this is a very big help when you're forced to work at different
computers and you can never be sure if the particular file you've got's going to run on the
particular software they've got. I also have a sand disk with a win 7 install on it. I can run
a clean version of Windows and install it onto a computer if I need to. The version is a legal
version so it can be registered if the person I'm getting it to has a legal version and they can
input their license and key numbers. I also have a sand disk that's called a blade on it. I'm
carrying right now the Mint 15 install. I'm not totally confident in Mint 15 yet because it's still
in beta so I'm also carrying a Kingston USB and it's got Mint 14 on it. I find these really
helpful because you can slap in the USB boot from it and check the hardware on a computer to see
if it's a hardware problem or a software problem. I find that that speeds up diagnostics for me
a great deal. I'm only helping out friends I don't mess with their hardware so it's really
helpful for me to know fast if it's a hardware issue in which case I'm done or if it's a software
and they need some help tweaking things. Before I will put any of my precious precious USBs into
such a computer though I run Microsoft security essentials over the computer.
It's not ideal but it's clean and it's better than nothing. I can then put in a USB with reasonable
confidence that it will still work when I take it out. I'm also at the moment carrying another
Kingston with Ubuntu 12s on it. A lot of people are willing to use Linux if they can see how easy it
is to use. I like the version 12 so I tend to show it to people and can let them play around with it
conveniently enough. That's how I got into Linux. If you heard my other podcast you'll know that.
Last of all in the Kingston lineup and there are four. I have a disk drive checker so this is one
that'll go over and look for bad sectors and otherwise check out those spin disks or the it'll do an
SSD as well and I can also check peripherals if we plug them into the computer before it grew up of course.
I have a Guile G-E-I-L which is a local product and it actually works very well. I bought it because
it has a super heavy metal case. I mean you could take this they throw it in a wall and leave it
dead on the wall. It's so ridiculously overdone that I had to have it. Right now I'm carrying
TK3 on it so if I need the database programs of the type I've got them with me. Finally I have
a little Toshiba USB and mainly I'm carrying the files that I might need at work or I'm going to
give to people or whatever that may be. So that coin purse is pretty well stuffed but I like
carrying the USBs this way because the coin purse offers them a bit of protection with water proof.
I like to think it cuts down on the dust and lid. Also it means it's easy for me to find the
USBs because they're all sitting there at a little coin purse in that main compartment.
Usually I also discover in the bottom of that compartment multiple pens that I thought had
disappear. It's changed because I'm impatient when I'm getting the change. I tend to just grab it
drop it into that main compartment. It's not going here but I also have something that I think
others should look into. I always carry a jeweler's loop. The thing with the jeweler's loop
is they're quite small but the magnification rate is very high. So if you're looking at those
teeny tiny model numbers on something you can expand them quite if you'll magnify them in effect
and see them quite easily. Also as an aging I find it's helpful for reading very small print
such as the sort you get on the boxes that this or that you're buying like come in.
I find it helpful to check out the specs and the details of the product that I'm purchasing
for my computer. I have a phone pocket in there it's a last-sized so when your phone goes in
it's a little bit of a drag to get it in but when it's in it stays there. I can turn my bag over
and shake it and that phone goes nowhere. I really recommend that. I often carry a extra set of
glasses and a tiny little box of screwdrivers. They're magnetized which is helpful when you're
taking out drives from a computer tightening them up or whatever. The screwdrivers are quite small
nice to the set different heads and the whole thing is a little bit bigger than a cigarette
package. The last section of the main compartment is zippered so if I've got anything valuable
that I really cannot lose it goes in there and I can zip it down. I don't think a pick pocket
could get at it because I have to do all the plant-borne foot on it to get the zippered to slide
the side of the case is very loose and the zipper tends to get jammed because it sort of wrinkles
up when you try to pull it. So you need two hands and zip it along. I think that that makes it
pretty pretty spring pick pockets. In the funky apartment it's shallow but it's a bit baggy so
in there I have a tether which has my keys on it. The beauty of a tether is that you just loop
your finger around the tether part and the keys are up in your hand and you can open the door
or whatever and then you cannot drop your keys. Unless you drop your hold back and it's saying
I've never done it. I'm just saying it doesn't happen as often as dropping a set of keys desk.
Again it's impossible to walk away and leave your keys in a door because you aren't tethered to
the door. So I really recommend these for people who have a who are, shall we say, key
impaired such as myself. I have a card reader in there right at the moment it's carrying an 8 gigabyte
card but it's handy to have in case I need to help someone transfer photos from their camera
or whatever. People forget that the camera storage isn't a simple USB or just jamming to
any computer in your close box. I have a Bluetooth toggle. I find that very helpful because if I
reach to upload or download something from my phone or my tablet then I don't happen to have all
the cables with me. I can slap in the Bluetooth toggle, establish a connection and then go ahead
and transfer that way. I've done it a fair bit. It saves me from having to go all the way back home
and get something more times than I carry with me. I really recommend the little toggle
or dirt cheap and it just lives there in my bag. It's a no problem at all.
I do also keep a simple paper notebook in there. I like to get the ones with a spiral bindings
so they lay flat and a plastic cover that way they don't get messed up in the rain as much.
I find that sometimes you just can't type on a touch screen. You have nowhere to set up your little
Bluetooth keyboard. You're stuck. It's handy to have a spiral notebook with a pen jam down in
the spiral. Then that way if something hits you you remember something or you're a fear you're
going to forget something. You have a place to put it no matter where you are unless of course
you're in the dead dark. Yes, I do have a flashlight. It's a little bit bigger than my thumb. It's
an LED flashlight and I can use that if and deed it is dead dark. Of course the phone will give
a fair amount of light as well the tablet screen but if you're out in the middle of nowhere you really
don't want to run your battery down unless you absolutely have to. So that's it that's my bag.
Almost all of it the bags that I have it the same as I say and that helps me with organization
so when I'm looking for something in a hurry I can find it. Oh gee and one more thing in the front
bottle. A real life saver. So that's what's in my bag. I hope you will do your own podcast so I
can find out what's in your bag. These podcasts I find are a lot of fun to listen to.
Thanks for listening to mine.
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