Jim Baker's Ephemera

Secure connections help you bypass broadcaster restrictions on live and downloadable content when you’re on the go.

If you travel a great deal as I do, sooner or later you’ll begin to miss some of your favorite radio or TV shows from your native country. Sure, you may have them recording to your TiVO or other DVR back home, but eventually that will fill up and you’ll have a mighty backlog to work your way through. And anyway, I’d like to listen to programs live too. But broadcasters have gone to great lengths to stop you from enjoying your favorite media when aboard. Typically they’ll restrict access based on your computer’s IP address, so players from the BBC (UK) and Comcast (US) won’t work when you’re hooked into broadband in a foreign land. But as I recently discovered there are tools that help you circumnavigate that with great results.

By using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) client and service, you can remotely ‘dial in’ to a server in your home country, be assigned a local IP address, and fool broadcaster services that you’re accessing the content locally. I’m a Mac user and was looking for something that would work on my MacBook Air while traveling, and from a home-based Mac Mini in the US (to access UK programming) and in the UK (to access US programming). This required a VPN service that had user-selectable servers in your country of choice. After some digging around I came up with PersonalVPN™ Pro from WiTopia, which has client software for the Mac as well as PPTP configuration for iPad and iPhone, for a reasonable $69 annual subscription. The basic premise is that a VPN client will anonymize and protect Internet connections when you’re out and about; in airports, hotels and other public Wi-Fi hotspots. But the added bonus is that you can select a VPN server from a wide list of countries around the world. Using PersonalVPN in California, I was able to simply connect to a server in London, launch BBC iPlayer and stream live radio and TV straight to my desktop. Awesome, if not slightly illegal. But I won’t tell if you don’t.

In my homes I have duplicated a standard set-up of a Mac Mini hosting iTunes, using AirPlay to distribute audio wirelessly around the house and Airport Express to extend the audio network. Unfortunately stand-alone players like BBC iPlayer, and other apps and browsers like Chrome, Firefox or Safari, are not supported natively by AirPlay so you can’t stream audio from those to remote speakers. However I came across a nifty app called AirFoil ($25) which does exactly that, with great results. Just launch AirFoil, select the audio source (such as iPlayer) and the target AirPlay speakers (in any number of rooms) and that’s it. Suddenly your whole house is filled with BBC Radio 4’s ‘Just a Minute’ (if that’s your kind of thing). Even better, you can download TV shows for offline viewing – in fact I’ve nine episodes of this summer’s ‘Torchwood – Miracle Day’ in HD downloading right now (hope it’s worth it).

If you’re looking for an easy way to get geographically-restricted content to your laptop or home media system, look no further than these tools. It’s a small price to pay for quality entertainment, until the black Maria pulls up outside and the men with body bags jump out to have a little chat.

Glutton for punishment as I am, it seems I have booked myself on two cycling Centuries within a week of each other. ‘Quit whining’ I hear you say. It’s true I’ve brought this upon myself though I’m no expert rider – just a keen enthusiast. But I seem to have chosen two quite demanding rides very close together, with less than three weeks to get ready; a situation best described as ‘interesting’.

Tahoe Sierra Century – 100 Miles of High Altitude Riding

The Tahoe Century seemed like a good idea at the time; I was in Tahoe over the summer, the lake was blue, I’d had a few glasses of wine (OK, a bottle). What’s the big deal about a ride around the lake? It’s mainly flat. That’s true but as I later found out the ride is not around the lake. In fact it barely touches it. The TSC focuses on the long climby bits through rugged mountain passes where even goats have trouble. The ride’s home page has a smiling family photo of Dad on a tandem with his 7yo, while also happily pulling little Timmy behind on a trailer. Thing is, that’s not the ride I’m doing, they’re on the 30 mile jaunt. I’m on the 100-mile course with 7,000 feet of vertical gain and ambulances are standing by. The route goes over Donner Summit where, 150 years ago or so people became so desperate they ate each other, giving rise to the popular roadside snack the ‘Donner Kebab’. With no current plans to be nibbled to death, I shall do my best to return safely to Squaw Valley by sunset to collapse, and be pointed and laughed at by Timmy and his dad.

Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo – Pacific Coast with Attitude

My wife asked me over coffee last week if I still wanted a ticket to ride the renowned Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo that traverses the beautiful open countryside in Sonoma, Northern California between Santa Rosa and the Pacific. Sure love to, I responded without much thought. She had found a guy selling a ticket on Craig’s List and that very afternoon it was mine. It was only slightly later that I realize how close the ride was to the Tahoe Century. “Think of Tahoe as a warm-up,” one of my Sunday cycling buddies quipped. Warm up indeed; the Fondo is quite grueling, again with 8,500 feet of climb over a 103-mile course. Fortunately I am not alone in the journey as I’ll be accompanied by my sister-in-law Fi K. and my erstwhile cycling chum Jim A. (the latter who thinks nothing of a quick 200-mile double century between breakfast and dinner).

Committed as I am to over 200 miles and 16,000 feet of hilly terrain seven days apart, there are those to whom this is a walk in the park and I salute you. In fact, you can buy me a beer at at either event if you care to join me.

Exploding levels of information transfer are putting pressure on communications systems and network infrastructure.

Cloud computing is revolutionizing the way we interact with information, and driving a massive expansion in data centres and network infrastructure around the world. At the same time, Global IP traffic will increase fourfold to an astonishing 966 exabytes per year by 2015, reflecting our insatiable desire for video streaming, music downloads and file sharing. The majority of this traffic passes over wired networks such as ADSL and cable, but Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as iPads, other tablets and smartphones will drive wireless connectivity to overtake wired network traffic for the first time by 2015, accounting for over 46.2% of all IP traffic. This presents a potentially significant problem for mass transit bus and rail operators offering Wi-Fi to passengers.

Read more in my Expert View article on the New Transit Magazine web site