I am often stopped on the street with questions about the solar panels on my backpack, so I figured that I'd write an article about it.

Shortly after the big northeastern blackout in the summer of 2003, I began looking at alternate power sources to keep my devices going when traditional power was unavailable.

I came across a backpack that was fitted with solar panels and a battery for storage. The backpack is by a company called voltaic systems and is equipped with adapters for many common small appliances including cell phones, IPODS, Iphones, Blackberries, Digital Cameras, USB and more. The battery is also equipped with a built in light, which is helpful when the power goes out.

Also included is a wall adapter and car charger to charge the battery in low – sun environments or the winter.

There is also an adapter that will charge devices with a car light adapter (GPS, Auto charger or other)

I recently installed the optional water bladder, which allows you to add up to  3 Liters of water to the bag. There is a drinking tube that can be run down one of the cable channels on the shoulder straps. I fill mine with Ice and water to provide for a convenient cold drink, when walking , or riding my bike in the heat.

I am very impressed with Voltaic’s customer service. Recently, after owning the bag for almost 7 years, one of the zippers got damaged. The company sent me a replacement bag (sans the solar panels and battery) free of charge. Swapping out the battery and solar panels was achieved within a matter of minutes.

While the backpack is only suitable for lower voltage devices(phones, pda, mp3 players)  Voltaic now offers a bag  called the generator that can charge laptops and other devices up to 15 Watts. For more information go to voltaic systems website.

Learning a new language can often be a difficult undertaking.

In this article I share some technical resources to assist you in your
journey.

Anki- This free Memory tool is available for download on the internet. Anki
works like a flashcard system, you can enter your own decks or download
existing decks from the internet. There are decks available for many
languages.
Once installed, you'll have the option of downloading the various decks
available to you. You begin by defining how many "facts" or words you would
like to learn each day. Anki will then quiz you on those words, you will
rate them as easy, good or difficult. Based on these rankings Anki will
repeat the words in upcoming sessions.
If you are using multiple computers, you can use the anki server to
synchronize your computers with the updated rankings and word selections.
There is even an Iphone application that works with Anki and will allow you
to sync the decks down to your Iphone.

Google Translate

This site will allow you to translate web pages or pasted content between
many different languages.
While the translations are often lacking, they usually give you a basic
understanding of the content.

Pimsuleur and other CD's - These language CD's can be imported into Itunes
or other MP3 program. You can then review content at home, in the office, in
the car or on the run.

Dictionary Apps- There are many different dictionary apps available for
Iphones and other smartphones that can translate various languages. This can
be handy when using your new language on the go.

Hebrew Web Resources- Check out additional Hebrew language specific internet resources.

In many cases , the Cydia application fails to install or update apps after jailbreaking your Iphone with v3.0. There seems to be a conflict with the ICY and Cydia Apps installed on the jailbreak.

To fix:

1.       Backup your phone

2.       Re-jailbreak your phone using redsnow.

3.       Deselect Cydia,

4.       If you’d like ICY installed select ICY

5.       When the jailbreak completes, you should have a working install of ICY and Cydia.