I broke down and bought an iPad 2 last month.

Generally I don't buy Apple products on the principal they are "closed" systems. Usually there aren't a lot of options to expand them without using Apple's unique connectors, etc. And they generally are more expensive for a given functionality.

I was really pulling for the Android tablets introduced at last year's Consumer Electronics Show. But unfortunately when they finally started shipping they ended up being as expensive, or more so, than the iPad.

When I was building my first websites, way back in the last millennium, the most common screen resolution was 640 by 480 pixels. Most websites at that time were being designed for 800 x 600 screens, which was rapidly becoming the standard.

Desktop, and laptop, resolutions have been climbing ever since. If netbooks hadn’t become popular a couple of years ago, it is likely websites would be designed for 1200 to 1400 pixel wide screens. Instead the common design standard for current websites is based on a 960 pixel wide grid, centered on the user’s screen.

I wrote about the PogoPlug a couple of years ago (Tech Bit 59). PogoPlug is small, inexpensive (under $100) device that turns an external USB hard disk into cloud storage you can access from any computer, either via a web browser or a small software download that turns your PogoPlug cloud into a drive on your computer (usually the P: drive).

I have recently accepted been involved in a contract to support the Small Business Administration website that has me living, at least for now, in Washington D.C. while my family and home office remain in Aurora, Colorado.

Living and working a bit over 1,500 miles from home has forced given me an opportunity to apply several of the technologies I have written about in the past. Their integration should prove that it is possible to replicate your home office and communicate while you are on the road.

In the last article we looked at projectors for your presentations. Buying one for $400-800 can quickly return its investment compared to renting one from a hotel for $200+ per day.

You’ll still need to rent a screen from the hotel. One option, if you bring your own extension cord, is to ask only for the screen and defer on the A/V projector support package, which is often only a screen, an extension cord and a stand for the projector. Instead of the stand, just ask catering for a cocktail round to put your projector on (usually they don’t charge for those).