Whether using your laptop or cell phone, it is important for today’s travelers to stay connected while on the road. Chris McGinnis, noted business travel expert and author of “The Unofficial Business Traveler’s Pocket Guide: 165 Travel Tips Even the Best Business Travelers May Not Know,†offers useful high (and some low) tech tips on how to keep connected and stay secure while traveling.
* Wi-fi: If you don’t have it, get it. Wireless Internet access (wi-fi) is now the killer app for frequent travelers. Most new laptops come with built in wi-fi, but if yours doesn’t you can buy an inexpensive adapter card for under $15 that will allow you to access the rapidly growing number of Internet hotspots.
* Inquire about high speed: Always ask if high-speed Internet connections (wired or wireless) are available in your hotel. If wi-fi is offered, find out if it is accessible only in the lobby or also in your room. Check if the wi-fi service is free or if there is a charge; in the U.S. it is generally inexpensive, but overseas it can be as high as $30/day.
* Log on at the airport: There’s nothing better than finding a wi-fi connection to the Internet when you are at the airport waiting for your flight, and it is even better when that connection is free. There are now nearly 400 airports across the country offering wi-fi service to travelers, with some offering free access, although most require a fee of $6 to $10.
* People are watching: Help protect your privacy on the plane, in the airport and in other public areas where you are working on your laptop by using products like 3M Privacy Filters (www.3MPrivacyFilters.com) with “black out†technology. With the privacy filter, your laptop screen cannot be viewed from the side and you do not have to worry about “wandering eyes†stealing information off your computer screen.
* Be careful with free wi-fi: If you are not certain who is providing the free wi-fi hotspot you are accessing, do not enter sensitive information like credit card numbers, passwords or confidential financial information. Beware of “evil twin†hotspots that simulate the look of a legitimate hotspot, and may actually provide you with a connection to the Internet, but are set up to steal your proprietary information.
* Safer hotel rooms: Keep your electronic gear out of sight when you are not in your hotel room. Most business class hotels now offer in-room safes that are flat and wide enough to accommodate your laptop. Use them!
Courtesy of ARA Content
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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