Two-factor authentication is commonly found in electronic computer authentication, where basic authentication is the process of a requesting entity presenting some evidence of its identity to a second entity. Two-factor authentication seeks to decrease the probability that the requestor is presenting false evidence of its identity. The number of factors is important, as it implies a higher probability that the bearer of the identity evidence indeed holds that identity in another realm (e.g., computer system vs real life). In reality, there are more variables to consider when establishing the relative assurance of truthfulness in an identity assertion than simply how many “factors” are used. Two-factor authentication is often confused with other forms of authentication. Two-factor authentication requires the use of two of the three authentication factors. The factors are identified in the standards and regulations for access to U.S. Federal Government systems. These factors are:

• Something the user knows (e.g., password, PIN, pattern)
• Something the user has (e.g., ATM card, smart card, mobile phone)
• Something the user is (e.g., biometric characteristic, such as a fingerprint)

Basicly this break down to you using your credentials (username & password) that you are already familiar with and a mobile phone that can either receive a text message or can generate a code by using an smartphone app. I’ll show you how to enable it for a few services.

Dropbox
Head over to Dropbox (be logged in of course) and go to Settings > Security and click on change just in-front of Two-step verification. The rest of the settings should be straight forward.

Facebook
Click this link for Facebook to navigate to Login Approvals (Facebook’s way of saying two-factor authentication) then click the checkbox and run through the settings. Next time you login from an unknown device you will get a text via your mobile device and use it to authenticate yourself.

Google
Google was probably the first to introduce two-factor authentication to its users back in September of 2010. To set up two-factor head over to your Google Account and navigate to the Security section. Then it’s a matter of clicking on Settings under the 2-step verification heading and working through the options. You can choose to use text messages (similar to Facebook) or use a application called Google Authenticate which generates time based codes. You might also consider adding a backup phonenumber and using the printable backup codes. The backup codes are useful in case of an emergency.

There are many services that offer two-factor authentication these days among those are also Microsoft, Apple and many more so check the security settings of the service your using if you wish to enable it.I will however mention how to enable SSH two-factor authentication for the more tech savvy users among us. I’ve seen two methods of enabling it but only successfully tested one. The first was posted on Howtogeek which has some well written howto’s (that are very easy to follow) but this one didn’t work on my version of Linux. It might however work fine for yours. The second one works just fine however it uses a hardcoded secret so if you want to enable it on a per users basis you will have to update the python code or use the Howtogeek option. I’ll leave you with a bit of wisdom from the same Wikipedia page I quoted earlier or Limitation of two-factor authentication:

Limitations According to proponents, TFA could drastically reduce the incidence of online identity theft, and other online fraud, because the victim’s password would no longer be enough to give a thief permanent access to their information. However, many TFA approaches remain vulnerable to man-in-the-browser and man-in-the-middle attacks.[3] In addition to such direct attacks, three aspects must be considered for each of the 2 (or more) factors in order to fully realize the potential increase in confidence of authentication:

• The inherent strength of the mechanism, i.e. the entropy of a secret, the resistance of a token to cloning, or the uniqueness and reliability of a biometric.
• Quality of provision and management. This has many aspects, such as the confidence one can have that a token or password has been securely delivered to the correct user and not an imposter, or that the correct individual has been biometrically enrolled, as well as secure storage and transmission of shared secrets, procedures for password reset, disabling a lost token, re-enrollment of a biometric, and prompt withdrawal of credentials when access is no longer required.
• Proactive fraud detection, e.g. monitoring of failed authentication attempts or unusual patterns of behavior which may indicate that an attack is under way, and suitable follow-up action.

Couchsurfing is build on the idea of sharing. As a couchhost you share your life for a few days with a couchsurfer. You have control over your involvement. This can range from providing a place to sleep & swapping travel stories to getting more involved and showing them around your neck of the woods, sharing a meal & drink, etc. Although some might think couchsurfing is just a great way to achieve free accommodation while travelling on a budget these free loaders are wrong. Sure it’s a great perk but couchsurfing for me is getting to know somebody from a different background with different interests. It’s great way to hear about old & new things in our world you haven’t heard about before. I for instance recently discovered Dawes – When My Time Comes thanks to Kate. Besides getting jealous about all those great travel stories.

You might get freaked out about the idea that you invite somebody you don’t know at all into your home but it’s not like that. You have several tools at your disposal before they actually cross the threshold of your sanctuary. To start there is the couchsurfing website where you can look at there profile and see what they are like including references left by other couchsurfers/hosts, photos and badges (vouched for, location verified, etc). As a couchsurfer you stand a better chance to get a couch with a proper filled out profile, I wouldn’t host anyone with just the basics in there. Besides the website you can always use Google search to see what you can find out about somebody. These days people share a lot Another indication is their couchrequest. This is a request from them to you as a couchhoster for a period of time to use your couch. Couch can range from an actual couch here to a mat on the floor or even a kingsized bed. A good request has lots of detail and doesn’t look copy/paste for mass distribution. It contains details about what you might have in common with the couchsurfer and it reads as if they actually read your profile before sending you the request. All of this helps you with separating the good from the bad.

My first couchsurfing experience was back in September after I finished hiking the West Coast Trail in Victoria, BC. Going back down to the States I stayed in Seattle, WA for 2 nights with Eric. He welcomed me in his spacious apartment where I had a room to myself and a double bed. I wasn’t expecting this sort of accommodation but then I had no real experience with couchsurfing until then and Americans seem to have bigger houses/apartments then we do in Europe. We shared stories about travelling and working in IT but also couchsurfing and especially meditation which he did everyday. He showed me his favourite places on 32nd street and enjoyed some great food and especially nice IPA (India Pale Ale) in this nice neighborhood. My second day I used to walk around the city centre and see the sights (Space Needle, Pike Place Market, Underground Experience, etc).

Before leaving for home and after Seattle I had one other place I was couchsurfing. New York, New York or at least I was staying really close to NYC, in Cranford, NJ. Being bridge and tunnel for several days wasn’t all that bad it only took me 1 hour to reach NYC from Danno’s place. And what a nice place it was. He had an nice house in suburbia where I had also room to myself this time an even larger double bed with an enormous television. Danno was even so friendly as to pick me up and drop me off at Newark Airport…this is when I fell in love with Couchsurfing. During my stay at Cranford I had 6 days packed with NYC sights, I eventually had to stay in for one day as my feet were getting a bit sore from all the walking. NYC was one of the highlights of my trip and I was thankful for the tips that Dan gave me like the Circle Line and seeing Times Square during the day & night. Although I did try to avoid Times Sq. after seeing it as it’s the most touristy part of NYC. I much more preferred the parks and Greenwich Village which reminded me of home.

My most recent couchsurfing experience was London back during the holiday season, just after Christmas. Spending New Years Eve there was a great idea. I got to meet Bernadet again and she was so friendly to let me crash on her inflatable bed during my 7 days of London’esk sight seeing even though she was ill during the last days of my visit. She did however show me around the touristy bits of London like the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Big Ben and more. I also got to see Catherine again whom I met in Melbourne a few years ago while I was travelling Australia. London is one of my favourite cities and on my ‘I could life there’-list amongst New York and Melbourne.

Recently I started hosting myself, sort of paying it forward. I’ve only hosted two girls so far over the last month for a few days at a time. Both times it was a good experience. Funny enough both times the girls were American but quite different in background. Kate was travelling through Europe by herself and has been for a couple of years where Jackie has been living in France for years and before that travelled all over the world for three years. Three years….damn I’d liked to do that Couchhosting, the other side of couchsurfing, is quite fun and you meet different people. It’s always fun to hear about their life and experiences.

Back to couchsurfing. Couchsurfing has it’s history. In 2011 Couchsurfing changes from a non-profit organisation to a for-profit one. In 2012 they change part of their layout of the website and Terms of Use

4.3 Member Content License. If you post Member Content to our Services, you hereby grant us a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, display, perform, adapt, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, have distributed and promote such Member Content in any form, in all media now known or hereinafter created and for any purpose, including without limitation the right to use your name, likeness, voice or identity.

All of this was met with a lot of protest from the members of the site. Although the website needed an overhaul to make it more snappy it hasn’t become that at all. It looks worse and navigation has not become better or faster. All in all this has cost Couchsurfing members that have either left and subscribed to BeWelcome with the same core believes those that started up Couchsurfing. I still use Couchsurfing and haven’t started using BeWelcome but that might change soon. They idea that is couchsurfing has existed long before couchsurfing.org or even BeWelcome and it will out live it.

Just before my first flight I read about a guy that ran the WCT in 16 hours divided over two days (check his video about it). That’s 75 kilometres. I respected that guy straight away but that respect would increase within the week. My flight via Newark,NJ to Seattle,WA went fine. Compared to my flight to Sydney this was short one so that didn’t really phase me. However United, the airline, is not in the same league as Garadu Indonesia or Malaysia Airlines. Legroom and food being way better on those airlines and I saw most of the movies that were available via in-flight entertainment but then I tend to see a lot of movies so I’ll let that one slide. After landing at Newark I had to waiting 2 hours for my second flight and final destination for the day, Seattle, WA.

Navigating from the airport to my hostel wasn’t entirely straight forward but that was more my doing. Getting onto the lightrail and heading into the city was the easy part. Here I even met an American couple that were visiting Seattle for the weekend and we talked a bit. Which was my first introduction with Americans on their home turf so to speak and they didn’t seem to be like the stereotypical Americans we all know and uhmmm well know. Just before my stop at Westlake station we said our goodbyes as I headed on. Finding the hostel though was rough and I even walked past it but eventually I ended up in my room for the night. It had some wicked wall/ceiling decorations.

The hostel was quite good, except for the noise from the street so lesson learn I guess and next time I’ll get a room at the back of the building. As I would be waking around 6:00 in the morning to catch the ferry towards Vancouver Island I got a shower and headed out for a quick bite to eat before hitting the hay.

The ferry ride in the morning wasn’t very spectacular like I though it would be. Scenery wise it was a bit of a let down but I did enjoy myself on the ferry by chatting with yet another American couple and finishing Kingpin (recommended read even if you don’t work in IT). Finally I arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and after getting my second stamp in my passport in two days I finally got to see my hiking buddies Adam & Chrissy again! It’s always weird to see people you have only met briefly in real life; then speaking to them via various social media while getting to know them better and meeting them again. They have a great sense of humour which is a prerequisite to being friends with me We exchange gifts, bear bell for me and stroopwafels for them. We ended up going into Victoria to get some last minute gear and food supplies. Dried fruit, dried meat (jerky), camping meals, instant meals like oatmeal & noodles and even real spaghetti with real paramesan and real tomato sauce (we ate like kings for 2 days due to this) but no mueslibars thank your god. After getting all we needed we went for late lunch and headed out for Port Renfrew (the south end of the trail), although halfway there we did stop for booze

It’s always great to travel by public transport in a foreign country as you see quite a lot and my preferred method is by train but driving in a car is another great way to see lots. It’s amazing how massive Canada is and how beautiful nature can be in a vast country like this. I like The Netherlands but nothing beats the open vastness that is a big country with lots of nature. You don’t really have that back home. During the drive you see lots of logging roads and tiny villages. In Port Renfrew we reach our cabin where we would be stay the night. The check-in was the most awkward ever as the people at the counter were the most unfriendly people I ever met and it took ages to check us in. The cabin had a ugly yellow finish on the inside but we started to unpack and divide our supplies nonetheless. Which actually went quite quickly so we head down to the Coast Kitchen,a local restaurant, for fish & chips. It’s a family run business that makes everything from scratch and even gets the fish out of their backyard (Atlantic ocean). Especially the tartar sauce was good. After two pitchers of beer Adam and I were a bit tipsy so we all headed for our beds in the cabin, our last indoor night for the next 6 days.

Next day was another early rise, this was a necessity because we needed to catch the watertaxi bounded for Bamfield (the north trailhead of the WCT). We met some other hikers that would be travelling with us on the boat and we saw them many a time along the hike too. The watertaxi was one of the highlights of this entire trip. Besides the very friendly and humours captain Brian that even had a notch based system on the amount of camera that died on the watertaxi over the years, the scenery, the animals and his stories about the different parts of the hike made it worth every penny. Although most of the coast was shrouded in morning mist we got to see where we would be hiking in the days to come, obviously in the opposite direction. We met lots of sealions that have made there home on the rocks along the way but then we see or rather hear the spray of a grey whale. And even though we don’t see any whaletail (no phun intended) we get to see this beautiful creature close up swimming along side the watertaxi. So close in fact that counting the barnacles on him or her is easy.

Day 1 (Saturday): Pachena Trailhad to Camp Michigan
Distance: 12 KM / Time: 6 hours approx.

Bamfield is a nice little village that seems to have done quite well. Mostly fishermen and other sea related workers here but its cabins along the coastline look very nice. After getting a snack we take a taxi to the trailhead at Pachena Bay. Here we have to wait for the mandatory orientation, thus we sit on our asses for 3,5 hours. A total waste of daylight but we take the time to explore the nearby bay. Adam shows me beachglass he finds here. I’ve never heard about this phenomenon before but apparently old blue medicine bottles, green/brown alcohol bottles and even transparent bottles get sanded down by the ocean into small pebbles that look pretty neat. Adam ends up with two handfuls of the stuff. I head back to repack my backpack and put on my runningshorts as the weather is around 30 degrees Celsius and sunny that seems like a good idea. Before we headed for the beach we got our hiking permits and map. It’s a big let down that the hiking permit doesn’t include the mandatory ferry rides that we take along the hike. The orientation seems to be a repeat of what I already read in Blisters and Bliss (a must have guide to WCT hiking) and other website on dealing with wildlife but also includes areas where wildlife like cougars (no…not those), bears and wolves are active at the moment, the only helpful part about the orientation.

The first day on the WCT is tough going through the rainforest (not like the Amazon but a pine rainforest), due to high tide we couldn’t use the beach access, so it was roots, mud and ladders. Although lots of people dislike the ladders as a method of ascending or descending we really like them and prefer them then going up & down on roots/mud and the sort through the rainforest. The upkeep on the ladders is also way better then the boardwalk which is graded from very bad to non-existing in most places along the hike through the forested areas. After about 10 K in we have our first real break at the Pachena Lighthouse. Along the WCT there are several lighthouses that are maintained by families whom live there year round. Supplies get shipped in and attached to a cable (zipline) near the lighthouse and then pulled in by a diesel motor. We crave some food and eat some of our dried fruit and meat while drinking water mixed with kool-aid. Along the hike we used aquamarine tables to treat the water for any bacteria; this however gives the water a distinct chlorine taste so the kool-aid was an idea to mask that but I prefer the chlorine taste to the kool-aid ;) Next hike I might use a waterfilter instead, even though they are way heavier then just tablets but the taste will be a lot better. A little trick I did find out myself is that if you need some extra energy it’s worth adding ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts) to your water. Normally used to treat dehydration associated with diarrhea and the like but it’s a great way to get some salts and sugars in you will drinking. So bringing this stuff is multi-purpose which is what I always look for in hiking gear.

Setting out again we reach our first camp for the night after only 2 kilometres walking, Michigan is a nice campsite with a steady supply of fresh water. It’s namesake sunk in 1893 and left the boiler behind on the rocks. We soon start putting up our tents and I try and fail to make a campfire. It’s quite a difficult thing to do even with all the stuff I brought with me. I move from the basic firestarter to my lighter but after 20 minutes I ask Adam to help out. Certainly something I need to practice. Our fire for the night is quite small due to the wetness and tiny amount of fire wood in the vicinity. But thankfully we use this only to stay warm, to cook we have a gasburner. Our first evening meal consists of instant macaroni & cheese. Basicly you add boiling water to a pack and wait. Not very good but it’s food nonetheless. The night is upon us before we know but the small campfire makes for a good companion besides Chrissy & Adam of course. Time for bed and sleeping isn’t a problem with the Atlantic Ocean gently crashing it’s waves nearby.

Day 2 (Saturday): Camp Michigan to Tsusiat Falls
Distance: 13 KM / Time: 6 hours approx.

Half past 7 we start our day early to use all the daylight we have. The rhythm on a hike is mostly set by the sunlight, something you loose sight of during normal life but is actually quite easy to get use to. And that’s saying something coming from me. We have 13 K to go today so we eat our instant oatmeal which is very good to be honest and refill our water canisters. I’m really loving my camelbak which hold about 2 to 3 litres worth. You do notice the weight in your backpack and it’s not easy to judge the amount left but the water temperature remains cool throughout the day.

It’s mostly a beach walk today and due to the amazing weather this is very hard on us. Later we learn that we hiked in the driest period ever recorded on the WCT. Besides the blazing sun we have to deal with the beaches that isn’t nicely compacted sand but also small pebbles that your feet just sink into and that draining your energy. Even though we do have a short forest walk this isn’t much easier then the beach. Adam is in charge of moral support and keeps the bears away with profanities. It seems to work, as we don’t encounter any during the entire hike, well kinda anyway. Animal tracks however are abundant on the beach; you can easly see tracks left behind my various animals, sometimes even with claws so possibly cougars. Other tracks come in form of poo. You see a lot of poo in the forest that is saturated by blueberries. We eventually reach the anchor of the Woodside ship that ran a shore in 1888. We take the time to resupply our water and have a snack but I also end up changing my socks. As my hiking shoes seem to be a bit of a let down waterproof wise. I end up leaving them in Victoria. However my new gaiters work very well. Especially on the beach they are great for keeping out the sand.

Our cablecar ride over the Klanawa River is quite nice even though you need to pull yourself in when you reach the halfway mark it’s fun ride (see video one & two). The remainder of the day we push on through the forest and see some amazing scenery along the way through a clearing near the cliffs that surround the beaches. Upon reaching the cliffs near the camp we climb down the longest set of ladders we have yet encountered. We set up our tents while enjoying the view and the sight & sound of the grey whales looking for food in the nearby shallows of the sea. Very cool to hear them spray when they surface to exhale and breath in again to submerge. The nearby waterfalls make for a great shower although a cold one. It’s wise to get the drinkwater from the waterfall itself here due to washing up and the sort. This time we find lots of driftwood that is very dry and makes for excellent firewood. Our campfire this night is very nice and we eat lasagne with parmesan cheese which makes it ten times better.

Eventually we start packing our food away and I volunteer to bring it to the bearbins. Although I brought rope and a waterproof bag to hang it in the trees, the bearbins are a lot easier. Basicly they are made of solid steel with a carabiner to lock it. Normally they are very accessible near the other camp facilities like the self composting toilets. However this trip takes me through the beach, across a stream of water, which I didn’t see so end up with wet shoes and socks, over fallen trees that have been washed a shore and eventually make me climb to the bearbins. Quite an ordeal but at least our food is safe from bears. But there our other critters out tonight that are looking for easy way to get food. We hear some girls screaming and end up seeing the tiny cause. Mice seem to like hikers or rather the stead food supply they bring. Adam & Chrissy go to bed early as we agreed to head out at first light. I stay near the fire to dry my shoes & socks while writing in my journal.

Day 3 (Saturday): Tsusiat Falls to Cribs Creek
Distance: 16 KM / Time: 7 hours approx.

We quickly rise today and after getting watered and fed we are off. On this misty day we make great time along the beach with compacted sand beneath our shoes. Our first sight is the hole in the wall, something that was easy to distinguish when we were on the watertaxi. We use Adam’s speakers plus their iPod for some tunes to keep up moral. It really works! I also have to adjust my opinion about hiking poles. They seem to be really handy here and even though I only use one and it’s a Gandalf like walking stick I really like having it around. It helps a lot when you need to steady yourself but also on the beach it helps to use your hands to propel yourself forward with something besides your leg muscles. Still find it weird that people in The Netherlands use hiking poles though, it’s flat for pete sake. Pity we have to leave the beach so soon and head inwards along the cliffs in the forest.

We reach our first river crossing by boat at Nitinat Narrows where you can also buy a great meal. Albeit not the cheapest but then the freshly caught salmon from the river we just crossed is delicious. Chrissy & I even buy a soda. Ahhh taste of sugar is a blessing. We start hiking again and after a very swampy area where we also meet some other Europeans (I even speak some Dutch with a German) along the way we reach the most beautiful parts of the track. Just after Cheewhat River on kilometre marker 37 we take in a very nice forest with a very broad path. It’s exactly like Blister & Bliss book say it is. Cribs Creek isn’t far off now and we soon reach it. Setting up camp has become a well established routine now and everybody has there own job to do. We enjoy real spaghetti with tomato sauce and some more parmesan. Feast for kings!

Here we also meet some other hikers like two Swiss people (only remember his name, Thomas) but also to other Canadians that we also met back in Port Renfrew near our cabin. We share the campfire that’s burning the end of a big dead tree. Adam and I offered to share our Whiskey and Jagermeister with everybody but end up drinking it ourselves, nobody seems to want a little pick me up. We swap stories around the campfire and then it’s time for bed.

Day 4 (Saturday): Cribs Creek to Cullite Cove
Distance: 17 KM / Time: 8 hours approx.

Today Adam is a bit weary from the booze last night but I’m happy that I remembered to drink plenty of water before sleeping. We start walking the beach as soon as we pack away our tents and eat some oats. Today is a 17 K hike, the longest yet. We reach the second lighthouse on the trail, Carmanah Lighthouse, quite soon after leaving camp. Chez Monique is just around the corner here and we can’t wait to eat some real food again. Chez Monique is a makeshift restaurant on the beach run by two friendly women. Besides getting a proper meal (I get myself a hamburger) you can also buy stuff like brownies, gummy bears and other goodies. There is also a free food bin where you can leave food you won’t be needing anymore and take stuff you want. Along the way of over the beach we spot a helmet that could have been debris from the Japanese tsunami. The rest of the beach walk is tough going with little pebbles. We soon opt for the forest route that isn’t much faster but at least shades us from the sun.

We reach Cullite Cove just 45 minutes before the sunset and quickly start setting up camp. Instead of camping on the beach, which is impossible here due to the large rocks in this cove, we camp just near the edge of the forest. This was my favourite campsite but that is in part because my tent pegs stay put in the solid earth. On the beach this wasn’t the case and I needed rocks to secure them (I recently bought some new pegs that are especially designed for beach and snow). Another reason why I appreciated this nice little cove was that there was just one other hiker to share the camp with as most other campsite are quite busy during our week. He is from Austria and has been riding a motorcycle from South-America for a long while to get to Canada. Quite an amazing story and we sit around the campfire while we eat our remaining spaghetti & some camper instant meal we got at Chez Monique while listening to the stories about his trip from South to North America.

Day 5 (Saturday): Cullite Cove to Thrasher Cove
Distance: 13 KM / Time: 8 hours approx.

Our last full day on the trail and we got 12 K to go, little did we know that these are the hardest 12 we would do. We also count the longest set of ladders with a total of 234 rungs. Due to the path going through the forest, most of the bridges being logs is stead of proper bridges and the mud & roots it is slooooooow going. Chrissy especially dislikes the logs but she has good reason to as she broke her foot not so long ago and it’s acting up as we wind our way through the forest. We soon reach a camp where we aren’t camping but take a long needed rest while eating noodles, brownies and other delights. Damn those brownies were good! Adam encounters bears here!

Along our way to Thrasher we see several hikers heading the opposite direction looking very upbeat and fresh. There only two days into the hike so it’s understandable. The last kilometre to camp is very though as it’s down hill and hard to navigate without any indication how to walk. It doesn’t help that this kilometre is a split off from the main route and we will have to do this part again tomorrow. Thrasher Cove looks out over the bay towards our finally destination, Port Renfrew. We set up our tents and eat food quickly before going to bed as we are all tired from today’s walk.

Day 6 (Saturday): Thrasher Cove to Port Renfrew
Distance: 6 KM / Time: 6 hours approx.

For the last 5 K (not counting the back tracking we did for the first kilometre) the book tells us it will take 5 hours and that’s spot on. This part of the hike also meanings going over the highest point on the route but is certainly a very nice area of the WCT. With very open areas with lots of pine trees. We also reach the second donkey engine here and know that the track goes mostly downhill from here on in.

After some more trekking we encounter a group of 20 school children + teachers & parents which makes us glad we didn’t have to carry that responsibility along with our gear during the hike. The 75 kilometre marker isn’t far off now and we get to sit a while on the beach waiting for the ferry to take us across the mouth of Gordon River.

We sign out at the Park Canada hut and Chrissy and I wait while Adam gets the car. He actually ran the 5 K to the carpark. Bikkel! Our hike is done but we have two more days of relaxing with some nice beers and good food in Victoria before I have to say goodbye again and head back to Seattle with the ferry. I especially enjoyed the Innis & Gunns beer but also like Kilkenny. Thanks for the tip Adam!

The West Coast Trail is a good hike, it certainly could use some upkeep on the boardwalk but I bet their main concern is bridges and especially the very necessary ladders along the route. Sure it’s not as diverse as my first hike, Overland Track in Tasmania, but hiking along the beach and through the forest has it’s charm. I hated that the ferries prices that are mandatory weren’t included in the park fee but that’s the only thing I really disliked about the hike. Sure it’s tough going in some parts but you kinda forget about that part after a while, especially when you get to share a meal with friends around a warm campfire while you hear the ocean roar and the whales surfacing in the distance. If you ever do this hike get into shape, buy hiking poles, use gaiters and enjoy! Thanks to Adam & Chrissy for sharing a week worth of scenery and hiking, I hope to see you guys soon. Some more pictures here.

I’m already planning my next hike but it’s in early stages so more on that soon. My next blogpost will either feature ATM skimming or couchsurfing which I did during my city trips in Seattle & New York (and soon London).

Working is probably on top of that list and with it keeping the internet a little safer with my colleagues for everyone. That’s in part why I can revisit my previous post on protecting your computer from yourself with some newish information. I’ve also started to get back into shape after getting home from Australia late July and hence forth being fed to much good food by my dear mother that increased my weight to much. Although having a minor injury didn’t quite help and caused me to stop running altogether. I recently started exercising again. Mostly cycling to work (about 32 kilometres round trip). Besides the main objective of losing weight it should also provide me with more stamina which I definitely will be needing in due course but read on.

After hiking back in February of last year I been looking forward to my next hike. I discovered back then that I really like this type of activity although not with a pack weighing 20 kilogram. At the end of that hike I met two Canadian friends with whom I’ve become friends and have decided to hike the West Coast Trail with in Victoria, Canada. It’s a 75 Kilometre hike along the coast of an island in front of Vancouver. It is quite a hike with lots of climbs on ladders and certainly will offer a big(ger) challenge. But I feel up to it, I just need to shed some weight. Oh and I’m not bringing any muesli-bars this time!

Now let’s get back to protect your computer. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You are the best defence against anything malicious that wants to invade your computer for a varying array of reasons. Be it an Mac, Linux or Windows based computer, in the end it doesn’t matter much. Anti-virus software and the like can only protect your computer to a certain extend and at the end of the day those types of software are playing catch up with new ways of infection. I believe that education is the only good solution to solving the ever growing problem of malware and other cybercrime attacks besides fighting it head-on and protecting consumers from it.

And I mean to educate you a bit along those lines by explaining how to keep software up-to-date on your computer. As major Linux distro’s already have a centralised way of keeping your software updated and Mac isn’t targeted so much anyway, this post will mostly evolve Windows machines but can be used for other operating systems as well.
Although there recently was a big attack targeting Macs, called Flashback.
Which makes my point straight away. Even though you keep your operating system completely updated, the software you installed (third party software) is mostly left in the cold. Windows Update only updates your Microsoft software (and drivers) and Apple isn’t different in this approach.

Most malware exploits software you have installed yourself and you haven’t kept updated. I’ve seen cases of infection this year where a Java version was used that was released in 2008. That’s just amazingly stupid and ridicules. If you go abroad on holiday you check your vaccinations right? Well you should see the internet the same way. You should keep software up-to-date or you risk being infected and face the consequences. Ranging from annoying advertisements being displayed, your computer sending spam without your knowledge to your entire addressbook to the worse possible scenario like stolen personal and/or financial information like passwords, creditcard details, your hard earned cash being stolen or even misuse of your identity. Got your attention?

But how does one keep third party software updated? Well lets start with another approach before we start updating. I recommend removing or rather uninstalling software you don’t use. My rule of thumb here is if you don’t use it, remove it. If you might use it in the future you probably won’t so remove it. For Windows there is a very handy tool to keep your system updated. It’s very easy to use and maintain. It’s called PSI by Secunia. Once installed it actively scans your computer and shows which programs need updating. It can even automaticly update those programs for you. Check out this short video of how PSI works. I wonder what your score will be? Get it to a 100 % by updating.

Hopefully this will help you out a bit with updating. I also want you to take special note of the following programs that are amongst the most targeted by malware developers, namely Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader and Oracle Java. Some of these like Adobe Reader you have alternatives for and Java you probably never use so consider removing it. This is not a 100 % method of protection so keep that in mind. And don’t forget about the pointers I posted about in Protect your computer from yourself. Don’t be sad Dave.

Another thing I wanted to mention was the blog post I made about not following news for over a month. I don’t want to dedicate an entire blog post for an update on that so I’m going to use this post for a short one. Like other experiments I’ve done in recent years this one worked out very well. I read more because I spend less time on the news. Sure I’m not up-to-date on everything but most of the news that’s really important gets to me in other ways, like people I follow on Twitter but mostly via colleagues and friends. Blocking out news entirely is also impossible and I don’t go around doing that but when I see one of those free news papers when I commute to work I don’t pick it up. I keep to reading my book. And in the last 8 weeks I’ve finished book 3 and 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire, Freakonomics (Thanks Vin for lending it to me), A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkings and currently reading the fifth book of A Song of Ice and Fire. So I’m finally getting around to all the books I have been on my reading list for ages. So weird to think that when I was kid I hated reading but thanks some teachers at a certain school (you know who you are) that changed. I guess they had a lot of impact on me. Suffice it to say I like not watching the news, at least for now.

Another thing I’m currently working my head around is quitting gaming on my pc entirely. Although I haven’t played any games since I traded my desktop pc in for a netbook due to travelling. But I do spend a lot of time in front of a computer. I would go so far as to say besides work I probably spend 20-25 hours a week on my computer. So that’s something to think about. But games like Skyrim and Battlefield 3 are very tempting.

But lets get to the main subject. Passwords. Passwords? Yes passwords, those necessary jumble of characters consisting of letters either lower or higher case, numerals and sometimes even specials characters. Short from people that live without any technology whatsoever everybody has to deal with passwords. It’s a necessary evil in the online world of today. Managing these things is hard. Everybody however needs to and most of the time they do it badly.

These days website are hacked often and their user database with credentials (login & password) compromised. You can have the strongest of passwords but in a case like this it a matter of how securely your password is stored by this website. Do you really trust the administrator to do this correctly? Although that doesn’t even matter much. Just think about it. Say a website you use is compromised. It’s uncertain if the hackers took any user data but this is like saying somebody got your house keys without actually having used them. What would you do? Change the locks & keys right?

Now back to the passwords. Say you use the password for this website on other websites. You’ll have to change all those passwords because the hackers could actually have access to all those websites that you use the same credentials for. This is why it’s amazingly stupid to use the same credentials for every (or even some) websites. But on the other hand having an unique password for every website is unmanageable or rather a pain in the arse. So what to do, there has to be a safe way to surf the web without using the same password everywhere and also have ease of mind with handling every password you would need.

Of course you could opt for using some unique passwords for sites that are important like say your e-mail account, social media, banks, etc and use the same password for the other sites that you don’t really consider important if they are compromised. But then again how do your remember all these sites that you have a login for to begin with. I for instance have over 250 accounts, some very important like my e-mail account and some not so important like webshops. You could of course put every password in a textfile on your computer, but how secure is your computer. It could get infected with malicious software that is designed to look for that password file you put hours into. So you need something that encrypts that file somehow to make it more secure. This is where a password manager comes into play.

A password manager uses an encryption scheme to obscure the file that contains your passwords. This way you can’t just open the file and read the passwords but instead you would be looking at gobbledegoo if you did. To unlock or unscramble the file you use a master password. This password is quite important because it protects your password file and with it all your passwords so this should be a very strong, difficult and unique indeed. And you need to remember it! But you would only need to remember this one (master) password. And the rest of your passwords can be really strong without the added stress of having to remember them.

Now you understand the fundamentals I’ll mention two password managers. Lastpass (check out the video on their website for details) and Keepass. The first is an online password manager, the latter is offline. Both have pros and cons but I will not go into that beyond to say that you have to trust the good people of Lastpass for storing your passwords properly. Keepass is something you will have to run on your computer as it is an application rather than a webapp like Lastpass. If you really must have access to your Keepass password file at all times you could use Dropbox.

Lastpass via Google Chrome

Keepass database

Another recent online development is two-factor authentication. In simple terms it breaks down to an extra level of authentication besides login name plus password. This extra level works via a text message to your cellphone which contains a unique code that you need to use as extra input when logging in from an unknown device/computer. Facebook and Google are amongst the first to start using this method.

So now you are a bit wiser in the land of passwords and how to manage them it’s time to beef up your security with stronger passwords and a better way of storing them!

Sources:

• xkcd: Password Strength
• Troyhunt’s response to the XKCD comic on Password Strength

Summer also brings lots of festivals and other outdoor activities with it. My friends and I start discussing our favourite festival Lowlands and what we will be bringing this year besides packing a partytent which is a must have. I also start listening to the lineup for this festival, which means going through a lot of music. It’s a fun way of discovering new music because Lowlands tends to book the up & coming artists, another thing I love about it.

So this year like other years I discovered some bands I really like pre-Lowlands but I also use other sources to find new music. When watching movies and television series I take notice of new music and find out which songs were used. IMDB is a great source for getting the soundtrack information from movies. For television series I mostly google on the lyrics or the show incombination with the episode. Another way to discover new music is my good friend and fellow music enthusiast Jurgen. He gives me a heads-up every now and again on great albums and he is mostly right

But to get to the Bands you might have missed part of this blog. Here are five artists that I’ve recently found out about and really like a lot. I hope you enjoy them as well!

	Gotye (website|myspace|last.fm) Wouter “Wally” De Backer or Gotye is a Belgian-Australian. He was born in Bruges but lived mostly in Melbourne, Australia. First time I heard him was with the song Somebody I Used to Know with Kimbra. It’s a song you’ll like right off the bat and the albums Like Drawing Blood and Making Mirrors are very good. His music is very mixed in styles and hard to put in a box, which I like. My favourite song is Eyes Wide Open.
	Intergalactic Lovers (website|myspace|last.fm) A Belgian band from Aalst consisting of four members with Lara Chedraoui as singer with a unique vocal sound. Their debut album Greetings & Salutations is very good and has a summer feeling to it. All songs wonderful but if I have to pick one to listen to first it would be Shewolf. They preformed a acoustic session at Into The Great Wide Open festival this year. Just locate them in the right list and enjoy.
	Joan As Police Woman (website|myspace|last.fm) Joan Wasser from Biddeford, Maine (US) is a singer-songwriter. I already spoke about here a bit in my Lowlands blog, mostly with anger because I missed her show shy of one song. She was Jeff Buckley’s girlfriend, famous for amongst other things his version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. In my opinion the best version, even better the original. Her last album The Deep Field was my first introduction with this lady. The album has a good soul feel to it and stands out with a lot of emotion in the songs. My favourite song is The Magic.
	Miles Kane (website|myspace|last.fm) Miles Kane should already be familiar to you. He has played in The Rascals and was leadsinger next to Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys in the project The Last Shadow Puppets. His album Colour of the Trap features some great track like Come Closer, Inhaler and my favourite Quicksand.
	Pete and The Pirates (website|myspace|last.fm) A British five piece band from Reading. Another band that has a very summery feel to their songs. Electric/Indie sound that is quite catchy. Their last album One Thousand Pictures sound very good and clean. My favourite song is Come to the Bar. They also played Into The Great Wide Open.

So we shake things up. We can do this in numerous ways, the obvious one would be a holiday and experiencing a different culture & country, although a beach vacation would also help somewhat here as it changes your daily pace, personally I rather go with a active holiday and put some beach days into it. But even reading a book can help you escape daily reality. Sure it’s probably not as exciting as a holiday but still. There are dozens of way to shake things up that’s what I’m saying.

I tend to try new things and post about them here. They turn into what I call little experiments and those mostly change my life somewhat. I tried a month without regular television and now I only watch TV when it suits me by watching it online. Which puts me in control of what I watch and when I watch it without commercials. Another experiment was Facebook. Although I had some hesitations with using Facebook, mostly privacy related, but during my travels through Australia I have seen that Facebook is ideal way to keep in touch with friends back home and the people I met along the way. It does also tends to take up time.

Recently I read an article by Rolf Dobelli called Avoid News which was featured in the Dutch newspaper NRCNext on September 1^st. Quite ironic that a newspaper writes on how to avoid the news but it’s still a very good article on our heavy news consumption, why it’s bad and how to avoid it all together. I recommend you read it if you are at all interested in the topic.

News is to the mind what sugar is to the body

This article got me thinking about something that has preoccupied my thoughts for a couple of years now. Being my daily news in-take and why it’s such a waste of brainpower. Sure it’s fun to be well informed but are you really well informed? I mean can you remember anything about news you consumed a month ago? News is only relevant for a short period. I don’t have this problem with books I read, they stay more relevant as well. At least this holds true for the books I read (currently Freakonomics) about science and other interests of mine (history, biology & IT). I mean they really add to ones self as a opposed to what news does. In this sense news is junk food. Of course junk food is enjoyable every now and again but everyday would be very unhealthy. I don’t just read books that add to self well being, besides Freakonomics I’m also reading through the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin every since I saw the first season of this new HBO series.

So my next experiment will entail me banning news for a month for myself and if it is a success I’ll extend it indefinitely. My subscription to the NRCNext ended two weeks ago so the newspaper is already done with (although the format of this newspaper is quite good and differs a lot from others), I’ve also removed lots of RSS feeds in Google Reader and stopped following loads of news related tweets. I’ll be avoiding all forms of news the coming month. Which coincides with the start of my new job, another thing I’m really looking forward to. All in all exciting times ahead with loads to learn and a lot of room for self improvement.

5 minutes of Syria from Ruslan Fedotow on Vimeo.

I’ve never written about my travels through Syria with my friend Ronald, partly because this blog didn’t exist at the time, but as you hear more about Syria in the news every day I figured it would be time to share some of the positive (like Ruslan Fedotow did in his video above) versus the negative you see and hear in the media.

It was the second of March 2008 that I started on my first backpacking trip. I was so green as a backpacker that I didn’t even own a backpack and thus borrowed one from my good friend Vincent. So I was quite surprised by it all, which started a few months before the trip. Ronald, my travel buddy for Syria, came with the idea for this rather unique destination. Of course I had heard of Syria before but never in a positive way or at least it didn’t occur to me that you could go on holiday there but after reading a bit about the country and finally even the Lonely Planet I agreed to come with him on a two week trip through Syria. Although I still had my reservations.

Our trip started quite early, Ronald and his parents picked me up in Rotterdam around 7 am. We got to Schiphol on time and even got myself a bag that fits over the backpack so it wouldn’t get tangled up on any of the dozens of conveyor belts. We checked in and dropped our bags off but found out our flight was delayed for at least two hours but eventually we got on the plane and were headed for our destination. The flight was fine with Syrianair although the food was a little bland but on which flight is the food ever decent anyway.

Finally landing on Damascus airport we had to wait for four stamps in our passports which looked like regular post stamps to me. This took ages, I had to spell out my name and other information even though the customs guy was holding my passport right in-front of him. After all the bureaucratic nonsense we made our way to baggage claim where we got our baggage surprisingly quick. Before we left the airport and head for down town Damascus it was time for a loo break, I eventually found one where the urinals were relatively clean although made with midgets in mind or children maybe both, the urinals are attached on a lower level then I’m normally accustomed too is what I’m saying. Anyway we head to our hostel for the first nights in Syria. Damascus is the oldest continuously populated city in the world and it quite busy one at that. Traffic rules are enforced here but it’s still a bit of a mess. We reach our hostel (Ar-Rabie Hotel) safely, even with the alley we have to pass through, which is quite a good hostel and a recommended stay in Damascus. Food is our primary priority goal so we head out and find a nice place with good food and traditional music.

On our first real day in Damascus we did the walking tour our Lonely Planet advised although in opposite direction and see lots of souqs, we visited Saladin’s mausoleum but the highlight of the day was the very impressive Umayyad Mosque. Afterwards we also went to the Sayyida Ruqayya Mosque, which has these tiny mirrors in the ceiling, and Azem Pallace. We finished our day with ice cream covered in pistachio nuts in one of the oldest ice cream parlours in Damascus. Which tasted amazing!

On the second day in Damascus we made a trip to Bosra. We started early as the trip to Bosra is a long one and takes about 2 1/2 hours. It’s about 150 kilometres from Damascus. Heading out at 8 am for the local bus or rather minivan station we found transportation to Daraa which is on border with Jordan. From there you take another minivan to Bosra. Those minivans are quite amazing as they are able hold 15 people, although probably not intended for it. Bosra itself is quite beautiful and rich in ruins that are fairly intact. Especially the citadel is in very good condition but there is also ruins north of the citadel. Bosra has been in possession of the Nabateans, Romans, Byzantine and Muslims over the years so it has quite some influences in architecture. Inside the citadel there is a Roman theatre.

The day after Bosra we head for Hama by bus and quickly find a good hostel, Hotel Cairo. We head out straight away to do some sight seeing. Hama has 17 Narias (waterwheels) that are very accessible and quite beautiful. The citadel in this city is mostly gone and what remains is a big hill with a ditch in the middle of it but it does provide some great views over the city. The best food I ate in Hama was at the Orient House which is a very nice restaurant in the middle of a very dark alley. Getting there and back was quite the experience and one I tell about most of the time when I talk about Syria. We needed direction to get to the restaurant and so we asked this street vendor that was selling cigarettes. He just left his cart and walked us to the place, which was a good 30 minutes away, and only excepted a handshake as reward. Getting back from the restaurant we got lost and had to ask directions. This time near some souqs and we got directions plus exchanged stories a got to taste some Arabian coffee which was very rich in flavour.

On our second day in Hama we arranged to do a trip with a private driver provided by Hotel Cairo. It turned out to be a great way to see several sights (Apamea, Masyaf & Krak des Chevaliers). We left from Hama at 8.30 pm and head towards Apamea with Colin, a brit, and our driver. Apamea is quite impressive with a lot of colonnaded and we even see an ancient pipe system. We reach Masyaf before lunch and aren’t that impressed by this ancient castle that has been build over the years by different civilizations. So we head out to are final stop which is Krak des Chevaliers (Crusader castle), one of the most important preserved medieval military castles in the world. This must be the most impressive and intact castle I’ve ever seen. It’s quite amazing. The horse stables still smell of horse. We head back with are private driver to Hama, which is very handy, as driving in Syria isn’t for the faint of heart although one thing I liked about the infrastructure was the traffic lights which indicate how long until you get a green light. I haven’t seen many those in the western world.

Another day another city, Aleppo took us about 1 1/2 hours to reach. We stayed in Hotel Tourist for two days, quite decent looking hostel and clean with a homely atmosphere. Aleppo’s citadel is in good condition compared to the one in Hama. Ronald even plays a little football in front of the citadel with some kids which they enjoy immensely. The souqs are very nice and in an old area. We even meet a Syrian souq owner that speak a little Dutch besides very good English. On our next day we leave for the Hamman to get a torturous treatment that kinda feels good, although it’s quite a long wait. Afterwards we replenish our fluids. It’s hard to find alcohol in Syria, being a Muslim country, so it mostly soft drinks, tea and coffee. Even though it is possible to find a beer here and there on occasion. After dinner we finish our day with a visit to the famous or infamous Baron Hotel.

After all the trips we wanted to take little time off from backpacking and rest a little on the beach in Latakia. So we headed for the trainstation by taxi. The taxi dropped us at the wrong place and after walking to the trainstation we were told that we would have to wait 7 hours before the train left. So we had time to kill. Later in the day we arrived and stay in the worst hostel we stayed in by far. Not very clean so having a sleepingbag was great! The next day we have bad weather and instead of the beach walk around the city of Latakia where the women dress a bit differently from the rest of Syria. Let’s just say they dressed more Western. Latakia wasn’t very impressive and probably only interesting when you have decent weather. I did get to finish The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a must read.

From Latakia we head for Palmyra (Tadmur for the locals) via Homs. It’s a five hour drive of which one through the desert. As Palmyra is in the middle of Syria it’s located the desert. We find a decent hostel with a very friendly owner who serves us chai a lot. The next day we wake up early to do a bit of walking in the very beautiful ruins that leave you in awe. It’s just unbelievable how much is left of this still very important oasis city. It’s a very hot city though with little lizards & beetles in the ruins and temples.

The trip back to Damascus brings the end of the holiday insight after almost two weeks of Syria. We visit a museum just before it closes which is quite a nice museum and has a lot of artefacts. The next day we travel to Maaloula for a daytrip. We walk through the gap which has a story behind it but I totally forgot. We also take in the beautiful view.

On our last day in Syria we want to go for a swim in the local swimming pool. We end up going with a Canadian guy called Mo who speaks English, French, Spanish and Farsi. After walking for roughly two hours we end up asking a local and he offers to drive us in his car. Pity the pool is closed and end up in the same museum as the day before but this time we take our time to walk around. Our last night ends in a beautiful restaurant, a shame that the food doesn’t compare to the intricate decorations.

Syria is a great place to go on a holiday, although I would wait until it becomes a bit more stable then it recently has been. When I tell people I meet that I’ve been there they always ask me why I went and the answer should be in the stories & photos above but in short the culture has lots of history to it and my influences, it’s quite cheap to travel, amazing architecture that isn’t fenced off like in Rome and the people are very friendly and helpful to foreigners.

Syria has definitely made me look at the world in another perspective and made me wonder what other countries are out there that I haven’t though of to explore. We should always remember that the news we hear is only the most interesting news for us or rather the news that we get spoon fed and thus mostly bad. The good just does get the ratings. Make up your own mind and don’t be to fast to make up your mind. This isn’t just something that holds true for countries and it’s people but other things like music and book as well. Everybody knows the cliché that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but it’s certainly true in the cast of Syria. Remember that the next time you book a holiday vacation to some beach that basicly is home without the lousy weather.

More photos in my Syria photo gallery.

Last time I blogged about Lowlands was more of a general view of the festival. This time around I’ll be blogging about the acts I saw, the good and the bad things that have changed over the years and I’ll finish up with a top 5.

Lowlands has always been a festival with a very good atmosphere. The people are friendly and especially happy when the sun is out. The lineup never sports a lot of big acts and focusses more on the new and undiscovered. I for one like this approach and although this year the lineup was especially lacking in major acts I enjoyed the festival like every year. But then I already bought my ticket before the lineup was known.

One of the things I always liked was the lack of security or rather you couldn’t see them as they dressed in plain clothes. But this year it seemed that they were everywhere and in force. A weird thing to see. Especially at the festival entrance. A lot of people were padded down which caused a impossible queue on the opening day. Normally it’s hard to see the first act on the opening day but I couldn’t even see Joan as Police Woman. An act I really wanted to see and only saw the last song partially. It pissed me off quite a bit. Hopefully they will open the gates earlier in coming years so nobody will miss out on anything.

Another thing that has changed over the years is the rule on how much alcohol your allowed to bring. This year it was 8 litres per person. In other years this was 12 litres I believe. But this isn’t really the bad part. The bad part is that their slowly dissuading this entirely. At least if you want to decant your drink before you enter the festival area. Two years ago they handed out plastic pint sized glasses at several points before the entrance but now there is just one point where you can get them. Besides the major queue at this point you can only get one glass a piece. So if you want to get another glass for your friends you can’t, they all have to queue individually. This is probably not a Lowlands organisational decision but rather a Mojo made one.
Anyways enough with the bad lets continue with the good, which acts did I see and the top 5 amongst them.

Friday
Joan as Police Woman
Graffiti6
James Blake
Chase & Status
Noah and the Whale
The Naked and Famous
Fleet Foxes
Paul Kalkbrenner

Saturday
Agnes Obel
Palmbomen
Young the Giant
Bombay Bicycle Club
Seasick Steve
Within Temptation
Selah Sue
Elbow

Sunday
Residentie Orkest
Crystal Fighters
The Kills
Skunk Anansie
Interpol
The Offspring

Lowlands Top 5

	Noah and the Whale (website|myspace|last.fm|lowlands) Number Five A friend of mine pointed me towards their latest album Last Night on Earth. I liked it straight away and was pleasantly surprised that they would be playing at Lowlands this year. So I saw them live and I liked the atmosphere of the show a lot. Their songs are very nice and I especially like L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N..
	Fleet Foxes (website|myspace|last.fm) Number Four First time I saw these guys live and they are good. If you like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young you’ll like this as well. There latest album Helplessness Blues hasn’t been in my collection for a long time so I’ll just pick a favourite from there first album, Blue Ridge Mountains.
	Agnes Obel (website|myspace|last.fm|lowlands) Number Three Goosebumps is what I get when I hear this woman sing and play the piano. Her first album Philharmonics is a great one and expect more greatness from her in due time. My favourite from this album is Riverside.
	Seasick Steve (website|myspace|last.fm|lowlands) Number Two This guy is just amazing. He plays from the heart and from his own experiences. Before having success he had several jobs like carpenter and before that he was homeless. He left home at the age of 13. The stories he tells live are just awesome. Back in the dog house is my favourite.
	Elbow (website|myspace|last.fm|lowlands) Number One These guys have been around for a while now and have played Lowlands twice. Their latest album Build a Rocket Boys! takes a bit to get use to. But those kind albums are the best as they creep under your skin and stay there. There performance on the Lowlands Saturday was the best act of the festival. Best songs from this album are The Night will always win & Lippy Kids.

After all this great music and having such fun memories that I shared with a lot of my friends whom I had seen for quite some time after travelling for over 6 months it’s hard to believe that I was thinking of now going to Lowlands next year. Although I was thinking this around the time when I missed out on Joan as Police Woman, so I would think that it’s quite understandable. I’m still not sure if I’ll go next year but we will see. I certainly do something with my friends, that for sure!

More photos made during the festival here and live recordings.

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans

I would probably have done things a bit different during my 6,5 months of travelling, like saving more money upfront or getting my driving license, however I have no regrets because the decisions I made have let me to meet some great people from a vast variety of cultures and have a lot of adventures. Travelling is great fun and it broadens ones perspective of the world. Sure you can take a look at almost every place in the world these days by just the click of a button and you won’t be the first human to reach your destination but that’s not important at all. Travelling is about your experiences not the ones somebody else had. I recommend everybody to do it and see more of the world with your own eyes that just their backyard.

During my time in Australia I did experience things you wouldn’t on a typical holiday. Like for instance what keeps the Australians busy in their daily lives, music from local bands and even television shows worth a watch but also what farmers think about and the political climate.

Water or rather rain is always of concern for farmers in every country but even more so in Australia and especially in the wheat belt. As Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent rain is of great importance. The dams normally get filled during the winter and relied upon in the summer. However if there isn’t enough water to go around the Auzzies turn to seawater desalination. They have several desalination plants near the major cities of Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. With Adelaide and Melbourne following in their footsteps. One of the downsides of this being the power consumption which is up to 50 % of the cost of desalination. As Australia uses mostly brown coal (Watch this youtube clip about the Hazelwood Power Station in Victoria) to generate energy which of course is a major impact on the environment as it produces vast amount of CO² and uses the very water the Australians need. Although there was a discussion about nuclear power plants, of which there are none at the moment, but with the nuclear disaster in Japan this is year that’s pretty much of the table. I think that nuclear power might not be THE solution to our energy problems but coal definitely isn’t. Water is also of great influence on how many people Australia can support, currently it has a population of about 22 million people. With a lot of immigrants coming to Australia, either legal or illegal, how many people can the country or rather continent support?

But lets not dwell to much on these kind of things and get to the fun part. The last two items in this post are about TV shows and music. The first I mostly discovered in Perth when I had lots of time to watch TV. Although I normally don’t watch any TV at all it was fun to watch some programs to get a better understanding of Australia and of course learn a lot of slang words (sparky is electrician for instance).

TV shows

	Hungrybeast (website|youtube) Current affairs with a bit of satire. A great fact based show that uses very nice visual infographics to get there point across.
	RockWiz (website|youtube) This show is live recorded in the Hotel Esplanade or Espy in St. Kilda, Melbourne. I’ve actually been there and it’s a great venue to go out. It’s hosted by Julia Zemiro who is quite witty. Oh and it’s the only show that you can actually watch from outside Australia so check out the website!
	Spicks and Specks (website|youtube) Another music quiz but totally different to RockWiz. A very witty music quiz show that has been running on ABC for 6 years, this being it last year. It is hosted by Adam Hills with team captains Alan Brough and Myf Warhurst. Both teams have two new music related teammembers on every episode.
	The Chaser’s War on Everything (website|youtube) Also know as The Chaser was a satirical comedy series about current affairs. This show I actually discovered a few years ago before I went on holiday to Australia. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts. One of their best bits is probably Open Mic. The show ended in 2009 but some of the guys behind it have started a new show called Yes We Canberra!

Music

	Angus & Julia Stone (website|myspace|last.fm) Ever since a Dutch commercial used Paper Aeroplane as music I’ve been hooked on Angus & Julia Stone. Back when I won their debut album I started to look out for a concert and eventually saw one. They even sound better live then on album and although they have released several albums since A book like this, I still like that album the most. Although I love the simplicity and rhythm of For the boys from there latest album Down The Way. Brother and sister are from Newport, NSW and their music is best described as folk.
	Bonjah (website|myspace|last.fm) Bonjah is a band I was introduced to by Charlie whom I met in Melbourne. We ended up going with some other people from our hostel to them in Northcote Social Club, a nice little venue. Based in Melbourne, VIC these five guys sound way better live the on their album. To be honest their album doesn’t do them justice at all. Their music is a mix of blues and rock.
	Powderfinger (website|myspace|last.fm) I discovered these guys from Brisbane, QL thanks to a German guy I met in Melbourne (Thanks David!). There quite popular in Australia and it’s quite a shame they never achieved international success. And after 21 years they split so that’s another let down but there albums are still out there and I’ve had a decent listen to Goldenrule. Their music is rock based.
	Sparkadia (website|myspace|last.fm) This is a band I got introduced to by going to a concert which they were the supportact. I don’t remember who they were supporting but I liked their music a lot. It’s or was (I’m not sure) a four piece band from Sydney, NSW as a project by Alexander Burnett. Their music is a mix of electronic and guitar pop music. My favourite album is their debut album Postcards with the songs Animals & Jealousy.
	Tame Impala (website|myspace|last.fm) Another band I got introduced to by a fellow traveller (thanks Dan!). This four men band from Perth, WA plays psychedelic rock.
	Wolfmother (website|myspace|last.fm) Wolfmother from Sydney, NSW really needs no introduction, Andrew Stockdale is the frontman for this band and the only member who hasn’t changed after their first & second album. Currently working on their third album they play hard psychedelic rock. Live they produce a wall of sound that is quite amazing. Some of my favourite songs are Vagebond (which has been used a lot in movies and tv series), Joker & The Thief, Far Away and In The Morning.

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