The first direct transfer to the website
Temperature - Day (maximum):
approx. 28-30 degrees
Anna Plains Station – 20.05.2001
Today, Sunday, is a special day since we are traveling with a laptop and have a website to feed with our experiences. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing in my diary almost every day alongside camel training and expedition preparations.
I have been eagerly waiting for weeks to finally bring our website up to date. In the past two years, things have mostly gone wrong, even though I had put all the energy a person can have into it. It had never worked out to publish the diary texts in time. I was always up to date and sent my texts into space via satellite phone, but the post-production was astronomical.
During the last stage, I was often depressed and angry about this. Well, this is the reason why we have launched a new website that will hopefully work better.
Lothar, a friend of ours, is a gifted programmer who had the idea to build a site where I can put my diary reports directly on the net without the help of an outsider. “A fantastic idea,” I said happily a few months ago, unsure whether it would ever become a reality. Lothar, Uli and I have been working on this project for the last few months and as of today the thing should actually be running.
I call Lothar on the landline of our beautiful bush dwelling. “I’m ready to transfer the first text. Can you have a look at the website and see if it comes in straight away?” Yes, no problem, I’ll wait,” he replies. Nervous and excited, I then set up our satellite phone, switch on the Panasonic Toughbook (laptop) and connect the two devices with an interface cable. Then I upload the Outlook Express program, copy my compressed texts into it and wait for the phone to show me whether it has found a satellite. “It’s time,” I say to Tanja, who hurries over to me and sits down in front of the computer to watch the transmission. I press “Send” and the computer establishes a connection to the satellite phone. After checking the ID and password, the provider is found and the phone sends my recordings into space. There, the signals are received from a satellite and transmitted to the provider’s computer. Our second laptop, which we used to carry out the transmissions for the last two years, is connected to the house’s fax connection and is also switched on. So I look at the replacement computer during the transfer, talk to Lothar and wait with Tanja to see if the text is really being transferred directly to the website. “Is he in there yet?” I ask Lothar. “No, don’t be so impatient, it can sometimes take a few hours because the computer here isn’t always online. “Okay,” I reply, a little disappointed, still looking spellbound at our website. “There it is! I’m thrilled! It’s actually in there!” I shout, beside myself with joy. Tanja and I can hardly believe it. I have just sent the text via this cumbersome route and now it can be read worldwide. “It’s unbelievable what you can achieve with technology today,” says Tanja in amazement. “Really hard to believe,” I reply. “Hey Lothar, fantastic work. Really fantastic. Please call Uli straight away and tell him about our success,” I say euphorically into the phone.
From now on, regular transmission from the bush could work. Of course, nothing must get in the way. None of the computers on the other side may have an error. Our equipment here has to withstand the enormous strain that such an expedition entails. Our condition, the health and unforeseen difficulties of crossing Australia, the satellite phone, the satellites, the cable connections and much more contribute to whether we can broadcast our stories on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. The future will show us and honestly, who knows where the river of life will take you, or to put it another way, nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. In any case, I am excited and look forward to every update that is published from here in the bush on our website.
