Tech round-up for Sept. 24

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Categories Consumer technology | Video games

Here’s what’s been going on in the world of technology. Rats, clouds, and mountains.

All I do at work all day is go around in circles

Forget asking your boss for a stand-up or treadmill desk. Who among us doesn’t want to spend their work day on a hamster wheel Brings new meaning to the term “rat race”.

Hey, you, get onto the cloud

Cloud storage is all the rage, and there are many different services available that give you gigabytes of storage space that you can access online, from anywhere, and from any device.

Untll the end of September, though, Microsoft is doubling the amount of free storage space it’s offering to new and existing users who enable the automatic upload feature for photos on your mobile device. And you can get an app for OneDrive for all mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

Travelling to the U.S.? Get Karma

I travel to the U.S. regularly, and the best solution I’ve found to racking up roaming charges on my mobile devices is Karma. It’s a wireless hotspot that works throughout the U.S. and you can connect all of your gadgets to it at the same time: computer, smartphone, tablet, PlayStation Vita, Nintedo 3DS.

With Karma there’s no contracts or data plans. It’s pay-as-you go, and it’s cheap at US$14 a gigabyte (even cheaper during the semi-regular sales). That data never expires, so I can load up whenever and know that when I cross the 49th parallel I’ll be able to connect to the world anyway.

It’s called Karma because you can earn data by letting others connect through your hotspot. They have to have their own account, so you’re not actually sharing your account and you’re not on the hook for what others may be doing with their connection.

In December, the company is releasing a new, LTE version of the hotspot called Karma Go. And until the end of October, you can get $10 off

Lighting up a mountain

In 1865, the last peak in the Alps was conquered by climbers, and this year marks the 150 anniversary of that first ascent of the Matterhorn.

To mark the occasion, Swiss mountaineering equipment manufacturer Mammut lit up the route that was taken by the team back in 1865 with a string of red LEDs.

Four climbers fell to their deaths during the 1865 Matterhorn ascent. But the technological advances in clothing (breathable fabrics to wick away moisture) and equipment (crampons instead of boots with nails in them, for example) make it much easier for today’s climbers. Not to mention head lamps, GPS, and altimeters.

Certainly is a majestic peak.

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