Manual LaborAs computers proliferate and embed themselves in more and more dive and photo gear, life is getting complicated. Cameras, housings, strobes, dive computers, and other equipment all come with extensive manuals that you may or may not try to read. Whether you're a conscientious reader or not, it's guaranteed that on at least one dive trip you're going to have to consult a manual to figure out how something works or why it's not working at all. You can, of course, pack all your manuals along with you, a veritable library that can tip your luggage weight over the airlines' baggage allowance. Or you can let a computer get you out of the jam that other computers got you into: take electronic forms of the manuals with you. Many divers these days haul a laptop computer along with them on a dive trip for image capture and processing, entertainment, email, or (in an attempted sincere aside to the boss) work. If you're lugging a laptop, use it to get rid of your physical manual library. Take some time before your trip to visit the web site of every manufacturer whose manual you want to take. Chances are that under a link titled "product support" or "downloads" you'll find a PDF or Word version of your manual. Download these manuals to your computer and store the files in a single folder where you can easily find them later. (Note: You'll need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to read PDF files; Microsoft Word to read Word files. Reader is free at www.adobe.com, but is typically already loaded on a computer.) You can read them later when you really need them, and you can leave your heavy manuals behind on the bookshelf. One advantage of your new on-line manual library: many product manuals lack an index, which makes it hard to find what you're looking for. If so, you can use Reader's (or Word's) search feature to look for the subject you're trying to find. Now all you have to do is find the courage to work your way through your manuals. Mike Boom
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