I was recently asked to submit a story to a radio station about how technology improves a vacation. I asked our Mermaid Cottages Technology Concierge , Michael Bodine for his comments on how Technology improves the island life, be it a weekend getaway or year round residence. Here is what he had to say:

“We also have wifi in many of our hotels and restaurants, plus the library and City Hall are equipped with wireless — the latter so that reporters (and visitors) can file their reports from meetings before they even turn off their laptops. Our campground offers wireless services at no additional charge as well.

We have two places that rent electric vehicles that people use on the island — one place rents electric bikes and the other small electric cars (golf carts, actually).

This evening we have folks going out to nearby Oatland Island Education Center to learn about the possibility of an off-shore wind farm for power generation.

I taught one of our residents how to use RSS — every page of the City’s web site produces an RSS feed, and she now gets instant notification whenever anything new posts on the web site. She reads, then posts Council Agendas to an email list along with notes on what issues folks should be concerned about! We also have links to whale sightings, live surf cameras, and to other outdoor recreational interests.

My partner in crime at City Hall is also a volunteer fireman, and we are both intimately involved in emergency preparedness training and details. Our City computers are on a rack that can be wheeled into an emergency trailer and driven off-island in the event of a hurricane. We have both SMR (push-to-talk, emergency services radios) as well as maritime VHF radios for communications if needed, and an automated method for warning citizens of impending weather emergencies is in our new budget for next month. We televise our City Council meetings over cable access channel.

And, of course, modern day electronics crop up everywhere — kayakers into the marsh creeks have GPS systems that track their path on the way in, so they can quickly find their way out when the tide turns!

None of this is all that remarkable except you would expect to find less of it on a small barrier island with only about 3500 full time residents!”

Thank you Michael! BTW- Michael is on call 24/7 to help any of our Mermaid guests with their technology needs- or just to get your laptop to work! Visit his website www.rammb.com

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