Logbook Software

I run Eclipse (2yrs now) on a 2008 13" Macbook running Mountain Lion and Parallels 8 using XP.
XP runs awesome...Windows7 is just too sluggy for Parallels with this combination.

So, there is another choice. Nothing wrong with XP, even if Microsloth EOL'd it.
It works, it always has and for logging with Eclipse - its a great match.

 

redforeman: You could be the poster child for distracted driving! Laptop on the steering wheel!!! I too am a laptop user but our son talked me into a tablet. I love it. Within 2 years laptop sales will be next to zero! There are so many apps for tablets that work great and are very inexpensive. I just wish Eclipse would have the software for Android. They are losing a lot of business as many are using Big Road and it is free.

 

LOL. Awkward wording on my part. No, I don't use the laptop while in motion. I meant it was quick enough for a 15 second logbook update like before pulling away from a dock or fuel island.

Hanadarko: If you haven't already done it, a solid state hard drive will breathe a second life into that 2008 Macbook. Make it more durable as well. 256GB drives are now well under $200. I did that to my old 2008 Macbook Pro and it was like a new laptop all over again.

 

Thanks...about 6months ago, I purchased an SSD drive (160G perhaps?) - its not large but it works fantastic.
Low power, almost instant boot and no vibration/heat anymore.

Did the same for my IBM Thinkpad I keep around too. I think I spent just over $120 on each drive but well worth it!!

 

something to consider.

I was all set last year to run Eclipse software for my logging. Was looking at the computer mount ect....


Then it hit me; "If something were to happen and they wanted my logs, my computer would be seized and become forensic evidence and they would tear it apart looking for ANY sign of logbook "tampering."

So I just stuck with paper.

Take it for what it's worth. Just another point of view.

 

Why would you assume that logbook software analysis would be the only probable cause for a lawful search of your laptop? Following that logic, you should not have any electronic devices in your cab.

Seriously.. a trucking gps and your bank/fuel cards will be a bigger tattle-tale than your laptop could ever be.

 

they can have them. Including the ECM on the truck. If people only SAW the data that comes out on a report.


You have your logic, I have mine. I don't want my logbook in a computer based on the stupidity of what CSA and FMCSA is creating on us. If you care to create those bread crumbs, feel free to do it.

As I said, it's just something else for people to consider.

 

Let's add a wrinkle here, ok?

NOTE: These are not suggestions or directions - just my point and take on things.

First off, any changes to Eclipse log...whether you are trying to cheat or simply correcting things are NOT kept
anywhere. Only saved, printed or backed up files contain this information.

Now, if you backup the data...modify it later on and don't remove the backup? - Well there is your paper trail.

Lastly,
Anyone that has a laptop in the rig - should be using full AES-256 bit encryption on it.
If it's stolen - its useless. If LE wants it - they cant crack it. There are a few trials going thru the courts right now, cause supplying the decryption key/password can technically potentially lead you to self incrimination.

For Macbook, it comes built in and called FileVault. You can encrypt the entire laptop hard drive.
If you use a 12 character key - it is not breakable even after solid weeks of trying.

For Windows, there is a program called TrueCrypt. It is free.

A few thoughts:
1. Any backup of the laptop must also be fully encrypted or whats the point.
2. Loose the 'decoder' key and data is gone forever. No turning back.

On the macbook, with this enabled and a few tweaks, slam the laptop closed and in 2secs the decryption key is purged from the memory. Poof gone. Good luck cops or thieves.

PS.
Never use backup (cloud or otherwise) without full encryption.
DropBox is one of the worst to use - their terms essentially said anyone of their staff could look at your data
although they retracted it supposedly once it became public.

 

I wouldn't be 100% sure of this. Unless you have the source code to verify, you really don't know if or how much of your changes are buffered or how the data tables are constructed. No way to know for sure what's going on in the background. Even if someone at Rapidlogs said so.

I know many just use the client software, but here's a tip if you use the Rapidlogs back-end functionality: all versions uploaded are stored and visible to whomever has access to the server side. However, the logbook audits are run against the most recent version. The point being that you should make sure you have corrected all your misspellings before uploading logs (certified fax feature) LOL.

Here's my two bits on the laptop and data breadcrumbs: I'm just not that interesting, and neither are you. I don't need to encrypt my hard drive. There's really nothing there that's going to make someone rich, be a national security issue, incriminate me, or make for an easy identity theft. If the DOT, FMCSA, NSA, FBI, or WXYZ want to take apart my laptop they can whip it on. I don't care. If you're foolish enough to store personal, sensitive, or financial data on a personal computer, you deserve the consequences of taking that risk.

That said, I won't just hand it over. If they want my logbooks, I will hand over the last 7 days already printed and signed and offer to print today's on request. On paper. There is nothing else on my laptop relevant to any FMCSA/DOT probable cause search/seizure, period. They'll have to work for it and I'll probably get arrested and/or beat down in the process. If it gets confiscated, analyzed, destroyed, whatever, I can be up on another one in minutes.

Truth is, nobody is going to go to the expense and trouble of a forensic data analysis as a matter of routine. If that becomes a problem for me, there is probably something going on at that moment where the contents of that laptop will be the least of my problems.

Besides, given the latest "discovery" about NSA and wiretaps, what makes anyone think for a minute that any commercial encryption or security solution is truly without any sort of backdoor imposed on the developers by government?

 

How did a thread about logbook software turn into a national threat debate? Encryption? NSA? Are you guys serious? Do you listen to yourself talk?