Penny was built on the back of these 22” boards, and it’s easy to see why. They embody what this company is about: freedom and fun, combined with technical prowess and quality materials. If you’re looking for a pocket rocket that turns tight and carves like a dream, the Original 22” Penny is your go-to board. Ice Scream 22" GlowThrow it under your arm on the train. Chuck it in your luggage. Ducking out to catch up with friends? Under your feet and away you go. As you might expect, these boards feature Penny’s secret plastic formula that made the brand famous. This formula hasn’t changed since the first batch of boards, and why should it? If you’re onto a good thing, roll with it! The 22” Penny comes with custom 3” Penny trucks, however you can easily switch these over if you want a fresh new colour down the track – the 3” truck range was designed specifically for this board, and there are many colours available. These boards also come with 59mm 83A super smooth Penny wheels and Penny Abec7 bearings for a smooth ride from day one.

These complete setups come in a range of colour and design combinations, from glow in the dark boards through to classic colours such as red, pink, purple, black, yellow, blue and white. Penny also stocks a range of eye-popping designs, such as the Penny pastels, painted fades and Summer Collection, just to name a few. The Penny 22” is the board for those who want complete freedom – it’s the board that goes wherever you go. It’s been Penny’s staple for years – make it yours too! Looking for something with a little more stability? The Penny 27” skateboard is your best bet. Browse through Penny’s extensive collection, and if you can’t find a style that’s bright enough for your personality, just head on over to the Penny Skateboard 3D Customiser to create something unique. With a 22” Penny skateboard you can skate wherever and whenever you feel like it!Cellphone lifeline: refugees wait at border of Greece and Macedonia (Image: Reuters/Alexandros Avramidis)

For the Syrian refugees marooned at Budapest station in Hungary, charging a phone can be tricky. There’s one outlet in the train station, another in the nearby migration aid offices, and a few power lines offered up by satellite news trucks on the scene. Local businesses are a gamble – some have started charging high prices for the privilege of plugging a phone in. “It was very obvious that people were desperately trying to find ways to charge their phones,” says Kate Coyer, director of the Civil Society and Technology Project at Central European University in Budapest. Smartphones are a vital survival tool for many of the millions who have been forced to flee Syria. Some say they relied on their phone’s GPS to navigate the thousands of kilometres into Europe. For example, The International Rescue Committee (IRC) documented one man’s trip from Aleppo to Hamburg, Germany, travelling by ferry, train, taxi and on foot. Throughout the two-month journey, he said GPS helped guide the way.

In addition, Facebook groups offer critical advice for those thinking of fleeing or already on the road. Some groups will help connect traffickers with their clientele, for better or worse. best backpack for goruck challengeOthers post real-time updates about which areas are safe to travel through – where the water is fit to drink, for example.ursa laptop backpack On Friday, when one group boarded a train that appeared to be bound for the Austrian border but then found themselves stuck just 30 kilometres from Budapest in the town of Bicske, those with phones posted warnings to those still waiting back in the capital.patagonia arbour backpack Meanwhile, social networks like WhatsApp also provide a critical link to friends and family left behind. mzb backpack

Aid organisations have started to recognise the importance of a smartphone. In Jordan, a United Nations office hands out SIM cards. drumline backpackIn Lebanon and northern Iraq, the IRC has given out thousands of solar-powered chargers.baby equipment rental tofino In Hungary, aid on the ground has been makeshift. swissgear laptop backpack samsSince last week, Coyer and her colleagues have been busy plugging power strips into the area’s few available public outlets, so more people can use them. Over the long term, they’re considering investing in more permanent power solutions, like solar panels or marine batteries –it all depends on how long the refugees will be around. “There is no existing infrastructure in the area that can be used so we must supply it, buy it and build it.

It is imperative,” she says. To access the internet, the group has come up with an unusual hack: turning volunteers into walking Wi-Fi beacons. For about $100, you can pick up a ready to use Wi-Fi hotspot and prepaid SIM cards, pop it all into someone’s backpack, and send them out into the crowd. The networks last for about six hours before needing to be recharged, and can support around a dozen users at a time. They’re all named “Free Wi-Fi, please no YouTube”. “I don’t ever want to pit humanitarian needs in a crisis against each other, because it’s not an either-or, but the communication needs are obviously very vital and need to be available at a moment’s notice,” says Coyer. Online, other concerned outsiders have found ways to offer help. The blog Refugees Welcome Pad, for example, compiles useful information like health brochures, asylum laws, or missing persons reports. It’s currently enlisting people online to help translate documents into Arabic and Farsi.

Another helpful site, also named Refugees Welcome, based in Berlin, bills itself as “Airbnb for refugees”. There, German citizens willing to share their homes or sponsor a month’s worth of rent can connect with people who need somewhere to stay. The site has placed more than 140 refugees so far in homes in Germany and Austria. The creators of the site are now working with volunteers from around the world, including the UK, France, Denmark and Australia, to set up similar services in their home countries. Iceland residents launched their own initiative to offer homes or services last week: a Facebook group named “Syria is calling”. One man, who fled Syria for Turkey, even launched an app for fellow refugees. Gherbetna offers step-by-step help to filling in government forms and maintains a list of job ads and friendly businesses. Newly arrived people can post more specific requests for help on a forum. On social media, Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation is raising money to support Coyer’s group.