A at University">Umeå University in northern Sweden was stunned after a thief who stole his copied and returned the contents of the computer to him - on a USB memory stick. "I am very happy," the unnamed professor told the local Västerbottens-Kuriren newspaper. "This story makes me feel hope for humanity." The professor, who wished to remain anonymous, is one of the most successful in his field, according to the newspaper. Having recently had surgery, the professor could not be bothered to drop off his backpack in his apartment before first going to the laundry room. He instead left the bag behind a door in the stairwell, thinking it would be safe for a few minutes. But when he returned a short time later, the bag was missing, along with the computer, keys, calendar and other documents inside. The professor was most upset by the loss of his calendar. "It is my life. I have documented everything in it that has happened in the last 10 years and beyond," he told the newspaper.

He then called the police to report the incident and blocked the credit cards which were also in the bag. But when he went down to the stairwell a short time later, he couldn't believe his eyes. "The backpack was there again. With all the papers, calendar and credit cards. It was just the computer that was missing," he explained. "Unfortunately, I have been bad at backing up my computer." Resigned to having lost his computer, the professor was nevertheless happy to have the rest of his belongings back. But the considerate thief had yet one more surprise in store. About a week after the theft, the professor returned home to find an envelope containing a USB memory stick which had been taken along with the computer. The professor was shocked to discover the thief had copied all the documents and personal files from his laptop to the memory storage device, a process which likely took hours. All things considered, the professor is delighted at the outcome, despite the loss of his computer.

He hopes, however, that other thieves can learn to be as compassionate. "Often when people lose their computers and cameras, it is understandably not the gadget itself that is the most important. The content is often irreplaceable," he told the newspaper. Besides the computer, the only other item that has not yet been returned is the professor's library card. "Perhaps the thief needs to improve him or herself," the professor joked.After looking for ways to get my backpack weight down, and browsing through $450 ultralight backpacks, I stumbled upon a Reddit post of a guy who made his own pack. This caught my interest and 1 hour later I had purchased a few Ikea bags for $6, and started hacking them up. If you guys really want to purchase the backpack pictured here, check out my ebay listing. I decided I needed some basic plans and sketched up a rough draft. My plan was to make the bag a little smaller than my other pack and I decided on going 15" wide and 7" deep, and I added an inch to both dimensions for the stitches.

I kept the front, back and bottom all one piece, hoping that it would look a little smoother once it was finished. The $0.99 Ikea Frakta bags were rated to 55lbs, which gave me some confidence in the material. After reading other MYOG (Make Your Own Gear) posts, I learned that the bag needed to be made from the inside out. This rounds off the flat stitches once you turn it rightside out. The first thing I did was work on the shoulder straps and waist belt.tahoma backpack I used part of an old 5mm SeaWorld wetsuit for the padding, which I then wrapped in some cheap unknown fabric (I hope this doesn't come back to bite me).backpack pedalboard Second step is to sew on all of the components such as the webbing, straps, and waistbelt to the ikea material.laptop backpack tigerdirect

The front and back are all one piece, but I had to sew the sides onto the bottom. I went with a rolltop clip system, as it seemed like an easy way to keep the bag waterproof, and I was unfamiliar with it. Now that I have all of the components sewn to the bag, I was able to man handle a ton of fabric through the machine to join it all together. I turned the bag rightside out, and I was very happy with the results. The completed bag weighs 17oz. Far lighter than my expectations.lafuma backpack 60l I made sure to include a sleeve that I could slide a Zlite sleeping pad into. jual backpack lacosteThis acts as a frame and stiffener, and also as a cushion from the items that you are carrying.backpack leaf blowers for sale ebay

The total cost of the pack was about $30, and a lot of time, but that is part of the fun. More pictures of the final pack:Proper ski wear makes better experiences A Bergans garment is a lasting investmentEmma attended the 4th disABILITY MUNDUS Doctoral School at Uppsala University, Sweden. Preparations for my trip. As a mom of a baby and a 5 year old I had to ensure that I had everything prepared for when I was away (from expressed breastmilk, meals to babysitters). trv backpackI decided to travel as light as possible as I was planning to use public transport in Sweden. I learned that while their transport systems work, they can be busy and crowded during peak time so the smaller by bag the better. I took a small wheelie bag and a laptop backpack to make my life easier. Putting a bright tag on the bag really helped when 300 black wheelie bags get put on the airport carrousel. I made sure that I had printed out all of the time tables and knew which companies operated in which areas before hand.

I am very glad that I did as their central station could be very overwhelming if coming off a 16 hour flight. Also, knowing that there are two train companies really assisted me in deciding which was the cheapest and which would get me to the closest underground or station. I also ensured that I found out where the free public sleeping chairs were in Dubai which came in handy with my long lay over in the airport. It is important to make sure that you work out the time differences to avoid over sleeping by default and missing your connecting flight! It is also important to know that some airlines such as Emirates offer a free meal pass at certain restaurants in the terminal if your lay over is greater than 4 hours. If there are any other students travelling via Dubai while still feeding a baby there are nurseries available to express milk in differing spots in the terminals. You will also need to make sure you have an international plug for laptops and chargers as our South African plugs don’t fit.

I suggest that you take these plugs on board certain flights such as Emirates as there are plug sockets on each seat if you want to work on your laptop during the flight. Travelling with my running takkies meant I could walk the long distances throughout the terminals and catch public transport with ease with swollen feet. When booking accommodation I suggest that you really shop around. In Sweden there are loads of hotels to choose from and using a comparison website really helped. I made sure that I found a hotel close to public transport so I could leave my bag at the hotel and carry my laptop bag with me to the conference venue at the university in Uppsala. This was a good call as the town was very hilly and I would have battled to pull my wheelie bag up cobbled streets and hills. If arriving on a Sunday, check what shops will be open as many close early and finding a meal can be difficult on a Sunday evening. I was completely blown away by the number of people who ride bicycles in Uppsala!

Parents towing young children, old people and ladies in high-heals all riding their bicycles. The biggest challenge was to find a spot to park ones bike! After lectures and before sessions I took the opportunity to see as much of the sites as I could. Not the touristy sections, but the parts where the locals go. I had the privilege of attending a 5 day workshop as well as a two day conference in Sweden. The workshop was called MAKING disability (4th disABILITY MUNDUS doctoral school) and was hosted by the Department of Sociology at Uppsala University. DisAbility MUNDUS is a group of European academics and universities that are actively engaged in and support scholarly research on disAbility. I had to opportunity to meet with some disability specialists from the Nordic countries and Canada, some of whom I had read about with great interest. It was wonderful to hear presentations from these experts and to be able to ask questions at the end of each session which is so much easier and less intimidating for me than trying to send them an email.

I was the only student from the southern hemisphere so there were a number of areas that we differed in terms of context, language and background. The sessions were a good mix of theory, discussions, activities and site visits. We had a guest lecture from a Para Olympian tennis player Anders Sépulchre Hård titled ‘Consider making as a production process’ which was really interesting. We had a visit to SUF Resource Center in Uppsala which is a regional initiative to support the needs of children and parents in families where one or both of the parents has an intellectual disability or other cognitive difficulties. They gave us a presentation on how they provide training to potential parents with intellectual disabilities on how to look after a baby and be a good parent. The other session that I really found fascinating was a summary of work being done on Alzheimer’s around the globe. We each had the opportunity to present our research area and received some very valuable feedback.

It was valuable getting feedback from academics and students from the global north. While the lectures were all conducted in English I found it pretty tough lip-reading certain presenters due to their strong accents, but I made a plan. It was very strange leaving some sessions after 10pm with the sun still shining brightly in the sky as it was mid-summer. Feeling safe to walk alone across campus was a refreshing feeling as a female student. I then travelled across from Uppsala to Stockholm to attend the Fifth Annual Conference of ALTER that took place in Stockholm. ALTER, falls under the European Society for Disability Research. Its goal is to offer a European and international multidisciplinary view of disability research, across its whole spectrum, addressing socio historical and political dimensions as well as the subjective experiences of the actors concerned (disabled persons themselves and those close to them, professionals of the field and other social and political actors). Considering disability as a category of analysis is also likely to shed light on the modes of organisation of contemporary societies.

I attended a number of very interesting presentations and made contact with many students and academics during the lunches and teas. A highlight of the conference as an excursion the City Hall where we got to see where the Nobel Peace Prize is given and had a dinner in the large banquet hall. Here I got the opportunity to meet with one of my most influential researchers Dr Nora Groce who conducted research into the Deaf gene on Martha’s Vineyard who Oliver Sacks wrote about in his famous book. Returning to South Africa made me appreciate the supervision that I receive from my host Prof Leslie Swartz as some of my fellow students do not receive the same amount of mentorship, support and belief in their work. Returning from Sweden gave me new perspectives into how the Global North does not have all the answers, and that in some regards are almost going backwards in terms of rights and access for people with disabilities. This really surprised me and I was not expecting this. I was interested to see how they wanted my opinion regarding disabilities issues and that some solutions can be solved right here in South Africa without the assistance from global partners.

I really enjoyed meeting the disability researchers whose work I had used a great deal in my research and studies. It gave me the opportunity to ask the questions that I had and to see their passion for their area. Some gave me some very valuable advice which I have already started to use and feel that my work is better as a result of this. Some of the workshops and presentations made me question more and not take things at face-value, even from those who I saw as experts in the field. My trip made me realise how valuable meeting and helping students from other countries is. I really wish that I had had a better experience from my hosts and will make sure to be as helpful and inclusive I can be to any visiting students. It taught me to go out and make friends with other students and to share as much about South Africa as I could. These students who I befriended taught me so much about their country and living with disabilities that was very refreshing. My trip has definitely encouraged me to keep in contact with other people in my field and we have already looked at possible partnerships and co-authored journal articles.