Can I upload pictures from my digital camera directly to my portable hard drive, without connecting to my pc?

I have a Cannon PowerShot A550, which will upload pictures directly to a printer. I just got a portable hard drive, which requires power from both a powerpoint and the usb before it "wakes up".

Both the camera and the hard drive connect to the pc via a two sized usb, with a small (B male?) connector at the device, and a large (A male?) connector connector at the pc. If I got an A male to A male adaptor to connect the camera directly to the hard drive, could I then use my camera's upload function to move photos to the hard drive, and would the connection to the camera fulfill the drive's secondary power requirement?

I am going on holiday to Tasmania for a week, and to the States for three months next year, but I dont' have a laptop, so I need a way to store all those pics, so I can take more! Thanks for helping! :-)

The answer is probably no. You need an interface of some sort for the camera and hard drive to communicate and the hard drive by itself doesn't have that. Memory cards are cheap and small - buy a bunch before you go. An alternative would be something like the Epson P-3000, which is a portable hard drive you can use to store photos and also music files. It has a viewing screen so you can view them as well.

I don't think you'll have any luck finding the Male A to Male A you're looking for. I also don't believe that the camera will provide enough power through the cable. For increased picture storage, buy an extra memory card.

If you're going on holidays you would be better off either making sure you have plenty of memory cards available...or maybe buying a portable photo storage device.
These devices are perfect for travel. They generally contain a laptop HDD, so are very reliable and come in capacities of maybe between 20-100 GB, and are quite small and portable. They're powered by battery (you obviously need to re-charge it), as well as AC adapter. They have an in-built card reader, so all you need to do is take your memory card out of your camera, insert it and transfer your photos.
Some of these devices come with a fancy colour LCD, which will cost you more, and it's something you don't really need. I would suggest one with just a mono LCD, especially if it's just for storage.
You are going to absolutely love Tasmania!
good luck...

I cannot imagine traveling anywhere without my notebook, if only to check email. Being a pro photographer, I carry my notebook, external drive, all my cameras and a stack of DVD+R's so I can backup all the images I shoot while on vacation or on assignment.