Archive for the 'Digital Content' Category

Wikitravel – My Trip Planning Enabler

Published by Brian Wesolowski on August 30, 2010 in Digital Content. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

She is my travel idol!

Like many people in Doha I love to travel. While Doha has some nice things to offer, an escape to blue skies, greenery, nature and historical sites is always welcome a diversion for me. And thanks to our generous leave – and my very understanding boss – I have become quite a travel pro (or so I would like to think!). So what’s my favorite travel site when planning a trip: Wikitravel.

Wikitravel is the Wikipedia of travel guides. Like any wiki, it is user generated content that can be updated and refined by anyone. And just like Wikipedia, the content is proving to be accurate, timely and very reliable. The site has over 23,000 destination guides already – and growing.

I generally start any trip planning with a visit to Wikitravel. It offers information on countries, cities and even regions in general. Most destinations include really useful information on visa requirements and also a list of airlines that fly into a particular location. This was incredibly helpful when I was planning a visit to Lesotho (I didn’t even know where it was until a friend moved there) and exploring possible trips to Madagascar and Mongolia – they have yet to happen.

Wikitravel also has great recommendations on things to do while on your holiday, including culture destinations, shopping information, restaurants and hotels.  I find the tips on things to do useful, but am not a huge fan of the restaurant listings or hotels. I prefer TripAdvisor (my second most important travel site) for these because it allows user ratings and commenting, helping me make a more informed choice.

More valuable features that are often included for destinations include popular tourist scams, weather information, travel alerts and possible daytrips and excursions. There is also content available in various other languages, but English is by far the most populated.

So for those of you still trying to figure out your Eid plans, check out Wikitravel for some ideas and valuable trip planning resources. And if you discover something new, then be sure to update the Wikitravel guide.

How Strong is Your Password?

Published by Brian Wesolowski on August 24, 2010 in Digital Content. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

If you are like me, you probably have about 3-4 different passwords that you use for you multiple online accounts. You use any variation of these for you your Gmail, Facebook, online baking, Twitter or news website subscriptions. Sometimes you forget which of your passwords you entered for a particular site, but if you work through your 3-4 options you can usually figure it out. And, if you are like me, you think you are quite clever with all your variations with letters and numbers. But really, how strong is your password?

After reading about research done by the Georgia Institute of Technology where they used very basic technology to try to crack people’s passwords, I realized just how weak mine were – al off them! The researchers found that they could easily crack a cluster of eight character passwords within 2 hours. When they increased the characters to twelve, they calculated that it would take 17,134 years to crack all the passwords in a cluster. That is a big difference. Let’s just say I promptly changed all may major passwords to be at least 12 characters.

Their calculations were based on the assumption that a sophisticated hacker could try 1 trillion password combinations a second. Um- wow.

So what else makes a password strong besides the number of characters? The article I read cited many different sources with advice, including Microsoft which recommended not using real words to avoid a “dictionary attack,” while Carnegie Mellon recommend using a full sentence as a password, including punctuation. A bit contradictory. Of course the strongest password would be a complete jumble of letters, numbers, and symbols, such as #%$*45&*(knfasf^^^”, however that does not seem practical to remember. And of course most sites do have limits on password length and characters that can be used.

Regardless of what you use, you should at least be thinking security when you create passwords for major online accounts. Think both in terms of number of characters and types of characters, but certainly be sure you can remember it! And if you want to check the strength of your password,try out Microsoft’s Password Checker. Mine are now rated as strong!

Facebook Enters the Check-In World

Published by Brian Wesolowski on August 19, 2010 in Digital Content, Technology and social media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

It was just a matter of time before it happened, so when Facebook announced yesterday that it was introducing a location-based service the digital world was not surprised. What was a bit surprising was that on the stage with Facebook during the announcement were representative from foursquare and Gowalla – seemingly Facebook’s prime competitors in the mobile check-in world.   Apparently they will be using the Facebook Places API to push their check-ins to Facebook Places. Seems like a smart partnership for all parties.

So what exactly is Facebook Places? From what I have read and the videos I watched, it is a very basic location check-in service, much like foursquare. You go to a restaurant or store and “check-in.” Your phone’s GPS or Wifi detects your location and shows you the places nearby. You then select your location (if it is on the list) and “check-in,” which will then show up on your Facebook page and in the newsfeed of your friends. Each place you check into will have its own page on Facebook and people will be able to check these pages for comments on the place and to see who is checked-in there (some privacy concerns!).

A unique feature for Facebook Places compared to the other check-in sites is the ability to tag the friends that are with you in your check-in post. Your friends will need to accept your tag for it to appear on their page and in their newsfeed.

Of course the biggest advantage of Facebook Places has over other check-in sites is their huge network. With over 500 million users, Facebook Places clearly has a large built-in network to grow through. I certainly expect it to become incredibly popular. And of course businesses will want to be sure they have a strong Places page. Facebook is even reaching out to businesses encouraging them to build their Places profile, and then of course link it to advertising.

Right now the Facebook Places application is only available in the U.S. and on the iPhone, but Facebook said they plan to expand to more locations and mobile platforms soon. So are you looking forward to Facebook Places coming to your phone?

Get your Groupon!

Published by Brian Wesolowski on August 17, 2010 in Digital Content and social media. 1 Comment Tags: , .

I love a good deal and I love to feel like I am “in the know” of what is going on in my community, so when I heard about Groupon I was naturally excited. Groupon is a social website that shares with members a one “amazing” deal a day from a local store, restaurant or company. If enough people “buy” the deal it is activated and the entire group receives a coupon, or “Groupon,” that can redeemed for that deal. If not enough people sign up then the deal is cancelled and you pay nothing.

All kinds of deals on Groupon

The site operates on the principal of “collective buying power.” Basically companies can offer great deals on the site when they are guaranteed it will only be valid if a certain number of people take advantage. The company decides that number, which they can of course peg to the point where the offer becomes profitable for them.  What an amazing way to market your company, attract new customers and ensure you make money. The site has proven so popular with businesses that Groupon can only accept 1 in 8 offers at this point.

And of course for members, this is a great chance to discover new activities in their city, try a new restaurant or buy a new pair of shoes while on a budget. I checked out my old town’s past deals of the day and saw a bunch I would have wanted, including baseball tickets with a 40% savings, cupcakes (don’t judge!) at a 50% savings, membership at a gym at nearly 90% savings and a cheese tasting class at 50% savings.

To ensure enough people “buy” an offer, the website encourages users to share it with their friends, Tweet it or post it on Facebook. I would be more than happy to push my friends to take advantage of a 50% discount offer for cupcakes – that is not something to let pass by!

Groupon is available in most decent-sized cities in the U.S. and has started to expand globally, with Groupons available in over 20 countries. It hasn’t made it to the Middle East yet (Turkey is the closest), but you can be a member and take advantage of the deals when you travel. All you need to do is join, sign up for an offer, provide credit card info, and if enough people “buy” and offer, you’ll get a “Groupon” in your email to print, then redeem. I would of course love to see this come to Doha and am very much ready to get my Groupon.