The following is a press release about a cool opportunity for two Social Media Travelers. I was contacted by Ben, who asked me if I would share their story with the readers of this and my other travel blog. Please consider adding them on their various other networks and helping them with their cause.
Orlando, Florida – 19 November 2009 – Orlando Residents Ben Reed and Brian Sommer have been selected as finalists by The Tourism Authority of Thailand in their social media competition: Ultimate Thailand Explorers. 
Beginning December 10th, Reed and Sommer will embark on a 6-Day assignment to Pattaya, Thailand where the couple will use social media websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to promote the Country of Thailand as a vacation destination. To be selected as finalists, Reed and Sommer underwent a grueling vetting process including submitting a 1-minute YouTube video explaining why they want to go to Thailand and how they would promote (more…)
Written by Pixelhead on December 3rd, 2009 with 23
comments.
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Lizzie and I are once again going to Chicago. This time however, unlike our Chicago OMS trip, this Chicago Vacation will be a family vacation with very little work involved…yea right..
The Great Chicago Bean
We are actually taking Grandmom, our 14 yr old daughter and our Taco Bell dog, Sugar as well. We will be leaving around 6am Monday, and stopping in at Marblehead Ohio for an over night at the Marblehead Surf Motel. Come Tuesday morning, unless we are in love with Marblehead, we will be heading out to our friends place in Chicago.
We will be doing some work however to include a possible BNI networking meeting, SEO training for a contractor, and I imagine more than a bit of travel blogging on the All-Travel-Site.com blog. (more…)
Written by Pixelhead on August 14th, 2009 with 52
comments.
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Got back from our Maine vacation last night after a week long vacation. What was intended to be a working vacation, ended up being more of a time off vacation. I do find myself a little behind with blogging, but I did manage to get a little 
computer time in while visiting relatives in Lisbon, Maine. I got a few posts done on the travel blog, and was able to respond to some comments, but writing of posts on Pixelheadonline was not in the cards.
Mid week Lizzie and I took a trip to Bar Harbor, and sadly did not have Internet access. The LedgeLawn Inn, is a huge old mansion that reminds me of The Shining. It is a great place to visit if you want to get away, but Internet seems to b a luxury that needs to be upgraded too. As we were driving up the coast, we did see other places that had WiFi, but ours did not. Well it did give us plenty of time for checking out the town and Arcadia National Park. I did take lots of pics, and took some notes in an actual tablet, which will eventually make it into several posts on the Lizzie’s Travel Blog, so if you get a chance and want to get some info on Bar Harbor, check out the travel blog.
Our Maine Vacation Links:1. Maine Vacation pics on Flickr.
2. Maine Vacation posts on The Travels of Lizzie Bean.
Upcoming posts here and elsewhere will include:
Mid-month Top commentators post.
An SEO suggestion post for Paula, Queen of the Surf Pirates.
Entry to the 7Ps of Meme which I was tagged for by Sarah over at BlueJar.com
Two Guest blogging posts, one for Pureblogging.com and one for Freelancefolder.com.
I am sure there are a few others that I am forgetting, to mention, but they will occur. But now, I need to do some client work, because I need to pay the bills. ttyl.
A question for other bloggers:
Oh I would like to add a little question to this Maine Vacation post, and ask my fellow bloggers about protocol when going on vacation. Do you write a post before vacation or do like me and write it after the fact?
Written by Pixelhead on August 20th, 2007 with 12
comments.
Read more articles on Blogging and Travel and Uncategorized and Vacation.
Our time here at OBX is almost up, and sadly we will have to leave our Salvo mansion. Well not really a mansion, but it is really huge with 6 bed rooms and five bathrooms, pool, hot tub, shuffle board, putting green, and an awesome game groom.
Our Salvo Realtor, upgraded us from our original place when there was a scheduling snafu. At first we were a little disappointed, but after seeing the original and this one we are ever so glad the snafu occurred.Today, I get an email update from an OBX Real Estate blog from Ronnie Roach were I find out tropical storm Barry is on the way and will hit Sunday. No wonder the waver report on Paula the Queen of Surf Pirates site said the waves would be so huge on Sunday. Tried to talk Lizzie into staying over the weekend, but the kids do need to get back to school.
Visit my OBX picture set to see all of our OBX Salvo pictures.
Written by Pixelhead on June 2nd, 2007 with 2
comments.
Read more articles on Travel and Uncategorized and Vacation.
Lizzie and I are vacationing in the Outer Banks, NC for the week to get our batteries recharged after a bit of drama. Since it 
is the down season, Lizzie found a great deal. We started out with an ocean side house with pool and hot tub, but due to a scheduling error on the part of the Sun Realty agent, we were upgraded to another house.
Our current rental has 6 bedrooms, 5 full baths, a pool, a hot tub, shuffle board, game room with air hockey, pool, and fooseball and a golf cart all for 650 for the week. Peak season the place goes for 3500.00. Quiet a deal indeed.
I made a video of the place, and will see about uploading it tomorrow if time permits.
On the way down I was twittering the whole trip, and was amazed to see that all my text messages actually were on my account. 
I just started using twitter, and am still a bit of a novice. I am not really sure about the implications for social networking, but I can see its potential. For instance, one of my contacts, You_Decide, made a comment about a blog post, and then I checked it out. I imagine I was not the only one of his contacts that chose to check out the post on the Most Hated Business Phrases. “Thinking outside the box” might be one of the ones that I hate.
Twittering, is that a word?
Twitter is a relatively new Social networking site that enables you to stay connected with your contact while answering the question “What am I doing?” Updates can occur on the site, via IM(Not with my favorite Yahoo), and text messaging via your phone. Sign up for an account, and start meeting people from all over the world. Tell people all about the random events that make up your day much like I did today while driving to OBX.
The platform is a bit new, I have had a few problems using it. A few times it has been down, and my updates did not go through. At other times, the site has been unreachable. Still at other times, a funky little cat shows up to say there has been an error.
Check it out and add me to your contacts. I am EmperorAnton on Twitter.
Written by Pixelhead on May 30th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Travel and Uncategorized and Web 2.0.
Guest Blogger
Here are some tips to help you keep your laptop safe and make sure you have a trouble-free time while at airports and taking flights. Mostly it’s about being alert and ’streetwise’ and keeping your eyes open.
(1) Stay under the radar
Keep a low profile at the airport and on the plane. Thieves are looking for a ‘mark’ so make sure it’s not you. Be aware that if a fellow passenger asks you about your laptop, with probing questions about its newness, price and capabilities, they may be assessing it to see if its worth stealing. In such circumstances it’s best to politely say you’re tired from working and wearily put your laptop away, saying it’s an old model, slow and inefficient.
(2) Watch your laptop like a hawk
Keep it with you at all times and don’t take your eyes off it and your hand luggage for a second. Thieves are assessing people and what they have with them. If you give the impression that you’re not really ‘with it’ then pretty soom your laptop will no longer be ‘with you’. This still applies even if your things are being looked at by security or customs – a classic area for thieves.
(3) Paperwork is important
Make sure you have the receipts and the right customs paperwork for your laptop when taking your return flight. And have them accessible so you can show them to customs quickly without rummaging through mountains of paperwork at the bottom of your briefcase. This way you can prove that you bought your laptop into the country with you and didn’t buy it there. If customs suspect that you purchased your laptop on this trip, you’ll be asked to pay taxes and duty.
(4) Be prepared to turn it on
You may be asked to turn your laptop on, so it is sensible to have it charged up and on standby. Containers that are made to look like laptops are often used to smuggle items or to hide terrorist equipment. So its common practice for security to ask people to turn on their machine. Also customs may want to see if it’s brand new. If so, it may be subject to taxes and import duty.
(5) Have your laptop with you all the time
Do not pack it with your other luggage, which usually gets rough treatment from baggage handlers. Bring it on the plane with you as hand luggage, and keep it with you. Aviod using the overhead compartment, where other passengers could steal it or accidentally dislodge it when pulling their coat out, making it drop on the floor.
(6) Conveyor belt scams
Here’s a scam to watch out for. Two thieves slip in front of you as people are drifting towards the security conveyor belt. You’ve put your laptop on the belt and off it goes. The first thief goes through but the second one makes problems for the security staff and creates a dramatic scene. Everyone is distracted except the first thief who takes the opportunity for a quick getaway with your laptop.
(7) X-Rays won’t hurt your Laptop
Rest assured that X-Ray scanners are fine and will not harm your laptop or your information stored on it. The security people need to be able to see inside as there’s space for smugging items inside your machine, however slim and light it may seem to you.
(8) Metal detectors could damage my Laptop
Yes they could. Metal detectors can hurt your laptop so it’s best to respectfully ask security people to do a ‘hand check’ instead, where they ask you to turn it in to show its real. After all, there’s already metal inside a normal laptop so a metal detector won’t tell them anything.
(9) Lock your laptop case
Open cases are easy to get into, especially for a team of two criminals. One distracts you while the other either puts something into your case like drugs. Or takes something out like your laptop and anything else that’s accessible like your money or mobile phone. All in a few seconds and they’re gone before you notice anything. If you have become a ‘carrier’ for them they will pull a similar stunt to steal the whole case from you once the flight has landed and you’ve cleared customs.
About The Author
PortableUniverse.co.uk is a good place to go for laptops and peripherals. The best thing for people to do is to talk to them, let them know what your needs are (both current and future) and they will come up with the best laptop for you. They also supply software and blank DVDs there for your backup.
Written by TheChatter on May 18th, 2007 with 18
comments.
Read more articles on Industry and Technology and Travel.
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