Have Laptop Will Travel

Survival of the fittest: Tips for Business Travelers Visiting Chicago in the Winter

Originally posted on December 14, 2012 @ 2:03 pm

Chicago in the summer is the cultural & business hub of the midwest, in the winter it is a sometimes forbidding place of windy nights, sub-zero temperature, and icy beauty. Today let's talk about a few tips for business travelers visiting Chicago in the winter.

Chicago in the summer is the cultural & business hub of the midwest, in the winter it is a sometimes forbidding place of windy nights, sub-zero temperature, and icy beauty. Today let’s talk about a few tips for business travelers visiting Chicago in the winter.

Chicago is a frequent location for the business traveler.  It is lovely in the springtime, summer, and fall but winter nights in Chicago–the windy city–are often forbidding.  Here are some tips for the frequent winter visitor to Chicago.

Surivival of the Fittest

Chicago operates the second-largest public transportation system in the nation. On an average weekday, the Chicago Transit Authority carries 1.6 million passengers to their destinations, either on its buses or rail cars, which serve 125 stations. The CTA isn’t just a convenient option for downtown jaunts. It also offers service to both of Chicago’s major airports and the CTA’s Metra Rail provides transportation to distant Chicago suburbs within a 70-mile radius.

All of those routes can seem overwhelming to an outsider, but getting around Chicago is easy, convenient and affordable. And because Chicago is no stranger to winter weather, you can count on public transportation to be there for you, even in conditions that would cripple cars.

The power of trains

Chicago is infamous for its wickedly brutal winters. Arctic winds sweep over Lake Michigan and come howling down city streets, freezing all exposed flesh and most improperly layered tissue as well. Chicagoans routinely relate stories of meeting “new friends” on the street or in foyers, only to discover that these heavily-wrapped winter denizens are friends, unrecognizable under multiple layers.

In January 2012, as snow caused flight cancellations and traffic jams, Chicago’s Metra train was still humming along, carrying passengers to the suburbs – a testament to the reliability of the CTA, even in the harshest conditions.

Parking: Expensive in many ways

Some city residents choose to own and drive a car throughout the winter. While seemingly convenient, the option is actually an agreement to be gently and slowly tortured for the duration of the winter months. In addition to ridiculously expensive parking fees downtown and street parking a rarity, Chicago residents experience an annual Winter Overnight Parking Ban – an absolute prohibition that takes place between 3 and 7 a.m. – from Dec. 1 to the following April 1, or when snowfall exceeds two inches. Cars parked on main streets during this time are promptly towed, and owners are charged a minimum of $210 to reclaim their automobiles. So if you’re thinking about renting a car for your winter stay in Chicago, think again.

Affordable, reliable

The CTA is a remarkably inexpensive system, particularly when one purchases monthly unlimited passes. The excellent coverage of Chicago’s mass transit system rarely requires more than one change of bus or train and often delivers passengers within a block of their destinations. Plus, one of the best parts of taking public transportation is that when you’re not driving, you’ve got time to catch up on a good book or read your email. Who doesn’t appreciate a little more time to get things done?

CTA, demystified

Chicago attracts many tourists in the winter, for its world-class shopping, outstanding theater and many attractions – like ice skating in Millennial Park. And because of the numerous CTA stops, you can get anywhere you want to go. Don’t be intimidated by the many maps and routes – you can download a handy app for your smartphone and plan your route with ease. After hopping on a bus or The ‘L’ and arriving at your destination, you’ll feel like a true Chicagoan!

Working Abroad Wisely with Credit Cards

Originally posted on February 16, 2011 @ 8:04 am

As someone who frequently finds themselves on the move due to their work, you’d probably be interested in cutting down your calling costs, especially if you’re the businessman type who always keeps calling different people to keep their operations rolling. A calling card often gives you far better conditions than the local phone services would, especially if you compare it to the costs of hotel phones and other similar services. However, make sure you make your choice a good one, as you may otherwise find yourself paying a lot more than you intended to.

Finding a good phone card abroad can be tricky, especially to the less-experienced consumers – there are a lot of potential pitfalls and things to be wary of, so in most cases it’s usually better to get your cards from your country of origins and have them ready before you set out. This will save you not only time, but money when you’re abroad, and will allow you to focus on your work and business as you should.

Use your phone card wisely – it may come with some good-looking plans, but remember that the company providing the card is ultimately a business looking to benefit, and as such they’ll probably have a good plan in place to get you paying some hefty charges if you’re careless with using your card. Use it wisely though, and it’s going to benefit you quite a lot in the long run.

Web Books and cheap web hosting

Originally posted on February 10, 2011 @ 5:27 am

Web hosting like the mobile phones during the initial days of discovery was a very costly affair and was limited. Thanks to cheap webhosting, carrying one’s own library is so feasible and easy via web books. One can carry their best companion without having to carry the actual weight of it. There is a wide variety to pick from across the globe, which best goes with individual taste and preference. The cost of producing and consuming a web book are one time affair and lasts a lifetime. The author is no longer required to invest a fortune towards storage or maintenance.

For a consumer too, it comes packaged with advantages of portability. It can refer it at a time most feasible to an individual.

Web books are the future of all kinds of literary works including, but not limited to academics, art and philosophy, great literature works, and most of all not to forget the science and research works. Come to think of getting the work done across countries. Moreover, inviting feedback was a costly and time-consuming affair. With the advent of cheap webhosting, it became a reality to present one’s work to the world almost effortlessly .

In some countries, we still witness kids carrying heavy loads of books while going to school while there are some countries that no longer do it and utilize the medium of cheap web hosting to their advantage
We have come of age where owing to technology advancement cheap web hosting is at our disposal whereby it is possible to communicate and share the web books with the world at large.

How to do a domain availability check

Originally posted on January 30, 2011 @ 6:41 am

Choosing domain may not turn out to be very easy, especially when your website has no specific category. There are many general sites and owners of such sites can find domain availability check to be a nuisance. Specific websites may find selecting domain quite easy, as they can relate their domains with the categories of their website. If you want to do a domain availability check, you can do it in few selected steps.

Here is how you can do it:

• Go to a domain name registration website and enter your chosen domain name to find whether the chosen domain could be a proper name for your website.

• You should start with various extensions. Apply extensions to see which name would be the best. If you are looking for a country specific domain name, there’s an option for you to do exactly that.

• Once you are through with the selection, you should now click the search button, to finally make a domain availability check. As soon as you do that, several names crops up. The selected ones are tagged as ‘taken’, while the available ones are tagged differently.
• You will find many more domain names with misspellings of the name of the domain you had chosen. Make sure you select the right one. Choosing common domain names with spelling mistakes may harm your traffic.

• Once you make the final selection. Get yourself registered with the website. Make the payment and the domain is yours. The process is easier this way.

The Most High Tech Cities in the World

Originally posted on January 18, 2011 @ 5:47 am

Technology is getting more and more prevalent that it has become firmly entrenched in our daily lives. Just take a cursory look at what’s around you and you will immediately notice how ubiquitous technology has become over the last few years. Practically everyone has a mobile phone (even children have them!) that can take pictures, surf the internet and retrieve email and we haven’t touched on video calls that, a decade ago, only existed in the realm of science fiction. People who go in cafes don’t bring newspapers or books anymore. They have their laptops, portable netbooks or their ebook readers. Access to the internet is available practically anywhere thanks to WiFi, which brings a whole new level of meaning to the word “connected.” There’s no stopping the relentless march of technology that all we can do is brace ourselves to what the future will bring.

But even though technological advancements are happening all over the world there are some cities that can be considered as ahead of the curve in terms of technological acceptance and immersion. These are the cities that have made technology one of the building blocks of its growth both economically and culturally. These cities have incorporated technology to such a degree that it is beginning to define itself in terms of how it has melded itself to the digital age.

Seoul

The South Korean capital is probably the most technologically integrated in the world. Seoul boasts of having one of the fastest commercially available broadband speeds on the planet. And the level of immersion in households is also among the highest – with four of five households getting broadband internet of up to 100Mbps for just $40 a month. Even mobile communications is tops in Seoul with nine out of ten people owning mobile phones. Leading technological advancements are also being developed and released in Seoul mainly because Samsung and LG, two of the top consumer electronics makers in the world, are headquartered there. This means Koreans are probably getting these advanced technologies first.

Seoul is also leading the world in terms of convergence. It is the first city to fully explore digital mobile TV broadcasting. This technology was launched way back in 2005 and at present more than two million Koreans are now subscribed to the service – watching TV on their phones at practically any place they want.

Seoul is a great city to visit, there are many Seoul hotels to choose from – from economy to luxury hotels.

Tokyo

If technology is the subject, Tokyo is probably the first city that any person will think of first. And for good reason. Tokyo is one of the most advanced cities in the world and probably the first truly technology driven city way before these new technologies were developed. Even before the advent of the internet, Tokyo has gained a worldwide reputation for being the source of new technologies. It is often said that if you want to find out hat kind of technology will be popular in a few years, go to Tokyo and look at what the people there are using and what the stores are selling.

It will be interesting to note that the current 3G mobile technology that the rest of the world is enjoying for the last couple of years has been used in Japan during the early years of the decade. Japan turned the phone into a real multimedia convergence device that can practically do anything. The fact that you can buy from vending machines using mobile phones is just the kind of ubiquitous application of technology that not many countries have done.

Technological advancements in Tokyo is also helped by the number of leading electronics manufacturers based in Tokyo and in other parts of Japan. It’s the reason they get a taste of the first deliveries of gaming consoles, mobile phones, electronics equipment and even down to the mundane everyday items that you wouldn’t even give second thoughts to – for example, electronic toilet bowls that warm the seat and give a gentle stream of water to wash your bottom. Only in Japan, indeed.

Technology is also well integrated when you visit Tokyo and stay in any one of the hotels in the city. A Tokyo hotel will usually have a number of high tech facilities.

Stockholm

The European city of Stockholm in Sweden has also distinguished itself as a technological city. The impact of technology in Sweden in general and Stockholm in particular has resulted in a big shift in educational priorities in Sweden’s youth. A significant majority of kids in Sweden now want to become engineers instead of doctors or lawyers. Science and technology has firmly taken hold of the whole country.

Sweden is one of the top countries in Europe in terms of broadband speed and penetration. And this has significantly impacted on the way technology is new being used in the city. For example, convergence efforts has now resulted in a unique application of broadband speeds, the internet, mobile telephony and e-commerce. Shoppers can now buy groceries using their mobile phones. Each item in the grocery has an RFID tag. A shopper will just have to scan all of the tags in his shopping cart and after this is done a unique ID number is given. The shopper will only need to SMS the ID number to a phone number and the groceries are automatically charged to the phone bill.

Stockholm officials are hard at work in making Stockholm one of the leading ICT capitals in the European region. And they are succeeding in that task. A growing number of IT companies are now holding office in the city and the list is growing. Government officials are hard at work in ensuring the necessary infrastructure is in place to make the city more attractive for tech companies.

Stockholm is a great place to visit since it is a great jump off point when visiting the rest of Scandinavia. There are a number of great hotels in Stockholm that you can stay in.

Tallinn

Among the cities in the world that is slowly making its presence felt as a technological capital is the city of Tallinn in Estonia. Tallinn’s proximity to other progressive cities in Scandinavia has benefitted in tremendously in establishing its IT roots. In fact, Tallinn boasts of being one of the most wired cities in the region. The Tallinn residents are quite pampered in terms of connectivity since practically every place – whether it be the park, bars, pubs or hotels – have free WiFi. In fact, it is quite common to see road signs that indicate the nearest free WiFi hotspots in the area.

Tallinn has also earned the distinction as being the first city in the world to hold elections online. Voters merely swiped their smartcard on a card reader attached to their computer and then voted securely on a website. The same smartcard also allows residents to view any data the government may have on them. Taxes in Tallinn are now paid in the same way and because the whole system is linked to banks and other public institutions, any deductible amounts are automatically made.

Tallinn is already being marketed as a Silicon Valley of the Scandinavian region. And it is gaining a lot of success and recognition for its efforts. In fact, Skype is one of the most successful start-ups to originate in Tallinn.

Tallinn hotels are quite numerous and because of the city’s initiatives practically all of them have free WiFi.

Songdong City

If you are on the lookout for a true, built-from-the-ground-up technology city then all you need to remember is Songdong City. This new city is being developed 60 kilometers from Seoul on a vast 600 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea. If we’re talking about technologically advanced Songdong may just take the cake. It is the first city that will have its residential, medical and business sectors linked.

The key to everything would be a smartcard. The smartcard will be used as a housekey but can also be used in accessing the subway, paying for parking, buying movie tickets or even borrowing free public bicycles. The whole city will be pollution-free because conventional gas powered cars will not be allowed inside. Instead, visitors and residents will use the aforementioned bicycles and also electric smart cars and public transports. Over 10,000 such cars will be plying the routes of the city.

Fixed line fiber optics will be wired into all homes as well as high speed wireless in all other areas of Songdong. In one of the more inspired aspects of the city, the government’s IT infrastructure will be tied to the home networks of residents, which means residents can have access to their files wherever they are. These files can be accessed through their computers, mobile phones and other portable devices. It can also be accessed through government provided city kiosks and public screens. Even the garbage will be electronically advanced in Songdong. Sensors in garbage can will automatically alert garbage collection teams to empty the trash, while RFID can be used to credit residents if they help in recycling efforts.

With Songdong due to be completed in 2010, the future is truly just around the corner. You can already check on the progress of Songdong when you visit Seoul since it is just a short drive away. You can stay in one of the many hotels in Seoul that will fit your budget and needs.