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Posts from December 2008
Pssst, buddy, want to win a Fujifilm camera? Get on the F list!
This is one of the reasons I love being a blogger. Because cool companies give me cool technology to give away to you.
So Fujifilm Canada has created the "F list" - a fun program to get the word out about their digital cameras along with getting visitors to share stories about the Best and Worst gifts they've received and some other holiday themed activities.
Plus they're giving away some Fujifilm digital cameras!
So, there are a few ways to win ...
First, the F list Scavenger Hunt! The F list team has hidden two Fujifilm S100fs (valued at over $700) in both Vancouver and Toronto. One of them has been found in Toronto, but neither have been found in Vancouver! Get on it! I'm pretty sure I know where location #2 in Vancouver is - see pics below. Race ya?!
Second, the Best Gift/Worst Gift photo contests. Have you had an awesome gift? What about a less than awesome (some might say, craptastic) gift? Here's your chance to share your joy or, uh, your un-joy. You can win a Fujifilm S2000HD (valued at $300) for submitting a photo and getting your friends to vote. There are winners each week. Weekly contests end on Saturdays. Get the deets at the links below.
Enter the Best Gift contest 
Enter the Worst Gift contest
Third, instant win! Yeah, I know. Sneaky, eh? Here's the secret link. Shhh. It's just between you and me. The link takes you to a page where you register for the F list. Copy the secret code on the page. You then paste it into a box on the reg page. It should tell you if you've won or not. The instant win is for a Fujifilm J100.
Finally .. and you've waited long enough ... you can win a Fujifilm S2000HD from me! All you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favourite Christmas carol. I'll give you one entry into my draw.
If you're really keen ... upload a video somewhere of you singing your favourite Christmas carol (just a line or two, not the whole thing; and if you're camera shy, hide behind a poinsettia). Work the word "Fujifilm" or "digital camera" in there too. Then come back here and post the link. I'll give you 10 entries into my random draw.
You have to leave a comment and/or a video link by NOON PST on Dec 23rd. I'll do a random draw sometime after that. I'll post the winner here by Christmas eve.
Winner Update: Well, exploiting your children (and a little extra effort) goes a long way. DaniGirl's name was pulled out of the jar last night. Congrats to her! And many thanks to all of you for playing and to Fujifilm Canada for the prize. I learned about a number of new holiday songs. I hope you did too. In fact, I even made a playlist (many thanks to @digitaljoy who told be about awesome Grooveshark!) It's below. It, amazingly, has every song that was mentioned. I am particularly delighted by the Italian Christmas Donkey song.
Disclaimers: Eligibility - if you read my blog, you're eligible. If you live outside of Canada and happen to win, we'll figure out how to get you the prize. By entering you agree to the following: My decision is final. If my childhood friend Binky happens to win the draw, you can't complain. You agree that neither I nor Fujifilm are responsible if your comment doesn't get posted or if your video disappears or for any other computer glitch associated with this contest. You also acknowledge that if you win, you will not receive the camera in time for the holidays so you won't plan on giving it to someone. Also, if you do win, you agree that I can post your name here. And finally, you agree that if you DON'T win and you decide to FREAK OUT about it, Santa WILL put you on the Naughty List. Permanently.
So, that's it! Try 'em all to win! But mainly mine b/c I think it will be AWESOME to see a bunch of videos from my friends singing their favourite Christmas carol!!
By the way, aside from all this camera-y goodness, there's actually a bunch of great content over on the F list site. They have a gift finder (and no, it doesn't recommend JUST Fujifilm cameras). They also have an F list expert blog where they share cool gift ideas and other gift-related tidbits. They profile some very cool stores in Toronto and Vancouver as well as the weekly best and worst gift winners. Plus, they are pretty witty over at the F list. I leave you with these gems from the post, The Costly Crime of Bad Gifting:
- 8 in 10 people receive gifts that they don't want
- 17% of those people return their gifts just because they don't like them
- the top 2 groups of bad gift givers are parents and spouses
- 38% of bad gift recipients hide their bad gifts
- 31% of surveyed people admitted to re-gifting
- 65% of gifts men give women are returned, never used, or stored in some obscure random location never to be seen again.
- 60% of re-gifters are women
- European research suggests that we give the worst presents to the people we love the most mistakenly believing our tastes are theirs.
Happy holidays, everyone!
Disclosure (for folks who think that product bloggers have hidden agendas): I am not being paid to post about this. I happen to know the folks who are working with Fujifilm on this promo and they said "Hey, want to give away a camera on your blog?" and I said "Yes. Yes I do!"
PayPal Canada Gets an Extra Security Boost
I first read about security tokens for PayPal about a year or so ago and I was quite excited. I really like PayPal, but have had at least one friend who had their account hacked. At the time, however, the security token wasn't available in Canada. :(
You can imagine my delight, then, when I got an email last week from PayPal Canada's PR firm letting me know that they were now available in Canada. W00t! They offered to send me a token to try.
Once I got the token and tried to set it up, I did have the tiniest little glitch. The action screen had 3 pictures on it. I chose the picture of the token I had. I then got caught in this infinite loop: "You don't have a key; order a Key. I don't want to order a key; I have a key. You don't have a key; order a key. I don't want to ORDER a key; I HAVE a key." (It was very Escheresque - PayPal usability people take note!).
But then I read the copy (no one reads when there are pictures) and figured it out.
The idea behind the tokens is that they provide an additional security challenge when logging into your account. In addition to needing your login and password, they generate a random 6-digit number that is also required for logging in.
In order to register your token, you just input the ID code on the back of the token along with two subsequent random keys it generates. That verifies the key and it's tied to your account.
Then, when you want to use your PayPal account, after you've input your login and password, you are prompted for the latest 6-digit number from your token.
Once you enter that correctly, you have access to your PayPal account as usual.
You can also get 6-digit codes sent to your mobile device via SMS if you don't want to mess with the token. You just register your phone number and the 6-digit code is sent there.
Finally, if register for either of these services, but happen to be caught without your token or phone, you can still use your account - PayPal just asks you an additional series of questions that (in theory) only you know the answers to to verify your identity.
More info about the security token and SMS codes can be found on PayPal Canada's security page. The tokens are only $5!
One question I did have is whether or not you can use the same token on multiple accounts. I have both a business and a personal PayPal account - it would be super handy if I could register the same token to both. They don't mention this is the FAQ; I've got a question into the PayPal folks.
Update: I got an answer back from the PayPal folks - you do have to have a separate token for each account. I'm going to try the SMS option with my business account and see how that works.
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