The Browser Theme for Surviving Valentine’s Day by Kevin Dwinnell

Valentine’s is another holiday just waiting for things to go wrong.  There’s a lot of hype and expectation, maybe even more than the holiday season we just went through.  You see Thanksgiving and Christmas are big family days, so there’s friendly fire and collateral damage all around you.  You’re not likely to take a direct hit from misery.

Now Valentine’s Day, on the other hand, is just you and your loved one, and you’re walking through a relationship mine field.  Don’t worry.  We’re here to make sure luck is on your side.

Not only does Brand Thunder offer a great Valentine’s Day browser theme – but our latest contest is now running until February 13.  You’ll have a chance to win a gift card from Amazon.com, which will help you add a little bonus to this day of romance.  Just get the browser theme, click the Contest button then enter your name and an email address.  It’s that easy.

Even if you don’t win the contest, we’ve got you covered.  You’ll have everything you need to make it a very special day regardless of your budget.  Click “Dine In” to help plan that special meal which is sure to please, or if you prefer to tax your wallet and not your kitchen click “Dine Out” for recommendations straight from Zagat.

Polish your plans with creative ideas for activities and more, as well as the perfect gift.  You can see that the Valentine’s Day browser theme is going to make this day a winner, whether you take home the contest prize or not.  What better way to make sure you’re getting lucky?

Posted in Commentary | Tags: brand thunder, browser theme, Christmas, Entertaining, Gift card, Holidays, valentines day | No Comments »

Keep Your Browser Safe with a Password Manager by Kevin Dwinnell

One of the things I got to do over the holidays was dial up the strength of my passwords across the web.  This was a gift that resulted from the Gawker hack.

I’d been casually improving the strength of the passwords I used, but using very little variety among the passwords.  I was an easy target.  So, when the Gawker notes went out, followed by Amazon’s note and so on.  So, I decided to take my security more seriously.  I explored creating a system that allowed for unique passwords, but was memorable enough that I could still keep them in my head.  But, all the typing quickly got old.

Then a note from a team member who linked to this post “Jesus Christ, Use a Password Manager Already” and it got me looking into password managers.

As a quick overview, there are three basic categories:

• Desktop – stores your passwords on your computers hard drive.
• Portable – For your mobile device whether it’s your smart phone or thumb drive.
• Web based – Online password manager.

What you quickly discover is that each method has its own strengths (platforms or uses where it excels) and weaknesses (where it’s vulnerable). Each also creates additional overhead in terms of what you need to do to access secure sites (cut and paste, authenticate manually).  Don’t get overwhelmed and do nothing.  Choose a path that fits best with your computing habits.  You’re online security will be better for it.

I’m giving KeePassX a try.  It’s a free open source password manager. It keeps my passwords in an encrypted database with either a master password, a key file or both. You only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish) which is great.  And it’s available across platforms, so whether you’re on Windows, Mac or Linux, you’re covered.

If you don’t want to get a feel for what others are using, check out Lifehacker’s Five Best Password Managers from their Hive Five efforts.

Good luck and safe browsing.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: browser, linux, mac, password, password manager, security, Windows | No Comments »

Secure Your Browser Wi-Fi Connection with This Extension by Kevin Dwinnell

Here’s a quick and easy add-on to your Firefox browser that’ll make all your coffee breaks a little more secure.  Get the HTTPS Everywhere extension.

If you were attuned to the buzz back in October, you heard a lot about Firesheep and how it made painfully clear how the practices of many popular websites puts user information at risk by not encrypting user information.  CNN did a story on how Firesheep may endanger your computer when using wi-fi.  It discusses the risk, and offers a few suggestions like logging out of your accounts when done to reduce your risk of being automatically logged in when you launch your browser on a Wi-Fi network.

HTTPS Everywhere, a Firefox extension produced as a collaboration between The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, can help in some cases. It encrypts your communications with a number of major websites and its latest version is designed to offer improved protection against Firesheep.

It provides much better protection for Facebook, Twitter and Hotmail accounts, as well as completely new protection for bit.ly, Dropbox, Amazon AWS, Evernote, Cisco and Github. The extension makes your web browser demand an HTTPS connection if it’s available.  (NOTE: the phrase “if it’s available.”)  HTTPS Everywhere only works if a site implements HTTPS; many of the most popular sites still haven’t deployed HTTPS properly, if at all.  And for maximum Firesheep protection, especially on Facebook, you must take two extra steps: you’ll find all the details on the HTTPS Everywhere site.

This is an easy but important step for you to take until major websites implement HTTPS properly and completely.

Posted in Commentary | Tags: browser, EFF, firefox, Firesheep, HTTPS, security, wi-fi | No Comments »

Brand Thunder’s Hiring – Join Us and Make It a Great Year by Brand Thunder

2011 is looking like an amazing year.  We’re coming off a record run last year and heading strong into this one.  But we need help.  We have immediate need for three people: Client Success Manager, Web Developer/Designer and Web Analytics Programmer/Analyst (full job descriptions are below).  People in the central Ohio region will have an advantage, but we have a very dispersed team – so if you’re the right fit, there’s no geographic barrier. These are new roles so you’ll help define the position.

And if you don’t fit the immediate needs, but want to have real impact on building a company, we’d love to hear from you.  Please, drop us a line on the Brand Thunder Contact Us page.

Web Designer/Builder

If you were here last week, you would have:

• Provided creative vision and execution for online advertising campaign for a leader in college sports media
• Developed look and feel for the browser theme and supporting media for a legend in music
• Led the redesign and building of pages welcoming users to their new browser theme

Skill set required:

• Proficiency in Photoshop, Fireworks or similar.
• Solid understanding of HTML & CSS following web standards is required.
• Strong design sense (accessibility, usability, and consistency).
• Experience with WordPress, PHP, Javascript, AJAX, DHTML, PERL, CGI, Flash and Google Analytics Individual Qualification is preferred.
• Experience with solving cross-browser design issues.
• Portfolio of web design work (and anything else) available for review.

Web Programmer Analyst:

If you were here last week, you would have:

• Designed and implemented an A/B strategy to test conversion rates on a new user welcome page
• Prepared to build the next generation of data collection and reporting systems for our products
• Been an essential part in the creation of a destination site for browser theme downloads

Skill set required:

• Experience with high traffic web applications.
  • Designing, building, deploying, and maintaining.
• Understanding of relational databases and complex data sets.
  • Query optimization.
  • Data analysis and report generation.
• Proficiency in API development.
• Highly collaborative with strong verbal and written communication skills.

Skill set desired

• NoSQL.
• Linux shell scripting.
• Data collection methods and techniques.
• Using analytics to establish business strategies.
• Experience with business analytics.
  • Behavioral patterns
  • Trends
  • Conversion rate optimization

Client Success Manager

If you were here last week, you would have:

• Project kick-off call with a large web-based newspaper
• A promotional brainstorming session with an NBA team,
• Entering project details into our web-based tracking system
• Using Facebook and Twitter to promote one of the largest names in music
• Ensuring projects are moving along within our team
• Working with our team to help drive efforts for sales, social media and product distribution strategies

Skill set required:

• Develop, maintain, and extend client relationships. Work with each client to establish target goals and objectives.
• Implement and drive strategies to grow revenue from clients.
• Analyze client performance and provide reports.
• Use the Internet to research competition, competitive issues, products, and industry trends.
• Execute Internet marketing campaigns for each client, including conversion and ROI optimization.
• Experience with digital marketing and branding as well as social marketing tools such as Facebook and Twitter
• Ability to analyze data and recognize trends to build success stories
• Outstanding presentation, verbal and written communication skills
• Previous sales experience with large brands is a plus
• Manage numerous clients through daily email/IM/phone interactions.

We are a fast-moving start-up here in Columbus.  We work very hard but have a ton of fun and get to work with a lot of very cool brands all around the globe.  If you have the skills and desire to build something great, we want to hear from you.

Please, drop us a line on the Brand Thunder Contact Us page.

Posted in News | Tags: analyst, careers, job description, jobs, open positions, programmer, web dev | No Comments »