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Oh Jeez, Oh Well, Ah ah.

Amal Zulkifar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:24:36 +0000

Okay. Not going to complain. Uhhh. I'm going to have to wear kurung tonight. So sad. Tell me about it.

School was fun, it was as if it was our very last day and we ran around school taking photos everywhere. And then I jumped around like a monkey with a weird hair-do (Thanks Kira), and then I got my Accounts results. And words can't explain how horrible it is and it's a first too, so let's not talk about it. I was tired because of the whole jumping around and I had to give myself space for thinking and stoning so I stoned during Agama and slept off. Thank you Kira for blocking me from the teacher's sight. I really want to sleep the day away right now because I feel so stressed and lost but I'm graduating tonight.

Please don't mind me for a moment but,WHAT THE FNEFSDK? I just got hold of THE worse exam results in my entire life history and tonight's the night to celebrate? I feel like ditching it altogether. Jeez and life likes to go down altogether at once. Can't it atleast be better when it comes to other scenarios of life?

UHHH!

happy photos before Accounts results later, bye. And Happy Graduation to all -_-"

Ping!

tomensnaben — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:43:47 +0000

I think I have solved my blogging woes. I got an account at Ping.fm, which posts to multiple sites at once. I'll have to try it out: it doesn't seem to have tagging capabilities, so I guess I'll still have to go in and edit posts later), and it doesn't cover some of my sites (Gaia Online comes to mind), but it will make posting less daunting.
And, of course, my setting it up would not be complete without getting an account at nearly every one of the sites they support. I'll get those URL's to you later: I need to go to bed.

PBwiki is getting even easier to set up accounts for learners

davefoord — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:59:38 +0000

Of the different free wiki providers out there, pbwiki at the moment is still my favourite, as it is powerful yet easy to use and by choosing education when signing up, there are no 'dodgy' adverts appearing.

One problem that it used to have, was the way of giving people permission to edit - if you wanted the wiki to be private and only visible to a few people (e.g. your group of learners) then it was hard work putting in all the learners email addresses, or getting them to set up accounts, etc.

However - I am just setting a wiki up to use in a training session tomorrow and notice that they have streamlined the process, so that you can quickly create temporary user accounts for the wiki, and it will create passwords for you, and print it all out on a sheet, that I can then cut up ready to give to the learners. For someone like me running training sessions, where I often don't know in advance who will be attending this is brilliant.

Ladies of the World

nshridhar — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:05:14 +0000

I just want to give a shout-out to all the ladies in my life who have made it so much better, as of late. Also, having written that, I feel like this blog is gay - so very, very gay. It's not meant to be, I swear.

FemSexy #1
It seems appropriate to start out with all the wonderful people from my FemSex group who, as per the rules of the safe space we've created, cannot be mentioned by name, or with too many defining characteristics. This is the oldest one: on Monday, we were discussing our gender performances (to sum up: for some period of time, anytime between an hour to a day, we had to behave like someone of a different gender; I, for example, chose to be a straight female). One wonderfully open-minded person in my class started saying, towards the end of the discussion, "I mean, I went as a lesbian, and I was trying to, like, think about women in a sexual way, and I was only sort of successful, and so I think I'd like to continue this experiment for a longer period of time..."
At which time, I interrupted, eyebrow arched, "Oh?" She, knowing that I was the token queer of my FemSex group, turned bright red, and I had no idea why, until she continued, while looking at me, "I mean, sometimes, I just want to go up to someone I know is a lesbian, and be like, 'Would you mind if we hooked up, just to see if I'd like it?' I mean, would they be offended?"
Then, it was my turn to blush. The rest of the class seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this dialogue.

FemSexy #2
Wednesday's class was about menstruation, and so we decided to make it like a middle school sleepover. We were all told to wear red and brown, and some of us, myself included, wore our pajamas. Others brought blankets and pillows, and we spread them out of the floor and just lay around and talked about the first time we got our periods - and all sorts of other wonderful things. At one point, there was a conversation that went like this:
FemSexy #2: Yeah, so it was like my period was dormant for a really long time, you know...
Me: Like Vesuvius!
Class: *scattered snickers*
Sydney (one of two facilitators, so she's allowed to be mentioned): She pretty much just implied that you bled all over a small, unsuspecting Roman city - and then turned them to stone.
Class: *uproarious laughter, then quiet*
FemSexy #2: Nupur, I love you. I just want to tell you that. I'm so glad that you're in my life.
I didn't know how to respond. I don't think I've ever felt more appreciated than I do during FemSex.

FemSexy #3
So this one is kind of circuitous, but it pretty much involves me and Emma both really wanting to develop stronger bonds with mutual friends. Emma showed up to Immunology late yesterday with FemSexy #3, and she sat down and whispered, "I was just talking about you! ____ was like, 'I have a huge friend-crush on Nupur!'" To which I responded, a little too excitedly, "Seriously? I love ____! I think she's wonderful, but I can't just go up to her and tell her that!" Honestly, though, I found FemSexy #3 to be utterly fascinating since the first class, and I'm just so thrilled that she'd like to get to know me better, too. The funny thing is that I feel like Emma and I know two completely different sides of her, because I know some really intimate details about her life, but nothing impersonal, like how she behaves with other people when she's not in a safe space with a purpose - and Emma knows all about how she behaves elsewhen and elsewhere but less about topics that may come up during a FemSex discussion. I find this fascinating.

Maddi Filloux
I spent seven and a half hours in the Sci Li on Tuesday night, and Maddi Filloux was there for the more stressful second half, and I can't thank her enough for that. I lost it in a zero decibel section, much to the chagrin of the people around me, when she made me read an excerpt from her Evolutionary Biology reading: "...male tyrannosaurs may have used their diminutive front legs to titillate female partners, but this will not explain why they got so small."
After reading that, every once in a while, we'd lean over onto the other person and, placing our wrists on our chests, awkwardly scratch the other person with three extended fingers, and then fall over laughing, again. We also made a pizza run - apparently there was pizza in the ADPhi foyer - and then ate Ivy Room food while browsing the FailBlog. So many happy times.
Maddi's also an amazing artist, and a few days ago, when we were all working together - this may have been the day that she, Colette, Haley, and I stalked Lorraine Nicholson (yes, Jack's daughter) on Facebook, since she's a first year at Brown - I was going through her sketchbook, and I told her that she drew like an architect, and she looked at me kind of surprised and went, "That's good, because I want to be one."
I didn't know that! Mostly, I know that both of Maddi's parents are doctors, and that there's a lot of pressure and judgment coming from them for her to major in something "serious" - and it's just convenient for both of them that Maddie really likes biology and applied math.
She drew me last night, when she, Marina, Colette, Sam, and I were studying in the BMC, drinking delicious cups of espresso with Parmalat, and I have to say, she gave me some pretty nice guns.

Emma Anselin
Emma is a sweetheart. There's no getting around that. We've known each other for a long time, but I really think that we're only now getting to know one another. I think Immunology has fostered our closeness, because it gives us an excuse to talk and spend time with one another. Classes are, I think, one of my main ways of getting to know people better - because, well, it's hard to meet someone new in a lecture hall. Thursday, after Immunology, Emma and I headed over to Watson to study, got kicked out, and ended up setting up shop at Au Bon Pain. We worked for a couple hours, and I met her friend Josh who's from the Higher Keys, and eventually, towards the end of the afternoon, we started speaking very honestly about our families. We both have 15-year-old troublesome younger brothers - her's is converting to Islam, and her Episcopalian mother just doesn't understand what's going on. Her father moved here from Belgium, and apparently she, like me, has had a serious of very terrible things happen to her around Christmas time. We both resolved to have wonderful Christmases this year. I think we can do it. The Christmas conversation was brought about by us talking about how much we love Love Actually.
We went to the Creperie to get dinner, and felt pretty bad about eating food from another restaurant in ABP, but the crepes were delicious and we got over our guilt pretty quickly. Emma had to leave for a Project Health meeting, so I headed back to House, determined to do some more studying, but then got waylaid by first Maddie, then Justin, and then Leah - and then it was time for VP debate festivities.
Emma and I have made plans to go to the Episcopalian service tomorrow morning, at 10:00, in this gorgeous church that's right opposite the Ratty. All the talk about God and families, and our own general agnosticism, prompted us to, well, do something. I'm very much looking forward to it. Charlie's coming along and says that this church really goes all out with its services.

Colette DeJong
So I recently realized that I've been spending a lot of time with Colette, and that's been an absolutely wonderful thing. I think she's one of the most genuinely supportive people I know, and that's saying something. It's really something that when I tell her that I don't understand Orgo, she assures me that I'm underestimating my own abilities. She was absolutely hilarious that time we were all making fun of Lorraine N - seriously, if you saw these pictures, you would be, too - and Friday night, when all of us were in the BMC, it was really funny when she was like, "Hey, guys, can we make this an official power hour?" and in speaking, would end up distracting all of us to the point where it became the exact opposite of a power hour. So funny, so adorable.
I find it remarkable that Colette and I mostly hang out because of our mutual friends - or because of Orgo Lab. I don't think the two of us have had a significant one-on-one conversation in really long time. I don't quite know what to make of that. We exchanged letters a few times over the summer, and I felt really close to her at that time, but more often than not, it's that Colette and I occupy the same space, but need other people to bring our thoughts together. Colette is complicated. I'm not doing her justice, so I'm just going to stop writing about her.

Haley Jordahl
It blows my mind that as recently as a few weeks ago, I was writing about how much I love the completely random, infrequent interactions that Haley and I have, and yet, now, I see her all the time: in the Sci Li when we're studying together, in the mail room when we're deciding what to do on a Friday night, on Greens when we're rushing off to classes. She's just always so excited and always so friendly, and I've decided that I'm going to get to know her as soon as possible. Let's just see how much longer we can keep interacting without exchanging phone numbers: on the list of people whose contact information I do not have but feel close to, Haley is number one.

Annalisa Wilde
I couldn't get through Physics or Orgo without this girl. I don't understand how she's so willing to put up with me in all my moods, but more importantly, how she's always so encouraging and sympathetic. We study together in the Mezz sometimes, and she can always tell that I'm terribly broken up about something or the other, and she never presses the issue, but always tells me to cheer up. I don't know - I think I just don't understand people who are nice to me.

Carling Bateman
This one is the most obvious of them all and deserves as sincere a thank you as the Internet can deliver.

Heyy

clubpenguinback — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:56:07 +0000

if you need help with clubpenguin here is a few accounts

Loverasberry

password:

you need to e-mail me or add me on msn girlz_forlife@hotmail.com

Persist

monstermang — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:58:39 +0000

me: can we go pick up my bike now?

mum: awwww,

me: can we please go and pick up my bike now?

mum: but i havn't had a shower

me: can you have a shower?

mum: ok

me: can you have a shower now?

mum: okay, fine.

me: thankyou.

Happiness is getting what you want.

International Director - International Projects, ฃ100000 + ...

toniinternational — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:59:05 +0000

Private equity backed with international manufacturing base, 10%+ pa growth underpinned by increasing penetration in developing markets. Focus on prestige international projects & global clients demands recruiting a key accounts leader ...

http://www.exec-appointments.com

Firms discuss deadline to move investors’ accounts

Bao Viet Nam — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:13:36 +0000

HA NOI — October 1 is fast approaching as the deadline for securities firms to finish moving investors’ accounts to commercial banks, in a bid to ensure that traders’ money is safely managed.

The following sections are opinions of the State Securities Commission (SSC), the Viet Nam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) and relevant firms on the matter. The companies include SME Securities and Dong A Bank.

SME Securities

At present, we are finalising the trial of the move with some accounts. In the near future, we will be able to complete the move with all clients’ accounts.

The move will actually benefit investors the most as they will be offered many services to use accounts in the most effective way.

For commercial banks, they will double their number of customers, as well as earn a significant profit. When securities firms can focus solely on securities services, they will be able to better develop their services.

In the eyes of a concerned party, we realise that the move between a commercial bank and a securities firm parented by the bank will be much easier than between separate banks and securities firms, as the bank and its securities firm can use the same software system. The effectiveness of the move will be higher.

Meanwhile, for separate securities firms, the move will initially lead to clients spending more time on transactions, and in some emergencies, they won’t be able to do transactions at the last minute.

Dong A Bank

We are now connecting with 15 securities firms in this matter, including Empower Securities, Bao Viet Securities and HCM City Securities.

During the connection, we have experienced no substantial difficulties with securities firms. As well, we have set up an IT connection system allowing securities firms with different technical systems to connect to our bank.

The matter now is when the securities firms implement the move.

SSC

Securities firms do not have to receive directly the money from investors to pay for securities trading.

As well, investors’ accounts that firms opened or moved to commercial banks must be separate from the firms’ accounts for institutional trading. Investors’ accounts must be used only for securities trading payments, which is obviously stated in the contract between securities firms and their clients.

VAFI

Market regulators should be stricter in urging securities firms to implement the move of investors’ accounts to commercial banks.

As well, regulators should encourage investors to open accounts themselves in commercial banks for securities trading.

In cases where securities firms open accounts for their clients, it’s compulsory for the firms’ managers to commit their clients to ensure the accounts in commercial banks, avoiding misuse by junior staff. In case of any violation, violators must be punished with strict measures such as revoking professional certificates. —

Security Flaw In Yahoo Mail Exposes Plaintext Authentication Info

nolimit974 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:25:00 +0000

"Yahoo!'s acquisition of open source mail client Zimbra has apparently brought some baggage to the mail team. The new Yahoo! desktop program transmits the authentication information in plain text. The flaw was discovered during a Yahoo 'hacku' Day at the University of Waterloo (the only Canadian school part of the trip). Compared to the recent news about Gmail exposing the names associated with accounts, this seems downright scary. So, if you have friends or relatives who might have installed Yahoo! desktop and value their e-mail accounts, now would be a good time to get them to change the password and switch back to the web interface."

Managing Money, Managing Morale

TEAII — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:07:43 +0000

Can I just start by letting the cat out of the bag? I'm not the best manager of money. In fact when it comes to managing money, even the worst financial advisor would be tempted to approach me singing, "Anything you can do, I can do better...". I can figure out how to start-up a venture and reach the break-even point, but that's the end of my challenge. And many times, that's been the end of several ventures. Recently, I learned that most entrepreneurs, small business owners, husbands and wives reach a point where managing money becomes all about managing morale. I learned this lesson the hard way.

Last year in preparation for marriage, my wife Jamie (then my fiancée) and I started a joint account. She managed our personal finances while I managed the business' finances. After we got married, managing the accounts became too much for her and I took it over for a couple of months just to get us out of the red and back into the black. Looking back, those were the worst months of our life. My strength is start-up, so I was managing our money like it was for a start-up business venture. I believe the term is a shoestring budget. So I cut out all fun activities, trips and anything that didn't involve working and paying bills. My wife put up with my management style for a few months and then decided that enough is enough. So, she took the accounts back over.

One afternoon in early spring, I called my wife and threatened to quit my job. (And...uh...it's important to realize that I'm self-employed). I was so frustrated with the stagnation of business that I told her I was tired of owning my job and was going out to get a full-time, 9-5 job and never look back. She realized that I was not playing games. So, she told me not to do anything until she got home. I wasn't even allowed to return to my office. After work, she picked me up and took me out to have some fun. We went out to eat at a local Italian restaurant and then headed straight to the bowling alley. After that, I started to feel better. And then she admitted that she had to take me to one more place, but it was a surprise. Can you imagine how I felt 10 minutes later when we pulled up in the parking lot of Wal-Mart? But as we walked around the store, she began picking up the ingredients for my oatmeal raisin cookies. Once I figured out she was about to make the dessert that I had been craving for 2 months, my face lit up like the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. On that day, I realized that my wife knew something about managing money that I had to learn.

(continue reading...)

Managing money is really about managing morale. It's important to consider the overall well-being of all parties affected. We were working our plan to save money when I flipped out about the business. Immediately, Jamie picked up on the fact that she would get a greater return on our savings by investing in my happiness instead of letting the money sit in the bank collecting 2% interest. In times like these, investing in people makes more sense than any other investment option.

No matter how rigorous your savings or investment plan, it makes sense to treat yourself every once in a while. When you reach those times when spending makes more sense than saving, make the choice to enjoy your life. And try not to feel guilty for doing it. I'm not saying to dedicate your life to wanton spending, but to know how to spend.

From time to time, it helps to remind yourself that life is called life for a reason - it's designed for living. Treat yourself and your family to a fun night. Reward your team members for a job well done. Look for those moments in life when spending money makes more sense than saving it. Invest in yourself - invest in your people.

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Song: Anything You Can Do

"Break Even Point" courtesy of Investopedia.com

Jump (Go Ahead, Jump)

nshridhar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:56:54 +0000

For the first time in a long time, I feel on top of my game. I don't quite know why - or maybe I do. Regardless, it's 1:30 in the morning and I have Orgo at 9:00, and I'm still looking forward to tomorrow. I think this is what I'd like to feel for the rest of my semester.

I have just a few notes I'd like to jot down about what's been making me smile to myself all week, though I realize how short this week has been.

1. Rhubarb XXI
I am not at liberty to say more, but let's just say that I'm honored to have been made a member of this group I still don't understand.

2. Gate Dessert
Working at the Gate yesterday was far less tedious than my four-hour cashier shifts usually are. I think that's because I had an assignment I could focus on (reading My Cocaine Museum, which is far easier than trying to learn a new chapter of Immunology), because they were playing an amazing 80s mix (which carried over from the picnic on Sunday, and before that, Friday night, when, before Maddie, Duckles, Charlie, and I went to Loui's, the boys insisted that we watch terrible music videos), and Gate Dessert, which is perhaps my favorite part of working for Dining Services. Once in a while, usually a couple times a month, we bake a giant cookie and right as it's finished baking, when it's still gooey and hot, whip it out of the oven and turn over a pint of Ben and Jerry's on top. Spoons get handed out, and everyone working that shift gets to eat their fill. Delicious.

3. Let "Things" Be
One of the fantastic things about the MCM course I'm taking this semester is that, aside from the fantastic discussions we have, Professor Freedgood knows how to teach. She knows how to lead a class, a conversation. She knows when to guide and when to shut up, and the best example of this is the way she lets classes end: when we, as a group, have had an epiphany concerning a text or theory, one that seems to sum up or elucidate the discussion we've been having, she dismisses us. According to her, and I think this is very Lacanian, there's no point in making things longer or shorter than they have to be. When we've learned something, when we've gathered what we need to from the assignment to put it to use in our own thoughts and lives, there's no point in forcing the dialogue further - and I agree with her. She knows when her job is done, and that means that she's doing her job well.
I'm actually very much looking forward to the research paper we have due in three weeks' time. It's based off of Taussig's My Cocaine Museum (Taussig, by the way, is an anthropologist who teaches at Columbia), and the task we've been charged with is to pick a topic and create our own museum. Pretty much, we pick a subject (ex. cocaine) and look at the objects that are used to grow, produce, distribute, or use that subject (ex. spade, gold, pipe). We let the objects speak for themselves, with no introduction, no theme, no conclusion. Objects are what they are, and the only thing they have in common is the one topic that brings them all together. It's an entire paper meant to be a catalog - but one that will inevitably end up adopting a narrative despite the fact that nothing links these objects to one another. "Objects," by the way, is defined in the broadest sense: gold is an object, though it's both a commodity and a symbol; a quote from Walter Benjamin (and I only today learned that his last name is pronounced ben-YAH-meen) is also an object, since it takes up a definitive time and space, especially on a piece of paper. I'm very excited about this. Now all I need is a topic...

4. Study [Breaks]
I came back to Goddard after Thing Theory today and was all set to hole up on some Godforsaken floor in the Sci Li and power through Orgo questions - but then something wonderful happened. Ceci called to tell me that Amato's friend had called him and told him to come into PVD to play at a "gig at Brown," and that Amato figured out that the gig referred to Lush Life this Saturday. Amato is coming to ADPhi - and Evan might come down to visit, too! I'm so thrilled about this; Ceci's friends from the Cape are amazing.
When I told Ceci that I wanted to get a lot of work done tonight, she asked if she could accompany me, and we set out to the Sci Li before realizing that we might as well go to Watson since it's right across the street. We head to the library, and who do we bump into outside than Ms. Colette DeJong! Colette and I work on our Orgo pre-labs while Ceci sits far away and listens to music. We don't get to work for too long, though, because in half-an-hour it's dinner time, and Colette and I join Sam and Eva at the Ratty for a highly entertaining meal. Sam follows us back to Watson (on the way, we bump into: Catherine, Tim, Sara Sunshine + Sean, and Lindsay, all separately).
Colette, Sam, Ceci, stranger-in-library-with-crackers, and I all study silently for a long time until Ceci starts doing what she always does, which is push past my facade of general contentedness and make me face my denial and repression, and it gets to the point where we leave Watson to go to Jo's so that we can continue the conversation more privately. Ceci learns more about my endlessly complicated life, and I learn more about hers. We swing by House to pick up sweatshirts and my laptop (and talk to a naked Maddie through the door to her room).
We meet up with Colette, Sam, Hadley (Colette: Nupur, do you know Hadley? Me: Do I know Hadley!"), and Ted on the 11th floor of the Sci Li. Chaos ensues, though assuredly, we were the loudest when we started drawing a comic strip that Colette ought to have submitted for her reader's response: Adam Smith grabbing free market theory by the balls and throwing it into a trash can. We were laughing so hard that some girl walked over to tell us to please be quieter, and all of us felt guilty, but still couldn't stop laughing.
We all left sometime around 12:30, and I shivered outside the Sci Li so that Sarah and her SafeWalk sub, Isabelle, could walk me back to Goddard. Really, it was just an excuse to see Sarah, who I will hopefully hang out with Thursday night, if all goes according to plan.
Came back to House, hung out briefly with Duckles, Charlie, Justin, and Baird (who blew a mouthful of clove-smoke into my face and now I smell like smoke and don't quite like it) in the basement. I'm listening to Van Halen and Duran Duran, which I've been doing all night (and all week). Now, I'm going to do my nightly rounds and promptly fall asleep.

Happy happy, joy joy.

Learn Something - Our Money System

danaofthebells — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:03:44 +0000

Learn something about our financial system. Learn why we will never be free from debt as a society, and why our system is flawed beyond belief. None of this is news for me, but I figured it was worth a read, if you'll give it your time.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-9050474362583451279&hl=en&fs=true]

Return to Send Her

nshridhar — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:21:13 +0000

So one of my friends from high school, Gus, just recently wrote on my Facebook wall, telling me that I was being made into a holographic trading card, and I had no idea what that meant until my newsfeed informed me of this group. May I point out the following conversation:

Nick Marroletti: "character ideas: nupur shridhar, model un card, mr. devenney, any cool teacher, any member of the administration, and just tape pictures of them over pre-existing cards."
Terrance Liu: "yeah, nuper is a legendary card. Model UN is a nice idea. we should work on one"

Can I just add that I know Nick only because his older brother, Chris, was in Student Council with me? Chris, Nick, and the aforementioned Gus are in my brother's class, which means that they're four years younger and have never been in the same school with me since they were in the first grade. I don't quite know how to take all this.

In other news, yesterday was wonderful. I've really started spending a lot of time with Annalisa, who I got to know this summer through Danny. We're in both Orgo and Physics together, and that's just a great excuse to meet up and study inefficiently. I woke up to her phone call and stumbled to the Sci Li, where we snickered through most of our Physics problem set. I left at noon to hang out with Chelsea, who I really haven't seen as often as I ought to, considering that a) I've loved her since middle school, b) we were both in PVD this summer, and c) she goes to RISD now. She was a little late at showing up to Nice Slice, but she came with this hilarious story of a bank manager who took long to give her a new bank card accused her (with her mohawk, with her intended art school degree) of being "mainstream:"
Chelsea: I'm mainstream? I wanted to be like, "You work in a bank!" He was all like, well, "at least you're not straightedge" - and I was like, dude, I'm wearing a D.A.R.E. shirt. Oh and he was also like, "I used to wear a dog collar!" It was a little weird.

After lunch, it was time for Immunology, which I mostly spent first talking to Carling and then to Blitz, who didn't realize I was in class until there were only 15 minutes left. Emma is such a joy to sit next to, even if she loves leaning over to see what I'm up to on my computer, since its seldom Immunology. Actually, that may be why, because I love her random comments on my person life. When the professor starts explaining difficult concepts better than the book, he'll get my full attention.

Chantel, Annalisa, and I, after some confusion, met up at Blue State to finish going over our problem set, and so that Chantel and I could compare notes for our physics lab report. I am such a social studier. I think it's my favorite thing about classes in college: group learning with your friends. I meant to head back to House immediately after we were done working, but I ended up getting distracted by the Zetes and spent an hour lounging on the grass with Trevor, Catherine, Sara, and Lyndsey. I made plans with them to meet up that night.

I grabbed Justin and played his guitar terribly until Blitz got here, and I guested him into the Ratty. I then saw Can, this Turkish student who, along with her friend from China, Shana and I escorted to the Main Green from Patriot's Court during Orientation. She was sitting alone at another Ratty table, and I invited her to join us - which led to an absolutely hilarious conversation, mostly because Can was absolutely adorable and didn't know what fortune cookies were, or about Mormons, or about Scientologists. I mean, I completely understand that it's because of her culture - the fact that she grew up and lived in Turkey - but both Blitz and I were smitten when Justin, him, and I were reading our fortunes aloud, and Can looked at the fortune in her hand and didn't know what to do with it. She also quickly learned that I am a minority of almost every kind, or at least, all four general categories: race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. Good. I can be summed up so quickly, so well.

Can's friend Amber, who is British, also joined us at the table, and she was friendly, intended IR concentrator, but, unfortunately, someone who seemed a little too offended by the things Blitz, Justin, and I were saying about religion and American culture. I'd like to meet her again to let her know that we're not always terribly incendiary.

Can needed to get to Smitty-B, and she still doesn't know her way around campus, which was really funny because her fortune said something along the lines of: "There is travel in your future," and she looked up and went, "That just means I'll get lost again!" (because, you know, the first time we met, she and her friend were hopelessly confused and didn't know where any of the greens were). I needed to get to the mall, and Justin was being kind enough to drive (and he had to move his car, anyway), so we offered her a ride to Smitty-B and, that accomplished, went to the mall where I was informed that the book I so desperately need for my MCM course is unavailable there also. We read a book a week for this class, and I still haven't managed to procure it for Tuesday's seminar. Oh, shiz.

The best part about going to the mall was when we tried to pay for parking as we left. None of the three of us had any cash, and since I was the reason that Justin was forced to drive in the first place, I thought it would be my responsibility to pay. Unfortunately, the card machine rejected my car; it rejected Justin's card, and finally, it rejected Blitz's card, too. The three of us were standing around, wondering what to do, when this woman from the end of the line comes up and, thrusting a dollar bill into my hand, goes, her voice filled with desperation, "Please. Please. Take this dollar." So we did, and we paid for our parking, and stifled our laughter until we reached the parking lot.

We came back to House and I babysat Blitz for about an hour more before Marisa showed up to take him home. Ris and I briefly had a nerd-off: we both started shouting fun facts about the human body that we knew. Of course, she would have won, but the game ended far too quickly for either of our tastes. Blitz and Ris came to the unfortunate conclusion that their child would be a great deal like me, which prompted Shana to say, after she'd accepted their offer to babysit for their future child, "Hell, no, I don't want to babysit your kid. She'd be like Nupur!" Ris dragged Blitz home eventually, since she was hungry and he wanted to show me his baby pictures. Such is life.

I found myself in the interesting position of having absolutely nothing to do on a Thursday night, and I killed time with Justin, which mostly involved me making him listen to my favorite songs from Green Day's American Idiot, which he wasn't familiar with at all and which happens to be one of my favorite concept albums ever (Hot Fuss is up there on that list, too). We also listened to so much ABBA, which he was kind of ashamed of, but with a little prompting, Justin was eagerly signing along to "S.O.S." and "Take a Chance on Me" and "Lay All Your Love on Me." Ridiculous. Right before cocoa, he gave me a cupful of a fine stout that he has just purchased: Creme Brulee (Imperial Milk Stout). It was absolutely delicious. Apparently, stouts are really dark, really bitter brews that I normally wouldn't like, if this one hadn't been brewed with vanilla beans that made it have these really sweet undertones. I loved it.

After cocoa, which has turned into something official, as of late, I headed over to Zete with Ethan, and with Catherine's assistance, achieved a much desirable state. I went over to hang out with Sara, but I didn't see her that much at all last night, since I was running around Marcy and she stayed outside on the swing. I spent about two hours in Colette's room, having followed Catherine in without knowing that she lived there. She's a wonderful listener, and was very patient, and supplied me with all the water I needed. I met so many new people in Zete last night: Dave (a med student who's taking a year off before his last year of med school), Gan (this really funny guy from Hawaii who told me to buy mochi on the Main Green today, and I did!), Blaine (a rugger that Colette met when she tried out for the team), Blaine's girlfriend, Marie (who was visiting from West Point - yes, the Naval Academy), Jamelia (Colette's Zete roommate), and, here's the kicker, a Zete pledge named Bridget who knows Alexander because Alexander's brother's best friend's girlfriend is her friend. Wow. Look at that connection. The funny thing is that Bridget saw table slips for tea at ADPhi last year and thought that she'd love to hang out with a literary society (and also to tell Alexander that she knew him in this really complicated way), but she ended up getting lost and going to Zete and kept going back to Zete for a bit before she realized that it wasn't ADPhi, but by the time, she'd already fallen in love and pledged Zete! How crazy is that? I met someone yesterday who could have been living with me this year; I met someone yesterday who might have been leading my life (and I hers), had she pledged ADPhi and I turned in my bid card to Zete. It was really surreal, and was blowing my mind.

I came back to House, sung some more ABBA with Justin, and fell asleep, for the first time in a very long time, fell asleep undeniably happy. It was great. I woke up this morning ready to go to Orgo, despite the fact that I'd slept for so little. It was fantastic.

Top Five Personal Finance Software Programs

christineculley86 — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:54:40 +0000

Recently I required the use of personal finance software programs and discovered five of the top personal finance softwares available on the market now. Each of these softwares have been of great use to me and I am having a hard time deciding which one would be perfect for me.

Let me show you what these top five personal finance software programs are:

Quicken Deluxe 2007

New and improved for 2007—Quicken Deluxe by Intuit Inc. is a fantastic software product for all of your personal finance needs. If it has to do with money, people and how they interact, this software has it covered and makes it effortless. Quicken Deluxe 2007 can organize and help you plan every financial endeavor you are involved with, from planning your retirement to online banking and taxes.

AceMoney 3.9.1

AceMoney from MechCAD is one of the best, economically-priced personal finance products. AceMoney is a super-user-friendly product that offers some good features for the price. We especially liked an account overview feature that allows you to see all of your money at once—your accounts, your investments, even what you owe on credit cards.

Microsoft Money Deluxe 2007

The Microsoft legacy continues in the realm of personal finance with Microsoft Money Deluxe. This program covers all of the bases of personal finance—banking, investing, financial planning and taxes. Microsoft Money fulfills the needs of the seasoned investor and the homemaker.

Moneydance 1.4

Moneydance from Reilly Technologies, LLC merits a spot on our top-ten list with some fairly good banking and reporting sections. The price is right at $29.99 but the program lacks some basic features in the areas of personal investing, financial planning and taxes.

RichOrPoor

RichOrPoor by ShortcutSoft Inc. ranks among the best personal finance software on the market. This software covers a broad spectrum of personal finance and includes almost every module to regulate your money, except taxes. The software includes investments, accounts, bills, transactions and reports.

All of these softwares have their benefits and downfalls, but they really do meet up to their name of the top five personal finance software programs that are available on the market today.

She 8 a B

tangodream — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:08:57 +0000

: Reno, Nevada September 2008

Interesting things, computers. And the technology that goes with them. Especially the Internet. Today, my plan was to work on this blog. Fully intending to get it all set up and running--find my "theme" and set the tone. Plans sometimes fall apart. Tomorrow my antivirus and Internet protection expires. Since I do all of my work over the 'net, I figured it was a good idea to get that taken care of. And since I had already received the CD upgrade I'd purchased, why put it off? Except things don't always go that smoothly, do they? Ever had one of 'those' days? Yep, that's what today has been. Starting at about nine this morning, I have been fighting to get the upgrade installed. Even had to go online with a live tech support chat person because the product key for the upgrade refused to activate. First I triple checked that I had entered it all correctly. And WHO comes up with those infernally long product codes, anyway??? Then, I went to the 'help/support' on-line and walked through all that mess. Help/Support is not always a walk in the park, you know...? That didn't fix the glitch. Next I found the live support option. Yep, got that all set up--I was number 60 in the line. Okay, that's fine. I have a great book to read while I wait: David Busch's NIKON D60 Guide to Digital SLR Photography. Have you ever noticed how the manuals that come with all things digital have you flipping back and forth through endless pages of information that, in the end, leave you scratching your head? You know what I'm talking about... Anyway, the whole ordeal with the live chat person took about an hour or so and did not resolve the issue.

Here's the deal: they have this remote connection option wherein the tech guru can invade your computer and run it from afar. Wow! Yeah, that gave me a bit of the creeps, thinking about some complete stranger invading my hard drive. But, hey, it's a reputable company. So, okay. I agree to that option. Trouble is, the tech person could not get anything to link/sync or whatever it is they do. Instead, he/she had to walk me through a step-by-step on how to "fix" the glitch. Can't tell if the techie was a male or female--which is not a problem. Just makes it a bit more difficult to describe when I have to resort to the old 'he/she' manner of describing the interaction. Towards the end, my computer was telling me it would have to "restart" in order to blah blah blah....which meant the end of the techie live chat. But, hey! I was now armed with step by step (mostly) instructions and removing the previous install of said product would (supposedly) fix the glitch and solve the issue. Easy as pie. Uh, huh.

Fast forward to the next glitch in the system: it wiped ALL of my log-in data. Wiped out as in clean gone and not a trace. Which I was assured it would NOT do. But it did. Don't you just hate when an assurance turns out to be, well, lame? Now, if you're like me, you have way more places to log into than you can 1) shake a stick at; 2) remember; and 3) even need. I've been logging in to my various accounts through that lovely "safe" log-in option for a long time now. So the list is pretty well endless. At least, for my mind. Why remember all the places and passwords I need to get into when I have a trusty computer protection program that will do all that hard work for me? Hmmm? Why cram any more data bytes into my already crammed cranium than I have to? After all, I need that space in my softdrive (brain) to store more important things--like when is the next rerun of that last episode of Eureka that I missed; where can I get the best deal on the next external hard drive; when CAN I get the firmware in my softdrive upgraded? do they even upgrade softdrives? Like that. Bad move.

It has taken me almost two hours to get all that lost information replaced. The easy thing would have been to simply remember the passwords to begin with--and not have so many of them. I have now learned that it takes FOREVER to log into all those accounts and reset all those passwords and get on with my life. Not in the least bit helped by the fact that I could not remember half the passwords to half the places that require a password to begin with. No, I do not keep one password for all logins. And, obviously, I don't keep very good track of the one password that allows me access to my list of passwords for all my logins. Yeah, I change passwords on a schedule--like I was taught to do when I was working towards my computer degree. See what I get for paying attention in school?

So, here I am. I have tweaked everything back into shape and gotten where I need to go. If I've forgotten anything from my list of places that need logins--rather, if they weren't on the list to begin with because I forgot to update it--then I probably don't need 'em, I hope! I won't even talk about where the list was. That's a whole other issue that has to do with not being the most organized crayon in the box. Or something like that.

And the punch line of this tale of woe and tribulation? Once I got to that infernal product key place again and gritted my teeth and tossed up prayers to the computer geeks who have made their way to the Great Internet Highway in the Sky--I found that my very careful transcription of that ridiculously long string of numbers (don't forget the dashes) had one little problem: their 8 looks incredibly like a B. Until you put on a pair of strong magnification lenses. Duh. And puh-leeze don't ever tell me you haven't made such a silly mistake as this in your life. Please! I'd hate to be the only dope on the planet. Yes, I very definitely would rank this little issue right up there with "Is your computer plugged in, sir?" But I was so careful in rechecking those numbers. You think we could convince them to make the print just a touch bigger next time???