Life, Oh Life Category
Personal posts that are usually lament some aspect of life and those around me.
Oct 23 | A Post about the International Post
Did you know: that if you are a political prisoner, you are exempt from all postal charges and packages up to 5kg, except airmail surcharges? (Article 7.2.1) that similarly, literature for the blind is free of postal charges except airmail fees? (Article 7.2.1) that if you underpaid a First-Class international mail or postcard to Canada […]
Oct 20 | The Freebie Mentality
Marketing and publicity becomes so much more powerful when there’s a freebie involved, a fairly obvious observation. The more interesting aspect of it was recently highlighted by a TED talk by Rory Sutherland, in which he talked about the breakfast cereal brand Shreddies. In January of last year, they “rebranded” their cereal with a semi-spoof […]
Oct 12 | Bye Bye Geocities
At the risk of dating myself I will have to admit that the very first websites I made were on Geocities. Come to think of it, this was pre-“Million Dollar website”, pre-Google and Gmail (at least in the way we see it now), but I remember distinctly the excitement of not knowing what I was […]
Sep 14 | It’s not (only) the insurance, dummy!
It has been increasingly clear that the debate over healthcare and insurance is sorely misguided. Allow me to explain… The general idea of the current healthcare overhaul is to address the high premiums of current healthcare insurers, with provisions to fix such ludicrousness as pre-existing conditions that allow them to prevent providing new or alternative […]
Aug 24 | Quick puzzle for the evening
A jar contains 4 marbles: 2 red and 2 white. 2 marbles are chosen at random. Which is greater: 1) the probability that the marbles chosen are the same color or 2) the probability that the marbles chosen are different in color?
Aug 19 | Forex is not for me
The lure of easy and quick money proved too much and I tried my hand at the foreign exchange markets, having done reasonably well in practice accounts a few days prior. I wince a bit in writing this but in short I will likely keep my money invested in more secure and reliable sources, albeit […]
Aug 1 | Driver’s license? Check!
I think being able to drive is almost a quintessentially American rite of passage from teendom to adulthood. Even before having a serious boy- or girlfriend, even before seriously considering investing in one’s college education, even before setting in stone one’s career choices, everyone has a license, and not having one is peculiar. The question […]
Jul 25 | Don’t believe your eyes
You probably won’t believe me when I say that the two bands of green and blue are actually the same color. It’s a bit easier to see when you isolate the bands: The actual color has hexadecimal value 00ff99, which is lime green. The orange and pink swirls interspersing each area tricks our eyes to […]
Jul 6 | I’m listed on Amazon!
This book is a visual narrative and history of the Swarthmore Fire and Protective Association, the volunteer fire company I was a member of for four years. It’s small, but it’s rich with first-hand documents dating back to the 19th century. The book was published as a commemoration for the company’s 100th year of existence.
Jun 17 | Home Sweet American Culture
As I have had the opportunity of house hunting in the past few weeks in a few areas of Massachussetts, it gave me a few things to consider. Some homes are just too darned big, in my opinion, but clearly aren’t big enough for some. The American Dream, if there’s any remain of it in […]