keithtom.com

a while ago I mentioned I am trying out kiva, and i thought i’d give a bit of an update + some pics so you can check it out. I put in 100$ and so far have gotten 36$ back, which I re-lent out. here is my portfolio of 5 loans of 25$:

unfortunately, all of them are behind schedule with my money! i don’t wanna get all stewie on them, but a deal’s a deal ;) i seem to be doing under average for repayments but these guys are still trying to repay, even if its late. truthfully, i’m not really expecting to be paid back.

I’m approaching it more just out of curiousity, but I gotta say, it’d be a lot more fun if you had to manage the portfolio to get some kinda return. at least then you can turn it into a game, and have more fun with it. as it is right now, I don’t receive any interest and actually donate to Kiva almost every loan – so this is just leaking money, but in a good place.

I blogged about how email is becoming a standard for identity on the web and I think i’ve seen more trends that agree. in short, when you want a password reset for another account, they use your email. anyway, here are two quick security tips for gmail users:

1) if you click the settings link on the top right, then scroll to the bottom, you’ll see this:

Https roughly means use a secure, encrypted connection. so it’s always good to use it.

2) this one requires a little more manual involvement. at the bottom of your inbox page, you’ll see this:

If you click on the details link, you can see a popup with a table of all the account activity by time and IP address (which for simplicity, is just a number that identifies a computer). At the bottom of the pop, it’ll tell you the IP address of the computer you are using. So if there are other IP address on this table, you might want to click on “sign out all other sessions”, and then change your password, if you think someone has access to your account.

I have two IP addresses in my table, but i just verified the other is my itouch. this is also useful if you aren’t sure if you left yourself logged in on someone elses computer.

does this look broken to you?

just incase this picture doesn’t capture the exposed metal wire and broken covering, that’s what happened.

so naturally, still being under warranty and having paid 300$ for my extended coverage, I goto the local apple store and show them the wire. get this – I have to book an appointment… with an Apple Genius.

When you have questions or need hands-on technical support for your Mac, iPod, Apple TV, or iPhone, you can get friendly, expert advice at the Genius Bar in any Apple Retail Store.

Thanks, Apple. Expert advice? Really? I need to waste more time so I can talk to your geniuses, so they can explain to me that my broken power cord is broken.

I tried to take the issue up with the customer service agent who wanted me to book the appointment.

“Oh are they going to fix the cable?”
“Oh no, they can’t fix that. They’ll look at it and check if the part is under warranty. Then they’ll just give you a new one.”
(stupified face)

This was a nice Stanford podcast that I recently listened to. It is a bit long, but there a several good points throughout.

Young at Heart: How to Be an Innovator for Life.

Also, I wanted to play with this new yahoo music player! ;)

It’s dead simple to put on your blog,

1. link to an mp3
2. put 1 line of html on your page (see link above).

stuff and montreal

wow, it has been a while since i’ve updated. and even longer since I put a real meaty post up. I guess i got really caught up in the day to day. and the few big things i can’t really post about.

sigh. it feels like i’ve just finished mentally sprinting for the past couple weeks – lots of thoughts running through my mind but having to just focus on the immediate tasks at hand to get through – but i think i’m through it now.

actually, in thinking about recapping, i realize i still can’t really talk about anything. no wonder i’m not updating anything. well I can say this much i’m planning on coming back to montreal on the dec 19th and probably staying for 4 weeks. can’t wait to be back. i think i’ve been waiting since I left chase to come back and have a really long stay… that was 2 months ago.

sitting on the fence

i’m really not sure what my long term plans are yet – i think i’ve hit a big fork in the road with too many choices. i don’t think i’ll be anywhere permanently, montreal, columbus or elsewhere. i do know i will try hard not to jump into any situations right now. i’m in this position where i can’t commit to anything; in fact i’m in the exact position, i want stop for a bit and really carefully think about my next moves. sometimes its good to just sit on the fence… you can see farther from there.

i’ll try not to stop for too long. i’m aware that indecision is something i already tend to have too much of. i think i’ll timebox myself; give myself 3 months to stay here. that sounds like a good start. i gotta make a few lists of what i want to do in the next year and 4 years (will try to put those up). and most importantly, i think i need to experiment with more stuff. i’ve done all the thinking i can do. i want to spend a couple months in san francisco, i want to go all over europe, i want to find something that really motivates me. i’ve been really lucky in too many ways to be in this position and i feel like i’d be wasting it if i dont fully take advantage of it. So,

1. 3 months
2. make list of todos
3. do.

seems simple enough. thoughts?

• Free Standard classes from their Engineering School
• Amazon Window Shop

There are a bunch more that I just get added to my ‘Recent Bookmarks’ list on the right. Also, I created a iTunes podcast with some of the more interesting podcasts I find. Just click here.

Family and friends aside, of course.

• drop in on some physics classes again
  • assemble a solar panel kit
• walk the streets of some city in the UK that I don’t currently know of
  • preferably on a tight budget to keep it fun
• volunteer some time to tutor math to some high school students
• stop. read. and think for a couple weeks.

I just felt like dumping this list here. Let’s see if I can do it by end of 2009.