So work has sent me to a conference. I noticed that as the conference goes on the dress code becomes much more casual. More people wearing flats (women) and tennis shoes (men and women).
Author: Felix
3-19 Coffee
I’m only a month behind now with Angels Cup. Last month’s offering comes from 319 Coffee and it’s from Honduras. I’m excited to try coffee beans that originates from somewhere outside of Ethiopia.
From what I can learn from the Interwebz, the beans are from a farmer named Santiago who grew them on a small farm somewhere in Honduras. Even after 2 months, there’s a nice berry and floral aroma when I open the bag.
After making my latte, I’m amazed with the sweet, caramel and chocolaty taste. Every latte I’ve made so far, I’ve quickly drunk it down after that first sip.
Knock Down the House
Before Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, there was a group of activists called Justice Democrats who were looking for promising candidates that could primary Democratic incumbents in Congress. They are looking for change.
The film crew recorded many of the scenes prior to the 2018 elections including interviews with the candidates and their opinions. By showcasing the candidates, Netflix’s Knock Down the House is one of the most interesting behind the scenes political documentary. I think the best quote from the documentary was “after 2016, nothing is for certain.”
This documentary really shines a light on the Ocasio-Cortez as a “rising star” and her opinions and activities going into the primary. It’s fascinating.
Yubikey-2FA
So I’ve been thinking about jumping into a non-SMS based 2-Factor Authentication route for a long time. Similarly, I’ve thought a password manager might be useful as well. So when I saw a 1Password deal of 6 months free service and a $10 discount off a 2-pack of YubiKey5 from 1Password, the combined deal gave me a little more reason to make an impulse decision to jump into both systems immediately.
So spending maybe 3 hours already on setup… I’m a little disappointed at 1Password.
- I had originally thought the interface would be a little easier. But I struggled somewhat trying to figure out how to get the Firefox and Chrome extensions to “autofill” the site information. But as I figured out how that interface worked, I started to realize that I DIDN’T REALLY LIKE having 1Password fill out my info. Call me old school, but typing in my user login and password felt like I was in control and would minimize the possibility of me forgetting my actual password. Plus I currently have my own system for managing passwords.
- I set up the new YubiKey as part of the 2FA login process for 1Password online. But do you know what’s a little odd? 2FA doesn’t kick in when I’m logging into the Windows App, the Firefox extension and the Chrome extension either. What’s the point of having a YubiKey if there’s no authentication when using 1Password on Windows, Firefox or Chrome? That’s just weird.
Finally, I’m a little disappointed that financial institutions don’t support YubiKey. They do have have their own 2FA method. But enabling there own 2FA method complicates the use of financial software like Quicken or Mint. I’m for safety, privacy, and security. But when you check Quicken as often as I do (every day), having to deal with all the different 2FA through Quicken is annoying.
Raptors win!
I only really care about NBA Finals because of one person: Jeremy Lin. Sure he might not have played in the NBA finals… but his team is playing in the finals. Sure he might be a journeyman player who’s played for 8 teams over 9 seasons… but his current team is playing in the finals. And most importantly, his team… the Toronto Raptors… just won the NBA finals.
And Jeremy Lin now has an NBA ring. How many Asian American’s can say that?
Sunergos Coffee
I’m slowly catching up. We’re finally in April’s Angels Cup offering. These Sunergos Coffee beans are from a small African nation called Burundi. Specifically, the beans are from Kabingo/Kibingo washing station in a northern province called Kayanza.
I would like to think that the beans haven’t changed too much while unopened in the original package. I will admit that newly roasted beans have a better aroma. When I opened this 3 months after receiving, I get a huge whiff of the floral hints, a subdued nutty flavor and something else I couldn’t quite pinpoint. Brewing my latte, I realized what it was I couldn’t pinpoint. It was this strong yogurt flavor similar to the Geisha beans from the Angels Cup Christmas Black Box. Although the flavor wasn’t as strong as the Geisha, it’s pretty noticeable. After a few sips though, the yogurt flavor melds into this soft nutty flavor.
Traveling Cheap…
There are a lot of travel deals that allow someone to travel relatively cheap. These deals come usually in the form of discounts which require you to pre-pay. I’ve noticed that you can get up to 20% off of the current rate. The discounts are even better than the loyalty member rates sometimes. But remember you have to pre-pay.
At this point, you’re probably wondering: “Why not? A cheap deal is a good deal. Money saved is money earned.” And normally I wouldn’t really disagree with you. But lately, I’ve been finding that booking these discount rates are getting to be a hassle. All the fine print with their limitations and exclusions just doesn’t seem to justify the price anymore. Who actually reads the fine print? I’ve been burned a few times because of the fine print. Fortunately, it hasn’t been huge monetary loss after calling and complaining.
I’m also starting to get annoyed at the pre-payment requirement. I understand why companies would want to get paid since getting paid first is always better. Who wants to pay first in full before getting any benefit from the actual trip? I certainly don’t.
