Month: March 2014
-
Shared today on Twitter
#ggdsyd with lots of inspiring women! (at @NICTA Building w/ @misswired) http://t.co/elb9uJpCNi
RT @chrispytweets: Token bloke at #ggdsyd. So. Many. Geek girls. // That’s a good thing, right?
Listening to @Foxtel CIO Robyn at #ggdsyd. She’s always amazing!
Talk of satellites and uplinks and orbital engineering at #ggdsyd. GEEK HEAVEN.
A bit of Cult of Nell forming at #ggdsyd. Sign me up.
@rkrandall @chrispytweets Not really. We just happen to be at the same event!
This is the first #ggdsyd I’ve ever attended with actual talk of ion drives and satellite launches.
@drkknits Seat guru. Google it. 🙂
@Helen__H @theladida And where are you, Helen?
Fantastic HTML5 video demos from @silviapfeiffer at #ggdsyd!
Feckin’ hell. Speaker asked for extroverts to yell out. I was the only one. #ggdsyd
@gilmae @mrembach Well, they’ve been serving us alcohol for two hours. I figured somebody else would’ve hit the free bar as hard.
Avoid the eye scoop by using peripheral vision. Useful (and funny) tip. #ggdsyd
The Mi9 contingent at #ggdsyd. http://t.co/TvukfRGZw4
Embrace your femininity and remember, women must support other women. #ggdsyd http://t.co/XSlOgIapdX
RT @GGDSydney: Truly blown away by the speakers tonight. Brilliant!! #ggdsyd =)
Lesson I took from #ggdsyd tonight: I’ve been focusing too much on Work and not enough on Health, Family, and Friends. Unsustainable.
@mattallen Yes. The wall has been feeling very close to my nose these last few days!
Another decision: time to stop being Sansa and embrace my inner Olenna. 😉
@randomknits Extended discussion with colleagues today comparing office to Game of Thrones. Time to stop being a pushover!
RT @CatRapture: Open Source 101 with @jroper and @WWCSyd – I personally can’t wait for this event. http://t.co/T6htrLdHtS
@randomknits DONNA. Get on that!
@tammybutow Try @mrs_sockvictim. She’s in Melbs these days I think!
@jannism Wow! Well done you!
-
Photo post
The Mi9 contingent at #ggdsyd. -
Shared today on Twitter
@GGDSydney Haha, they just contacted me to do a quick knitting-related talk!
Today I learned the phrase: “10 foot experience.”
Using “pins” instead of “bookmarks” is definitely a Thing. I don’t like it. I wonder if it’s because people don’t read books anymore.
@gilmae I’m at xbox thing but I think Pinboard is the cause of the pin-ification of everything.
@gilmae Oh right. Me too. That thing.
Well! It appears @drkknits isn’t the only one who can cook a pork. #patsselfonback http://t.co/ld5JPZbRft
@eobeara @instagram Yes! I had to delete it entirely and reinstall.
Me: “I have meetings ALL DAY tomorrow. I don’t even get a lunch break!” Snook: “We’re going on a BOAT CRUISE tomorrow!” #effinggoogle
@richardmclaren *facepalm*
@richardmclaren I’m pretty sure you can get it as a sushi roll. 🙂
-
Photo post
Well! It appears @drkknits isn’t the only one who can cook a pork. #patsselfonback
-
Shared today on Twitter
Third week of new job. I don’t think I’m managing stress well. I suspect I’m coming down with something too. 🙁
@pixel8ted Still at Mi9. Just had a big promotion.
@ericscheid @pixel8ted Pretty much!
@thisismywww Nah, same seat.
-
Shared today on Twitter
Me: Who is this hot medical dude that Ripley’s shagging? He’s so familiar. Rodd: Someone in a position of authority… OMG. TYWIN LANNISTER!
RT @Jon_Favreau: I’m sad to report a slipped image from toy merchandising spoiled my secret involvement in the Star Wars films. http://t.co…
First Oscars “night” (ie Monday day) that I haven’t been updating winners and counting dead people for my contest. Slightly bummed.
-
Shared today on Twitter
@drkknits @RoseRed_Shoes When I do shoulder, I put while thing in, skin and all. Pretty easy to pull out after. It’ll come right off!
Stress, deadlines, peer pressure, headache, diet, plane tickets, BLEURGH. I’m going to go get a massage.
Hoping to get rid of a 3 day headache… (@ Massage Link Health Centre) http://t.co/zjNfU5xzfz
@gilmae Only during perfect storm of stress, sinus/allergy issues, PMS, and wisdom tooth pain. 🙁
@gilmae Ooh. Did you have that?!
RT @neiltyson: A @BarackObama sandwich-selfie at the @WhiteHouse, earlier today with Bill Nye @TheScienceGuy http://t.co/rEdWtoh2zx
-
You Need a Budget
In the past I’ve written about the Snook’s and my budget approach and how we used MoneyWell extensively. However, a few months ago we switched to something new and the time’s come for me to enthusiastically recommend YNAB instead. The impetus for the change is pretty simple: the Snook got a Nexus 5 phone from work, and MoneyWell doesn’t support Android phones at all. (And in their now-deleted forums, they basically said they wouldn’t ever.) So I went researching, and that’s how I found YNAB. I tested it out for a couple days, which was enough for me to happily plunk down $60 for a full license.
While the basic concepts are the same as in MoneyWell, YNAB just makes some things so much simpler. The UI itself is easy to use and looks very nice. Setting up our initial budget for January was simple and quick. It’s cross-platform and works on Windows and Mac (with apps for iPhone and Android). Syncing from our various phones took less than 30 seconds to set up and works automatically whenever we put transactions into the app. It’s got a “reconciliation mode” that makes it easy to find missing transactions, as well as force a reconciliation when I just can’t work out where the last $10 in cash went. I used to spend a good hour each month with MoneyWell totalling up our wants, needs, and savings to put into a spreadsheet, but YNAB just does it all automatically. It also prominently displays our net worth on the budget screen, so when I input something frivolous like a $4 cup of coffee, I actually see that big number decrease. That’s a huge psychological incentive to cut your spending! The company has a great blog and podcast where they give you tips on using the software and on managing your finances. I love supporting a company that makes excellent software that actually improves people’s lives! (This is a totally unsolicited endorsement. I just think YNAB is awesome!)
My only complaint about YNAB – and it’s a tiny one – is just that so much of the focus of the company and app is on getting people off the “paycheck-to-paycheck” cycle, and that’s not really advice I need. It’s incredibly important though and I’m glad they do it! I just want to see more advice for those of us that are past that step and wondering how to implement longer term financial planning. Like I said though, tiny complaint.
-
Fernet and Coke | Serious Eats : Recipes
Fernet and Coke | Serious Eats : Recipes – On my first visit to Freda’s (now The Barrie), I asked the bearded hipster bartender to make me some sort of “digestive” (as we had just come from a big dinner). This is what he gave me. It was incredibly weird, like drinking Coke mixed with medicine, but I still finished the whole thing.