Published December 20th, 2015
in Interesting / Other.
Every time I log into my Citibank account I get two pop us: Chat and Virtual Assistant. They take room on my browser, they slow it down, and they are simply a distraction. I have not found so far a way to turn them off.
I contacted Citibank customer service and received back a very vague response, which to me says they don’t know how to do it. Here is the full text (below), enjoy the typical corporate outsourced language. ;-) And if you use Citibank and know how to turn these annoying pop ups off please let me know in the comments.
Continue reading ‘Disabling Virtual Assistant on Citibank website’
Published December 14th, 2015
in Interesting / Other.
I have neglected my blog over the past several years to the point that I entirely stopped checking it out. Today I found out that my negligence cost me dearly. Someone has guessed the weak administrative password I used and posted several blog posts with outrageous content. I deleted it and would like to apologize to my readers for what happened. I want you to know that it was not me posting tips on how to ‘cheat with your school essay’. :-) My life as usual revolves around computers, programming, and online deals.
Published August 27th, 2010
in Interesting / Other.
It’s been a couple weeks since I am back home from my trip and I should tell you it is a great feeling! I finally got to read the news, browse online forums and listen to pod-casts - things I was for the most part deprived off while traveling.
I have been lately thinking a lot about what I want to do in life and I gradually come to a conclusion that working for an employer is not mine. There are really several reasons. One is that I am a very opinionated person and if I feel something is right or wrong it takes a good effort for anyone to convince me otherwise. I have been known for starting arguments in email groups and keeping the flame up long after everyone has lost interest. This makes it hard to survive in a team with another strong personality - my boss. Secondly, I feel that working as an employee I give the best of me to the company and what I get in return is the paycheck, a temporary monetary reward which (after the basic needs are satisfied) is very easy to waste on stuff I don’t really need. It takes huge self discipline to put aside some of it for retirement but the main problem is, there are really not many options as far as choosing where to invest.
Continue reading ‘What do you want to do in life?’
Published July 30th, 2010
in Interesting / Other.
I just came back from a two day trip to Moscow where I was meeting some of my old friends by high school. I say “some” because most of my friends didn’t make it even though many were going to. At the time I went to the school I lived with my parents in Chukotka, Russia. It is a region in far east Russia, very close to Alaska. Sara Palin could probably see my town from her backyard :)
We met during the first day and then I went to my friend’s house for the night. He lives with his wife and a 2 y.o. son in a 2-bedroom apartment on the 9th floor of a high rise building in the northern Moscow suburbs. My friend is currently unemployed but soon after he got laid off he started a small motor oil distribution business which fairly quickly picked up and currently pays his bills. My friend’s wife doesn’t work.
Continue reading ‘Schoolmates reunion in Moscow’
Published July 22nd, 2010
in Interesting / Other.
Today is our last day in Crimea. Overall we spent more than a week and went to several places around Alupka, the town we stay at. The place we went the most times to is Vorontsovsky Palace and park around it which is just 10 minutes by foot from our house. We would usually stroll around the park enjoying the views. On one of the days we took a tour of the palace (40 grivnas per person) but it turned out a complete waste of time and money. It took the guide about 30 minutes to walk us through all the rooms and spit out enormous amount of dry facts about the place none of which we remembered by the time the tour was over.
The one fact about the palace that I did memorize is that it literally has two faces. The Northern side is built in western style while the Southern side (pictured above) carries distinct Eastern elements like “There is no Conqueror, except Allah.” engraved above the entrance. This fact symbolizes multicultural nature of Russian Empire of 19th century.
Continue reading ‘A week in Crimea, Ukraine – Part 2’
