Geek in Heels - Part 6

Mar 26, 2013 • In Food, Personal, Travel

Miss Me Yet?

On my way back from Montréal, I was detained at the U.S.-Canadian border for the transportation of contraband items across international lines. I was subjected to a full-body search, a background check, and a lengthy interrogation. Eventually, my family was forced to contact the U.S. embassy to plead for my release.

Just kidding. What really happened isn’t quite as exciting: my coming down with the flu almost as soon as I returned home, J getting sick as soon as I started to recover, then my in-laws returning to China which means no help with the kids for the next five months or so.

It’s been a tiring week.

Nonetheless…

Montréal was a blast! It was a weekend full of giggles, cheese (not the eating kind), grub (the eating kind), and drinks. Lots and lots of drinks. Oh, and as expected of most bachelorette parties, some naughtiness.

I’m sorry to say that I won’t be posting any (potentially) compromising pictures here. This is, after all, a public blog. However, I did want to share some of the more boring shots.

One of the first things I did after arriving at the hotel was look up the nearest Tim Hortons. I had discovered that one of my sister’s friends is a fellow HIMYM fan, and it was kind of sad just how excited we both were about visiting a Tim Hortons. Luckily, Tim Hortons are just as prevalent in Montréal as Starbucks are in NY, so we only had to walk a couple of blocks.

I’m always fascinated by foreign currency whenever I travel — U.S. money is soooo boring — and Canada was no exception. The new $20 is made of a plastic-y material, and there are even see-through parts! (Later, I was to learn that most Canadians hate the new $20 because they tend to get stuck in machines.) Continue reading »

Mar 15, 2013 • In Personal

4 Comments

Why You Should Regularly Check Your Passport

Because right now, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

(Written while waiting for my plane at Laguardia. Eek! I’m so excited!)

Mar 15, 2013 • In Personal

3 Comments

Canada-Bound!

Sorry for the lack of updates — it’s been another crazy week! I promise I’ll write more later, but for now, I must be off…because I’m going to Montréal this weekend for my sister’s bachelorette party!

(image source)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Mar 12, 2013 • In Facebook, Funny, Geek, Personal

13 Comments

Top 10 Signs You (And Your Friends) Are Addicted to Candy Crush

Candy pieces dance around in front of your eyes as you drift off to sleep every night.
You know which levels are the hard ones because of the sheer amount of people complaining about them (30, 35, 65. 97, and 98).
That damn. Last. JELLY.
You know which of your friends are slackers at work, and/or have too much free time on their hands, by their response times to your life requests and episode unlock requests.
Thinking about chocolate bars makes you clench your fists in anger and frustration.
You regularly scroll forward to see who’s ahead of you. You regard those who are like 45 levels ahead of you with a mixture of awe (“I’m not worthy!”), envy (“Man, I wish I had that kind of time!”), and disdain (“They had to have spent money.”).
You’ve purchased an extra battery for your cell phone because:
1. You regularly drain your existing battery with your Candy Crush obsession
2. You’ve been caught with a dead battery when you need to play Candy Crush (or worse yet, your battery died while you were playing)
You have looked up Candy Crush strategy online.
Your family has offered to pray for your soul. (I’m looking at you, S!)
You make up stupid lists like this for your blog, and know that a great portion of your readers will totally get what you’re saying…and can contribute to the list themselves.

Mar 11, 2013 • In Gadgets, Geek, Personal, Reviews, Web

1 Comment

Prey: An Essential for Gadget Lovers

I left one very important item off my Samsung Galaxy Note II review. (And as soon as I finish writing this, I will be updating the review with a link to this post!) And that is Prey — an open-source software that lets you track (and potentially recover) your stolen laptop, cell phone, or tablet.

I know there exist tons of anti-theft software in the market today. What makes Prey stand out from the rest is that it is powerful, versatile, and FREE (for up to 3 devices).

Here’s what happened when I reported my cell phone as missing. I immediately received an email alerting me that it was marked as missing, and within minutes, I received a follow-up message with a link to this missing device report:

As you can see, what Prey does is to turn on your phone’s GPS — if not already enabled — and locate your device via Google Maps. (I have blurred out my location above for privacy purposes.) It also tells you the IP address of the network that your phone is on (also concealed in the screenshot above), and…

Did you notice the picture of the ceiling fan?

Yep, you’re correct — Prey took a picture using my phone’s front-facing camera, and included it in the missing device report! This is in hopes that if my phone really was stolen, the picture would be of the person currently using the phone.

Did I mention that Prey is FREE?

I have also added my laptop to my Prey account, and feel much better for it:

You can never be too careful these days — I’m constantly hearing/reading about my friends’ gadgets getting stolen, or being left behind in random places like the backseats of cabs.

Of course, the best way to avoid these situations is to be smart about where and how you use your devices. But the next best bet is surely to have a software like Prey installed before anything like this happens.

Do you use anti-theft solutions for your mobile devices? Can you recommend other apps like Prey?