Diversify Your Life - A Blog by Vijay Narayanan

What better way to end a near-5 month blog hiatus with a post calling out a scam? I noticed that my Facebook news feed was cluttered with nonsensical repetitions of a certain website. Certain Facebook friends do clutter my news feed with the trivial aspects of life as well as websites that achieve no purpose, but there was something that caught my attention. People are praising Southwest Airlines while sharing a link that redirects users to a website, which claims to send 2 FREE Southwest Airlines Tickets when re-sharing the link. How I came to the conclusion that it's a scam: The website claims that "The offer will expire Wednesday...or when the remaining 973 flight vouchers have been given out." The number then begins decreasing as if people are actually buying the vouchers; however, if you simply refresh the page, the number resets to 973 and begins counting down again. Not to mention the 1613 , indicating the number of users that have shared the link, also remain

G roupMe is an app for Android and iOS that allows you to keep in touch with multiple friends simultaneously via text messaging. In short, this app allows smartphone users to text a single reserved phone number to communicate with multiple users instead of manually sending a text message to each user. This reserved phone number is considered a "group", where users can co-exist and keep in touch. All you need is one person with the GroupMe app to create the group, and users in the group can see who is in the group or add others. The screenshot above (left) shows a text that you will receive when added to a group. The picture above (middle) shows how easy it is to add a member to the group. The newly added user will immediately be able to receive all the text messages exchanged on the GroupMe phone number. The #list command neatly lists all users in the group (right) . Bear in the mind that typing the commands with the '#' sign will only be sent to your p

This post is long overdue! Congratulations to myself for my "new" car purchase on May 7, 2011. I purchased a 2008 Lexus ISF with 16k miles on the odometer. Why a Lexus? Why automatic transmission? Why not another coupe? These questions along with others will be answered. It will not only be a review, but I will provide justifiable reasons for my purchase. Before I started car shopping I started falling in love (yes, like an infatuation) with numerous cars that were in my price range: Audi S5, Lotus Exige, 2006-07 BMW M6. However, these infatuations were short-lived. I had to decide on a car that was best for my wants and needs instead of blindly pursuing cars that were simply the 'apple of my eye' and nothing else. The Lexus ISF came the closest to meeting my wants and needs. Below I'll explain my wants and needs and how the ISF met them, and in some cases exceeded them: 1) Reliability. Japanese cars are known for this. I have been driving my 1998 A

You must be thinking to yourself that it's impossible for your portfolio to reach 7 figures since you aren't a celebrity or CEO of a company. I had the same mentality until I read this article in Money Magazine : Link Step 1: Time This step goes back to my blog post about inflation . Assuming there is roughly 3% inflation per year, the amount we put away per year is worth 3% less than the year before. The article discusses that in some cases, delaying retirement may allow you to reach the 7-figure mark. Another great point in the article states that the more time you have to invest, the market will eventually smooth itself out over that time span, ultimately boosting returns in the long run. This will allow you take a more aggressive investment approach, since there is a lot of time left until your monetary goal is reached. Step 2: Amount being saved Maxing out a 401(k) is the simplest way to boost the amount being saved. The benefits are three-fold: 1) Since it comes dire

Time to dust off the blog. There are many things in NYC that could bother me whether it be loud/slow pedestrians, bad musicians, pollution, smelly subways. The fact that cyclers in the city do not obey traffic rules, is my biggest pet peeve. Pedestrians must look BOTH ways when crossing one-way streets and avenues, since cyclers refuse to obey traffic laws. Some cyclers run red lights and others travel the opposite way on a one-way street. In my opinion disobeying these "laws" is fine when sidewalks are relatively empty during off-peak hours, but in rush hour it's just annoying and can cause accidents.

2X Client allows full and unrestricted remote desktop access to any Windows machine, provided the machine has XP Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate/Professional. Think of it as using Remote Desktop Connection, except in the palm of your hand. If your laptop/desktop is behind a router, port 3389 needs to be forwarded as well as allowed through the firewall. The external IP address needs to be entered for the "Server" (far left) . Before connecting you're given a plethora of options, such as color depth, resolution, desktop background and animated menus and windows (middle) . Your desktop appears as it will on any other computer (far right) . I wonder if there's an app to do the reverse now...

XiiaLive Lite is an app that allows you to stream music live from all over the world. It includes over 20 genres along with radio stations from Asia, Europe, India, and the Middle East (far left) . Each genre also has over 30 stations to stream from (middle) . You can tag a song if you like it, as well as a specific radio station (far right) . The songs will continue playing and the volume can also be controlled while the screen is off, a feature that Google has yet to implement with YouTube. Listen away.

Just upgraded to an unlimited data plan from T-mobile w/ a 2 year contract agreement, along with a free HTC G2 smartphone (above) . I previously had the HTC G1, the first phone with Android version 1.5. After much research I started getting into Android development, and ended up rooting the G1 (synonym for jailbreaking), which allowed me to upgrade to Android 2.1. I previously purchased two G1's back in 2008 (one for me, one for my mom) without the data plan and sold the other for double the price, resulting in mine being free. My goal was to do the same for the G2, but a data plan contract is mandatory on all smartphones now. The data plan and unlimited texting are more wants than needs; after you start putting the data plan to full use it turns into a need...

Just started a new bench press program which will increase a 1-rep max on the bench press by nearly 30 lbs over a span of 14 workouts. Works out chest 2 times every 6 days. So by doing the math - within 42 days if all goes well, the 1-rep max will be 30lbs more than it currently stands. My max at the beginning of the program: 185 x 1 with a spotter. And yes, it's with correct form: thumbs wrapped around the front of the bar, grip shoulder-width apart, elbows tucked in, lowered completely down to the chest, and pushed completely up. Time to up the protein, carbs, healthy fats, and H2O like never before. EDIT: Max at the end of the program: 200 x 1 without a spotter. So a 15lb increase in bench press isn't bad, in about 1-2 months. I can't complain.

Take a minute to read the above letter we received from my sister's high school. If you're too lazy to read it, let me sum it up. My sister's high school is honoring her academic excellence by charging each member of the family who wants to attend the honorary event $35 (including my sister). My sister remained mum about this but if it was me, I'd be ranting just as I am in this blog. I'd be ranting about how I'm being charged a "fee" to attend my own event to honor the fact that I've placed in the top 10% of my class. Not to mention, they claim to serve snacks and not even a full course meal. Instead of doling out cash to attend their own party, the kids should be given a stipend for their hard work. I guess the superintendent thinks he's living in a Great Depression rather than a recession.

When you're into cars like me, it's hard to come to a conclusion on which car to buy. New, Used, Certified... Audi, BMW, Lexus, Acura, Subaru... RWD, FWD, AWD... Coupe, Sedan... And the list goes on. Let's be practical, you won't see me listing Ferrari, Porsche, or Lamborghini until I've cashed out my 401k. The point here is that the idea of financing cars is like dating women... in the sense that when you finance, you're making a financial commitment to that vehicle, similar to making a commitment with a woman. As we all know, vehicles are depreciating assets, and jumping from vehicle to vehicle will only hurt your bank account, just as jumping from woman to woman will hurt their feelings. My 2 cents for today.

This might as well be the rant of the week... it's been a while. The yellow 'cheese' bus as they call it, is what I have a problem with.. The bus that usually pulls in front of me while I drive to the train station stop on a straight road about FOUR times. Not every quarter mile, but every block. Is this really necessary? When I took the bus in middle/high school, I walked the length of my street to catch the bus. It saves time and prevents blockage of traffic by integrating those four bus stops into one.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was the coldest/snowy winter on record. With the windchills, temperatures are close to zero. You know it's freezing/snowy when it takes 45 minutes to move 10 feet in your driveway, and when 32 degrees feels like a heat wave. Just yesterday and the day before it was 42... so warm I felt like playing basketball outside while driving with my sunroof open. I'm just glad the snow melted away during the "heat wave" so I didn't have to skip slush puddles in NYC, park my car on the grass, or slip on black ice in the driveway. Of course they all say it could be worse. Thank god we don't live in Snow-klahoma or Chicag-snow.

What's the point of Daylight Savings Time? I've read several articles on the significance. I'll keep Benjamin Franklins in my wallet, although I hate his initial proposition of DST to have longer summer days and shorter winter days. I don't see a reason to change the clocks forward and backward during Spring and Fall respectively. At least 4 of the clocks I own remain unchanged, because I'm too lazy to change the time on so many devices (unless it's automated)...not in protest to the idea. Going back one hour in Fall provides a false sense of security... how many of us have said "an extra hour of sleep." I bet criminals are saying "an extra hour to rob banks and wreak havoc."

Let's just hope taxes stay the same over time. But what are the chances of that? The prices of everything are going up: food, tuition, cost of living, transportation. Those are the more obvious things affected by inflation but minor things such as the cell phone bill, utilities, car insurance, and cable TV/internet are also affected. If boredom ever becomes a big part of my life, I'd love to do the math and come up with a number for what cost of living will be in a few decades. At this rate, new hires out of college will be making six figures (barring any U.S. economical woes), yet their lifestyles will be same as new hires today. You can't escape death, taxes, and...inflation.

Earlier this year, President Obama signed a legislation to reduce the Social Security payroll tax. This is great! But at my age, contributing to Social Security is like throwing your money into a bottomless pit - and it looks like we're going to do it until the year 2037: the year in which it is anticipated to run out. Around early 2010 I attended a financial planning seminar hosted by Ric Edelman , a very knowledgeable financial advisor. He compared the Social Security problem to refusing to fix a car until things start falling apart. Each president we have had keeps putting off the problem, and eventually Social Security will crumble - in 2037! Max out on your 401k and IRA's people!

I knew there was an app for everything, but an app to file your taxes, just by taking a picture of your W2?! TurboTax has a new app called SnapTax which does just this. Would you trust this app? Before you all get giddy and make an impulse decision, consider that your SSN is being transmitted over the internet. I assume when you take a snapshot of your W2, a picture in the form of .jpg, .png, or .gif is sent over the net, and this picture sits on TurboTax's server. As technology evolves, so is the knowledge of hackers. So I'm sure you can put two and two together. If you can't put two and two together, just know that although the chances are slim, it is possible for a hacker to obtain information transmitted over the Internet. Technologists (including myself) know this can be done using packet sniffing, brute force algorithms, or a trojan virus that sends sensitive information back to the hacker. Make a well-informed decision... - Vijay

This isn't your common rant, where I complain about people driving slow. It bothers me when people behind me at traffic lights stop very close to my bumper. Especially on a hill. My car rolls back on hills, as do other vehicles on steep hills, but people continue doing it... until they get nicked. Give me space! I think people who drive manual can relate to this the most.

All of you have new years resolutions, and what do I have? My blog... I've been wanting to create a blog since 2000 B.C...OK maybe since 2011 began. Not only for giving you all a sneak peek of my life, but to voice my opinions on controversial topics, provide insight on things people love to argue about, and just share my thoughts with family, friends, haters, and whoever else is interested. I look forward to updating this as often as it's snowing this winter (almost every day). I hope all of you in the Internet world can relate to at least some of my posts, atleast one... - Vijay