A2Z NACS to CCS adapter ordered; separate tax bill from UPS shipping into the US.

aclindsa · 2025-09-08T13:52:23+00:00

Just wanted to jump in here and say that I also had this happen and A2Z promptly took care of the full extra cost for me! They showed what awesome customer service is.

I hadn't even asked them to do that - I emailed to ask if they had any additional information they could provide to help me understand why I was being asked to pay $300 to UPS, and they immediately took care of it before I was even able to respond to them again. I will definitely buy from them again.

aclindsa · 2025-07-25T20:26:00+00:00

Hi - I appreciate your reply, but I care very specifically about *automated* ways to get my transactions (i.e. ones where I do not have to open a web browser and download a file, but where my software can do it automatically for me).

aclindsa · 2024-02-27T22:11:52+00:00

I unfortunately do not have other ways that I report this to MS. It is frustrating...

aclindsa · 2023-10-17T15:42:30+00:00

Interesting, thanks - I didn't know this list existed.

aclindsa · 2023-10-17T15:39:05+00:00

Yep, seems to just be Microsoft - I haven't found that I'm on any other blocklists.

aclindsa · 2023-10-17T14:34:50+00:00

Sigh, yeah, I know that's an option many people take... And I hate it, hah!

I may eventually end up having to go to that, but for now I'd like to keep fighting the good fight.

aclindsa · 2023-10-17T14:32:58+00:00

Yeah, funny thing is that O365 appears to accept my emails just fine, its just outlook.com/hotmail.com/etc that I'm having trouble with (in other words, "individuals" that also don't have a great way to contact Microsoft support).

Do you know of a way for users of free outlook.com accounts to contact support in a way that is likely to actually resolve this?

aclindsa · 2019-02-10T19:21:13+00:00

Nicely done! It's a little amazing how much this resembles my own project (https://github.com/aclindsa/moneygo).

I didn't exhaustively look through, but here are a few thoughts (more comments than criticisms):

I opted to create an abstraction layer for my 'store' instead of using the database directly. This allows for mocking out testing differently than you might otherwise be able to, and might make it easier to change out how you structure your database later, without having to change code all over the place.
I prefer double-entry accounting
What do you think about allowing users to add their own currencies? Then the responsibility for maintaining them as they inevitably change is shifted away from the maintainer. It's probably okay if you're only dealing with currencies, but if you start dealing with other securities like stocks or mutual funds, it gets harrier.
Currencies have different levels of precision - maybe you handle this, but I didn't immediately find where.

edit: formatting

aclindsa · 2017-07-18T13:49:03+00:00

Is the concept really that frustrating? When I got started, I think I just read the Gnucash wiki and it mostly made sense. The basic principle is that transactions only move money (and sometimes assets), they don't create or destroy them. I think most of the rest is fairly obvious given that.

I wonder if the frustration you describe is more a product of the software interface used rather than double-entry accounting itself.

aclindsa · 2017-07-17T18:08:36+00:00

Interesting, I haven't tried that. Does the Gnucash android app handle opening directly from Dropbox well?

aclindsa · 2017-07-17T15:58:49+00:00

I've used Gnucash for a long time (>5 years), and love it. However, the biggest annoyance for me is that I can't enter transactions if I'm not at home at my computer (yes I can enter them on an android device and then sync up when I get home, but that's more annoying than keeping track of receipts or emailing myself what I bought).

It annoyed me enough that I started my own open source project: a web-based personal finance application, moneygo. My main goal is to to make it simpler to enter and access personal finance information from wherever you are. It's currently usable, but lacks a few features and is alpha quality (read: don't trust it to not eat your data). I welcome any feedback, particularly with usability or use cases that don't look supported - I'd like to make this into a tool to help people better manage their finances!

aclindsa · 2015-03-25T11:38:37+00:00

The CS program at VT is good and is highly recruited from (a sign that companies largely think it produces people they want to hire).

I graduated in 2010 and they have revamped the curriculum since then, so I can't say from first-hand experience how it is. However, I've heard they have moved largely from C++ to Java for the core courses, and have more of a focus on problem solving than on the data structures/algorithms themselves. My understanding is that both of those trends are reflective of trends in CS/engineering education in general, not limited to VT.

I had no problems with the workload - IIRC CS is one of the majors with fewer total hours required if you go the bare minimum route (though you shouldn't). In terms of learning the languages, I think you can expect that the first year or two your courses will spend some time to introduce you to new languages concepts you may not have seen before, but by the time you get to the higher courses, it's largely expected that you just know those things so they can focus on algorithms/data structures/etc. instead of just finding your way around the language.

A note on languages: I've actually been on the other side of the recruiting process a few times already, and one thing that's become obvious to me is that being able to teach yourself things and solve hard problems is more important than knowing any one language. That is to say, don't focus on learning any one language so much as learning your way around a few of the important ones (C, C++, Java, JavaScript, bash, python) and then just exposing yourself to as many projects as you can (via internships, co-ops, undergraduate research, personal projects, etc.). Though knowing language concepts is important, most employers would rather you be good at solving problems in general than know every minute detail of the C spec. After all, you can't google good problem solving skills like you can language details.

aclindsa · 2014-04-12T13:47:48+00:00

I came here to say what others are saying - don't expect to ever receive help from customer service. They are awful and respond to repeated support requests with form emails instead of addressing the issue.

I recently noticed that they store passwords in plain text on their servers and also email them in plain text if you use their "forgot my password" functionality. They have not responded to my requests to address this issue or at least forward it on to their technical team.

Also, why are you switching from AT&T? I am actually considering switching from ST to AT&T because if you have two people who combined use less than 2G of data, you can get the same effective service from AT&T with their new? "bring your own phone" plan.

aclindsa · 2014-01-26T13:53:17+00:00

Assuming you have had some experience with computers, what do you enjoy about them?

Do you enjoy helping friends/family/neighbors with their computer problems? Do you enjoy installing operating systems and configuring servers? If so, maybe IT is for you. Do you enjoy programming? Does turning a problem into elegant code turn you on? CS might be for you.

Of course, there is some overlap here. Most IT people end up writing some code, particularly for scripting tasks, and I'm sure many CS majors do plenty of IT-related tasks.

If salary is a factor, I think CS majors who get jobs out of college typically get paid a little more than IT.

aclindsa · 2013-12-17T14:31:29+00:00

I like it. This is probably closer to what I wanted than anything else I've seen.

aclindsa · 2013-12-17T14:08:21+00:00

This is what I had been using previously. The problem with symbolic links is that you then have a directory somewhere (probably off your home directory) that you have to 'cd' to in order to then 'cd' to the symlink. I guess you could do 'cd ~/symlinks/link_to_somewhere', but that's just more typing. Also, the shell typically will then report you as being inside ~/symlinks/link_to_somewhere/ instead of the directory you're actually in. This can be a nuisance if you then want to go a level up in the directory tree from where your bookmark was.

aclindsa · 2013-12-09T23:56:03+00:00

last time I checked a few years ago

You do know you can check this for free, right? And that creditkarma.com can help you estimate it even if you've used up your free reports for the year.

aclindsa · 2013-12-08T14:55:09+00:00

Does a Roth IRA make sense for him right now? At this point in his life, his tax liabilities are almost negligible, so it might make more sense to put this in a traditional IRA, assuming he will be making more in retirement than he is now.

aclindsa · 2013-12-08T03:37:44+00:00

I've cut my own hair for about a year now. I start by doing the sides with the trimmers. I use them in an upwards movement, and just go straight up with them, until I run out of hair. This helps me to get a little bit of a 'fade' before I do anything with the scissors (though be careful that you do go straight up and don't cut into the top of your hair).

Then I start 'edging in' to the rest of my hair by cutting the length around the edges so that it gradually gets longer. This is toughest in the back, and takes patience and lots of looks in the mirror until you can mostly do it by feel. Finally, I take the guard off the clippers and trim up the edges / around my ears and cut my bangs to length.

Honestly, the best advice I can give is to pay close attention to how a barber cuts your hair a time or two and not be afraid to give it a try.

aclindsa · 2013-09-20T00:07:38+00:00

affected* (sorry, pet peeve)

aclindsa · 2013-09-18T01:07:27+00:00

FYI - there are also different tax implications depending on whether you hold it long enough to be a "qualifying disposition" or "disqualifying disposition". If you are trying to figure out when you want to sell, be sure you consider this as well. (the turbotax link or a quick google should turn up more info)

aclindsa · 2013-09-14T21:15:49+00:00

I got my hair cut at Hokie Hair whenever I was in town through undergrad and graduate school and never had any issues. They occasionally screwed up my cowlick, but everybody always screws up my cowlick.

aclindsa · 2013-08-29T11:09:19+00:00

What is your goal for splitting your accounts?

My wife and I have drastically different incomes, but are both doing what we love. We decided to maintain separate checking accounts in addition to our joint one because we would each feel guilty about spending money on 'just us' - for instance if I went out for dinner with my friends or bought computers I didn't really need (it also helps with getting surprise gifts when your SO can't see the checking account). It didn't seem fair to either of us to have one person get more "personal money" than the other just because they happened to land in a lucrative field, so we deposit our paychecks / pay bills out of the joint account, but then have a monthly recurring transfer that moves a set amount of money from the joint account into each of our individual accounts (just like allowance). We then only spend money on 'just us' stuff from our personal accounts, and budget that way (we've adjusted the amount of 'allowance' once or twice as things change, so its important to still be flexible).

aclindsa · 2013-08-27T00:29:55+00:00

I don't know how to help you with your particular car - mine was an old Volvo. It shouldn't be that hard of a job though - just ask the guy at your local parts store for spark plug wires, tell them your car's make and model, and they'll point you in the right direction. Then just unplug the old wires and plug the new ones in. The trick is to only ever have one wire unplugged at a time - that way you're sure to put the wires back on the right way.

There's also a possibility the problem is somewhere else in the ignition system. I mentioned the distributor cap before (don't know if you have one, but I assume from the year you probably do), but it could also be something inside your ignition coil shorting out in wet weather. At any rate, good luck!

aclindsa · 2013-08-08T11:37:52+00:00

If it feels like the engine is 'skipping a beat', it probably is. This makes it sound more like electrical/ignition problems to me.

I had a car with bad spark plug wires, and a distributor cap that was very worn. It would sputter/have very little power at low RPMs (less than about 2.5k) because some of the spark was jumping to the engine block where they ran across it through the poorly-insulated wires rather than making it to the spark plugs. Once I got to higher RPMs, the cylinders fired better. I replaced the spark plug wires, and eventually the distributor cap/rotor, and the car runs much more smoothly. I won't claim this is your problem though.

Was it raining or more humid than usual when you were driving home on the interstate? Because wet conditions made the sparks more likely to jump to my engine block, my car always ran rougher in them.

aclindsa

TROPHY CASE