Category: Technology

Introducing Just 1KG More

On By DanielIn Good Website, TechnologyLeave a comment

It appears that I have spent way too much time writing code for the past few months. I probably should be blogging about it too, even if it doesn’t interest anybody. So let me start by letting everyone know my latest project: Just 1KG More — a website built exclusively for nonprofit organizations that want to minimize operating cost.

Just 1KG More is a simple tool that allows nonprofit organizations to post project destinations, along with a list of items that could be used or need for the project. Travelers who happen to travel to the same destination can sign up and choose how much and what they are willing to carry (for the organization), starting at 1kg.

I created Just 1KG More for myself.

I travel to China at least once a year, and for an international flight, I can have a checked bag for up to 23kg for free. However most of the time my checked bags were around 19kg, so then each time I travel, there’s about 4kg of free space I can fill with donations and supplies for nonprofit organizations that need to be transported to Northeast China.

I have completed the backend work for Just 1KG More, and my next steps are:

  • Finish front end work
  • Start internal testing with friends and volunteers
  • Beta Launch
  • If the website gains users, then redesign the UX for production launch

One of the benefits of Just 1KG More is leveraging already available resources. Nonprofit organizations receive non-monetary donations, such as school and medical supplies, clothing, and much more. Travelers often have extra space in their packed suitcases. Just 1KG More can works to bring them together.

This is just the start! I’m looking forward to talking with you, and receiving feedback on Just 1KG More on the approach to the beta release in early 2016.  Send me an email at daniel@danielatwork.com, start a conversation on twitter @danni1990 and sign up for the project newsletter to learn more!

You can find the current version of the code here on github.

This work is licensed under an Apache License.

Change your password is easy…

On By DanielIn Briefly noted on life, TechnologyLeave a comment

Linkedin won’t let me login unless I change my password.

As usual, for all “reset your password” requests, I set it to the old password I’ve been using. But this time, Linkedin won’t let me use my old password because it is “weak”. However, if I reset it to a much more complicated password, I’m sure this will be the last time for me to login my Linkedin account, because I simply can’t remember any other passwords except the one I’ve been using for all my accounts.

Same thing happened to my Apple account. About 2 years ago, Apple asked me to reset my password. The new password had to follow a certain combination, with upper case and lower case letters, numbers, special characters and cannot contain my personal information. I reset it and couldn’t remember it ever since. After that, each time I wanted to download an app, I had to reset my password once again. So my password got more and more complicated each time I download an app, until I completely got tired of resetting. In the end I switched to Android.

Though I still use my iPad, I stopped downloading new apps. I just use it to browse the Internet and tweet when I’m lying in bed.

I understand that there’s a higher risk of account being stolen associated with simple passwords. But I still believe whether to change password should be my own choice. Instead of preventing me login and forcing me to change password, Linkedin should ask me “Do you want to change your password to protect your information?” after I login, and give me an option to say “No, maybe next time.”

As a result, I will not use Linekdin from now on.