Avinash Arora.com » life http://avinasharora.com Engineering, Programming, Motorcycles, Design, Computers, and other nerd stuff. Also, I like dragons. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:27:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 A graph showing how much I want to donate to public radio http://avinasharora.com/2011/09/a-graph-showing-how-much-i-want-to-donate-to-public-radio/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-graph-showing-how-much-i-want-to-donate-to-public-radio http://avinasharora.com/2011/09/a-graph-showing-how-much-i-want-to-donate-to-public-radio/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:02:11 +0000 Avi http://avinasharora.com/?p=443 Don’t get me wrong, I want to….but the constant pestering, it does get annoying. I’m going to donate ...Continue Reading]]>


Don’t get me wrong, I want to….but the constant pestering, it does get annoying. I’m going to donate because I enjoy the stations and I believe in what they are doing, but I’m specifically NOT going to donate during their fundraising month. I’ve actually stopped listening for the most part because of how annoying it gets.


[box type="shadow"][tooltip text="I wish this graph were an exaggeration."][/tooltip][/box]

]]> http://avinasharora.com/2011/09/a-graph-showing-how-much-i-want-to-donate-to-public-radio/feed/ 2 Progressive Snapshot (pics!) http://avinasharora.com/2011/09/progressive-snapshot/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=progressive-snapshot http://avinasharora.com/2011/09/progressive-snapshot/#comments Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:26:35 +0000 Avi http://avi-nation.com/new/?p=3 I feel I may be buying into this big brother business, but my car insurance is ridiculously expensive. ...Continue Reading]]>

I feel I may be buying into this big brother business, but my car insurance is ridiculously expensive. I’m doing anything I can, including switching insurance companies every 6 months just to make usage of their “sign on bonus” (Don’t worry, I’ve checked to make sure it’s cheaper)

I’m trying out Progressive Snapshot now. I must admit, I feel a bit worried about it all, the tracking etc. but they do make it easy. They assure me over and over again GPS is not used, speeds are not measured, and no matter what my policy can only go down, not up.


Essentially, they’re just monitoring it to see what times you drive (they say between midnight and 4am means you’re likely not to get a discount) and how hard you accelerate or brake.

I used to drive like a mad man, but I’m far more tempered. I don’t think I’ll adjust my habits much to accommodate this new tech in my car.

One thing I will definitely say, their packaging is very Apple-like in terms of ingenuity and enjoyment. I really liked it, so much so that I decided to post it up for anyone to see.

[box type="shadow"][tooltip text="As shipped packaging"]Shipping Package[/tooltip]
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[box type="shadow"][tooltip text="Internal packaging, fluffed with a very nice bright Progressive orange tissue paper. Kind of neat"]Opening her up[/tooltip]
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[box type="shadow"][tooltip text="This is the actual box, half opened. It opens from all four sides like a clover."]Half opened[/tooltip]
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[box type="shadow"][tooltip text="Fully opened into a pretty circle with little notes and instructions"]Unboxed![/tooltip]
(The blurred out portion is my vehicle info.)
[/box]

[box type="shadow"][tooltip text="and finally, installed into my OBD2 port!"]Installed![/tooltip]

[/box]



I must say, the little tiny LEDs that flash on it are very dim and fortunately not an annoyance at all. They look simultaneously cool and creepy.

I just got the email that they know I’ve plugged my device in. Also, creepy.

Even creepier is this graph they offer me:

[box type="shadow"][tooltip text="This is my speed graph for my commute home (in the rain, in case you're wondering)"]Creeptastical[/tooltip]
No matter what, this is still awkward to look at.
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