People & Society | i am sarah kohl

Spend Your Rewards Points!

March 21, 2016 / Sarah / 1 Comment

Too many people save their rewards points like a dragon hoarding gold, but why? Rewards points aren’t money. There is no reality where a company will increase the value of your rewards points over time, but there is a very good chance that they will decrease the value of those points!

There are a lot of programs that have rewards points, credit cards, airlines, grocery stores, gas stations, movie theaters; almost anywhere you go, there’s a rewards program. So it’s easy to loose track of how many points you have and what you can get for them. [More]

Bug Industries: A Game for Programmers

March 14, 2016 / Sarah / 3 Comments

I’m a sucker for new tabletop, card, dice, pretty much whatever games. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see this kickstarter. The game is called Bug Industries. Each player is in charge of a project and they need to de-bug their project first to win.

The game is simple, but it looks to be hilarious and enjoyable. It’s also just a great way for non-programers to get a sense of programing culture. I wouldn’t consider myself to be a programer even though I dabble. I simply think this would be great to play with say, a marketing department, so they can understand the frustrations that tech teams experience. [More]

Some Great Things About Florida

March 9, 2016 / Sarah / 3 Comments

Florida is known around the US for providing the country with strange and disgusting news stories. From people being swallowed by gators, to junkies accidentally burning down landmarks, Florida knows how to capture headlines with class. After spending a bit more time down south I might be starting to understand why.

You Can Buy Alcohol ANYWHERE

In New York we don’t tend to have beer and liquor sold in the same store. This is because wine and liquor can only be sold in designated liquor stores, where as beer can be sold in grocery stores. [More]

Credit Card Threats While Traveling

March 2, 2016 / Sarah / 7 Comments

Today there are a lot of different tech threats that travelers have to worry about. Often times, the threat is to your credit card. Travelers encounter all kinds of credit card theft and there is no shortage of new methods being used. Here are a handful of new and old tricks being used to gather your information and ways you can protect yourself.

Card Readers

Processing cards has never been easier. Unfortunately, that holds true for legitimate businesses and criminals alike. This new trick requires a mobile payment processing terminal (as seen in the picture) and the target to be carrying a card with an RFID tag. [More]

February 20, 2016

“There are no strong men, there are no beautiful women. At least, you can die knowing this and you will have the only possible victory.” – Charles “Hank” Bukowski

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Women-Owned Comic Publisher Kymera Press

February 18, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

It’s been awhile since Comic Con, but believe it or not there is still a pile of independent comic books that I haven’t had a chance to read! I’ve just started to get around to checking out the comics I picked up from the Kymera Press booth. I hadn’t heard of the company before Comic Con, but I have to admit I’ve been itching to get to these since the show.

Kymera Press is a comic publishing company that was founded in 2013 for women. It’s owned by women, and intends to help women succeed in the comic industry. [More]

Free Space Tourism Posters From NASA

February 15, 2016 / Sarah / 4 Comments

For the past 50 years people have been obsessed with the idea of going into space. We are closer than ever to making it possible for average people to visit space with the launch of companies like SpaceX. The idea of space tourism seems to be an exciting thought for even the scientists at NASA. They recently released a series of retro posters designed to be marketing propaganda for fictional space travel programs. Anyone with even a mild interest in space or design will enjoy these.

A few of the planets mentioned in this poster series by The Studio at JPL aren’t the ones you learned for your model of our solar system. [More]

Pascal Campion’s Art of Love

February 12, 2016 / Sarah / 2 Comments

I bought a print from this artist at a convention not too long ago, but thought writing about the artist’s work around Valentines Day would be more appropriate. Many of his illustrations revolve around the many flavors of love that people experience throughout their lives.

The one in particular that I purchased is a couple taking a dip in a wooded area on what one can only imagine is a warm summer day. (It made me chuckle a bit when I bought it because he went to sign it then realized he had pre-signed it so he pretended to sign it again and handed it back.) While I loved all of the art I looked at, I felt an immediate attraction to this particular illustration of his. [More]

Love is Blind Blog Hop

February 12, 2016 / Sarah / 1 Comment

I’ve decided to participate in the Love is Blind blog hop this year. Please check out some of the other blogs participating! Most of them are authors or aspiring authors, but they are all a good read. [More]

Rochester Airigami Comes to an End

February 8, 2016 / Sarah / 0 Comments

If you aren’t familiar with airigami, then you probably didn’t go to RIT. My college had a balloon artist on staff full-time and his fantastic work as well as the work of others has inspired a community of balloon enthusiasts in Rochester. Once a year, they all gather together to put together a huge balloon exhibit that can be viewed for free.

This years exhibit was on display all last week concluding Sunday evening with “the popping ceremony.” I couldn’t stay to watch that though, it would be too painful to watch! [More]

Venture Brothers Season 6 Sponsored by NY State Taxpayers

February 4, 2016 / Sarah / 7 Comments

I love New York and I love the Venture Brothers. If you’re keeping up to date with the show (no spoilers) you might notice an image of New York State and some text fly by in the end credits. Most people probably wouldn’t know what it’s for, but after working for the local Economic Development Center I can spot those logos anywhere.

The Venture Brothers is just one of the many TV shows produced in New York, likely for some of our juicy film credits. The program known as Governor’s Office for Motion Picture & Television Development is part of the Empire State Development program. [More]

On Occasion, Paranoia and Reality Meet

January 28, 2016 / Sarah / 1 Comment

John Lang was 51 years old when he died. Reporters and investigators have yet to determine the cause of death. His body was found with stab wounds inside his burning house the other day. The more interesting thing about this story, is the the man thought he was going to be murdered for some time and made public declarations of this on his twitter and blog. At first glance, this stuff is insanely crazy to read. He writes like a paranoid delusional nut job, there’s no doubt about that.