9/20/2020

Two months down the road, I'm quite happy with Stori and Oyter.

After a couple of months of using a couple of fintech products, I've to say that they have been working rather well for me. Although there are ways that would make them better for me, overall both have high marks from me.

The first product is a credit card issued by Stori(link is in Spanish). Since its backed by Mastercard,I haven't had a problem with it. All the places on which I usually pay with a credit, or debit, card take it without an issue. Not only that, with the app update released a couple of week ago made it a lot more usable and got a redesign for the better.

Of the things I would like to see improve, is that your balance get updated at the moment you make a purchase and when a payment is made. This way it would make it a lot more practical and user friendly. Not only that, it would make less likely not to go over your credit limit by mistake.

The second product I'm using, is a business account that comes with debit card called Oyster(link also in Spanish). With the account, a debit card is issued backed also backed by Mastercard. Personally, I use this account more like a savings one. Mainly to put money in account separate from the ones I use for my daily expenses.

The app Oyster offers is quite good, and I like a bit better than the one that Stori offers. And while I've no problems using my money by paying with the debit card, I can't withdraw it on an ATM without having to pay a fee. For my user case, its not really a problem since I use the account for savings, can pay with the debit card, or can make a transfer to other of my accounts with banks that have their own ATMs. But I can see this being a problem for some people who need to be able to make withdraws on regular basis.

I personally would recommend both Stori, and Oyster, to people who don't want to deal with a traditional bank, or their life style is one that managing their finances using their smartphone is a lot easier.

9/02/2020

Podcasts I listen to learn about things, or just have get out of reality for a while.

One of the things I've picked up in the last year or so, is listening to podcasts. I found that, in my case, is the best way to learn or get a glimpse into the minds of people that have common interests with.

Some of my favorite are The Adam Savage Project, Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast, AvTalk Aviation Podcast, and Basketball Time Machine Podcast. All of this podcast allow me either to learn about subjects I'm interested in, or simply get to know people that make possible things I enjoy consuming.

Another podcast that gives me an insight what motivates people to do something to make the world a better place is Este Podcast Salvara al Mundo in Mexico. It features people with project that are starting, or aren't all that well known, that are striving to have a meaningful impact in peoples lives, or in society at large. This podcast is in Spanish, but if you can is would really make you reflect about how you could do something good happen.

On the entertainment side of thing, a couple of new podcasts I enjoy are Fantasfic!, specially if are into reading and/or writing fanfiction, Fandom of One, and in Spanish Duraznos y Berenjenas. All of these three podcast really help me to get my mind clear when the world seems to get to heavy.

In a way, all these podcasts allow me to express the different parts of my geekdom.

Sci-fi: trying to see future tech and its impact on society.

Growing up in the 90s consuming a lot of sci-fi media, it feels rather strange that some of the tech described on sci-fi has become a reali...