Cyber Monday Deals

Dieselboy · January 16, 2020, 08:28:24 PM

Quote from: Otanx on January 16, 2020, 10:21:13 AM
C:S patch notes: Increased the "max-paths" value in OSPF to route traffic over all links.

Only half joking. The underlying Dijkstra Algorithm is actually used for lots of stuff like that. UPS uses it in their hubs to route packages on conveyor belts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijkstra%27s_algorithm

Wow, didn't know about it!

I get a little bit excited when I hear about Nyquist Theorem being used in other places.

deanwebb · January 17, 2020, 12:37:22 PM

Quote from: Dieselboy on January 16, 2020, 08:28:24 PM
Quote from: Otanx on January 16, 2020, 10:21:13 AM
C:S patch notes: Increased the "max-paths" value in OSPF to route traffic over all links.

Only half joking. The underlying Dijkstra Algorithm is actually used for lots of stuff like that. UPS uses it in their hubs to route packages on conveyor belts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijkstra%27s_algorithm

Wow, didn't know about it!
I get a little bit excited when I hear about Nyquist Theorem being used in other places.

Seriously, C:S with Traffic Manager is gangs of fun for networkers... you're looking at the cars and trucks like packets and you want to maintain throughput and all.

config t · January 20, 2020, 11:33:52 PM

We should re-name this thread to "Cool Stuff I Bought Recently"

Dieselboy · January 21, 2020, 02:08:51 AM

I got a new credit card that awards me frequent flyer points for every $ I spend. So now I have all my utilities and expenses coming off that one card so I am awarded for expenses that I can't get out of. And free travel insurance and business lounge access. Dont know why I didn't do this years ago... 🙈

deanwebb · January 21, 2020, 01:36:56 PM

Quote from: Dieselboy on January 21, 2020, 02:08:51 AM
I got a new credit card that awards me frequent flyer points for every $ I spend. So now I have all my utilities and expenses coming off that one card so I am awarded for expenses that I can't get out of. And free travel insurance and business lounge access. Dont know why I didn't do this years ago... 🙈

I *did* do this years ago.

Otanx · January 21, 2020, 05:58:44 PM

Yep, get 2% cash back on my credit card. Every bill I can gets put on this. Also use it for every purchase. Some places will not let you use a credit card. My mortgage must be a bank account, or check. My car payment (when I had one) was the same way. My big win was when we bought our last car the dealer let us put the down payment on the credit card. That was an easy $200 cash back. Water, power, trash, internet, etc. etc. etc.

I think everyone should do this if you have the control to pay it off every month.

-Otanx

Dieselboy · January 21, 2020, 08:03:35 PM

Yea - I have come across "we dont accept credit cards" when I tried to pay my rent. There is a 3rd party that accept credit card payment and then they pay the rent. 1.5% charge though, has got me thinking how I can go about setting up my own company to do this and charge myself lesser fees. The company I am using here is called "rental rewards".
I've put a $1000 down on the car which I am waiting for but it's only a holding credit - I can have it refunded to me when I pick the car up. I am planning to have it refunded back to the card which I used at the time and then they can take the same amount from the new card. easy points if it works.

Otanx · January 22, 2020, 09:33:40 AM

I get why they do it. They don't want to pay the extra fee the credit card company is charging. Especially on stuff like loans where they are already close on margins. I looked at rental rewards, but it looks like .au only. Need to do more research to see if there is something similar for the US.

On your holding credit you might want to have them refund it to you as a check, and pay the credit card from that. If you have them refund it back to the card they may also cancel any rewards from that. If you handle it yourself the card company does not know it was refunded.

Also anyone interested should look into "churning", and "manufactured spending". Mainly it covers ways to get rewards without actually spending the money. You can't do it anymore, but my favorite was the US Mint let you buy dollar coins from their website, using a credit card, with free shipping for face value. So people were buying 10s of thousands of dollars of coins. Getting points, and then depositing the coins back in the bank to pay the credit card bill. Rinse and repeat.

-Otanx

Dieselboy · January 22, 2020, 08:14:33 PM

Yea I get that.. I'm not getting something for free, someone is paying.

Sheet! I always seem to miss on on the good stuff

The credit card I have at the moment is giving me 120,000 bonus qantas points (airline points) and I'm heavily investing in these points for various reasons. However, now they are spreading the points over 6 months rather than giving them to you when you sign up. So I am getting 20,000 per month for 6 months as long as I spend $1500. Most cards are like this now. The one that isn't, has a $1200 annual fee.

config t · January 23, 2020, 12:44:28 AM

The best I could do credit card wise is a 3x points for travel Visa card. Since I am living overseas absolutely everything I put on my card gets 3x points! So I just pay for everything with it (except rent

) and pay it off whenever I get paid. I don't get miles but I can use the points for flights and what have you. In the last 6 months I have accumulated a massive amount of points.

deanwebb · January 23, 2020, 12:45:46 PM

We've already got a loyalty program thread... I'll just say that I've been working on my AA card of late and already have mad stacks of points with Marriott and Hilton.