This past weekend was Homecoming for the Students at SIAS, so the Freshman and Sophomores help design floats for their different departments and schools. This was one of the floats – the lily started closed, then slowly opened as the young girl danced up out of it in the traditional flowing sleeves dance. Very beautiful!
I have yet to see a day where Balloons on a Blue Sky don’t make me a little bit more cheerful!
A while back, I did a review of Astrill’s VPN service and quite a few of you were interested in learning more about other VPN services!
The internet is a wonderful, beautiful place full of friends, libraries, travelers, and fellow photographers. It is also a dark and scary place full of perverts, hackers, and identity thieves. Personally, I want to be able to access the first group while putting myself at less of a risk of the second group! Wouldn’t you agree? 🙂
I’ve now tried a few VPN programs here and there, and I wanted to keep you updated on my findings.
I had heard about VyprVPN before, since quite a few people at my institution like to use the program instead of Astrill. If any of you have been following my updates and the news, you would know that Astrill has been off and on recently. I’ve had a lot of problems where it doesn’t work on my IPad, and it is frequently stopped working on my computer as well. I have days where it is not operating and right now, about once a day I have to turn it off and re-boot the program. Plus, they recently had to put out a warning that a government in Asia had seized their servers in an investigation. While that doesn’t affect me, a lot of users weren’t happy that they were that vulnerable.
So when I recently was given the opportunity to test out VyprVPN, I thought I’d give it a try. The people I know who use it gave it pretty good references through last year, and now here I’ll give you info on my experiences with it. 🙂
In interest of comparing this with Astrill, I’ve used the same 2+ people on several devices as my basis for both.
Review: There is a basic plan ($80/yr) that has almost all the features (minus: the Firewall, some cloud storage, other protocols), but it only allows for 1 simultaneous connection. Given that my family has two people online most of the time, 1 connection wouldn’t be enough. So I need to get the VyprVpnPro system at $100/yr. It comes with everything I need, and includes 2 simultaneous connections. You would definitely want to buy it annually, the price almost doubles if you do it monthly.
You can start with a 3-day free trial, and cancel it if you don’t like it. I like this process, because it lets me see if it will really work before I hand over that much money.
If you do decide Vypr is for you, go through this link for an extra 50% off your first month 🙂
Installation: Easy (very)
Review: There were no problems with Installation, it downloaded smoothly and started right up. One small confusing thing is that the website for Vypr is called GoldenFrog, so go to http://www.goldenfrog.com to set up an account. You’ll start by setting up the account and getting your username and password. Then you need to download the program.
Download process is easy, just double click to open the installation program and walk through the steps. Unlike with Astrill, there were no problems with the Proxy Settings on my computer, the instant I downloaded it, it went to work!
Use: Easy (pretty much)
Thankfully, the interface of the program is pretty easy to use. If you have a techno-dummy on your hands, they can use this without too much trouble.
When I turn on my computer, I open the program from my desktop. You can set it up to start automatically if you want. The box will look like this:
If you want to just connect right away, just click the blue connect button. If you want to change locations, click the exclamation mark looking blue button.
The little gear in the top right corner is where you can change the protocols.
That’s all there is to it! Just click connect and then close the program when you’re done.
Access: Scattered
First, let me say that this part may be unfair to Vypr. Many people in my school swear by Vypr; they claim that it is tons better than Astrill and works great for them. At least 2 other people though have had the same problem I have – none of the servers connect on our computers.
The technology is easy to use but works sporadically and is highly unreliable for me – remember others say it works fine in the same building. Their website says that if Vypr is not working with a US connection, try hooking in to Netherlands or Hong Kong. I’ve had a lot of problems with Vypr’s connections in the US, so I tend to rely on the Netherlands or Hong Kong system. However, that is still very sketchy in regards to successful connections. Plus, there are several websites that require that you be connected to the US for them to work, such as Hulu.
So far, on my Apple Products, Vypr is more reliable than Astrill. However, Astrill is more reliable on my Windows Laptop. It’s kind of a toss-up there. I have not attempted either on a Mac, but I would presume that Astrill is less reliable on a Mac as well.
Customer Service: Good
Actually, I haven’t really had a reason to talk to their technical support. I have asked questions of my account manager though, and he was incredibly personable and friendly. Vypr has been very gracious when I speak with them, and I haven’t had any problems on that front!
Conclusion: This service isn’t great on my Windows laptop, I have a hard time getting a connection, even through Hong Kong or Netherlands. On the other hand, it’s been pretty stable on my Ipad, so there’s that. Other users have conflicting experiences. Some swear by it and others say it’s not working much.
The program is expensive, more than some competitors, but if it works on your Mac when other programs don’t that might be worth the cost. I don’t have any problems with turning it on and off, it’s incredibly easy to use. I like that I can change servers as often as I want! I also like that there is a program no matter what device I use. There aren’t any add-ons you have to pay for or consider which is pretty sweet; they just come with the program.
All in all, if I could figure out how to make the connection work more often, I would really like this system. Maybe y’all have some tips?
This is my experience with Vyprvpn, anyone want to throw in their opinion of ExpressVPN to give a comparison? How have you done with Apple Products here? Windows? Android?
It’s not too much to ask, is it?
That you step up, take some responsibility for your life, and take some of the burden off your mom’s shoulders?
I get it, it’s tough. I know your heart is broken; I see the holes left behind when your father isn’t there. I see the anger and humiliation you feel as you watch your mom suffering, see her struggling to make ends meet and to satisfy all your needs and hers beside. I know that you resent the world for not helping, for not stepping in and lifting you and your family up. That you are confused, because on the one hand you want so much more for her and your family, but that feels like a betrayal to the mother who is already doing so much.
It feels so unfair and it makes you so angry and sad that you don’t know whether to rage or cry. You just want to let everyone know how upset you are, but you know that honestly, no one really cares.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve never met the man or if you’ve lived with him for years. Neither do any of the other excuses people try to give for why your heart shouldn’t be this shattered. In your brain, you get it–it’s not your fault. Your heart is less easy to convince, too cluttered by embarrassment, excuses, and defenses.
And even if it isn’t your fault, why didn’t you and your mom deserve better? Why were you the ones fate chose to leave stranded and abandoned? Why do some people have lives so rosy and cheery, and yours is nothing but a struggle and an effort to break even? Every day you go to school, to church, to the grocery store, to the group meetings – and it makes you so angry all over again. Why is their life so easy when your mom’s life is so hard?
I know that you love your mother; that your anger and sadness are never meant to damage her. That even if she’s the one who gets the brunt of it all, you’re angry for her not at her. You see how hard she works for you and your family, and you know she deserves better. But that just makes you all the angrier and sadder. How dare he? How dare the world ignore and mock your pain with easy platitudes and constant excuses?
And I understand why you are driven for approval from others; regardless of how low of character they themselves might be.
That need for people to accept you, because each person that offers approval is one more person proving your father wrong. It’s one more person you can shove in his face, the world’s face, to say “SEE! I am worth more than this . . . I deserved better!”
No matter how much you deny it – there is always an unceasing, burning rage at the unfairness of life, the ignorance of those around you who just don’t get it! It keeps stirring up in there, and sometimes you just want to SCREAM at them all until he comes crawling back to you begging for forgiveness.
And You’re right.
It’s not fair.
It’s not just.
You were wronged, and you do deserve better.
It’s not okay, and there is nothing anyone will ever do to make it completely okay for you again.
Life Sucks.
So stop. Right now, just stop what you’re doing and scream. Cry. Yell at the world all the angry things you ever wanted to tell it. Stomp your feet. Break things. Beat the wall as much as you want – I don’t care if you bloody your knuckles on the dam*ed thing, get it all out. You have been wronged and you have the right to let everyone know just how horrible and furious it makes you feel. Even better, write an email to your actual father and tell him all of that. He deserves to hear it, and, speaking from experience, it will do you good to tell him.
Done?
Get over it.
Stop letting this be an excuse for wasting your life.
So you were wronged? Good. Now, take that anger, that sadness, that power and let it motivate you to become better than anyone would have ever expected. Continue reading
judged the Student run Sias Oral English competition last night. Students were judged on Presentation, talent ( piano, guitar, theatre!), and answering questions. They did great!
Follow up on part one of my Luoyang visit! You can see my post about the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, another beautiful site to see in the area 🙂
Did you know that for a long time the Peony was actually China’s official national flower? And it started right here in Luoyang, where the Peony was the flower of kings and noblemen. Now, there are many types of Peonies grown in the gardens of Luoyang, and those gardens are opened up to visitors during the annual Peony Festival!
Every year from the middle of April until the middle of May, the Peonies bloom and visitors from around the world come to check them out. The festival itself is during the peak time, usually April 15-25, when the flowers are at their most stunning.
There are many, many Peony gardens you can see, for example the Luoyang National Peony Garden (it was too busy so our tour bus couldn’t reach it; we checked out another garden) is said to be the very best. But there are many others you can see, like the one we visited. It was much smaller, but still breathtaking! You can check out China Highlight’s post for a list of options and prices!
You can reach Luoyang via Train (approximately 4 hours from Beijing and 8 hours from Shanghai) or by Flight, and the price to the gardens isn’t too bad. There are lots of hotels and restaurants to check out, and many other sightseeing activities for your family 🙂
Lol, my best friend in the US gave me the blue earrings a few years ago. I just found the silver pair on the street last night. Cross-cultural earrings! 
“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city” ~ Roman Payne
Language Translation
Deceptively Blonde 