Discreet launcher, my new launcher of choice.

After about using Evie as my go to launcher for my Android smartphone, I started using Discreet launcher for a couple of weeks now. So far, Discreet has been the first launcher that I've actually liked enough to replace Evie for an extended period of time.

Evie was my go to launcher, but it hasn't been updated by its original developer for a while. While it has been picked up by another set of developers, it has lost a bit of what I used to like about it.

As such, I started to look for a replacement. It took a while since no launcher I tried game the combination of simplicity with the ability to use some of my favorite icon sets like Delta, or  Viral. I just prefer to use icons rather than texts on my launchers, its just a personal thing.

Discreet is that launcher that just ticks most of the boxes of what I look for in a launcher. It isn't perfect match, since the search function just allows to search for apps, and to makes use of Google search. Yet, to be honest that is something I can live without. It isn't as customizable as other launchers, but its customizable enough for me.

The ability to customize how my smartphone looks, and feels, is one of the main reasons I prefer Android smartphones. Android just works for me, in ways an iPhone just doesn't. The Android ecosystem give me what works for me, since it fits better the use I give my smartphone and the software I use.

I use Linux Mint on the laptop I use for personal and professional purposes. That I can run apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Dropbox, and work with them seamlessly with them both in my laptop and smartphone makes my life all that easier.

At the end of the day, Android just works for me.

Apple finally moving to wider used standard with the USB-C.

Apple moving to USB-C from the Lightning port on the iPhone could be a great thing. Apple getting behind the USB-C standard could benefits all users, and it also mean a lot of less waste in the long run.

Personally, I believe that Apple could have used the USB-C on the iPhone for a couple of years now. With Apple behind the standard, USB-C can be a better option than the Lightning port with the added benefit that a bigger selection of cables and more people using it. The number of times I've seen iPhone users not being able to charge their smartphones because they forgot their cable, and no one else got a compatible cable, happened a lot more often that the people with Android smartphones.

For once, Apple moving to USB-C is something the company does that I can get behind.

Making remote work possible.

With time, technology has advanced in such a way that many administrative positions can be done remotely. Though at times face-to-face meeting are sometimes needed, most of the time meetings can be conducted using tools like Zoom, or Skype.

This allows a lot more flexibility for both employers, and employees. Not only that, working from home can be a great motivator for many people. Mainly because it helps employees to feel more in control of what is going on around them, and to have more time for family.

More people are seeing home office as something that they prefer, so much so that it has become a major reason to switch work. Its simply more convenient, even if you have to go to the company offices a couple of days a week. The ability to work remotely has become one of the biggest motivators to do a better job.

Hope more companies take note of this, an allow whenever possible for their employees to take advantage of working remotely.

A mobile lifestyle.

As time goes on, the combination of laptop and smartphone has proven to be the most useful for my needs. It gives me the computer power, and the portability, that allows me to make the most out of things.

While there are desktop computers that are much more powerful than the laptop I use as my daily driver, they don't give me the portability I want. Besides, I don't really need much computing power, and most middle of the market laptops give me more than enough for my needs. But most importantly, laptops are just a better fit for my lifestyle, both at my work and personal life.

Tablets simply don't fit my needs as well as smartphones do, specially on the go or when I'm with friends or family. When I'm not at home, or at work, a smartphone is the best fit to communicate or to the information I need on the fly. My smartphone is the better option, in ways a tablet would be a bit to cover-some.

Most importantly for me, is that the laptop and smartphone combination suits my lifestyle the best. I can be on the move, and do what I need to do wherever I am at the moment. More often than not, I don't need to wait to be at a certain place, or time, to be able to do something. Most importantly, I'm always in touch with those I care about, or to access information I need.

It has been about a decade that I've know that I had no use for desktops, or tablets, but the pandemic solidified that laptops are the best option for me for work. Other than that, smartphones cover the rest of the needs that laptops can't cover, specially when I'm on the move and I can't really stop long enough to use my laptop.

At the end of the day, I've come to value the freedom of movement that the combination of laptop and smartphone brings with it.

The dangers of propaganda.

The current Russian invasion of Ukraine show how propaganda spreads through the Internet, and how hard is to detect and fight it by some people. There is a proportion of people that seems unable to identify propaganda, and help its spread by sharing it across social media, e-mail, and other means.

What makes it worse, is that some people don't even question any of the information that the propaganda contains. The propaganda is taken at face value, which means misinformation, and even lies, are perpetuated without being challenged just because it fits the narrative that its already hold by the people who keep sharing it.

Furthermore, many are blind to the fact that propaganda is used not only by governments, also by political parties and companies that want to influence the narrative in a way that benefit them, or hurts they opponents. Propaganda is a tool that looks to change how people view issues, no matter that the view it is pushing doesn't benefit them in any way.

At the end, there is a need to create awareness of the use of propaganda by all governments to further their agendas. Not all propaganda is bad, but people need to able to recognize them to be able to weight its contents and decide if they want add them to their belief systems or use the information.

Remote work.

The best thing about working remotely for me, is that I can manage my time a lot better compared when I'm at the office. There are a lot of factors behind it, but one of the most important ones is that I'm not interrupted as much allowing me to focus on my work a lot more.

 

The worst part of the interruptions at the office, is that more often than not they don't directly relate to my job or they things that could be solved without my involvement in them.

Most importantly, I simply work better working remotely since I don't like to deal with people all that much. Working remotely allows me to just deal with people on my terms, or at least on terms I feel a lot more comfortable with. As such, I tend to be able to focus more on what I need to focus rather on things that I don't really matter for me.

To be honest, I've come to realize that I prefer remote work and I'm willing to change jobs to keep working remotely.

Propaganda is everywhere around us.

People have a hard time detecting propaganda, or believing that propaganda is a tool used not only by all governments. Propaganda is also used by companies, religions, and groups of people that want to influence the behavior and beliefs people hold.

Propaganda is part of our daily lives, since is used to try to shape our behaviors and beliefs in a certain way. Governments wants us to behave in a certain way, or to support certain causes, while certain groups within the society might want us to act differently. Companies might want for us to have a positive view of them, while having a negative view of their competitions. All of them create propaganda to influence us in a way that benefits them.

Importantly, propaganda is not always done overtly. Most of the time it is done in subtle ways, so we don't immediately realize that we are being targeted by it. The realization that we are targets of propaganda, can be very off putting for most people making it a lot less effective. As such, propaganda is most of the time made so we don't see it.

That most propaganda is disguised as something else, makes it both hard to see and dangerous. When people can't see the propaganda they are targeted with, they can't decide if they want to change their behaviors of beliefs because they be benefited by that change.

Propaganda by itself is not dangerous, but it become dangerous when its packaged as something else.

A few minutes of research doesn't give you full understanding.

I find it sad, and somewhat interesting, that a quick internet search doesn't make anyone an expert on anything. To become an expert in any subject require years of either practice, or study, in order actually have the skills and understanding to actually master the subject.

A few hours of research on any subject, just give you a basic understanding on any subject. It takes years of study, or work, at any matter to actually become a master at anything, specially when the amount of information in just about anything takes years to gained. To gain mastery takes years of practice, research, and work.

 

That you have a working understanding of something, doesn't make you an expert. It just means that you know enough to know the basic, or how something works. Yet, it takes more than that to actually become a master.

When you say that you understand something because you watched a couple of videos, or read an article on it, just come to show how little you know about you are talking about. Social media post have little, or no value, unless they are supported by information backed up by people are really experts.

There is no quick Internet search that makes anyone an expert, no matter what anyone tells you.

The real world and the Internet are beginning to blur.

It's impressive how integrated our digital lives have become to what we do on the real world. So much so, that we don't think twice about how much of what we do in one affects the other one. In many respects they are not parallel to each other, but have become virtually indistinguishable from each other.

In itself, it's not something good or bad. All comes down to how we manage them, since the results of the use give them will dictate the outcome of their integration. Most importantly, there is still a lot of people that aren't conscious about what they do on the Internet will have an impact on their lives on the outside world. It has become almost impossible to separate what we do online from what we do on the real world.

Many of our interactions online are an extension of what we do in the real world, and the same goes the other way around. Not to mention that it's possible to almost completely conduct almost all of lives online in some cases, and almost impossible not to have part of our daily interactions online.

We are now at a moment in history on which, that those without access to the Internet are at disadvantage to those have access to it. Not only most of human knowledge is on the Internet, but as time goes on the number of things that can only be done online keeps increasing.

The real and digital worlds have started to blur, becoming and extension of each other. This makes it difficult to even imagine how future generations will experience them, all we can do is to lay the foundations for a more fair access for as many people as possible. Not to mention to create the systems that allow for people to be able to learn the tools needed to actually use to the fullest what they need to be happy and be the best version of themselves.

Almost everything we know will change dramatically, and we need to give the future generations what they need to make the best out of it.

Technology and the lack of learning resources.

I find it worrisome how many people blame technology for their shortcomings, rather than actually working on them. It has become easier to say that technology is to blame, rather than working to better oneself.

All technology is just a tool we use for a mean, yet not everyone is being trained to make the best use of the new technologies relevant to their needs. That is why so many people find themselves displaced by new technologies, they simply don't have access to the training they need to be able to make use of them in a relevant way.

The fear of new technologies is not unfounded. Yet it could be easily put aside if the training needed to make the best use of it was widely available, so that people could actually know what those technologies are about and use them to look for work.

At the end, education is what is most lacking. Not everyone is getting the education they need to be able to deal with how technology is changing the world around them, and they are being left behind. Most importantly, the jobs being lost aren't being replaced fast enough, creating a lot of resentment.

The lack of access to education, and quality education, is what widening the divide and what is behind the lack of trust on the emerging technologies. While technology holds promise, not all can make good on that promise.

Home office or a hybrid model is the way going forward for most jobs.

Once again, the ability to connect remotely to work has proved that I can work from anywhere with my laptop and a Internet connection. While the tools have been there from a while now, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced most of the administrative personnel to work from home, and we have proven that for most of us working remotely is something we could continue doing in the future.

Personally, I use Linux Mint on the laptop I use work from home. While we use Windows Server at work, using Remmina to connect as a remote desktop I've been able to work without any problem at all. Remmina has allowed me to work as if I'm at the office, no matter where I'm physically at that point in time.

What I'd like to see after the pandemic is over, is at least being able to have a hybrid work schedule at least. Working from home is has become my preferred way to face my professional life, because it simply gives the most flexibility with my time, and allow me to be more productive since I can focus on the task at hand with less distractions.

While I can see the benefits of going to the office for a few hours each week, going full time is not the best option for me. My job can be done just as efficiently remotely, specially because even for the documents I handle can be forwarded to me electronically, without needing a hard copy at any point.

Not only that, all the important communication I need with my coworkers can be done via e-mail, WhatsApp, or a phone call. All of this doesn't require for me to be present at the office, and it means that I can do my work from where I've access to a good Internet connection.

There is also the fact that I'm not a people person, so not having to deal with people face to face all the time is something I value. While I don't mind interacting with people for a while, I really prefer a job that gives me the chance of not having to do so all day long.

I've come to really value being able to work remotely, so much so that in a way I dread going back to the office full time.