Banking mobile apps have made managing my finances easier.

One of the things made a lot better for me by mobile apps, is my relationships with banks. Being able to manage my bank accounts, and my money, through my smartphone has made it a lot easier.

Being able to access by money from where I am at the moment, independent of the time, has made managing my finances a lot easier. Not only that, being able to send or receive money at a moments notice, without depending having to go to a physical branch of my bank, makes it a lot easier to go out with friends without being worried if I've got enough cash with me.

It also have made it a lot easier to reduce my need of cash, and to plan my expenses a lot better. Being able to have less cash with me, also helps me feel safer. Adding to that, that I don't need to have my debit card with me to withdraw money makes thing a lot more convenient for me.

While there still some things that could be done to make it a lot better, like allowing to withdraw a bit lower denominations via the app, I still pretty satisfied with the mobile apps of my banks as a whole. The have given me level of freedom that makes my life a lot better. The ability of being able to access my accounts independent of time and place also gives me a sense of more security, since I can react faster to situations as they happen rather to being dependent of being able to go a physical branch to manage my accounts.

As time goes on, I expect for the mobile apps of my banks to get better. Banks have getting better at giving me the options I need to manage my money so far, and I expect them to keep improving as time goes on.

Worrying anti labor unions stances.

It's borderline bizarre that a company like Apple, that paints itself as a progressive company, to have a hard stance against Apple store employees forming labor unions. Specially since the kind of person that tend to work at Apple Stores, tend to be people who would actually use the labor union as a body to actually negotiate in ways that benefit both the employees and the company.

That even Starbucks has an anti labor union stance on their coffee shops is worrying, since it also tries to paint itself as a fair company with their workers and their providers. The fact that they are trying so hard to impede their workers to form labor unions, could also cast shadows on how fair are their deals with coffee growers.

The common trend it the anti labor union stance of both companies, is that they view labor unions as perjudicial for everyone involved by default. The truth is that there are not, it comes down to how workers manage and how the company relates to the labor union. A well run union, and a company that is willing to build a good working relationship with it, can actually benefit the workers and the company. Labor unions actually make the relationship between the company and the workers a lot easier, since the company just needs to deal with the labor union itself rather than with each individual worker.

It can actually make the relationship between the employees and the company more balanced, making the company more answerable to employee needs and worries. Not only that, it can give a better platform to employees a bigger voice on how the company they work for is managed.

At the end of the day, the problem are not labor unions. The problem is how companies want to balance the power between them and their employees.

Educations systems are failing us.

One of the things made apparent by social media, is that not everyone receives the same quality of education. Our education systems are failing society at large, by not giving every member of society the same education.

Education is one of the elements that actually has a big impact on how society as a whole can advance, and build a better future for humanity as whole. Yet, it seems that if you don't have enough money, the education that have access to doesn't give the individual the tools needed to be able to adapt to the changing world or make the best of the opportunities presented by life.

This is specially evident when critical thinking comes into play, or there is a need to process new information. There is a large segment of people who aren't capable to deal with changes in well, alright refusing to make any change no matter how beneficial it is to them.

There are people whose education is not giving them the tools needed to be able to make the most, and benefit, from change by being able to adapt to it. Not to mention when having to face people who have different views, or experiences, and learn from them.

Lacking the ability to be able to do so, is generating a lot of us versus them situations that shouldn't even exist. It creates false dichotomies needlessly, making it far to difficult to reach solutions or compromises.

Sadly, there are cases where fixing the education systems can be done. Yet, what is impeding it is the lack of will to fix them. Our education systems need to change.

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.