Tsikbal: from my perspective

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 sti...

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 w...

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, ...

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 ...

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.

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.

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 s...