Language: English

It’s not okay to send essential information only a few hours before arrival via WhatsApp.

During my travels, I sometimes stay at accommodations that use fully automated systems, with everything handled digitally and electronically.

I have one small—but actually quite significant—problem: everything is done at the last minute.

I have no problem with making the reservation and completing the check-in process online. I’m perfectly fine with that.

The problem is that I receive the accommodation details only a few hours before check-in, via WhatsApp.

If I have a problem with my phone or my Internet connection, I have no backup solution.

How could this be solved? The accommodation details could be sent one or two days in advance, followed by a reminder a few hours before arrival.

If I received the information in advance, I could save it in multiple places and have a backup available in case something goes wrong.

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Sometimes, I see people comparing office desk jobs salaries with what janitors and cleaning personnel earn.

Let’s say you work an entry-level job and you compare with what a cleaning person earns. It might look like if the earnings are comparable, you have a bad deal.

But there are some important criteria for which the salary does not tell the whole picture:

• Debatable, but if you have a job that requires you to sit at a desk, this means you tend to have a healthier life; it might be unhealthy to stand up and work most of the day;
• You have a better social status;
• Working indoors with chemical substances all day can’t be that good for your health;
• An office job generally leads to better future job opportunities than working as a cleaner;
• You tend to use your brain a lot in an office job, which might help future jobs;
• Finally, you generally tend to earn a bit more; even if it’s not a lot, it’s still more than the cleaner job.

All-in-all, I think the above are important advantages of doing office work, even a bit boring one, rather than a cleaning job.

Regarding risks of being overtaken by artificial intelligence (AI) and/or robots, generally entry-level jobs tend to be the first to go. So, some robots might remove some cleaning workers’ jobs, while some AI programs might replace some entry-level office jobs.

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A journey between Năvodari and Constanța Railway Station costs 12 lei.

A journey within Constanța costs 3 lei.

There are plans to introduce buses between Năvodari and Constanța managed by Constanța City Hall.

Previously, similar buses between Constanța and Mamaia cost the equivalent of two journeys within Constanța.

The distance from Constanța to Mamaia is roughly the same as the distance from Mamaia to Năvodari.

So, what did the residents of Năvodari ask for on Facebook?

They asked for the journey between Constanța Railway Station and Năvodari—which currently costs 12 lei and, according to the fare calculation formula, should cost at least 9 lei—to cost just 3 lei.

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Young people (and, dare I say, not only them) increasingly struggle to maintain sustained attention for an entire hour, especially when they are expected to passively listen to a lecture, presentation, or class.

The problem is not necessarily that they are incapable of concentrating. Rather, they have become accustomed to a very different way of consuming information.

This does not mean that young people cannot learn complex subjects or engage deeply with difficult ideas. In fact, they can spend hours playing games, watching series, creating content, or researching topics they genuinely care about. The key difference is active engagement.

The solution may not be to make educational content simply shorter. It may be to make it more dynamic.

A better presentation structure might alternate between explanation, questions, examples, stories, images, demonstrations, short activities, and moments of interaction.

The question should be: How can I give people a reason to pay attention again and again during a one-hour presentation?

James Bond walks into a bar and looks around… it’s packed. After a while, he spots an empty seat at a table where a guy is sitting. He sits down and introduces himself:

— Bond. James Bond.

The guy gives him a sideways glance:

— Damme. Van Damme. Claude Van Damme. Jean-Claude Van Damme…

(via)

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As I view it, LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others have already replaced, at least partially, the job of personal assistants and interns.

Entry-level jobs in some fields can be fully automated with AI, with less costs and better output.

There’s a catch, though – let’s say no company hires interns anymore.

How will anyone become an advanced user if they don’t get the chance to first try things, improve as time passes, put questions, and learn from mistakes?

I don’t think, at least at the current levels, AI can replace interns.

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In a recent Instagram post, I really liked this idea: between the grasshopper’s decision to have fun all summer and the ant’s decision to work all the time, the best solution is to work and still have fun at the same time.

You should enjoy the summer, not work 100% of the time.

Put some importance on fun, not only on work.

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Making Websites Win: Apply the Customer-Centric Methodology That Has Doubled the Sales of Many Leading Websites: Blanks, Karl, Jesson, Ben: 9781544500515: Amazon.com: Books

I’ve read in this book that shopping stores have a strategy – they tend to put items that can be compared with other shopping stores at a lower price. And items that can’t be easily compared at higher prices.

For example, milk, eggs, tomatoes – these tend to be generic products, and have lower profit margins (have smaller prices).

But a specific olive oil, or wine bottle that is not so common – this is a specific product, and they tend to put a higher markup price.

Nice book, not only for this fragment!

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