“Always aim for the moon. If you miss you’ll land among the stars.” („Țintește întotdeauna spre Lună. Chiar dacă ratezi, vei ajunge printre stele.”) ― Anonymous
Always aim for the moon. If you miss you’ll land among the stars. – Anonymous
Language: English
News priorities
Yesterday, I went to CNN to see some news.
What struck me was the title – it was focused on American casualties.
So, America attacks Iran, lots of bad things happen over there. The most important piece of news, according to CNN? What are the casualties of the attackers.
Saddening.
This was supposed to be a joke, it seems it’s reality:
President Bush and Colin Powell are sitting in a cafe. A guy walks in and asks the waiter, „Isn’t that Bush and Powell sitting over there?” The waiter says, „Yep, that’s them.” So the guy walks over and says, „Wow, this is a real honor. What are you guys doing in here?” Bush says, „We’re planning WW III”. And the guy says, „Really? What’s going to happen?” Bush says, „Well, we’re going to kill 140 million Iraqis this time and one bicycle repairman.” The guy exclaimed, „A bicycle repairman? Why kill a bicycle repairman? Bush turns to Powell, punches him on the shoulder and says, „See, smart guy! I told you no one would worry about the 140 million Iraqis!”
75% Growth in Hungary, 61.6% in Romania: How Bulgaria, Greece and Croatia Compare in the eCommerce Race
The full report is available for download here. Readers who wish to join the conversation live can use the exclusive 15% discount code media15 when purchasing their ticket for Balkan eCommerce Summit 2026.
eCommerce across Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Hungary, and Croatia continued to grow throughout 2025, but the pace and maturity of that growth varied significantly from market to market. These are among the key findings of “The State of eCommerce in the Balkans in 2025”, conducted over the span of nine months during 2025 by the Balkan eCommerce Summit team. The research provides an in-depth snapshot of how online businesses operate across five Southeast European markets and outlines the key expectations for 2026.
Verified LinkedIn users’ data is shared in shocking ways, report claims
Mashable: Verified LinkedIn users’ data is shared in shocking ways, report claims
One observant anonymous user is warning other LinkedIn users that the Microsoft-owned social network for professionals utilizes a third-party verification service that, in turn, shares users’ data with other companies.
[…]
According to rogi, what concerned him was exactly what Persona could do with his data. Persona accessed rogi’s full name, passport photo, selfie, facial biometric data, NFC chip data (or the info stored on the chip inside his passport), his nationality, sex, birthday, age, email, phone number, physical address, IP address, geolocation, device type, MAC address, browser, OS version, and language.
Bottom-up analysis
About an analysis – should it be bottom-up or top-down? Should you go from the bottom and rise, or analyze from the top and go down.
When you analyze a professor or a university system, it’s much more appropriate to approach it like this:
“The good aspects of so-and-so are these. I refuse to focus on the negative ones, as long as the positives outweigh the negatives.”
The idea is that if you start by looking at the negative aspects, OR if you begin with an overall, global analysis, you’re likely to find shortcomings.
If, however, you start from the positive aspects, you will end up overlooking the negative ones.
Hunting
Frank was excited about his new rifle and decided to try bear hunting. He spotted a small brown bear and shot it. Right after, there was a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see a big black bear. The black bear said, „That was my cousin and you’ve got two choices… Either I maul you to death or we have sex.”
After considering briefly, Frank decided to accede to the latter alternative. Even though he felt sore for two weeks, Frank soon recovered and vowed revenge.
He headed out on another trip where he found the black bear and shot it. Right after, there was another tap on his shoulder. This time a huge grizzly bear stood right next to him. The grizzly said, „That was a big mistake, Frank. That was my cousin and you’ve got two choices. Either I maul you to death or we have rough sex.” Again, Frank thought it was better to cooperate.
Although he survived, it took several months before Frank finally recovered. Outraged, he headed back to the woods, managed to track down the grizzly and shot it. He felt sweet revenge, but, then, there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find a giant polar bear standing there. The polar bear looked at him very sadly and said, „Admit it Frank, you don’t come here for the hunting, do you?”
Educato, an interactive preparation platform for national exams, offers an accessible alternative to traditional private tutoring through exam simulations, instant feedback, and grade estimation
The AI-powered platform already used by 115,000 students is launching personalised resources to support students in preparing for the March National Assessment mock exams
- Educato is launching personalised preparation resources for 8th-grade students, designed for the March 2026 National Assessment mock exam.
- The platform functions as a “digital tutor,” offering a comprehensive learning ecosystem: exam simulations, step-by-step explanations, and structured theory, an accessible alternative to traditional private tutoring;
- Over 100.000 students had registered by December 2025, with an additional 15,000 joining in the first six weeks of 2026;
- January 2026: almost 10.000 users users spent over 43,000 hours preparing for exams;
- Students have answered nearly 25 million questions and studied daily for up to 309 consecutive days;
- Students benefit from instant feedback and weekly exam simulations under real testing conditions, with automated grading and anonymous nationwide rankings;
- Approximately 200,000 students will take the National Assessment mock exam on March 16, and Educato’s data shows that structured preparation reduces anxiety and improves performance.
Bucharest, 19th February, 2026 – Educato, an AI-powered educational platform that provides interactive preparation tools for exams such as the National Assessment, the Baccalaureate, university entrance exams, and the Medical Residency exam, is offering 8th-grade students personalised preparation resources for the March National Assessment mock exam. Educato functions as a “digital tutor,” integrating a comprehensive learning ecosystem that includes mock-style tests, step-by-step explanations, and structured theory, serving as an accessible alternative to traditional private tutoring. The platform offers two pricing plans: the first three days are free of charge, after which the subscription costs RON 70 per week or RON 140 per month, less than the cost of a single private tutoring session.
Duolingo
Duolingo is a very nice app to learn languages.
I read some negative comments on learning German with it.
Still, I find it useful.
What I’d consider changing:
- I’d consider not changing the rules of the game while playing; (for example, changing the types of statistics shown, or allowing/not allowing avatars, or changing the way the point systems work)
- I’d allow for more customization;
- I’d allow for an „incognito” mode (not to be found in the list of people on the platform);
- I’d increase the number of lessons for Latin.
Romania is hosting for the first time the prestigious international Cambridge debate tournament for high school students
This elite educational event brings together 96 students in a competition that will send 4 high school students to the final round of the contest in Cambridge
- Cambridge Union Schools is taking place in Romania for the first time on February 21 and 22;
- The competition is held in English, in the university-level British Parliamentary format;
- The top two teams from Romania qualify for “Finals Day” on March 21, 2026, at the Cambridge Union Hall;
- The Bucharest final takes place on Sunday, February 22, at the Palace of Parliament, in the presence of Minister Dragoș Pâslaru;
- Romania thus joins the global academic debating circuit alongside the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Canada, Dubai, Tunisia, Australia, and New Zealand;
- The four qualified students will speak from the same lectern used by the Dalai Lama, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Bill Gates, and Stephen Hawking.
Bucharest, February 17th, 2026: Romania is hosting, for the first time, the prestigious international high school debating tournament “Cambridge Union Schools,” organised under the auspices of the Cambridge Union – the largest student society at the University of Cambridge and the oldest debating society in the world, founded in 1815. This marks the first time an official tournament organised under a Cambridge license is being held in Romania.
Between concerns about conflicts and financial pressure, Romanian consumers continue to demand sustainable solutions from brands
Kantar study: how brands should approach sustainable marketing in a context of geopolitical tensions and growing economic pressures.
Study: Building effective sustainability marketing in 2026 »
BUCHAREST, February 12: Growing concerns about war, security and economic pressure are increasingly taking up people’s mental space, making them feel exhausted rather than disinterested in climate issues. The Sustainability Sector Index 2026 study conducted by Kantar, a global leader in advanced marketing analytics and analytics with integrated AI, shows that, although the level of climate concern has decreased slightly compared to last year, the demand for brands that generate a positive impact on the environment and society remains strong.