Tag: facebook

Phew, I binge-watched the entire season of Squid Game. For me, it’s the best series lately. Kudos to the Koreans! The survival game idea has been exploited many times before (Cube, The Platform, The Hunger Games) but the series format really hit the spot here.

“The storm that Voland spoke about was already gathering on the horizon. A black cloud rose in the west and cut off the sun halfway. Then it covered it completely. It got cooler on the terrace. After a while, it grew dark. This darkness, coming from the west, enveloped the huge city.”

I once had a startup idea for a business messenger where sellers would subscribe to keywords and topics, and buyers could find sellers and request information. The information request went through pop-up forms with auto-fill based on previously entered form field values.

Interestingly, the concept of forms integrated within messengers has not yet appeared in the market. Could it really be inconvenient? Entering phone numbers, addresses, full names, car VINs, selecting times in a calendar, choosing from multiple offices on a map, passport details for tickets, and all such things.

I think the main barrier is the reluctance to deal with storing sensitive tagged data and the large number of older version messenger clients in users’ hands, where such forms would not be fully supported.

What about supporting old versions? Technically, one could replace forms with a bot that would simply ask questions sequentially, and a seller would just wait until the bot has processed everything. And this is just for old versions. In the new version, there would be a convenient pop-up form.

Completely lost their minds. It’s impossible to search for anything on Google Maps that contains the word Covid. Specifically, I need to get tested to return to the USA.

I eventually found a place, and am sitting right in front of the door at this very second.

What surprised me was how advanced the consultation system via WhatsApp is in Colombia. A large clinic, instead of or in addition to a voice call center, has a very responsive service via WhatsApp. Day and night.

Why isn’t there such a thing with mobile operators and online stores? Super convenient – you just send a message about what you need, and they immediately handle it and report back. Authentication is automatic – for simple requests, it’s assumed that messages from number X are written by the owner of number X. Unlike email, responses are expected within seconds to minutes, and you don’t have to sit and stare at an online chat to not miss a message – with WhatsApp, it pops up on your phone.

Kudos to WhatsApp for making services for businesses. It’s a pity it’s not the same in the USA yet. I heard that WhatsApp for business is long established in Russia. Is that true?

How wonderful it is when just two days before a business trip your laptop dies. The local Apple store needs three days to fix it. Of course, I did not leave it there. So now I am an active user of my phone. As for the MacBook, it’s already booked for a screen replacement upon my return.

The culprit was the camera cover. It’s super thin, but it was enough for a MacBook screen. Interestingly, it causes the whole screen to shut off, not just produce artifacts with which one could still live.

My Macs have never broken down before. We have seven of them, from various years of release. I’m taking it in for repairs on Tuesday. Such a bummer.

But a solution has been found!

When a kindergarten is just a kindergarten

In Bogota, there’s a prevalence of fitness clubs. Some of them are huge, and they really are packed with people. Some are specialized (“spinner center”). There are lots of shops that sell treadmills. Asked a colleague. Yes, very popular, he says. And for a long time. I think it’s because many consider running around the city unsafe, so there are special places for that. Well, good for them.

Now I know what a spherical bee in a vacuum is

I wonder, are there any living MacBook Pro users who find the little screen on the keyboard (the so-called Touch Bar) helpful rather than bothersome? Tell me about yourself

Here in Bogota, there are especially many motorbikes. Honestly, I hadn’t even seen such things before this trip. There are no electric bikes at all, apparently due to the cost. But there are bicycle shops on every corner. And quite advanced ones at that. There are very many. But not so many cyclists, actually.

Along the bike paths, you come across (see in one of the photos) mobile bike workshops, where you can buy not just tools, but also services.