March 28, 2021 When I was allowed to move around my neighborhood without adult supervision, I had a pecking order for modes of transportation. If I could, I would take a ride in a cab or with a friend. A motorbike would also help, but my parents weren’t fans. If there was no need to […]
January 3, 2021 I first experienced latency when I moved to the US and called my family back in Europe. The one to two seconds between when I spoke and they heard my voice seemed like an eternity. It led to some awkward silences and to having both sides speaking at the same time. Luckily, […]
December 27, 2020 In the late 70’s and early 80’s social activism ran high in Portugal. I have early memories of adults declaring they wouldn’t buy from company A or company B because it conflicted with this or that value / belief. Since then, that type of attitude has been rare. This started to change […]
December 20, 2020 When I first heard of Solar Energy I was 10. My uncle had just installed a solar panel in his roof and it seemed like a magical idea to me: free energy from the sun! After being educated about the high capital costs with low (and intermitent) energy yield I was forced […]
December 13, 2020 I’m sure most, if not all, of us were sent packing home to work earlier this year. As a business owner I was concerned that productivity might suffer with the change to remote work. Additional noise and less professional space were not reassuring. The ability to sustain, or even increase, productivity with […]
December 6, 2020 My first contact with stored energy was watching people walking around with portable radios on the street in the early 80’s. At that time, I got battery operated toys. Either due to poor battery quality or my extreme enthusiasm playing with them, I was always surprised how fast the batteries ran out. […]
December 6, 2020 Although people have been cutting the cord for a few years now, they haven’t reduced their video consumption. A lot of those entertainment hours have migrated to online TV streaming services. However, a new form of video entertainment has also emerged: gaming broadcast. This form encompasses both live and recorded streams of […]
November 8, 2020 Every few weeks, we get a box of “ugly” organic produce delievered to our door. The contents are always a mystery, but we get whatever is in season, whether that is gigantic heirloom tomotoes or a small spaghettti squash. The premise behind this is that grocery stores won’t sell produce that may […]
October 4, 2020 Probably all of the readers of this note have been victims of long wait times to reach customer service. Overtime we have noticed that the quality and authority of the customer service representative on the line is deteriorating and only after an issue escalates can we finally get someone that can help […]
September 6, 2020 Not long ago, my non-emergency medical needs were exclusively met by visits to the primary care doctor or to a specialist. Given the time lost on a visit, growing co-pays and lead time needed to get an appointment, I really dreaded going to the doctor and put off some minor therapies, including […]