As every schoolboy knows – which makes one wonder why I even bother saying it -, a friend is someone whom one feels closest to. Or in any case, it is someone one would rank very high on the relationship scale, even higher than the members of one’s own family. Isn’t it right? Well, yes … in theory. Only in theory, indeed. For the truth is, things are not so crystal clear. On the contrary, I sustain that in everyday life, more often than not, closeness translates into putting a distance sometimes so big, that it ends up quashing friendship. [...]

Isn’t that what life’s about, a good mix of the usual and the unusual ? (with a little preference for the latter, as far as I am concerned – but you don’t have to share my views on that). This is not about opposing the planned and the unexpected, as you might think it is ; rather, and however paradoxical it may seem, it is about merging the unusual with the planned. Planning the unusual ; that’s the challenge. If you are able to do it, then you can have a real taste of good life. That’s indeed my idea of a good [...]

Held by the wings as I was taking off, that’s what it felt like when that friend of mine made his remark. The fact is that whatever you undertake, someone will always take pleasure in pinpointing the flaws in your system or your designs. “Bottom line, what you are proposing is only that short of asking your users to change their ways, when you know that we all form habits. Your app goes against the very nature of man; it just won’t work!” Talk of a foul blow, cause that’s what this irrevocable verdict pronounced against TipMeOut, the app for [...]