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 [...]

Every marketing book tells you that the ultimate objective of any supplier of goods or services is to keep the customer satisfied. Come to think of it, however, the concept of satisfaction is quite a tricky one to figure out, and that one often has to follow strange paths to attain it.    Take this, for instance: When my last visit to my mobile phone provider – which, by the way, resulted in them giving me the newest and most sophisticated smartphone and granting me with a reduced rate for an even more extended phone services, without me asking – [...]

The story hereafter is further indication of how your seating position can impact your perception of the world. It may look as a paradox to many that you aim for your destination backwards; yet it happens more often than you think. The train is one fine example of that kind of a situation.        Seated backwards in the TGV heading for Reims this morning, I was reflecting upon the effect of such a position on my mood. Much ado about nothing? You bet! Boy I’ve done it so many times in that position as well as in the normal one; [...]