What's going on with Instagram? (My sincere opinion)

What happened to Instagram?

(What is going on with Instagram)

If you used to use Instagram before 2019, you're probably asking yourself: What the hell happened to it?

Going straight to the point: It is no longer a content platform, it has become a strip-tease/pole dance stage.

Sorry, but that is true.

Instagram used to be an excellent place where you could post your content and get some visualization about your work. 

The coolest thing is that you didn't need to be a professional in your area; you could be an amateur photographer or any other type of content producer, then, get your job done, visualized and, most importantly, get some recognition.

It was fun.

Let's take my case for example:

Back in 2016, I got a new account to share photos of my trips. 

Those pictures were quite distinctive once I tried to capture them in a way trying to take the viewer with me on that trip. The idea was to produce that feeling and sensation that you get when you're discovering a new place. 

Indeed, It had some success. 

It started with 0 followers (No friends, no relatives), and 

I used to get 200-400 likes by post, commentaries, and real engagement.

So, up to that point, Instagram was only about content.

If I could wrap their policy in a single phrase, it would be:

"You produce, we deliver"

(So if it is good enough, people will engage with you).

Years went by, and I continued to produce content. I did my best to keep traveling, and producing, and that worked until the end of 2019.

However, now I get no more than 15 likes per photo.

(Fifteen if it is really good; Otherwise, around 9 likes)

So, what happened?

People changed? Have I lost my touch?

Well, not really.

What happened is that Instagram's delivery policy has changed a lot.

At the end of 2019, Instagram deliberated started policies to make people spend more time on the platform rather than sharing your content.

So the goal was no longer to share the content of the creators but to make the users spend as much time as possible there.

So, from that point, The Reel Era has begun.

A reel is a short video that, once finished, goes to the next one, then to the next one, and then to the next one... (A hypnotic reel, let's say).

But in order to make his reel work, all the bullets inside the cylinder must be entertaining. (Otherwise, people wouldn't get "trapped" and would easily leave).

But by "entertaining" you can read: Video with hot/attractive people or funny (But preferably with hot people).

And after TikTok, it has become 10x worse.

(I am not sure how many times worse, but it has certainly aggravated the thing).

So, why did they do that?

Well, to be honest: Money and greed. 

(Simple like that)

Recently, one digital influencer joked about it in a podcast while talking about social media: 

"...And what about Instagram now? It turned crazy, right? Every week is different: This week you must upload 4 stories per day, 1 reel and 1 picture, this week you must upload 2 reels, 3 stories....".

A lot of people stop getting new followers just because they can only they are not aware of them, and also they change that fast).

Besides, the content level is getting so south that even those people in technical fields such as Computer programming and languages are "downgrading" their content level.

As a software developer, I almost got killed when I saw these posts about "working with arrays in Java". Really? Such a "complex" subject in a simple Instagram post? How people are desperate to get followers.

You know, I can totally understand someone sharing a course, a tutorial, or a video but "complicated" topics in a simple Instagram post? How substantial enough are they to talk about these topics? 

And what about languages? Another day I saw a guy "teaching" french wearing nothing more than underwear. Despite this example, in general, I can see daily a decrease in the quality of their content.

So, Instagram is no longer that tool you could rely on to make your content visible, hoping people would notice it.

Instead, it has become a stage for those willing to sell their souls to get some success and fame. (I have nothing against having success on social media but try at least to share something with some worthy personal value).

However, it is an opportunity for those who have something worthy of sharing to develop their interest more professionally and boost it indeed. 

Besides, who knows if someone will come up with a platform to do exactly what they used to do? 

Certainly, it would be a success.

Kyle.

Let's vent - A bad experience in a restaurant in Cologne (Köln, Germany)

Today's topic is restaurants.

So, I have a question:

Do you know what is worse than bad food? 

Answer:

Bad customer service.

Ok, sometimes they fail because the number of available waiters is not enough to serve everyone properly, and certainly, that can be disappointing. However, what I am talking about is when the waiter seems to be mean to you.

Do you know when they ignore or mistreat you simply because they don't like you?

And I always ask myself why.

They treat everyone well there, but it seems that you are the only person that is having a hard time with them.

Could you get the picture?

So let me tell you about a situation that happened to me two days ago.

I went on this weekend trip to Cologne, Germany (I live in Belgium, so it is not that far), and around 4 p.m. I decided to take a break and have a traditional German dessert somewhere. 

So I chose this restaurant close to me, got in, and this person that seemed to be the owner hosted me inwards. 

Then after choosing something on the menu (An apfelstrudel), I looked for someone to take my order and found this guy dressed up like what seemed to be a waiter that was apparently free (Like doing nothing).

So, I waved at him. 

He looked me back straight in the eyes and ignored me.

Then I thought, 

"Did he just ignore me?"

"Maybe he is not a waiter."

(Because he was just wearing a suit vest and had no waiter wallet in the waist). 

"Maybe he didn't see my hand because it wasn't high enough."

So, I decided to give the benefit of the doubt because maybe he hadn't seen my hand waving at him.

Ok, so I went for a second shot. 

I waved to him more firmly, trying to call him. 

And guess what just happened? 

He looked me back and ignored me again.

I was astonished.

Then I thought: "This dude is really ignoring me".

Still, I considered that maybe he wasn't a waiter or is just a host, so that's why he ignored me (Despite if he is a host, you don't simply ignore a customer as the way he did).

Anyway, I waited for someone else. (In this case, the owner that hosted me in the first place)

However, a few moments later, that dude started to serve the tables next to me, so that guy was indeed a waiter in charge of that area.

So, he had undoubtedly ignored me.

I was just stupefied.

How could he have done that to me?

Why?

And for what?

He had decided to attack me for no good reason.

Weird, isn't it?

But it hasn't finished yet.

When the check came, I got my card to pay (Because I didn't see any issue with paying 9,90 Euros by card, moreover, I am in Cologne, not a village).

But the owner refused to accept it. 

He said that card is usually accepted above 20 Euros ( in a condescending manner)

I simply couldn't believe it. 

So, feeling pretty odd, I opened my wallet and tried to wave to him a 50 Euro bill (because I couldn't see any other), but, in this meanwhile, he was giving a deep look at my wallet in my wallet and "kindly" pointed out to use the 10 Euro bill instead of the 50.... (Unbelievable, not only did he not accept my card, and looked invasively inside my wallet, but he also decided with which bill I should pay...)

But It hasn't finished yet....

After all of that, he explicitly said that I still needed to tip him...

Really, can you believe that??

I couldn't believe that he had the guts to say that (In the way he did it).

He specifically said: It is 1 Euro.

Ok, that's it.

That was too much.

Let's brief the whole thing: I was rudely ignored twice by that waiter, and this one was being so petty about how to pay by examining the inside of my wallet, choosing the money bill I should use, and now he calls me out about the tip? On the way he did it?

Are you fuck&%& kidding me??

End of the story, I didn't tip him and mentioned the situation about the waiter.

He seemed baffled. (Not because of the waiter but because I refused to give a tip anyway) 

Anyway, I simply stood up and walked away.

Ok, that's it.

I hope that you "enjoyed" it, and I will see you in the next post!

À la prochaine!

Obs: If you have been through a similar situation and want to share it, please use the comment section to tell me!

See you!!!

Kyle.

The importance of forgiveness and letting it go

Yeah, you read that title correctly.

So many times in my life, I paid people back according to their mistakes towards me. Do you know why?

Because it seemed fair;

In my head, it was like this: I was here calm and quiet, and then this piece of sh/#&  came and did that thing to me. So, guess what: I would pay it back. 

How?

Well, during my lifetime on earth, this "paying back" already had a lot of shapes.

In the beginning, it was more like doing exactly the same thing to that person. But after some years of practicing, I just got pain.  

Yes, pain for feeling bad about doing the same thing that I was condemning in the first place and also because it used to initiate a vicious circle of throwing and receiving.

So, I  would just get stuck in those emotional traps until the time that I decided not to fall into them anymore.

However, I would still get upset. And by getting upset, I would put a big hat of blame in people's heads that would basically lead to cutting them off of my life or not giving them any opportunity to build any relationship with them (Because in my head, they were the incarnated evil).

That seemed pretty fair to me.

But as life continues, you notice that you can't simply get rid of people; somehow, they must continue in your life. At work, for example.

For several reasons I will explain later, I decided to continue to be nice to them, no matter what. Like they never make a mistake towards me.

And guess what happened? They started to become nicer to me, To have more trust in me. Relationships began to be built up ( Just because I decided no longer to shut the door down).

With time I started to realize that those people were not as bad as I used to think. 

Forgiving them as they have never done what they did towards me, gave me every day a new opportunity to build up the relationship correctly.

Consequently, that starts to give a little piece of peace in your head.

Now, why have I decided to change? 

In life, we get this kind of thinking: "I can let people play with me",  "I can't let people make me a fool," and "they can't even think for a second that I am naive", "this is wrong, how could I let that go?".  

If you are human, you've probably already got stuck with these thoughts or situations that lead you to think like that. 

Yeah, it is "perfectly" natural. However, let me tell you that it is imperfect.

Yes, imperfect. 

Because justice utterly requires balance. 

"Justice is balance".

If you are human and do something wrong, justice brings justice to correct, cleanse and ultimately erase what you did wrong.

So, in an attempt to bring correction, it brings punishment ( through destruction).

In a so fallen world, justice would not only prevent us from developing, but ultimately it would obliterate us.

Imagine a big field of grass trying to grow, and then the forces of nature realize that they are not growing aesthetically perfect at a microscopic level; Then they would come and trim every imperfection. Well, you don't need to be a genius to realize that this field would never grow (Because it is imperfect, in essence)

Now, imagine for a second that this force of nature that is in charge of the field is just power and justice. So,  it would destroy the field while trying to correct it. Wouldn't it be much better if this force would care a little bit and let the grass grow even with those microscopic imperfections? Because in the end, we would get a beautiful grass field that potently could be a beautiful landscape.

So, the point is to care. To love what is in its hands.

So, love is the solution.

Love is perfection.

Love goes further and beyond justice.

Love forgives.

Justice is good, but love is perfect.

So, why have I changed?

Not only because I experienced its results. But also because I believe in God.

Yes, you read that correctly.

If you don't believe it, at least assume that what I have said so far makes sense. We are imperfect, and letting slide the imperfections of others allows us to get a good thing in the end.

I think that God behaves in the same way. He sees all our imperfections, shortcomings, missteps, etc.. But, he continuously gives us new opportunities every day because he knows that we have so much potential to do things right in the future, like the grass field that I mentioned.

So, in the end, because God is love.

Chinese characters explained for school subjects (Part 1)

Hello everyone,

In today's post, we will examine the character formation of the school's subjects in detail.

You can find the school subjects table at the following link.

I will divide it into a couple of posts because it is quite lengthy.

At first, It doesn't look that fascinating. However, one of the interesting things about the Chinese language is that most of the characters can be explained and understood. Therefore, you can fully understand a word only by examining its characters (Even the pronunciation you can get).

So, let's see!

1) 化学 (Chemistry)

化 (Huà) meaning is:

•    to make into / to change into

You can see this word in 变化 (biànhuà), to change (v.) or change(n.).

Besides, you can find it in 花 (Huā), a flower.  

(艹 (cao) and 化 for pronunciation).

化 is formed by two people followed by two people up-side down, meaning death. So, we have life and death in the same character, meaning change.

And what is chemistry if not the science of transforming/transmuting things to another (In ancient times related to alchemy).

 "...Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed" 

(Lavoiser).

So, that's a reasonable explanation for 化学.

2) 物理 (Physics)

The first character is 物 (wù) means:

• Thing, matter
• Content, substance

It is formed by 牛 (niú), cow (To give a meaning of something physical, like a cow pulling a plow), and 勿 (wù, for pronunciation). 

You can find 物 in words like

动物 - Animal - Thing that moves

植物 - Plant - Thing that is a plant/grows

理 (Lǐ), reason and logic. You can find this character in the word 理解 (Lǐjiě), to understand, understanding.

So, since 物 has this deep meaning of substance of things and 理 as reason, you can understand 物理 as logic/reason behind the substances that form this universe.

3) 科学 (Science)

科 (Kē), means branch (Part of, in the sense of division).

So, without much mystery, science is a generic term for a group of studies.

School Subjects in Chinese/English

Hello everyone,

I was talking with a friend, and she asked me about my favorite and not favorite school subjects at that time.

(Which was History and Art by the way).

Then I found myself not knowing all the subjects in Chinese (She is a Chinese friend).

So, here they are :)

Scholl subjects:

Subject	Chinese	Pinyin
Chemistry	化学	Huàxué
Physics	物理	Wùlǐ
Science	科学	Kēxué
Math	数学	Shùxué
Physical Education	体育	Tǐyù
Art	美术	Měishù
Music	音乐	Yīnyuè
Language	语文	Yǔwén
English	英语	Yīngyǔ
History	历史	Lìshǐ
Geography	地理学	Dìlǐ xué

I hope you enjoyed it!

Kyle.

Noise pollution in Brussels

 Hi, folks. Here is Kyle, your favorite writer of all time.

(Pretentious? no, not at all, playful I would say :) )

I've been living in Brussels, Belgium, for almost a year and have some thoughts about the noise pollution in this place.

Where do I start?

Well, I think I should give some references from places where I have lived: São Paulo (Brazil), Montreal (Canada), Cairo (Egypt), and Dubai (UAE). 

From now on, you won't think I am just a country boy complaining about living in a big city. (Because I've already lived in a couple of them (And some are really noisy).

I know this post is about Brussels, but first, I would like to talk a little about São Paulo and Cairo (Since they are the worst ones, we will build our base from them).

São Paulo is kind of noisy. I say "kind" because it is not as much as it could be due to the number of vehicles and people. Most of the noise is because buses and motorcycles are noisier there when we compare them with first-world countries (much more, to be honest). But what really made this a problem is the lack of good windows. Yes, windows there are not made to handle any kind of noise, in their homes especially. Most of them only have a single thin glass pane (And two thin aluminum panes behind the glass one). So, all the noise will get in.

So, if you are not living in a really isolated area, you will have this background noise of vehicles.

Then, we have Cairo in Egypt. Well, if you ever had this city as a travel destination, you probably got surprised by the city-center noise caused by car horns. Yes, that place is insane in this sense. Depending on where you were staying, you probably, faced yourself using earplugs to get some sleep.

Ok, now, let's move to Brussels.

During this year, I've been hanging out in "several" places in the city, and I must say the town appears to be silent in several parts, however, that are some spots that are a living hell.

Where?

Well, I work in an office located in front of Place Stephanie (Avenue Louise) and live in a neighborhood called Saint-Gilles. 

And those places are hell.

Sorry, but they are.

Why?

Well, where do we start?

Let's talk a little about the sirens.

In big cities, especially downtown, it is normal to hear sirens. After all, a lot of people, a lot of trouble, and as a consequence, you will have this constant need for ambulances and police cars opening all their way to save and rescue. Oh, public service....how important you are in our lives...

But here in Brussels, this thing is on a whole new level.

The sirens

To start:

1) The sound level.

Loud, really, over too loud. We know that sirens are supposed to be noisy, but here it is at a much higher level. It is so strong. Several times you feel like they are already close to you; however, they are really far (You can't even see them for a long time until they get where you are).

And then, when they pass close to you, you feel like this massive wall of sound is getting inside your ears. Imagine a sonic drill getting inside your brain. Yes, that's the feeling you get sometimes.

2) How close do they pass to you

Besides this, they pass really close. Sometimes 3-5 feet from you (1 meter and a half). That is mainly caused by how the city is designed. 

Brussels feels like someone has dropped this shrinking liquor all over it, making you feel like you are in a miniature city. So, the width of streets is reduced compared to other Big European cities. 

You can check it without going that far. Take a walk in Lille, France, then you will see what I am talking about.

So, as a consequence, sirens will pass much closer to you rather than in other big cities.

3) They don't drive fast. 

No, most of the time, they drive like snails.

(And because of it, I question myself if there is an emergency indeed). 

4) They don't turn it off when there are people nearby

For me, that is the most outrageous thing. 

Usually, Sirens, when passing on those streets where people are so close, turn themselves down or off (Because they know how bothering and even dangerous it can be to hurt someone's ears). However, they don't give a damn here if you are just 2 feet from them. 

Really, I've never seen something like this.

If you go to Paris, for example, you will see that the sirens are much less intense (Compared to Brussels), and they turn it down when they are close to pedestrians. (And Paris is much bigger than Brussels).

5) How often can you hear a siren in Brussels?

That's the gold star of our arguments. If you are in the right spot, you can easily have it 20 times per day. (I am not kidding or exaggerating; you can count if you want, e.g., At the begging of Avenue Louise or near Albert station).

Yeah, for me, all of that is quite insane. The volume, the frequency, how close and slow they pass to you.

Now, my second favorite. The trams.

Oh boy, where do I start?

Probably you see them as innocent public non-pollutant vehicles. But the fact is, someone gave a weapon to the devil here.

1) How loud it is

They honk.

And honk hard.

Their horns are not like something gentle and nice. They are more like a giant cathedral beel tolling 3 feet from you (1,2 meters). 

One day I measured how strong it was, reaching 97 Db! Do you know how loud it is? It is as potent as a rock concert. You may only find that rock concert is louder because the music plays constantly; however, if you could cut it down to the size of a tram horn, then you would hear as loud as (reaching the same distance).

And since Brussels is a city in miniature, you can hear it so loud inside your home. (It is a city where most of the buildings in the center have stores on the ground floor and regular apartments on the floors above)

So, if you live in one of those apartments, you get freaking annoying noise inside your home several times a day.

Obs: The older tram versions don't have this loud horn. Just the most modern ones (So instead of improving, it got worse). Fun fact.

2) How do they use the horns.

Yes, again, we have the golden start argument.

Despite how loud it is, everything falls apart when it comes to how they use it on a daily basis. 

Out of the blue and for no good reason.

Yep, that's the phrase to describe it.

Let me give some examples:

• Just after stopping the tram (Why would you horn if you are not moving)?
• In the underground, Let me explain it. Here they have some tram lines that are underground: exactly like subways. So, there is no car, traffic, or pedestrians crossing by. So why the hell would they horn in a place like that? (Imagine a subway honking every time it leaves the station; Does it make sense? Not to me). 
• When there is no one (Car or pedestrian) crossing the street. 

So, many and several bad examples of misusage.

I've already asked myself why do they do this?

• For security?  Well, buses drive equally on the streets, and they don't honk every time they leave a bus stop; Let's confess that it is quite hard not to notice a 50-60 feet caterpillar in your way (18m). Unless you are blind...hold on...you would be driving in this case. So, again, that's not a good reason.

• To display this portrait that Brussels, as the capital of Europe, show concern to their citizens by applying every security measure they can? I think it is nice that, as long as you don't drive people crazy or deaf to do this.
• To be mean? Well, sometimes, yes. I've already witnessed some particular situations in that I could notice that.
• Because they can? Yes. It seems that since they can, they do. Simply like that.
• Because they want to make people lose their hearing sensitivity? Hahaha, who knows? But the interesting fact is a lot of people that live here for many hear speak loudly. (Could it be related? Maybe)
• Are they aware of how upsetting and hurtful it is? Hard to say how many, but I think lots of them are probably aware, I think. But I still think that some of them are not that aware (especially because you don't hear that loud inside)

Conclusion

At the end of the day, what really gets me is how things designed for security and public service delivery are being so badly used in this city. 

Not only, it is also unnecessarily loud, which could be easily reduced 20-30 Db to do the same job, as it is used with no respect towards the citizens.

The whole thing doesn't make any sense from A to Z. 

A total lack of good sense and respect.

Obs: I must reinforce that it is not in everywhere in the city. However, in several spots, you will have it.

Ok, that's it for today!

À la prochaine!

À revoir.

Kyle.