Lilian's piece

The 2000’s were the golden years of racing games with two of the best franchises releasing masterclasses after masterclasses. You had Nadeo releasing Trackmania Sunrise, Stadium und United Forever, and EA releasing Need For Speed: Underground 1 und 2. My point is, the standards for a good racing game at the time were crazy high and in 2005, EA released Need For Speed: Most Wanted, a Need For Speed that will never be topped. Here’s why. The pursuits with the cops were absolutely amazing I loved everything about the pursuits in this game. The small camera focus on the cop car when you got spotted, the SUVs randomly trying to murder you by going full speed towards you, the way your car was much more powerful and you could send cars flying if you hit them right and also the traps you could hit or go trough to destroy multiple cars at once. The longer it went and the harder it got, it was unrealistic, but the second the need for speed games started making cop pursuits realistic is when I stopped enjoying them. The story The story wasn’t anything special, but that’s never the case with Need For Speed games. What was great about the story was the black list. Rising through the ranks and challenging black list members for their spot on the list was awesome, you even had the option to take their car after you win. The end goal was getting your car back, that the villain, Razor, took from you when he rigged a race by sabotaging said car at the beginning of the game. The only way to do that was obviously to beat him in a race after you beat every other member of the black list. After winning the race Razor rats you out and you need to escape the city. The last pursuit you have is a level 6 pursuit, which you only get at this point in the game and it adds to the intensity of the situation, it ends with you doing an amazing jump that the 60 other cops didn’t have the balls to do, and since helicopters weren’t a thing then apparently, you are free and this is the end of the game. After that the quality of Need For Speed games slowly but surely dipped The following games never came close to being as good as Most Wanted was, altough some were pretty good, like Carbon for example. They released another Most Wanted in 2012, which was an absolute disaster of a game and nowadays I ask myself how Need For Speed games are still profitable for EA, because for me it’s clear that I wouldn’t touch a Need For Speed game that has come out in the last 10 years with a 10 foot pole unless I got it for free. This obviously adds value to Most Wanted because it is one of the last Need For Speed games that were any good. Thank you for reading.

First of all, I’d like to say that what I’m about to explain to you is working for me but it doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. But since it’s been working for me for the last 3 years and counting, I thought I would share it on my Blog. For the last 3 years, I’ve been able to maintain a workout routine consisting of 3 workouts per week, that’s something I’m obviously really proud of and I don’t intend to break my “workout streak” anytime soon. Here’s how I’m able to do it. Don’t set the bar too high The reason most people give up on their workout routine and never manage to be consistent is that they set the bar too high. By that I mean wanting to workout too often, planning workouts that are way too intense and setting unrealistic objectives. That may work at the beginning when you have a lot of motivation, but when that motivation dips and you realize the crazy workout you got ahead of you, that’s when you’ll start skipping and giving up. The key to being consistent is to plan a reasonable workout routine, that will keep you in great shape and with exercises you enjoy. Otherwise, anytime your motivation dips, you’re tired or you had a bad day, you’re not gonna want to do it anymore. I recommend 3 workouts per week that last between 30 and 45 minutes. I think you should also be wary of long workouts, the longer the workout the easier it will be to skip a workout because you don’t have time for it. Don’t always do the same workout routine Even if you are someone who doesn’t mind repetition, at one point, whether it’s in a month or in a year, you’re really gonna get tired of doing the same workout over and over. When that’s the case, you should definitely switch it up. You should try to look forward and enjoy your workouts as much as possible, not to mention doing different exercises is good for the body too. I noticed that even if the changes to my workout actually make my workout harder, I would still look forward to it much more than my usual routine. Don’t be ashamed to do a much smaller workout if necessary If you forgot to do your workout and you remember it at the last minute, if you are sick, tired or have a very tight schedule, something is always better than nothing. If you can only do a few push-ups and sit-ups, it still counts as a workout and it is so much better than just skipping it. I can’t count the amount of last minute workouts I did, I did it at 5am , I did it drunk, I did it in a public bathroom while praying no one comes in, all to keep my workout streak alive. Which leads me to my next point. The longer you manage to not miss a workout, the more you will do to keep doing it At the point I am today, I think I would be depressed for 2 weeks if my workout streak came to an end. My mindset is, it will end one day, but definitely not today. It has come to the point where it is more important to me to keep my workout streak alive than to workout in order to be healthy and look good, which is still important to me, but not as important as this. When you have put in so much work to have a consistency like I’ve had for the past 3 years, you will fight like hell to keep it that way. Not to mention, I can brag about it all the time. Don’t forget it’s almost never physical While it is a physical exercise, conditioning your mind is key. You need to convince yourself that doing those workouts is necessary for your well-being and your health in general. Like the great Muhammad Ali once said : “I only start counting when it hurts”. When it hurts is when your body is giving up, and your mind takes over. If you have a strong mindset you will be able to push yourself beyond the limits you thought you had and achieve what you want to achieve, because the thoughts of giving up will always be there, no matter how strong and how proud you are. Thank you for reading.

Bose is an audio equipment company that was founded in 1964 by Amar Bose. It was one of the first to start to manufacture audio products at the time and since then it has grown into the giant corporation and brand that it is today. In the 90’s and 2000’s was when Bose reached its peak popularity, they were offering lifestyle products along with a sound quality that was very hard to match at the time, even in their expensive price ranges. Since then, other brands have started to catch up with them, and Bose has been on the receiving end of a lot of critics and their reputation isn’t like it once was. However, contrary to popular beliefs, especially in the audiophile/sound enthusiast community, Bose is still up there with brands like Sony and Sonos and it is not going anywhere any time soon. Here’s why. It’s not always just about sound First of all, something I realized being a sound enthusiast myself is that a lot, and I mean A LOT of people have a hard time recognizing the difference between the sound of high-end speakers and the sound of the built-in speakers of their TV. Which brings me to my point, no matter the price range of the product you buy from Bose, you never feel like you bought something cheap, the build quality is always on point, and the design is always slick. Not everyone wants a giant set of home cinema speakers, or a headphone so big it would protect your head from a sniper bullet, the priority is not always sound quality, but rather to be proud to take your sound devices out in public, or for people to see your living room and feel like your sound products aren’t killing the whole vibe of the room. Finally, let’s be honest, for all the shit they get for the sound quality of their products, the sound quality is great, anyone who is saying that it’s garbage or unlistenable isn’t being fair. Their ability to make small products sound twice as big This is definitely Bose’s forte, the knowledge they have in acoustics gives them the ability to produce great and powerful sound even from very small devices. It’s really the only company that will offer small high-end products that usually would find themselves in the 20-60$ price range due to the sound quality limitations of their size. A lot of people don’t have the space or simply don’t want their sound devices to take too much space and their only high-end options in this regard come from Bose. Take for example the Soundbar 700 with the surround speakers, you get one of if not the smallest soundbar in this price range along with surround speakers that you could both hold in one hand ! Minimalist designs are very popular and there’s nothing better than Bose products to add great sound quality to your minimalist design. Their cheapest products are the best in their price range I own 2 cheap Bose products in my home : The bluetooth speaker Bose Micro(100€), The Bose TV Speaker (I got it at 200€). I also used to have the Bose soundsport wired earbuds. I am still blown away to this day of the sound quality I got from those speakers. My bluetooth speaker has incredible battery life and great sound quality in a device that is smaller than my hand and the soundbar fills the living room very well and produces a surprisingly good bass for the price along with a bluetooth connectivity option that has come in handy on a lot of occasions when I have guests at home. At this price range for these two products, there isn’t any other product that offers a better bang for the buck. Marketing is everything In conclusion, I would say that the reason Bose has lost in popularity is purely based on the fact that you can get equivalent sound quality at significantly lower prices when it comes to their high-end products. When you use that comparison Bose will often look bad, but I don’t think Bose should be compared to other sound brands in general. Bose represents style, class, comfort and convenience, that is what they aim for as much as they aim for great sound quality, when usually the latter would be the highest priority. Their image is half of their product value, and it’s for a reason. Otherwise they would have fallen into the same abyss Blackberry did when the iPhone came out as soon as brands like Sony, Sonos or Klipsch started to shine in this industry. Thank you for reading.

Online dating has been a thing for a while now and has started to become the norm for dating since the start of the Covid pandemic. In my previous article about online dating, I went over a few reasons why I think that online dating is more convenient and creates a better and safer environment to find someone you like. I also think it is a lot easier to get a date using online dating apps/sites than it is in real life, here’s why: 1- Trying to find a date in the real world has all kinds of restrictions You can’t just do it at any time as you may bother the person you are interested in if it's not a good time. You can’t just do it anywhere, most of the time you will meet someone you like through work, school or during a social occasion and outside of that your chances will be thin. You can’t just run around asking everyone that you find attractive out on a date either as people would notice that you are a weirdo. A lot of restrictions that don’t exist in the online dating scene. You CAN do it any time you want, if the person you message isn’t available, they can always answer later. You CAN do it anywhere you want, as long as you have a smartphone on you you’re good to go and you CAN talk to as many people as you want, even simultaneously. 2- It’s much easier to show confidence We all know how people tend to be more courageous behind a screen, the things you say don’t matter as much when it’s behind a screen. Oftentimes it’s actually a bad thing as we hear a lot of nasty things being said online, but when messaging someone on a dating site it’s definitely an asset. You can just be yourself, or try new things to see if it works. You also have more time to answer, which means you can take your time to express yourself the way you want to, even if you are nervous. There is also the possibility that you are also simultaneously speaking with someone else which is always a confidence booster to know that you can just go for it and show your true self without being scared of rejection because you got other people you can talk to. 3- You already know most people’s intentions, and they usually know yours You can tell after a few messages exchanged or simply by reading someone’s bio what their intentions are and the same goes for you, unless you are intentionally trying to be mysterious. You don’t have to waste your time if you see that their intentions don’t align with yours. 4- It’s much easier to reject and be rejected If you get rejected online, it means you didn’t get a date with that person yet, which probably also means you don’t care a lot about that person yet. You can get right back on the horse and try to talk to someone else and forget it ever happened. When you reject someone, sending a simple message will always be a thousand times easier than facing that person and telling them, and you are simply a click away from blocking that person if any overreaction occur. 5- You can learn about a person before even talking to them A picture is worth a thousand words… And a bio is worth a few dozen words. By taking one or two minutes to check out someone’s profile you will a lot of the time be able to have a few ideas about what to talk about and what not to talk about with them. Thank you for reading.

The Trackmania series first started in 2003 with its first game that was simply called “Trackmania”(Later called Trackmania Original). It was an over-the-top racing game that allowed you to also build your own tracks. It introduced the content and gameplay that would be the foundation of the next few games in the series. This game had great success considering the developer, a French company called Nadeo, was pretty much unknown at the time, and everyone was expecting the next game in the series to be even better. The next game in the series was released in 2005 and was called Trackmania Sunrise. Not only was it better, it turned out to be in my opinion the best racing game ever made. It still remains to this day the best game of the series for Trackmania enthusiasts and when you ask people about it they’ll probably tell you something like this: “I think I played Trackmania Stadium/United Forever (the game that came after, in 2008) more but for some reason I still enjoyed Trackmania Sunrise the most”. Why is that ? The content Trackmania Sunrise had three environments called Island, Bay and Coast. Each had their respective vehicle : Island had a very fast car that drifted easily, Bay had a SUV that could take hard turns without drifting and Coast had the more realistic vehicle, that was slower, drifted very easily and required you to pace yourself to make sure to not go straight into a wall at every turn. These three environments all had their own characteristics, but they were all a great success and while players may prefer one over the other, there was never one that was unanimously disliked. The game modes include race, puzzle, platform, stunt and crazy. The first two were already there in the original game, but the last 3 weren’t. Puzzle is a game mode in which you are given the start and the finish point of a race, sometimes along with a few checkpoints you need to pass through, and left on your own to build the track that will give you the fastest times possible. Platform is like a normal race, where you are not trying to get the fastest time but rather to not fall and restart to the checkpoint. The goal is to get 0 points, which means you never had to restart to the checkpoint and therefore completed the race without hiccups. Stunts will put you in an environment to make stunts, the idea is to get as many points as possible from the stunts you make within the time limit. Finally, Crazy will make you race the same track 16 times but every time the minimum time to achieve gets smaller and smaller, being able to finish the race 16 times in a timely fashion will earn you the best medal. There are 4 medals you can get in this game. The bronze, silver, gold and author medals. The author medal is the score/time that the author of the game achieved. If you get this medal it means you beat that score/time, pretty straight forward. You can also design your own vehicles, build your own tracks and this game also introduced online-play. The overall design of the game The design of this game was a complete success from start to finish. The menu was very well made, it was quick and easy to use, with a beautiful video of one of the races in the campaign tracks (Snake) playing in the background. The graphics were simplistic while still looking good. Seeing as the game is very dynamic, keeping the graphics simple is very smart as it will give everyone a better chance of achieving better FPS (Frames Per Second), and a better gaming experience. I would go as far as saying the simplistic graphics allowed the gameplay to really shine. Every medal had its own car (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Author). There even were cars for “semi” medals (semi-silver, semi-gold, semi-author). You could race against them in the campaign, beating them meant getting the medal, or knowing you are halfway between two medals depending on which car you beat. I personally think it was a mistake not to include "Medal skins" in the following Trackmania games. The Music One of the major upsides of this game was the music. I only realized it when playing the more recent Trackmania games. I think the importance of music in a video game is very underrated, and Nadeo really nailed the soundtrack of this game. Starting with the menu music and followed by the great music for each environment that really sets the mood. The following Trackmania games were never on the same level in this department, apart maybe from the Trackmania United Forever menu music, which also was pretty awesome. It has the It factor All of the above combined give you a game that has that It factor. That’s why so many people still see this Trackmania game as their favorite, even though they spent more time on other Trackmania games. Trackmania Sunrise gives you feelings that cannot be described, the feelings you only get when witnessing, or playing in this intense, pure greatness. I personally couldn’t resist the nostalgia and as soon as I figured out how to make this game work on Windows 10 I started playing it again. I actually started a Youtube series on my channel, you can see it by clicking on my channel name : Lilian Robinson. This is why Trackmania Sunrise is the GOAT of racing games. Thank you for reading.

This cancel culture that’s going on right now has got to be the most infuriating I ever heard of. This group of people, who think they can be the judge, jury and executioner of what we can watch for our own PERSONAL entertainment. The funny thing is, they use social media and their free speech right to censor. I think the level of absurdity reaches its peak when people try to “cancel” comedians because they make certain jokes they find offensive. How can you be so hell-bent on taking someone’s livelihood away because of a joke ? A few years ago still, you could get away with a lot of mean or offensive comments by adding “It’s a joke, come on!” at the end of the sentence. Nowadays, not even a comedian can get away with it. How did we get here ? Where are all these butthurt people coming from ? Why are they doing this ? My theory is : we got there because social media gives a voice to everyone, even and especially dummies. These people always existed, but as I just mentioned, they now have been given the power they needed to turn the world into a snowflake. Lastly, they are doing it because their life sucks, at least they think it does, and there is nothing they plan on doing about it which means they take it out on the only place where they feel like they actually have power, where they have a voice and where there is almost no consequences to what you do or say. The thing is, you can’t stop these people, they are too many, but you can make them powerless. There is one simple solution, a purge. I’m only kidding of course. The solution is : stop listening to them !! And who needs to stop listening to them ? The compagnies who are producing this content and hiring these comedians. The power of social media can be used for good, and using it to silence these people who only want to let out their frustration on others is possible, and we just need to start denouncing it. Like always, it’s always about the mindset and how much we care about our environment. If we decide you want it to be better and less toxic, then we’ll unite and it will be exactly that. Thank you for reading.

Most people who suffer from ADHD like I do feel like they have no other choice than to take medication to be able to be productive. While I still take medication for extreme cases (for university exams), I managed to figure out a way to still be productive even when I’m not on the meds. 1. Isolate yourself from outside noises One of the problems people with ADHD have is that when you are trying to focus on your current task, any small noise around you will immediately take your focus away, which is incredibly annoying. Finding a quiet place, or simply using headphones with good noise cancelation or decent ear plugs will help you find good focus on a regular basis. Personally, I listen to music with my noise canceling headphones (Bose QC35 II) and I instantly feel an improvement. 2. Go to bed early and make sure you eat and drink enough during the day to maintain a good energy level Your mind always needs to be clear, if you don’t have enough energy due to a lack of sleep, or because you are thirsty or hungry, focusing will be twice as hard and you will need twice as much time to accomplish anything, if you don't give up before that. 3. Take notes Taking notes is essential, whether at school or work. Whether you have a hard time following a course or a meeting, taking notes will help you salvage any knowledge you can. Even when you can’t really follow what’s going on, taking notes of what you were able to understand or listen to will turn out to be a big help in the long run as you will have a lot of useful information written down and when you have a better understanding later on, you can complete this information. At work, this will show your superiors how organized and dedicated you are. 4. Set reminders Setting reminders is a very good way to take things off your mind. If you set a reminder for something, you don’t have to think about it anymore until you are actually reminded to do it. Which means that during the day, you will have less on your mind and be able to focus on what you have to do right now, or what is more urgent. 5. Find a solution that works for you Sounds obvious, but you should know that the tips you read online are personal tips, like mine, or just tips that will work for a majority of people. Which is why it is very important that you also take in consideration what works for you. If you notice anything, any environment, any time of day, where your productivity is higher than usual, you should 100% implement it in your daily routine while continuing to seek for better ways to keep your productivity up. Conclusion There isn’t any magic trick or technique that will make you productive. You need to be real with yourself, accept that you have weaknesses and that you need to improve, and put the work in to do better, to be better. By doing that you will see results, take pride in being the hardest worker in the room, and keep pursuing your goals, it’s always about discipline and hard work. Always. Thank you for reading.

Like all revolutionary products, it usually starts with one model and one brand. The iPhone for instance, while it wasn’t the first ever touch screen phone, it was the first smartphone, the first do-it-all phone to hit the market at the time. As we know today, the iPhone was a revolutionary product, and the concept of the IPhone has been copied and improved on over the years by Apple as well as other companies that were smart enough to follow the trend (I’m looking at you Blackberry). The new Sony HT-A9 will make the same kind of impact in its own industry, the same way the soundbar did a few years ago, except it’s actually better. The HT-A9 is a four speaker system along with a small receiver/calibrator called “The Hub”. The hub is pretty much the brain of the system, it calibrates the room to set up a 3D sound stage similar to what you would get with a 12 speaker Dolby Atmos system. Let’s be honest, usually these kinds of promesses are basically lies, like when a soundbar is advertised to be a 7 speaker surround system, but not only does the Sony HT-A9 deliver, and I mean DELIVER, it also gives you the luxury of flexible speaker placement. That’s right, you can place your speakers more or less where you want, by that I mean as long as it’s not in a closed cabinet and you at least put the speakers in the right area (left speakers on the left side of the room, etc). Not to mention that the system is wireless, you only need to plug in the power cable for each speaker and the hub will take care of the setup in a few minutes. For these reasons, I think we are looking at a product that will revolutionize the lifestyle home cinema market. You get a product that will satisfy both sound enthusiasts as well as people who want a living room that isn’t filled with speakers on the walls and ceiling. The Sony HT-A9 is THE BEST compromise EVER made between design, discretion and sound quality. As I explained in the intro about revolutionary products, I think you can expect in the following years to see products like this be more and more present on the market, with more and more companies trying to make the best version of it, and also at more accessible prices, which can only be beneficial for us, the customers. Thank you for reading.

First of all, I’d like to say that I moved to Germany from Canada in 2020, which means I’ve never seen how Germany was before the Covid pandemic. My experiences and my opinions may differ from what you have seen, heard, or read elsewhere. As stated above, I arrived in Germany in 2020, because I wanted to study there. I was convinced by my German partner, who sold me on the idea of moving back to her home country the same way Jordan Belfort would sell a pen. I had a very stereotypical view of the German people, to me their language was a constant verbal aggression (karma took care of me by having me learn how to speak it). Obviously, all my stereotypical views were disproven in a matter of days, and I got to know the German people a bit, and what I’ve learned is, they are very nice, courteous people who often offer help when you need it. They’re really a no nonsense, no drama type of people, and while this may sound boring, it is very refreshing. There are bad eggs, obviously, but the Corona situation has probably helped me avoid a lot of them, and for that I am thankful. The best thing about Germany, is how cheap it is to live there, especially in a small town like we live in. With 1000€ per month, me and my partner have enough to pay the entirety of our expenses, which include internet, rent for a 2 bedroom apartment, mobile plans, electricity, heat, water, and food. Not to mention that the products sold in supermarkets, even the cheap options, are always at least decent quality. Even when not living in a big city and with limited German skills, I was able to get what’s called a “Duales Studium” (Dual Study) contract. This consists of doing part-time university and part-time work, which isn’t as bad as it sounds since work and studies are separated in alternating 2 to 3 months periods, and you never have to manage the two at once. You even get a small salary for your troubles, which helps me pay for my monthly expenses. Even though I find the language to this day still difficult to understand and speak (I obtained my C1 level certificate last month), my integration has been pretty smooth and I am very happy about my move to Germany. I think that due to the language and a lot of stereotypes (Some of them I also believed), Germany is not considered enough as a good place to start a new life or to stay long-term. I do think though, that if you really give this country a chance, you won’t find a lot of alternatives that will offer you a better life, or a better education. Thank you for reading.

The first FIFA I ever played was FIFA 06 when I was 7 and it was the next year with FIFA 07 that I fell in love with the FIFA franchise. The quality of the gameplay and the graphics at the time were amazing. It took me a very long time to get good at the game, to master the passing, shooting, dribbling and defending aspect of the game. The game would give you little help, especially when it comes to defending, we’ll get back to that later in the article. There have been a fair amount of FIFA games that sucked. FIFA 14, for example, had way overpowered lobbed through ball passes and heading shots. FIFA 15 was even worse, it took pace, that is always overpowered (which to be fair, is also overpowered in real life in a way) and made it unstoppable, it was a Zig-zag shit show. But then came FIFA 16 and 17, both were great games, and FIFA 17 looked like the start of what will ultimately be the pinnacle of realistic football gameplay with the introduction of the Frostbite game engine. Unfortunately, that’s where it stopped. We went from arguably the best FIFA game ever to today’s FIFA 22, that made a passionate FIFA player like me completely quit FIFA until further notice. A special mention to FIFA 19, which is without ONE SINGLE DOUBT, THE WORST FIFA GAME EVER. The issue that I have with the FIFA games, starting with FIFA 19, is the assistance from the game. Garbage players become great all of a sudden after they learn how to use the assistance correctly. Players don’t need to take the time, the losses especially, to learn what they have to learn to be better, because the game takes care of 70% of that. All players need to do now is to time a through ball and dribble pretty well, the rest will be taken care of by the game : assisted defending, pressing, auto block from incoming shots, the next step would be an EA employee coming the play the game for you and win it when you’re not doing well or ban any player who beats you. Ironically, the self-proclaimed football simulation is no more a simulation of football, but more of an arcade game now. All because EA want to grab more money by giving garbage player the skill that they never had, it is a great business idea but it’s gonna turn off many people from the game, hopefully enough so that it hurts the revenue of EA or give enough space for another Football game to bring serious competition to FIFA. One thing is for sure though, it’s not gonna happen over night. At the end of the day, what do I know ? Maybe I just started sucking at the game and I blame it on the game because I’m too salty to admit the truth. Thank you for reading.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), or ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is a disorder that is getting more and more diagnosed these days. In fact, there has been a 53% rise in the past decade in people getting diagnosed with ADHD/ADD. I actually am one of these people. I was diagnosed in 2011, quickly after I moved to Canada. In France, the country I was born in, this disorder isn’t even recognized, the best solution you can get is Ritalin which is for extreme cases of hyperactivity disorder, which, even though it’s included in the initials ADHD, has actually nothing to do with the kind of behavior characteristic of people suffering from ADHD. Back to the subject at hand, when I was diagnosed, it wasn’t the first time I showed symptoms of this disorder. I obviously didn’t start having symptoms when I was 11 after 10 years of smooth sailing. In fact, the problems started at the same time I started school when I was 3 years old. Like any 3 year old kid my attention was limited, but for me it wasn’t just limited, it was just not there at all. As soon as a teacher started teaching stuff, she lost me in the following seconds. At that age, you don’t care one bit what people think of you or what the teacher is gonna do if you misbehave, at least I know I didn’t. There was one time I even picked up my desk and turned it around, to signify that I’d rather look at the wall than listen, which to be fair, was a clever and ballsy move from 3 year old me and I’m still proud of that one to this day. Long story short, that’s when the problems started. If I had to describe ADHD/ADD in one sentence, it would be the following : when you have ADHD, it's like having a brain that is constantly telling you "That sucks ! Let's do something fun !" or "Don't you have anything better to do or to think about than this ?". My parents were being told all the time about how I was a problem at school and how they needed to see a psychologist for me, but since ADHD wasn’t even a thing in France, no doctor or expert could see anything wrong with me. After trying for a few years and constantly being told the same thing by doctors, my parents understandably gave up on this never ending loop and focused on helping me get through each year without too many problems. Thankfully, my attitude problem ended pretty quick because I faced far more authoritative teachers, and I was not stupid enough to pick a fight I will 100% lose. This attitude was probably the result of the frustration from not be able to follow anything of what was going on in the class if I had to give a theory. But still, I was able to use my smarts to compensate for my lack of learning skills, and do the bare minimum every year. There was one year though when I was 9, where I had amazing and fun teachers that made it easy for me to follow the course and I had insanely good grades, pretty much acing every test from start to finish. Which made me realize that when it’s fun, I all of a sudden have no ADHD anymore, it was one of the first stress-free years of my life since I started school. Unfortunately, that quickly was put to an end when I started the next school year, and it was back to struggling to keep my head above water again. When I got diagnosed, I was prescribed a medication called Vyvanse. This thing made me laser-focused but had all sorts of side effects that made me stop taking it, until I retook it again after I was drowning the first semester of the school year. After that I completely aced the rest of the year and the years after that until I reached the university level, a place where it’s almost impossible to ace every test. I stopped taking the medication again 2 months before getting my diploma and I almost crashed face-first into the ground right before the finish line, but not without luck I managed to make it through. The side effects that I was feeling from Vyvanse were dry mouth (I had to take like 3 gums a day or else my breath smelled like ass) and lack of hunger. It also made me feel like talking to people was an absolute pain. The dilemma was : taking the medication and being a functional member of society or not taking it but being yourself all day and possibly never finding a decent paying job as well as probably never being able to get any kind of decent diploma. I think this is the dilemma for anyone that suffers from ADHD/ADD. It still messes up my head to this day. This disorder is very complex and as long as there isn’t any real treatment for it, more and more people will suffer, because the system is not made for people like us. If anyone is going through it and would like to know more about my experience and how I can stay productive, feel free to contact me by mail, and I will also release a new article about that in the following weeks. I'm also very curious to hear your experiences, whether it is with ADHD/ADD or with any other learning deficit. Thanks for reading.

I’m not breaking any news here, at least I don’t think I am. In the last few years, dating apps have been growing in popularity, and the taboo about meeting someone from a dating app is slowly disappearing. As a matter of fact, I actually met my partner in 2019 through a dating app. Whether it is Tinder, Plenty Of Fish (POF), Match.com, or simply using private DM’s on a social media platform (because let’s face it, that’s exactly like online dating). It is undeniable that A LOT of people have at least tried this once. I mean, everyone feels lonely at one point right ? At the beginning, people who used those apps felt weird about it, it was like their dirty little secret, pretty much like watching porn, everybody does it but almost no one will admit to it. But then years have gone by, a pandemic hit, people were isolated and lonely (and horny, it’s only natural), couldn’t go out, and even when they could it was never for anything social since everything was closed. That resulted in those apps, which were already growing in popularity, becoming a necessity for a lot of people who probably didn’t even consider it before. Women rarely enjoy being approached on the street and men, as any human being would, don’t like to be rejected. Having a match and sending a message eliminates all that ! And rejection through text after a 30min conversation won’t hurt someone’s feelings as much as in real life, at least in my opinion. Men actually get used to being rejected as it happens more frequently on dating apps (Since you talk to more people), but on the flip side, you have a much bigger chance to find someone that actually likes you, and most of the time, by the time you get rejected you will already be talking to someone else so who gives a F about that other person ! While it is true that never actually trying to flirt with someone in real life may have its disadvantages, using dating apps doesn’t forbid you to do that as well and the dates you get through dating apps will definitely give you the confidence and experience you need in real life situations. In conclusion, I think that online dating is the present AND the future of dating. I think women feel safer this way, and men feel more confident and people are less afraid to be themselves behind a screen (they are also less afraid to be mean for no reason unfortunately). I also think increasing interactions between men and women (also men and men or women and women) in a dating environment is always a good thing, because it will help people to learn for their mistakes and treat their partner better, because that’s the right thing to do and also because it will definitely bring them more success in the dating department. I know it’s a hopeful view, but it’s my view, so deal with it. Thank you for reading.