Coffee My productivity levels are directly correlated with the daily intake of coffee. At university I used to drink cheap instant coffee with a dash of milk. But now I'm a coffee aficionado, therefore, I usually buy premium or ethically produced roasted coffee beans and have different coffee makers for brewing this delicious beverage. When I was travelling through Indonesia, I had visited a small coffee plantation where they produce Kopi Luwak. At the farm, weasels or civets swallow green coffee beans as part of their diet. Then, farmers collect the feces containing the partially digested beans. Entire beans are carefully washed, dried, pounded and finally roasted. This method of crafting results in one of the most expensive coffees available in the market. Of course, there are some bad practices regarding the civet’s management. Some farmers keep the animals in poor living conditions whereas others force them to eat only coffee beans to increase the production. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.

Robot Therapist According to some stats from WHO, one in four people have some mental issue during their lifetime. However, most of them don't seek for professional advice because, in many societies, there is a stigma about this subject. Having a face to face therapy can be very challenging if you are suffering from social anxiety or extreme woe. To overcome this situation there are some phone applications providing the help of a robot therapist. One of them is called 'Woebot', your charming robot friend who is ready to listen, 24/7. The robot therapist checks in with the user on a regular basis. It seems the efficacy of these apps have not been tested because some ethical concerns. Researchers need 'end-members' to test their hypothesis. Therefore, a person having psychological pain cannot be denied a therapy with a 'human' specialist just for the sake of the research. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.

Microadventures English adventurer Alastair Humphreys has coined the term 'microadventure' referring to short breaks enjoying nature (or just the city) closer to home. He states that modern people are really boring, and they don't appreciate the charm of being outside discovering or sensing their surroundings. Most people have lost their sense of adventure and they prefer sunbathing in a quiet beach rather than circumnavigate the globe. Nevertheless, if you have wanderlust, microadventures can be a great alternative. I have experienced wanderlust during my lifetime. A long time ago, I have quit my job to travel the world with my wife. Nowadays, living again in a big city and having a regular job, I miss those days wandering in exotic places and gaining cultural awareness. I have a hunch that these microadventures can be a good replace for travelling far away. There are wonderful places on your doorstep. Hidden gems within the city, scenic routes, national parks, the Andes mountain range, the coastline, etc. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.

Smartphone Addiction Smartphones are ubiquitous in our daily life, making routine actions quite easy. You can check your emails, perform bank transactions, read the news, or solve a doubt just googling it. Of course, smartphones also provide access to social media. So, you can keep in touch with your friends and/or acquaintances, or even find a romantic/sexual partner. All these qualities make smartphones very addictive and some people even have FOMO (which is an acronym for Fear of Missing Out). These people check their smartphones compulsively, spending ours in social media apps or watching videos. It seems technology is changing the way we interact. For example, a lot of people prefer texting or voice messages rather than communicating in person. There is a new term to dub this type of users which is 'phubber'. Phubber is a merge between 'phone' and 'snubbing'. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.

Are You a Foodie? I always thought that a foodie was a person who know the ropes about cooking. But some experts suggest foodies are just people who enjoy buying books and watching cookery programs instead of actually cooking. According to this definition it seems I'm transitioning from a foodie to a cook. Nevertheless, I still love watching chef Ramsay yelling 'This is absolutely disgusting!'. I'm cooking a little bit every day and I started learning the art of charcuterie. Creating your own products from scratch has something romantic and it's not as expensive as I use to believe. Of course, you must search affordable suppliers, otherwise you're in danger of bankruptcy. The picture shows two of my ongoing creations a coppa or cappocollo (dry-cured pork chunk) and a dry-cured sausage (minced meat plus pork belly fat). Both pieces are at the beginning of the fermentation process. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.

What does 'not know one end of a pig from another' mean? It is having absolutely no idea about something, isn't it?

Are You Angry When You're Hungry? Being hungry causes irritability because a drop-in blood sugar levels triggers the production of certain hormones. These hormones are of the same kind of fight or flight hormones, which prepare the body to fight or run away. Therefore, it isn't strange to feel a little bit grumpy or impulsive when you are hungry and even to feel rage when you are starving. Given that evidence, maybe it is true that the best time to ask for a pay rise is after lunch. There is a portmanteau word used to describe when you are angry because you're hungry that word is 'hangry'. Which is the merge between hungry and angry. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.

Is the Internet Good or Bad? A BBC podcast discussed whether the internet is positive or negative for the world. The internet was thought as a neutral platform allowing people to exchange information. At the present time it is an ubiquitous technology providing (practically) instant access to varied sources of information. You can master a new language, listen to music, or grasp the foundations of quantum mechanics wherever you are. Nevertheless, the internet also provides anonymity. Users don't have to deal with the consequences of their sayings turning the web into a fertile land for internet trolls. This kind of users enjoy upsetting others, using inflammatory and controversial statements even about the most trivial things. A common solution to ameliorate this situation is to tweak the way the users interact, providing kudos to constructive interactions and sharing. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.

How do you Learn to Speak a Language? I have been struggling all my student and professional life to have solid foundations in the English language. Sadly, despite all my efforts I just mastered a lower-intermediate level. A little bit late, I realized that being afraid of making mistakes was the main aspect holding me back. Another problem was the lack of consistency in my learning efforts. Studying frequently is paramount if you want to improve faster. Nowadays, I'm studying daily. My study routine comprehends listening to podcasts, watching videos or series, reading the news or books. Also, I'm trying to write a notebook entry on a regular basis. Of course, I'm also having conversational classes from time to time. If I continue working this way I hope to be fluent in English in a near future. Thanks for reading and correcting my entry.